Protea Pink Crown

Protea Pink Crown is a hybrid protea with great ornamental value, whose cultivation requires, like all proteas, a certain know-how. This truly fascinating shrub will be a source of pride of gardeners who love challenges. The floral heads, enormous and shaped like flared cups, evoke well-developed artichokes, where the white of the powdery stamens and the tender salmon pink of the large peripheral bracts blend harmoniously with beautiful, slightly glaucous foliage that resembles that of certain eucalyptus. The flowering, which takes place from spring to winter depending on the climate, is very long-lasting in dry bouquets. Cultivating it in a large pot is preferable, outside the mildest areas of our country, not only to control the composition of the growing medium, but also because it is imperative to protect the plant as soon as the first frosts occur.

The 'Pink Crown' protea is a recent creation, still not widely available in the French horticultural trade. It is a descendant of the Protea cynaroides, a widely distributed botanical species in South Africa, variable in terms of colour and shape, adapted to many mountainous environments. Both are perennial shrubs of the protea family, native to the Cape region in South Africa. Strange in every respect, they require fire for their seeds to germinate.

'Pink Crown' develops multiple thick stems, branching from the base and suckering. It will reach an average height of 1 m (3ft) and slowly spreads over time. It bears long red petioles with alternate, elongated and pointed, tough leaves that have the ability to absorb atmospheric moisture. Flowering occurs from April to October, or even in winter. The inflorescences are large heads, carried at the terminal part of each branch. They measure from 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12in) in diameter. Mature and well-established plants can produce up to ten heads per season. The flower buds resemble magnificent artichokes with pearly scales. The head opens, the white and salmon pink bracts open onto a fluffy cone, white to very pale pink, as if powdered. The flowering attracts many pollinating insects and gives way to a few velvety seeds, almost as large as walnuts. The thick roots of this plant also serve as a storage organ. In case of fire, the protea is capable of regenerating from its roots, fertilised by its own ashes.

The 'Pink Crown' protea is a sensational plant that does not leave anyone indifferent. It will settle well in coastal gardens spared from heavy frosts, in light, poor, not too chalky soil. Particularly adapted to the Mediterranean climate, it thrives in poor, dry to arid soils and will look good when grown as a standalone specimen on large slopes or in the back of dry garden beds, but always in an open position, in full sun. In an exotic garden, it can be associated with Tree Echium or Pride of Madeira, Puyas, Euphorbia characias, Euphorbia mellifera, Giant Fennel, Leucadendrons, Melianthus major, palms (Trachycarpus fortunei, Sabal minor) or hybrid mulleins.