I suggest you grow a grevillea and banksia garden. Come back and ask us how and we'll be bursting with advice ;)

Shanna,
at least you didn't get flamed for daring to ask about exotics on an Oz Native plant forum!

Try this link for more info...

Regards,
Shax

Here is a link that might be useful: Proteas

Shax, perhaps it is you who is in the firing line. Proteas native to Australia make up more than half those found worldwide and along with the suggestions made by Nathan that are the more commonly cultivated genera of Banksia (73) and Grevillea (250), Shanna could grow Australian Telopeas (4), Stenocarpus sp.(6), Hakea (125), Persoonia (45), Isopogon (35), Adenanthos (32) which are readily accessible and grow in many types of conditions from sand to water bogged clays and could be groundcovers to shrubs and large trees.

Credit to Shax's website link as it had some good info.

Sorry Shanna, no good websites to link to from me but perhaps some original soil conditions would be helpful as well as what you are trying to achieve. Important info is aspect with respect to new soil conditions sun, wind and rain.

I assume you want a fast draining sandy loam in a full sun position and you probably have a clay soil. If the plants that you have suit this then perhaps grade the soil to a low spot, put in some agricultural pipe and crushed rock and bring in atleast 300mm of your sandy loam. Be careful with fertiliser but you probably already know which to choose. I am basing this on the assumption of what people do in my area with the South African Varieties that like a fast draining soil compared to our clays. Having said that, in future you could choose proteas that are better suited to your soil type and hence limit the amount of raised garden beds that are needed.

For a special feature in any garden a weeping grevillea is sensational. Some clever people graft a ground covering Grevillea on to a 6ft Grevillea robusta with stunning results as a feature plant. Not sure if you can get one in the states Shanna but they do look great.

Here is a link to a page that show a couple of weeping Grevilleas amongst grafted grevilleas. You need to scrooll down and look at the pictures on the left. There are two shown

http://www.australisplants.com.au/ornamentals/graftedgrevilleas.htm

Danili

Here is a link that might be useful: Grafted grevilleas

Danili,
perhaps you are calling all members of the Proteaceae family "Proteas", but that just isn't so....

"There are over 114 species of protea in Africa, 82 of which occur in southern Africa. Of these 69 are found in the coastal region of Cape Province. The genus is in the family Proteaceae, which is confined to the southern hemisphere. Other plants in the same family are found in Australia (eg Banksia, Telopea and Hakea) and South America (eg Chilean fire bush - Embothrium coccineum)."
Have a look at this site...

Regards,
Shax

Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Thanks for the info, one & all.

I should have expected a certain amount of flak for posting here, but I couldn't find what needed elsewhere. So I will suffer your slings & arrows with a modicum of good humor.

Shax: I did mention that I was growing some Telopea (Wartarah ?sp?). Doesn't that count? I do have a lovely little 'Birthday Candles' Banksia, but it's doing so nicely in it's pot I really don't want to move it.

Danili: Well yes...I do have rather clay soil, but the primary reason I need raised beds is that:
#1: My yard has a nasty slope to it & am going to have to terrace it anyway.
#2: Along with all that clay, it is also bedrock (California Traverine to be exact).
#3: The nice people who built my house, sometime in the 30's, where kind enough to use the yard area for all sorts of noxious construction debris & large chuncks of concrete.
All of the above points lead to raised beds.

As to Grevilla...while I think it has interesting flowers, Grevilla has been planted to death, here in the Bay Area. I really don't think I need to add to their numbers. Although I must say that those grafted ones are very tempting.
Once again, THANK YOU for your links & your help in my quest.

Regards, Shanna

Now Shax: Let's be clear about this. If you read the initial post again you will see that Shanna is asking about Protea Species and then mentions four genera from the Proteaceae family. Allthough not strictly correct I understood what she was trying to say. The family Proteaceae is often referred to as the Protea family, hence the use of Proteas (Proteas is not a genus, Protea is. I can not use Protea in plural as you suggest as there is only the one genus of Protea). Clear as mud so far? Not to me.

If you care to read the post again I actually listed many genera of the proteacea family and did not call anyone of them a protea. I did use the term Proteas being short for Protea family though.

Perhaps I am using my cricket vernacular incorrectly when I used Proteas to refer the family of proteaceae.

Danili

Danili,

let's just assume that we were arguing semantics (although I've never before heard anyone refer to the Proteaceae family as generically "Proteas"!)...my big problem with this, though, is that I'm sick of going to the "Oz Native" sections of quite large nurseries and finding King Proteas and the like there...

However, for Shanna, yes, Telopea (Waratah) is my holy grail, and I wish you more success with them than I've had over 30 years or so!!!

Below, I've linked an informative and authoritative site that may help...

And if you want to cut and paste it, this is the most comprehensive site I've ever seen for pics of the (almost?) entire Proteaceae family...

http://www.anbg.gov.au/images/photo_cd/proteaceae/

Regards to you both,

Shax

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Waratahs

Proteas and Leucadendrons will enjoy damper conditions and heavier soils than Telopeas and Banksias. They will also handle colder conditions. They grow them commercially in New Zealand.

Hello Shanna,

If you have a problem with concrete building rubble, there are some Western Australian Banksias and Hakeas that suit alkaline conditions. For instance, I have a Royal Hakea (Hakea victoriae) against a boundary wall founded on concrete and it's doing OK.

The Australian National Botanic Garden site that Shax mentioned is a great resource if you want to do some research: http://www.anbg.gov.au

Also the Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants too - see the attached link.

Cheers,
Frank

Here is a link that might be useful: ASGAP

Shanna, I would suggest setting up a system that allows the Proteaceae to best prosper. Included in this calculation are:

1) Full or close to full sun
2) Good air movement
3) Drip as opposed to overhead watering
4) Acidic, fast-draining soil
5) Few weeds above the roots

In line with this, I set aside a gently sloping part of my yard for Proteaceae. I laid down a bunch of landscape fabric to cover the ground, then put down drip irrigation that snaked back and forth across the bed. On top of the irrigation I put down some lava rocks to make the bed look more aesthetically pleasing.

I have no weeds whatsoever, so the roots never have to worry about being disturbed. The bed is in full sun, and the gentle slope helps with air movement - the air is constantly circulating from the top to the bottom, which even as a gentle breeze helps prevent disease. The drip as opposed to overhead watering also helps prevent disease.

The only fertilizers I ever use (and I use them extremely sparingly) are an Iron and Soil Acidifier product, some epsom salts, and ammonium nitrate. The main purpose of the fertilizers is to offset the alkalinity of the irrigation water.

You can see some pictures of my bed in the link below, including how it went together. The pictures are a little dated - at the present time there are over 50 different plants in the bed, including several varieties of banksias, grevilleas, leucadendrons, leucospermums, proteas, hakeas, aulax, isopogon, and others. But no Serruria - I'm jealous.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of my Protea Bed

Hi kickstand-

WOW...your garden is superb!! Thanks for the great link to the photos.
I like the lava rock mulch and I bet it adds some early soil temps to your beds.

I also have found that an occasional feeding with a bit of slow release ammonium & iron is very beneficial.

Thanks Again!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Proteaceae Tubs

Shanna, it shouldn't be necessary to terrace your hillside for proteas, they actually do quite well planted here in clayish soils that slope, although it never hurts to amend soils for a looser soil mix for most all proteas. Get yourself down to UC Santa Cruz Arboretum this spring to see some really beautiful examples of both South African and Australian proteaceae species. I wouldn't rule out all grevilleas as being boring, certainly G. 'Robyn Gordon' and G. 'Superb' are as glorious in bloom as any Protea. The several Isopogons and Adenanthos species available here are also well worth growing. Throw in some of the beautiful Mint bushes/Prostranthera, and maybe some Anigozanthus flavidus hybrids, Pattersona, Pimeleas along with those Leucospermum and Leucadendrons you have in mind.

I really loved to see my one Telopea speciosissima bloom for the first time this spring, but was surprised to find that the bloom period is so short compared to the South African Pincushion Proteas and Leucadendrons. I would also highly recommend tree trimmings as a deep mulch as being ideal for cool root runs on your slope, the Proteacea family in general really respond well to this type of organic mulch.