Anigozanthus flavidus is one of the easiest to grow, and best to slightly abuse here in northern California, but does do best with perfect drainage and siting to keep it dry and sheltered from cold wet winds in winter. As it is native to seasonally swampy peaty soils in western Australia, it shouldn't reasonably be expected to have much frost tolerance, but it does take short periods of low 20'sF and come back from the roots. In fact, it is often burnt back to the roots to generate fresh foliage free of black ink spot disease, which is also very common on older plants here, and eventually disfigures the plant and weakens it. So losing top growth annually to frost shouldn't be an issue if the plant has strong roots. This plant does best with good drainage, full sun, and good air circulation. It will continue to bloom into winter here if given some protection from extreme wet and winds. If you have room to bring it into a cool greenhouse or sunporch, and treat it as a container plant, you will no doubt have a larger more vigorous plant come summer. If they are available as vigorous one or five gallon plants in spring from California, this might be a more practical way of enjoying the plant. One of my personal favorites, but then they look great here at least 10 months of the year, and are not at all demanding. I highly recommend the cultivar 'Harmony' for deeper, lusher green foliage and beautiful deep orange red stems and yellow flowers on stalks to 5 or 6 feet tall.

I agree that A. flavidus would be better than A. manglesii. My excusion with A.manglessii almost turned me away from 'roo paws - but thankfully, I am a revived believer. I also live in Perth, WA, where the 'roo paws originate. I thought some of the 'roo paws also grow in the South west, where it can get pretty cold (but not snowy cold) and does get a bit more temperate summers. As WA is such a large state, our temperature conditions do vary considerably, so although most of the state is hot and sunny, there are big chunks of it (generally south), which are not. I think modern gardeners can grow almost anything, provided that they try and mimic the plant's optimal growing conditions. Muscat trish - I don't see why you can't take them indoors provided that they get some sun from a window. Alternatively, have you tried shade cloth? Make sure you keep up water. I found that my 'roo paws needed water in our hot summers. Marie from Wyoming - I am not sure about how you could source some 'roo paws - but you could try some of the online Aus. nurseries. As for wind and rain, certainly A. flavidus is ok with it. As Follicle says, A. manglessii does not cope with humidity too well. As for drought resistant gardens, I know nothing about locally indigenous plants from Wyoming, but have you thought about what local plants grow well? If you want to venture into Australian plants, there are plenty of Australian plants which are fantastic in drought prone climates, but still need watering for the first year or two. Thereafter, they literally fend for themselves. Depending on what type of garden you are after - you can also think about some other exotic plants which need little summer watering (eg figs, olives, rosemary).

Hi You should not feed sick plants and be careful which fertiliser you use as some Natives don't like phosphorus How about asking here on the Oz Garden Galley down the bottom of this Arch and Clematis link Yes we are discussing Kangaroo Paws Here is a link that might be useful: Black Kangaroo Paw.

The seeds of Kangaroo Paws are located at the base of the flower, where there is what looks like a swelling. Finger pressure will tell you that it is firm and when shattered between the fingers you can see the segments which contain the seed and some chaff. Place the drying old flowers in a paper bag to finish drying off and squeeze the base of each flower to break it apart to obtain the seed. According to Murray Ralph's book on propagating from seed, the seed of Macropidia is viable for 8 years. However seed is difficult to germinate. Soaking seed in hot water for 15 minutes may improve results. Natural weathering of seed sown in a pot has been successful with seed germinating in the second autumn following soaking. Smoke treatment has not been successful.