I love this one! Here is a link that might be useful: elizabeth reed photo website

Well I must have way over 100 seeds from the 4 pods. I did the unthinkable and soaked them all thinking that most of them wouldn't germinate. Wrong! But even though most of them did germinate they don't look good. Most of them are turning an angry red, the bulb and root, as you can see. A few years ago Del suggested that I soak some of my PapExStasy sibling seeds (that were red also and only about 4 of them) in some captan laced water and I did. The four seeds did grow (I labeled them and kept them separated from the others) but they are much smaller and not as vigirous as the others. I would say by the size of them that they would take 4 yrs to bloom if at all. So, I'm hoping I can salvage a few of these seeds that don't turn red..Oh well, you can't win them all...Donna

In LA it will appreciate periodic summer irrigation as long as drainage is good, but they are prone to phytopthera attack, so it is best to mulch to keep the soil cooler, and only water at night/early morning when soil temps are cooler. I's sugggest using an organic amendment such as cottonseed meal or alfalfa to help acidify the soil and provide essential nitrogen. You'll probably find it easier to grow proteas if you have more coastal influence and don't get too hot in the summer. I've had good luck with 'Tango' in a large glazed container for several years now in a cooler Sunset zone 16/17 microclimate, where it is already budding up to bloom. It generally blooms about 4 to 5 months for me under our local conditions, and has been a relatively easy Leucospermum to grow. Even easier to grow is Protea "Pink Ice', which doesn't require sandy and/or acidic soils to survive, and will also tolerate quite abit more summer heat and winter frost and still thrive.

I have two Leucospermum right next to each other - one is browning (to the right of hte lights) and the other is doing fine (on the left). Both went in about 2 months ago - both bloomed wonderfully. Well drained soil (basic tropical plant soil around root ball and then I live on a sand dune a few feet further down - So Cal within 1/2 mile from coast). Ideas of what might be going wrong?