Friday, July 22, 2022

Leucadendrons: A garden mainstay

I took a step back to assess my Leucadendron collection this week.  Commonly known as conebushes, these plants in the Proteaceae family are native to South Africa and generally adapt well to coastal Southern California's Mediterranean climate.  As it turns out, I published a post on the subject in 2018, which I'd forgotten about.  I've only added one plant within the last four years, bringing the current total to an even twenty shrubs.  However, my plants have grown a lot since 2018 and therefore have a greater presence in my garden.  In at least a few cases, they've gotten a bit out of hand but I'm putting off any serious pruning until cooler weather arrives in the fall.

There are seven Leucadendrons in my front garden.

This Wilson's Wonder' is one of the few plants that moved with me from my former tiny garden.  It was in a pot there but it exploded in size when planted in the ground.  Despite pruning twice a year, it's currently over 6 feet tall.  It's not allowed to spread as wide as it'd like here because my husband generally parks his truck in the driveway alongside it.

Since its last haircut in early spring, it's started flaunting its summer color

In winter it looks like this, sporting flower-like bracts surrounding a central cone

I've a total of 4 of the smaller 'Blush' variety shrubs.  This one sits next to the driveway.

'Safari Goldstrike' is supposed to be a "compact" variety growing 4-6 feet tall and wide.  This one is already at least 7 feet tall and leaning into some succulents below it.  It's on the list for pruning this fall.

This photo of its almost florescent early spring "flowers" was taken in 2018.  The plant's become too tall to get good photos of the flowers in recent years.

'Cloudbank Ginny' is my most recent introduction.  It's probably going to get too big for its spot and may have to move.  It has an interesting flower, which you can see here as I couldn't find any of my own photos to share.

My second 'Wilson's Wonder' sits in the middle of the front garden, placed deliberately to break up the view from one end of the area the other.  It gets more shade than the plant in the driveway area.  In the background on the right, you can see 'Safari Sunset', one of 2 in my garden.

'Safari Sunset' is paired here with 'Jubilee Crown' (left), which has a softer aspect than any of my other Leucadendrons

This closeup of 'Jubilee Crown's' foliage and cones was taken in May

 

There's only one Leucadendron in the south side garden, an area dominated by succulents

'Summer Red' is a more demure shrub, which grows just 3-4 feet in height

'Summer Red' looks very different in early January

 

The back garden has nine plants, some of which are grouped together.

'Safari Sunset' is paired with another 'Blush' shrub here

This trio consists of 'Jester', a variegated plant, flanked by 'Winter Red' on each side

'Pisa' is my tallest Leucadendron, effectively serving as a small tree.  It's said to lean in the wind, hence its name.

It glows in spring.  This photo was taken in May 2021.

This 'Jester', positioned under Arbutus 'Marina', doesn't develop the strong summer color shown by the shrub in full sun.  It also tends to have bare legs, hidden by the Pennisetum 'Fireworks' and Lobelia laxiflora planted in front of it.

Yet another 'Blush' sits alongside 'Jester'

I'm not positive which variety this is but I've previously identified it as 'Summer Red'.  It's also relatively small but, in the shade of another Arbutus 'Marina', it hasn't developed the reddish color of the specimen in the south side garden, at least not yet.


The remaining three plants occupy the north side garden.

This 'Blush', backlit and also in shady location, doesn't show the color that characterizes its sister plants

I did a poor job of positioning 'Ebony'.  Not only does it get a fair amount of shade but it's largely hidden by the plants surrounding it, which include Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite' in front, Grevillea sericea to its left, and Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' behind it.

Leucadendron 'Chief' so fills its space that it's hard to photograph.  I failed to prune it this spring when it finished flowering and I'm going to have a devil of a time whittling it down from its current height this fall.  This one is trying hard to reach its projected maximum height of 10 feet.

This closeup photo of its flower-like bracts was taken in January


As workhorses go, Leucadendron does a great job in my garden.  Thus far, all these plants are holding their own under our severe drought conditions.  I haven't tried one on my back slope, which gets relatively little water but, if we have a good rain year sometime in the future, I may give it a try there as well.


All material © 2012-2022 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

16 comments:

  1. I group of plants I really wish I could grow in my garden, and I enjoy seeing looking so great in your garden!

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    1. Even as I add more and more succulents, I can't imagine my current garden without Leucadendrons - or Grevilleas.

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  2. They are fabulous plants. The waves of foliage color that come and go are wonderful, no pests, easy care, tidy...they are truly awesome. The way they turn into stained glass windows of glow when backlit. So fortunate we can grow them here!

    Still sorry I killed 'Pisa'--twice. Have not seen it for sale since.

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    1. I hadn't even considered the pest issue, HB - I've never seen a single pest on any of my Leucadendrons either. 'Pisa' is worth another try if you can find it. If I come across any, I'll let you know. I've no recollection or record of where I got mine. Mine could have used more careful pruning as it grew and now I'm afraid to prune it back too hard.

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  3. I do like your collection Kris! Maybe 'Summer Red' would fit in my garden. I wonder how it would do here. Hmm...

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    1. I don't know how much rain your area gets but I expect it's a lot more than we do, even if a good year, so 'Summer Red' might need special provisions for drainage if you could find it. Out of curiosity, I checked Plant Delights and they don't carry anything in the genus, which is probably not a good sign regarding its availability in your part of the country.

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  4. You have a great collection-I'm a little jealous ! I removed my Safari Goldstike this summer - as you experienced it grew much larger than advertised-mine was in the 8ft range. I kept cutting it back over and over so it could no longer photo-synthesize and I used loppers, my pruning saw and eventually an ax to get it out. The final removal was last week so I now have some open space .

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    1. For a "compact shrub," 'Safari Goldstrike' surprised me, Kathy. It seemed to grow very quickly too and now towers over its neighbors. Hopefully I can take it down a peg or two without causing it too much harm.

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  5. I thought I knew all the Leucadendron in your garden, but then there is Pisa, which I don't remember seeing (or recognizing) before: a tree! I equally surprised with Leucadendron 'ebony'. How tall is it, and how large will it get? It looks like a show piece to me.
    Chavli

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    1. 'Pisa' is a beauty, Chavli, especially in spring. I'm afraid mine has lost some of its shape, which is probably why I've failed to feature it often within the past couple of years.

      According to San Marcos Growers, 'Ebony' grows 3-4 feet tall and 3-5 feet wide. Mine, however, is currently about 6 feet tall and less than 3 feet wide. I suspect its size and shape here is due to it being crowded and the fact that it doesn't get the full sun recommended for it. It hasn't ever "bloomed" either but it's otherwise healthy. I underestimated the mature size of virtually all the plants around it and neglect to prune most of them as often as I should so it doesn't shine as it should.

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  6. Thanks for this post Kris, it’s very useful, particularly as you have shown photos of how each plant appears at various times of the year. I’ve not been able to find that kind of info online before.

    I was also interested to read that some of your plants get pruned twice a year. I would have thought you’d be cutting off the flowering wood if you did that, but that mustn’t be the case?

    Ebony is gorgeous. I’d love to get my hands on it but have never seen it in Aus.

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    1. Twice a year pruning hasn't seemed to impact flowering for me, Horticat. In fact, the gardeners, who maintain our hedges, seem to believe that the 'Wilson's Wonder' in the driveway is a hedge, and insist on cutting it back, even when I've already done that so it periodically gets hacked a third time :(

      'Ebony is apparently a naturally occurring sport of 'Safari Sunset'. It cost a small fortune when it was first sold here but one grower apparently confused it with 'Safari Sunset', labeling and pricing it as such. I was lucky enough to spot it.

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  7. I don't think I'd clocked before that 'Pisa' was achieving tree-like proportions! A coastal garden a few miles north of me is trialing a leucadendron, they don't know which one, but unlike my garden the site has extremely sharp drainage. 'Safari Sunset' is supposedly zoned to 8 so might be worth a try. I think it's safe to say that the conebushes love your garden, Kris, which would suggest an exposed site with lots of air circulation is what they need to thrive.

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    1. I expect my fast-draining, sandy soil is a big part of the equation, Denise. And, after a couple of early mistakes, I avoid getting any fertilizer containing phosphorus anywhere near them.

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  8. This is such a great reference post because it shows so many cultivars in one garden!

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