Hello all! Sandi suggested I post my question here in the tropicals forum too..so here goes:

I have this lovely Protea plant before, though have not been successful making it bloom. I got it in 2008 and till recently was decently alive bot not blooming, just never ending leaves. Unfortunately summer this year, while I was away, my hubby decided to repot it while I was away, and the plant just dwindled and lost all the leaves, so I am not even sure if it is still alive. Hoping it will come back like other plants..does anyone have any experience on this plant?

Protea in the blue glazed pot Feb 2010


Here is how she looks now:

Difficult to tell the ID from that photo. Do you know which species it is? Is it genus Protea, or in the Protea family? They are predominantly temperate, not tropical plants. Mainly mediterranean climate, but there are some that grow in swamps, some up on mountain slopes, some in well drained sandy soils, etc. There's a huge variety with an equally huge variety in the conditions they require. And from equatorial to cool temperate.

It is genus Protea. I just posted this question here as per suggestion of Sandi. Thanks for all the info..I am just hoping this plant will decide to come back. I really love the flowers it had when I first got it. Have a nice day to all!

If you can come up with the species name, you might want to contact University of California at Santa Cruz for cultural information. Its arboretum has a fantastically large section devoted to the Proteaceae Family.

http://arboretum.ucsc.edu/
http://arboretum.ucsc.edu/abou...