Protea magnifica – Queen Protea
With attractive long lasting flowers on a bushy shrub the Queen protea or Protea magnifica will reach around 2m with a similar spread.
Foliage is a grey / green and the large pink flowers are an attraction from spring to summer. Flowers are cone shaped, deep rosy pink and green outer bracts. A wonderful garden plant and excellent for cut flowers as well.
Varieties
Literally dozens of named cultivars plush lots of hybrids, popular varieties include:
- Protea magnifica x pudens – lowing growing cultivar, excellent as a groundcover plant or in a container.
- Protea magnifica ‘possum magic’ – Reaches around 2m in height, orange and red flowers.
- Protea magnifica x longifolia
Care
Requiring a position in full sun and a well drained soil the Queen protea is well suited to many areas of Australia. It will cope well with long dry spells and is reasonably frost tolerant. However it is not suited to humid tropical conditions.
Summary
Botanical Name : Protea magnifica
Origin : South Africa
Position : Full sun – well drained soil
Flowering period : Spring to Summer
Pruning
If you pick the protea flowers chances are you will be doing all the pruning you need.
Protea’s flower on one year old growth, so this years non flowering shoots will be next years flowers. So prune after flowering for best results.
You can prune back by 50% to reshape the plant if need, however you will need to leave around 15cm of foliage as a minimum to prevent die back.
Problems
No flowers
- Too much shade
- Lack of water in autumn and winter
- Plant is immature