Went back to get a personal tour from Ron, the S. Afr garden curator. Talked me through their propagation and cultivation methods for their Proteas, which was good to hear. People in S Afr swear that most Protea are hardy to -10C (12F), which would put them hardy to z8b. Since Portland is z8b, I have subsequently ordered 1400 seeds from South Africa to start in my soon to be greenhouse. I grew about 100 Protea seeds last year and I learned a lot about what kills them! I will have much better numbers this time around. I've sectioned off a large sheltered portion of my new yard for the S. Afr and Oz garden... Give me 5 years and then ask me how it's going...
Anyhow, here're some photos.
Protea Pink Ice, one of the hardiest hybrids. Blooms right through frosts, according to Ron.
One of my favorites, Protea repens. Notice the Aulax in the background.
Most arboretums worry about weeds. UCSC worries about the ever encroaching Leucospermum cordifolium. Poor them.
A neat Grevillea that looked like a pine tree. I don't know the genus well enough to ID it yet.
Speaking of weeds, here is a self sown 6yr old Leucadendron argenteum. Ron is checking the tag for the date.
Last, a Mandavilla laxa. One Green World sells this plant which is supposedly hardy to z8 also. It's going over my soon to be trellis.
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