DavidLMO said:@crowgarden

Which protea (I presume) are these?

I believe they are a protea, sorry I do not know what the variety is...took the pics in NZ.

Oh my goodness, that Protea is amazing ... really beautiful!!!

Many years ago for our anniversary, my husband stopped at a local florist and got me an arrangement that contained a few flowers that he thought were unusual and different looking. I thought they were the ugliest things I'd ever seen but of course I never told him that and I liked whatever the other blooms were in the arrangement. I had no clue what the "unusual" flowers were so I called the florist who told me that they were Protea. It was so long ago that I don't remember much about them or even the color, just that the flowers with somewhat closed petals. I haven't seen a flower arrangement containing Protea since then (early 1970's) so I'm assuming they aren't readily available here in Florida ... but I have seen photos of some really gorgeous Protea blooms and now I think they are really amazing!

Lin, They're alive and well in Ca.! I was at a orchid/exotic plants show over the weekend and there was a vendor selling both plants and arrangements. They weren't cheap, but they were selling.

When I owned my flower shop I was reknown for my "exotic" arrangements - particularly for sympathy pieces. They can really make a statement. Protea, Bird of Paradise, liatris, Leucadendron & Leucospermum together are really something. I also made a few at Valentines.

Quite expensive though.

Some nifty stuff WRT protea here:

http://www.finebushpeople.com/

Interesting read! Convinced me not to waste my money, as I have all of the wrong elements for success.

I've always heard the proteas hate humidity, tho I think there are some a little more tolerant of it - mostly depending on the origin of the variety. Same with phosphorus - the varieties from Australia won't tolerate it, but the varieties from African will (at least to some degree). A long while back - maybe 15 or so years ago - I did a lot of reading up on them because I love them, but just have never seriously tried growing any.

I've seen them growing in gardens and at San Diego Wild Animal Park...both inland in the drier areas, but not many of them. Not where I live.

I saw lots of them on the Big Island in Hawaii. Very striking for sure.

This is one of the few things that I have not grown from seed. I was gonna order some seed, but of the 2 that I chose, neither had seeds available. heh

I loved the look of the protea as soon as I saw a pic of it. Then I read up on it. Special fertilizer requirements did me in. I am not nearly organized enough to have plants with special needs. But I do so love the pretty flower.