Native Collaboration: Growing the Future of Design

In the expanding conversation around Australian planting design, there is a quiet but vital network of growers shaping what is possible on the ground. Among them, Native Plant Project stands out for its focused commitment to producing robust, design-ready native species that speak directly to place. 

At its core, Native Plant Project is about translating the richness of Australian flora into plants that can be successfully specified, grown and lived with. Their work sits at the intersection of ecology and design, cultivating species that not only belong to the landscape but also elevate it. There is a clarity to their offering, plants that are resilient, expressive and deeply attuned to local conditions. 

This approach was in full bloom through Super Bloom's collaboration with Plant Futures on the garden at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. Designed as an immersive, forward-looking planting scheme, the garden relied on a palette that could hold both beauty and performance. 

Native Plant Project supplied species for the garden, including the textural, silvery striations of Eremophilia mackinlayi, the soft, luminous blooms of Flannel flowers, and the clear, resonant tones of Themeda triandra ‘True Blue’. Each plant carried its own character, from structural grasses that catch and shift with the light, to flowering forms that soften and punctuate the composition. Together, they created a layered planting language grounded in dry summer climate conditions but expansive in feeling. 

What distinguished this collaboration was not just the plants themselves, but the shared ethos behind them. Super Bloom’s practice is rooted in abundance, experimentation and a deep respect for plant behaviour, values that align closely with growers like Native Plant Project. Partnerships like this allow design intent to extend beyond concept, ensuring that what is imagined can be realised in living form. 

The Plant Futures garden offered a glimpse of what the future can look like: A space where native plants are not confined to a singular narrative but instead move fluidly within a broader design language. Expressive, textural and full of life. 

Super Bloom worked in collaboration with Native Plant Project for the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2026, for the Plant Futures: The Future in Bloom garden. Native Plant Project supplied key species, including Themeda triandra ‘True Blue’, Flannel flowera and Eremophilia mackinlayi.

Visit the Native Plant Project

Images: Sarah Pannell