They don't fit any of the regional or classification catagories and I have a question.

Sorry Carol, I have never heard of that plant. Hope someone else here has. This is a pretty quiet forum.

I've tried to grow several of them and they don't like my yard. I've tried everything from watering regularly to ignoring them and just about everything in between. It's cooler here than where you are, I am about 10 miles inland from the coast at Pismo Beach. There is a nursery here in Los Osos, on the coast, that grows Proteas and other Aussy plants so maybe they just like a little more air moisture than they get with me. In any case I have found them picky, which is a shame because they are gorgeous and I would love to have a bunch of them.

They are gorgeous. I remember drooling over them when we were in Hawaii. They must require a lot of humidity to do well.They also need acidic soil, about 5.5ph. I decided not to even try them, but do love looking at photos of them.

Beautiful! Do you grow them RJ?

No, I wish I had that ability, these were in a homeowners garden in New Zealand. Incredible flowers.

I have not grown them, but I have been growing some other plants from Australia (some Proteas are from Africa) so I have read some about them. Many Protea are from very places with very poor depleted soils, and they can be killed by fertilization or even mulch, it seems mostly to be the P (phosphorus) and sometimes the K (potassium). I killed a Grevillea (similar fertilizer intolerance) by spreading lawn fertilizer about 6 feet away once.
Some Protea require acid soils, but there are some that like limy soils. Here is a link about that which includes which species like which.
http://proteaatlas.org.za/grow...

That was interesting, Mary. I thought they all needed the acidic soil. In any case, no proteas for this Arizona gal!

Hey all...found this 5 year old forum perchance. I'm from Cape town South Africa... Proteas are group of genera in the family Proteaceae... Almost all of the Proteas that you grow are indeed from a region in the Western Cape of South Africa as part of the Cape floristic Kingdom... Or fynbos.

The Proteas you get in bridal bouquets and that are enjoyed as cutlowers are general the leucospermums, pin cushions and the other species, most notably the King Protea.

The Australian families grevillea, Waratahs and banksias etc are not as popular.

There's a lot of literature but you have to have wet winters (most never freezing winters) and very dry and warm to hot summers in order to grow Proteas successfully. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus can definitely kill Proteas that's why they don't require any fertilizer... Humidity in the warmer months will kill most Proteas as will frost.

You should be able to find recipes on how to prepare your soil for Proteas, on YouTube etc...

Where I live they grow naturally on the mountains and are spectacular...
As a South African it is my duty to inform you how unique they are to South Africa.. and the Western Cape especially. We have about 300 species of Protea. But I do hope u have success. I know there are some people that grow them outside of South Africa, even in colder climates but they are extremely labour intensive to grow outside of South Africa.

Welcome Jayjay

I had never heard of that plant you talked about so had to look it up. Unusual looking and beautiful. They would probably be happy here in our hot dry summers . We do not have wet winters especially in the drought conditions we have now so that might be hard on them.

Was interesting to learn about a new to me plant.

I grew them in the Marshall Islands. It rained over 100 inches a year, and had warm weather all year. I think the southwest desert is way too dry to grow them successfully.
Edited to say that it might be ok in a greenhouse that doesn't get too warm in summer. Mine goes over 100 degrees F, so it wouldn't work for me.

Well Karen, that rain would definitely ru!e them out here!