Plant in full sun in a very well-drained soil that is slightly acidic to neutral at the surface but can be more alkaline at depth with infrequent to NO summer irrigation once established - this is a drought tolerant shrub! Its hardiness is not well known yet but thought to tolerate temperatures down to mid-20s° F. Avoid using fertilizer with phosphorous. Reportedly responds well to hard pruning. This attractive plant should be great as a specimen in the background where its wands of flowers can rise above other plants. A fun plant for a large container too. In habitat Grevillea petrophiloides is widespread in lateritic gravely soils in the northern and central sandplain regions in of the hot dry mediterranean climate of the Avon and Irwin districts in Western Australia. In Australia it has proven difficult to maintain in cultivation in humid and wet summer areas, but it should be at home in our mediterranean climate so long as it is given full sun and good drainage. Its stunning and unusual appearance makes it worth the attempt to keep it happy. At one time Grevillea petrophiloides was considered to have three subspecies but only the subspecies petrophiloides remains with ssp. magnifica and ssp. oligomera raised to specific level as Grevillea oligomera and G.magnifica.

The genus name Grevillea honors Charles Francis Greville (1749-1809), a patron of botany, a very close friend of Sir Joseph Banks, and president of the Royal Society of London. The specific epithet comes from its foliage resembling plants in the genus Petrophile, another Proteaceous genera. This form was selected and introduced in 2012 by the University of California Santa Cruz Koala Blooms Australian Native Plant Introduction Program. It was originally accessioned at the UCSC Arboretum as Grevillea petrophiloides 96.406. We grew this very interesting plant from 2012 until 2023 and sold our last remaining propagation stock plants to Gerd Schneider Nursery in Gilroy, California. 

The information displayed on this page about Grevillea petrophiloides 'Big Bird' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.