Isopogon formosus

Isopogon formosus is an Australian bush still rare in cultivation. It forms a ramified, dense and bushy mass clothed with green, spiny and finely cut foliage. In winter, the leaves take on purple shades, which beautifully complement its pale and fluffy floral buds. They bloom in spring, in beautiful conical and fluffy deep pink inflorescences. It fears cold, but is, however, much easier to cultivate than its protea cousins. Elegant and fascinating, it works wonders in a dry or exotic garden, alongside leptospermum, melaleuca, or mimosa.

Isopogon formosus is a perennial shrub of the Proteaceae family. It is endemic to the hot and dry regions of southwestern Australia. It is found on sandy, lateritic (red, rich in iron oxides, poor in fertilising elements, leached and impoverished in silica), well-drained soils, in the heathlands and dry forests, in the sun. Isopogon formosus is evergreen.

The plant, charmingly named "rose cone flower", shows a rounded and ramified habit. While it can reach 2m (7ft) in its native lands, it rarely exceeds 1.5m (5ft) in all directions under our latitudes. The branches and twigs are covered with a grey and smooth bark. The adult leaves, 4 to 5cm (2in) long, are dark green, grooved, leathery, and deeply divided into almost cylindrical and slightly prickly segments. The young leaves are red at their ends, and are slightly pubescent, as are the young twigs. The foliage sometimes takes on beautiful purple tones under the effect of the cold. The globose and conical fluffy floral buds form in winter, at the end of the twigs. The spectacular flowering takes place from March to May, depending on the climate. The inflorescences, 5cm (2in) wide, are composed of a multitude of small tubular flowers of a deep pink, equipped with a long bright yellow style becoming red at maturity. They open from the outside towards the interior of a central cone that appears covered with pink scales and lengthens as the flowers wilt. These cones are filled with seeds and dry over time. They can persist for a long time on the twigs, sometimes until the death of the bush. They only release the seeds under certain conditions, for example after the passage of fire. 

With its similarity in appearance to a giant heather or compact cypress, and its flowers in pink cones, Isopogon formosus is a structuring plant for a dry garden or a large rockery. Plant in isolation or in a bed composed of austral plants: leptospermum, melaleuca, and callistemons will be good companions, as well as the evergreen ceanothus, covered with blue flowers in spring. Plant in sheltered coastal gardens, spared by harsh frosts, in light, poor, sandy soil. It is content with dry to arid soils, and will look good in isolation, on large slopes or in the background of dry garden beds, but always in full sun.