Protea Clarks Red

Protea 'Clark's Red' is an exotic shrub that is not very hardy, but truly fascinating. It will delight amateur gardeners who enjoy challenges. It flowers all year round in favourable conditions, the floral heads resembling large flared cups, formed of almost red, velvety, rose-coloured bracts, from which powdery white stamens emerge. Flowers are extremely long-lasting in dried bouquets. Cultivating it in large pots is preferable, outside the mildest areas, as it will be imperative to shelter the plant when the first frosts occur.

The 'Clark's Red' protea is the result of cross-breeding between Protea repens, undoubtedly the easiest species to cultivate, and Protea aurea, in its form with red flowers. Both are perennial shrubby plants of the protea family, native to the Cape region in South Africa. They are strange plants in every way, and require fire for their seeds to germinate.

'Clark's Red' develops multiple thick, ramified stems from a single trunk, giving it a dense and rounded habit. It will reach a height of between 2 m (7ft) and 2.50 m, with a width that is roughly equivalent. The size will remain more modest if the subject is kept in a pot for indoor cultivation. It has alternate, elongated, leathery leaves that remotely resemble those of oleanders, but with a green-blue shade. They have the ability to absorb atmospheric humidity. The flowering theoretically takes place throughout the year, but mostly between March and August. The inflorescences are compound heads made of leathery, pink to red bracts, resembling badminton ruffles, and are carried at the terminal part of each branch. They measure 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4in) in diameter. The floral buds are elongated and pointed. The head opens up, the bracts open to reveal a red and velvety heart, with white, feathery stamens. The flowering attracts numerous pollinating insects and gives way to a few velvety seeds. The thick roots of this plant also serve as a storage organ. In their natural environment, in the event of a fire, proteas are capable of regenerating from their roots, fertilised by their own ashes.

The 'Clark's Red' protea is a sensational plant that leaves no one indifferent. It will preferably settle in coastal gardens spared by heavy frosts, in light soil that is not too chalky. Particularly suited to the Mediterranean climate, it can tolerate poor, dry to arid soils and will look good when grown as an isolated specimen on large slopes or in the background of dry garden beds, but always in an open position, in full sun. In an exotic garden, it can be associated with Tree Echiums, King protea, Euphorbia characias, Euphorbia mellifera, Giant scabious, Melianthus major, palm trees or hybrid mulleins.