Its a nice colour Bill, is it related to Wormwood?.It looks much the same shade of Grey- green and similar bark on the trunk. I'm pruning ours and love the aroma of the leaves. Old van Gogh was supposed to have gone a bit crazy after drinking a brew from wormwood. chas

Hi funnelweb, appreciate your reply but Phytophthora is a serious issue in the bush and we have to be careful. On the issue of "is it or is it not" a fungus - and this is a sidetrack to the real issue - Phytophthora is a member of the Kingdom Chromalveolata where as a fungus is a member of the Kingdom Fungi - in the evolutionary process both are thought to have had a common ancestor but took different evolutionary paths. And yes, scientists are still arguing over the above points. The real issue with Phytophthora is stopping the spread - I live in an area with no recorded Phytophthora infestations and yet often work in Phytophthora infected sites and the last thing I want to do is bring the disease into my area. In applying Phytopthora protocols to ensure I am not responsible for the spread I have to assume that every site I work on is Phytopthora free and thus I apply the correct practices at every site to protect that site. Never assume that Phytopthora is everywhere - it isn't. Do you know for certain if you have Phytopthora on your property? Has this been confirmed by the authorities? If yes, what steps do you take to ensure you don't spread the disease to areas that are not affected? Phytopthora can be spread by soil particles on your boots, do you think about that when you go for a bushwalk? The chances of Phytopthora spreading from Australia are remote as most Australian natives are propogated in the USA by seed or cutting, not be Jumbos loaded with 6" potted plants, and even then the soil would have to be treated to be Phytopthora free. I really don't think we need to be putting the fear of Phytopthora into "jeeboo" or any of our other overseas friends who are discovering a passion for our wonderful Australian natives.

Gees funnelweb, after all the mucking about you must have gone through to post those pictures, I hope you're not rushed off your feet with eager responses.

Here is an update: I have continued to water the Hakea with distilled water. The intent is to flush out nutrients (or at the least make an attempt to lower nutrient concentration). The 'Cluster roots' common to proteaceae are especially efficient at uptaking nutrients - this leads to an increased chance for toxic levels of nutrients which may lead to premature senescence (which I believe to be the problem my hakea is experiencing) among other things. The first few weeks of flushing the pot with distilled water resulted in a growth spurt (albeit a relative small amount of growth). Additionally, the senescence had halted on the older leaves (ie leaves before new "growth spurt"). While this seemed promising, the hakea has once again halted its growth and has continued with senescence (or what I believe to be senescence). It seems to be spreading faster through the "older leaves" but does not seem to have effected the leaves from the "growth spurt" yet. I am not too optimistic about this hakea's survival - she's looking rough! I would still appreciate any advice from people ho have experience with hakeas or other proteaceae. Also if a reader would be so kind as to provide me with a better description of the soil that constitutes native Australian soil, or soil that Australian natives naturally occur in, I would be very grateful for your time & assistance. Until next time, James.