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Protea Cynaroides (The King Protea)
In the florists section of a supermarket last week I spied a single stem of this lovely flower selling for $10.00 and I guess that’s not too bad considering one flower fills a vase and makes a gorgeous statement and the flower should last for three weeks. It is very early to see King Protea flowers as they bloom in the spring but nature has been playing funny tricks in the garden recently.
Protea cynaroides is the national flower of its homeland, South Africa where it grows to perfection in the dry acid soils that are baked in summer but kept moistened in winter. Our coastal soils suit it well and it is one of the easier and more enduring Proteas to grow. Once established it even handles frosts well.
Protea cynaroides has a naturally sprawling habit and needs to be well pruned to encourage upward growth. If you let it get unruly the heavy flowers at the ends of the sprawling branches will flop out, requiring support, otherwise the weight will break the branches. It is the only Protea you can safely prune back to the ground and it will send up new shoots. Prune in summer after flowering and at other times to keep unwanted side shoots at bay. Stems are thick so lopers are required to get a clean cut.
The flower heads are enormous, up to 30cms in diameter. The encircling bracts are commonly pink, but varying from pale pink to red. These bracts are covered with silky down and in the centre of the bloom is a soft dome of white florets. There is an exquisite white flowered variant called P. cynaroides Arctic Ice which flowers from late winter. It is much more upright growing with very long stems.
This Protea has been around for a long time as it was first introduced to Britain in 1774 where it was prized as a conservatory plant. However we are lucky to grow it easily in our light soils.
 Closeup of flower
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