Protea magnifica

queen protea

Second-largest flower among proteas. Grows at high elevations in the Southwest Cape Region of South Africa. Long-lasting cut flower. Loves gritty soil. Unusually cold-hardy.

Altura	6–8 pies
Ancho	5–7 pies
Tolera	Frío, Sequía, Calor, Macetas, Viento
Riego	Bajo – Moderado
Proteas are well adapted to our Mediterranean climate, making them carefree plants with bountiful rewards. After a few years, when your protea is established, it will want deep watering every couple weeks, though it will tolerate more if the drainage is excellent. Protea respond very poorly to clay soils, especially if they are overwatered. If you just have to plant one in your clay garden, mounding or planting on a slope can help. Also amending with liberal minerals such as lava or pumice helps.
Resiste hasta	18 °F
Exposición	Sombra parcial – Pleno sol
Características	Con flores, Barrera visual, Arbusto
Interior / exterior	Exterior
Drenaje	En el suelo: mezcla para cactus, En maceta: mezcla para cactus, Tolera suelo arenoso
Fertilización	Harina de sangre, Emulsión de pescado, Necesita poco, Sin fósforo
Origen	Sudáfrica
Nativa de California	No
Zonas Sunset	8, 9, 14–16, 18–23

Notas de cultivo

Bloom season is typically June to January.

The queen protea is one of the longest lived in the genus and plants are known to live thirty years or more in a garden setting.

Proteas can be kept smaller by pruning, but don't prune more than two years of growth where there are no leaves and the branches are woody. Proteas can even be espaliered or pruned into a loose informal screen.

By tip-pinching buds early on (each time they have grown a few leaves), you can force your protea to become more dense. Since they bloom on the terminal buds, this will delay flowering.

Proteas have evolved to live in very poor soils, and so they should never have phosphorus fertilizer, which many a grower has learned the hard way. If you give your protea all-purpose fertilizer, it'll likely be completely dead within a couple weeks. They do respond well to light acidic fertilizer, such as cotton seed meal, or nitrogen fertilizers such as blood meal and fish emulsion. Generally it's better to sit back and see how the plant grows without fertilizer, which is typically not needed.

Tolerates wind, but not salty coastal wind which can cause browning of the leaves. Does not thrive where fog and mist are a constant.

Interés especial

While cultivated plants are selected for a round bushy form, this species has a wide variation in habitat; some forms grow prostrate along the ground while others grow into full sized trees!

Esta información refleja las observaciones de Grubb and Nadler y de nuestra comunidad de amantes de las plantas. Siempre tomamos en cuenta las aportaciones de otros horticultores y agradecemos los comentarios de quienes tengan más información sobre el cultivo de esta planta.

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