Protea scolymocephala

A small neat upright well-branched evergreen shrub growing up to 1.5 m tall and 1m wide.

The leaves are long and narrow shaped like an elongated flattened spoon and hairless with a pointed tip. Small creamy-green flowers with outwardly splayed creamy or pinkish bracts are produced from winter to spring. New growth has very red stems.

It is an easy protea to grow, adapting to most soils, but best in well-drained acidic sandy nutrient poor soil in an open sunny position. The soil must be fast draining and porous as moist soils encourage fungal diseases.

Once established it will tolerate drought wind and frost. Feed very carefully and judiciously with something phosphate-free and slow releasing. Air circulation around the plant is important.

Always choose healthy well-grown plants and plant after autumn rains. Planting success is often improved on clay soils by adding extra topsoil and forming raised beds. Incorporate coarse sand, bark, compost or other organic material to improve soil structure. Planting after autumn rains when the soil is moist and warm allows shrubs to become established before winter. This enables them to withstand dry periods during the following summer. Before planting ensure the root ball is saturated and remove the planter bag or pot with minimal root disturbance. Trim any broken roots and plant at the same level as in the container. Dig a hole twice the diameter of the root ball and firm in and water once planted. As soil is placed in the prepared hole tread firmly to bring soil in close contact with the root-ball. Make sure plants are watered well until established if planting in a drier period. Plant with some general slow release fertiliser and then every spring apply an organic based fertiliser such as blood and bone at a handful per square metre as new growth begins. Planting too closely leads to spindly growth poor flowering and eventual decline so be sure to leave plenty of room.

Do not allow plants to dry out. Once established in your garden they will survive long periods of drought. Plants grow well in average well-drained soil. Small young plants are easier to establish than larger more mature ones and will grow quickly when planted in autumn when soil is moist and warm.

This plant is sensitive to phosphate therefore never apply fertilisers containing superphosphate or plant in soils which have received superphosphate within the last five years. Avoid cultivating near plants as their roots are easily damaged.

Apply mulch annually this will help suppress weeds and keep the soil cool. Proteas prefer to have a mulch of stones opposed to a heavy mulch which may hold too much moisture. Feed annually in spring with a balanced fertilizer such as blood and bone at a handful per square metre in spring as new growth begins.

Pruning of proteas doesn't just give you a nice bunch of flowers but helps keep the plant bushy and lush. Proteas will generally branch well naturally but can still be pruned to shape this is best done after flowering. Remove spindly and crowded stems up to half of the length of current vigorous stems. This can improve the appearance of the plant and promote growth of next seasons flowering wood. Older plants can get woody and unattractive with short side shoots so to keep plants in shape and prune to encourage the development of new shoots and long stems.

If newly planted plants are located in cooler situations it may be a good idea to cover with frost cloth on particularly cold nights for the first winter as young plants can be susceptible to frost damage.

Plants require good watering in winter and moderate watering in summer. Do not allow plants to dry out but once established in your garden they will survive long periods of drought.

Like all proteas the most harmful and destructive diseases are fungal. Most losses occur during the summer months when a virulent root fungus Phytophthora can attack the plants. The best methods of control are cultural i.e. water the plants early in the morning; keep the soil surface cool by mulching; remove diseased plants immediately; do not overwater in summer and prune and remove diseased material and improve soil drainage.

TBC

When all the flowers have opened the bracts close up again enclosing the developing seeds. If you look into a bush you will see the previous years' flowerheads as brown woody balls on the previous season's growth. For harvesting purposes, the seeds should be left on the bush to ripen for about seven months. The seed is a small dry hairy nut. When the old flowerheads are dead and dried they open up again and the bracts curl back exposing the hairy seeds that fall out and blow away.

This plant is serotinous. This means it stores its seeds on the plant in the old flowerheads for years and in the event of a fire the bush is killed, but the seeds survive and germinate en masse with the next rains. This fire-survival strategy works as long as the plants have sufficient time between fires to build up a new seed bank. The hairs on the seeds aid in dispersal and germination: by expanding as the flowerhead dries forcing them out of the head; once they are out the hairs allow the seeds to be more easily moved by the wind; and once they land on the soil the hairs help to anchor the seed to the ground; and finally the hairs help orientate the seed the right way round and channel water towards it.