ZANTHORREA Nursery turned 50 years this year, marking half a century of giving back to the community in and around Kalamunda and building connections with wildlife conservation groups.

Mundaring garden club president Helen Mitchell said she wanted to commend the nursery for the community spirit they showed, contributing to the community beyond business.

“It is inspiring to see how involved the nursery is within the local community,” she said.

“Supporting initiatives and fostering a strong connection with Kanyana Wildlife Centre, Beyond Blue, Friends of Kings Park and Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Facility.

“As president of the Mundaring garden club, I have experienced first-hand the kindness and generosity of this local business.”

Ms Mitchell said she approached (Zanthorrea Nursery owner Ross Hooper) earlier in the year to see if he would be willing to donate goods to the garden club’s auction raising funds for a new website at their club’s 45th birthday celebration.

“Ross did not hesitate to come on board,” she said.

The nursery was named after the grasstrees, also known as Xanthorrhoea preissii, growing naturally in the front garden but the family opted for a more intuitive spelling.

According to the nursery, in the spring of 1975, Zanthorrea was established in Gooseberry Hill by Jean Hooper who had an enthusiasm for native plants before they came into vogue.

Her plants were so hardy and healthy that word spread in the gardening community which led to her nursery outgrowing its original site.

Mrs Hooper’s son Alec Hooper and his wife Jackie Hooper supported the momentum and bought the Maida Vale site which Zanthorrea continues to operate in today.

Back in the 70s, the site was a degraded block with remnant bush and rubbish that needed to be cleared.

“Alec, with carpenter skills of hammer and saw, built the original shed, shadehouses and gazebo,” they said.

“Jean, a horticulturist, grew the first batch of plants on site and Jackie continued working as a teacher in Balga to support the new venture.”

The nursery gained popularity as the drought in the late 1970s pushed gardeners to seek out hardier species that would survive the water scarcity, leading them to adopt more native Australian species.

Over the years, the perception of Australian plants has changed with an increasing value placed on wildflowers from the bush.

Zanthorrea has won several awards over the years including recognition from Australia’s peak body for the nursery industry.

They were named Greenlife Industry Australia’s best garden centre in Australia in 1995, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2014.

The Kalamunda Chamber of Commerce also awarded them for business excellence in environmental management, retail business, environmental business and best medium business.

And in recognition of the species they sell promoting conservative water use, Water Corporation also awarded them the waterwise garden centre award in 2008.

Zanthorrea Nursery said their business owed much of their knowledge of native plants and their uses to the traditional owners of the land.

“Australia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world with some amazing plants,” they wrote in a statement.

“Many of these plants are more than just attractive garden specimens with edible and medicinal properties.”

Zanthorrea Nursery celebrated their anniversary with a gathering in September this year, honouring the enduring work that began with Mrs Hooper’s interest in native species back in 1975.