Protea Repens - Sugarbush

Protea Repens are a species of protea that are widely grown due to their hardiness and versatility.  They can be grown in a wide range of environments and are famous for being the first protea ever to be grown outside of South Africa, their native environment.  

We planted some Protea Repens around four years ago now, and are just starting to be able to pick the flowers in useful numbers.  They've been slow to establish but I blame that on lack of experience and the fact that we planted them in summer - certainly not something we'd do now.  Planting proteas, I have learned from experience, is best done during the winter months.  But nevertheless, they have begun to really grow well now, and I'm certainly enjoying the stunning flowers they are beginning to produce.

Protea Repens is commonly known as Sugarbush.  This is because of the large amounts of nectar that the flower can produce.  The whole flower has an appearance of being waxy or shiny, due to the stickiness of the nectar.  It has no fringing or fur like many proteas have, and it has more elongated or geometric look to the flowers.  It naturally occurs in a range of colours from white or very pale yellow through to pink and red.  We bought red Repens, but have found as they've started flowering that we have some pinks and even one or two yellow forms.  

In the photo above, you can see the shiny quality that the flowers sometimes have.  It also shows the difference in colour between a red Repens and a pink.

The Protea Repens really stand out in a bouquet with their pointed petals splaying out.  As they open the central mass is revealed.  The two flowers on the left and centre have white centres and the flower at the bottom right has a red central mass.  Having bought plants of all one colour, I'm still to find out if the flowers are different due to conditions or genetics. Its nice to have a variety though!

In South Africa, there are Repens that flower throughout the seasons, depending upon their origins.  Mine flower in autumn and into winter.  It's lovely to have such a cheery flower blooming at this time.  As you can see in the above picture, the red Repens really stand out with their intense cheery colour.  

The delicate pink tinting on the lighter coloured Repens accentuates the pointed triangular tips of the flowers.

Such a pretty flower! 

Banksia Occidentalis

Banksia Occidentalis is a Western Australian banksia from the coastal areas around Esperence.  Its natural habitat there is low lying sandy areas that are sometimes inundated with water for a period of time, giving this gorgeous flower the unflattering name of Swamp Banksia. 

 This makes it stand out from the crowd though, as it can tolerate more moist soils than other banksias which usually prefer very free draining soil.  Banksias, like many Australian native flowers, are part of the protea family.  As a "protea grower" I was keen to try some banksias to see how they would fare on my Tasmanian hillside, so I did a test plant of some of these stunning flowers. 

The bushes were tiny tubestock when I planted them out into the paddock just over 3 years ago. I have been really surprised at how vigorously they've grown.  I hate to think how tall they'd be if I hadn't pruned them regularly each spring and autumn - they are between 2 and 3 metres high as it is.  This coming year will be the test of whether I can keep them small enough to pick, or whether they'll get away from me.

I've been really happy with the amount of flowers they've produced this autumn too.  Some of the flowers are unusable as they grow out from the base at odd angles.  I'm still learning about training the plants to produce flowers where I'd like them to be ... and unsure if that's even possible!  The flower spikes in this picture are just reaching the stage of development where they begin to turn red.

In this picture you can see flower spikes at different stages of development - a green spike at the bottom middle of the picture is the earliest stage, then the spikes begin to thicken and "puff" out, creating the familiar tidy rows of stamen.  The red flower spike still has a few days to go before its ready to pick.  I've found that the colour needs to develop on the plant, so I let the colour intensify before I pick.

In this macro shot, you can see the structure of the flower which produces seeds prolifically.  

Most of my plants produce entirely red flowers but one bush makes these two-tone blooms with yellow at the base and red on the outside.  

A macro shot of the two-tone flower reveals how the colours are produced.

Flowers that are left unpicked continue to open.  In the final stage of maturity, the previously neatly folded stamen pop out creating tunnels that bees love to bury themselves in.  Flowers picked at this stage won't last as long in a vase but if they're picked before the unfolding process begins, you get to watch it happen.

Their colour and structure are really eye-catching in an arrangement!

Look out for them during the late summer and autumn months!

Autumn Flush

We're well into Autumn now and we are finally getting some autumn weather.  We have had a long hot summer here in Tasmania, with some record temperatures lingering well into March.  But I think the Indian Summer has drawn to a close now, and the rain and cooler weather has arrived.  Autumn is often thought of as a season where things wind down and nature gets ready for the hibernation of winter, but here in Australia that's not the case.  We see a definite autumn flush of growth.  The Leucadendrons particularly flourish in Autumn.  Mid to late summer, they start to push out their new stems for the season and it seems that they almost grow while you watch them.  They can grow such long stems - up to 1 metre - in just a few weeks.  Above are a crop of Safari Sunset,  with their flower heads just firming up and plumping out, almost ready for picking.  

It's as if the cooler weather gives them new energy and they thrive.  New seasons growth is always so bright and clear, and the colour seems to really glow.  These are our Red Gem, just ready for harvesting now.  

These Sylvan Red Leuco's have shot up over the last few weeks but their flower heads are still small and not well formed.  If you pick them too early, their heads flop and their colour fades quickly.

There are plenty of fresh Pink Ice Protea which the bees are loving.  I found three different species of bees in this flower at the one time.

It's great to see some of our new plants flourishing with the autumn weather too.  This Leucadendron is a hybrid called Lemon Spice.  It's stems have shot up over the past couple of weeks and it seems to be reaching for the sky.  This lovely pale yellow flower with a tight tulipy shape won't be ready until spring but most of its stem length will be put on in autumn.  

These new Protea Compacta plants have doubled in height over the past couple of months.  The long stems have small flower heads hidden in the rosette of leaves at the top.  These will be lovely deep pink flowers with a rich red centre.  I'm looking forward to picking the first usable flowers from these plants this year.  We planted them as tiny tube stock coming up to 3 winters ago.  

The Thryptomene is starting to form tiny red flower buds all along its branches, ready to burst into a mass of white flowers later in the year. 

Autumn is a lovely season in Tasmania.  There are still warm days, but the air is fresh and the grass greener than in summer.  The sunsets are spectacular in autumn too.  

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for some tips on keeping cut flowers fresh for longer, and some amazing plant geometry I'm hoping to share with you.  

Lovely Leuco's Part 2

Sylvan Red is a variety of Leucadendron that we grow at Swallows Nest.  They are a well known variety and a popular cut flower.  They are similar to the Safari Sunset I first featured with a few exceptions.  They are a brighter red, as you can see, and they are finer, with almost a more pointy end to the leaves and flower bracts.  They are finer in the stem too, but they can still grow an incredible length - up to 1 mt. They really glow in the sunlight on the farm, but the smell is something I can't capture with a camera.  There is a faint sweetness to their perfume which makes picking them a real joy.  They are at their peak at the moment, but left unpicked will change colour in early winter and become multicoloured red and yellow, opening to reveal the pollen presenters inside.  

Sugar Bush

It is generally thought that winter isn't a great time for flowers, but proteas are the exception to this.  There are many protea species that flower in autumn and winter, when other flowers are hard to find.  They grow through spring and summer, sending up long stems, and then in autumn they set buds and begin to flower.  Three years ago, we planted some new proteas called Protea Repens or Sugar Bush.  They have flowered for the first time this season, beginning in autumn, and continuing now into early winter.  I am delighted with them.   They are quite different to our standard Pink Ice protea.  They are waxy rather than hairy (!) and don't have the silvery bloom that many common proteas have.  When we have a new flower, I love to put a few on my kitchen windowsill and watch them open over days and weeks - I guess as a kind of road test!  Here are some of our new beauty.

We have spectacular sunsets at Swallow Nest Farm.  I think that the autumn sunsets are the best.  Its something about the autumn light here in Tasmania - and probably helped by a bit of smoke from Forestry burn offs.  This was the sunset that provided the soft lighting in the protea photo above it.

As the Sugar Bush flower opens, its colour starts to soften, and the centre structure starts to collapse into a wider, less tidy shape. I think its quite beautiful.

The Silver Tree

At Swallows Nest Farm, we grow one of the most beautiful foliage plants of the proteaceae family.  It's commonly named the Silver Tree, but its actually a Leucadendron with the proper name of Leucadendron Argenteum.  (Just Latin for silver, really!)  It really does look spectacular at this time of year, and provides the most beautiful soft textured foliage with a silvery green colour that perfectly compliments the other proteas flowering at the same time.

The Silver Tree does actually grow to small tree proportions, but if it is picked regularly, like it is in the cut flower trade, it remains at a reachable height.  Some of our trees have been unpruned for a while and we were so excited to find that the female trees began to produce the most spectacular cones.  They begin as a soft silvery green, like the leaves, but look like they are made of metal.  When they dry, you end up with a beautifully structured cone, about the size of a tennis ball, on the end of a long stem.  They make a great statement in a vase, as a dried flower.

The bark of the Silver Tree is unusual too.  In their native South Africa, they were at one stage used as a firewood tree, because they grow quickly and burn well.  It's unusual wood - quite light, but the bark! I think it looks like elephant skin!

It's a remarkable tree, and we love growing it!

Early Autumn

Autumn is a busy time in the flower farm.  There are many proteas that flower over autumn and winter, and the cooler weather also brings a chance for clearing away the excess growth of summer.  There are so many weeds!  But I love the beginning of the cooler weather.  It seems like the plants are invigorated again after being a bit tired and weary at the end of summer.

Protea Pink Ice,  a cut flower industry staple, is absolutely sparkling at this time of year.  Beautiful clear pink flowers with icy white tips and clean, clear foliage are bursting out all over the bushes.  If you're buying these flowers, here is a tip - pick ones that are not quite fully open.  You'll get a much longer vase life.  Most people go for the really big, open flowers, but these are just at the end of their vase life and will quickly discolour and collapse.

Late summer and early autumn also brings out my favourite flower that we grow here at Swallows Nest Farm. Its called Brunia Albiflora.  Its not technically a protea, but it is native to South Africa and is a spectacular, sought after cut flower with beautiful long strait stems topped with stunning glowing silver balls of tightly packed flower buds.  Its very architectural and looks fabulous en masse, or as an accent in a mixed arrangement.

Brunia Albiflora is not a plant you'll find at your local nursery.  They are quite difficult to propagate and as a result its difficult to come by these plants, even as a grower.  I was very excited last year when we managed to get hold of some plants from Victoria and so we have dramatically increased our future production of these rare and beautiful flowers.  I can't wait!

Brunia's silvery balls will begin to burst into tiny rings of flowers at this time of the year.  Each ball will begin flowering in a ring around the outer edge of the ball and slowly, the flowers will open inwards until the whole ball is covered in tiny flowers.  Some people prefer the plant before the flower comes out, others like it both ways.

I always like to have some of the current season's flowers on my windowsill in the kitchen, as a reminder of whats going on outside.  I could tell you I'm doing experiments in vase-life,  but really I'm just enjoying the produce!

Whatever you do, if you are lucky enough to come by some of these flowers, don't throw them out when they are past their best.  They make spectacular dried flowers and keep for years.  You don't need to do anything fancy with them.  Just take them outside and strip off the tiny needle-like leaves so the stalks don't shed.  Then they are good to go in a vase again for a dried flower arrangement.