Re: Leucospermum conocarpodendron 'Veldt Fire'

This April has been a very good month for the various
Leucospermum varieties I have in the garden, and I
have been particularly pleased with how well L.
conocarpodendron 'Veldt Fire' has done and blooms in a
rather shaded location, (Only 1 hour of direct sun
each day).  I had thought the increasing amount of
shade over the years from an adjacent Tupidanthus
calyptratus tree and Fuschia boliviana 'Alba' would
cause it to get lanky and have fewer flowers, but it
lights up this corner of the garden with both its
flowers which do appear to be "in flame", with the
contrasting yellow and orange color, and the glaucus
foliage is also a nice accent to contrast against the
surrounding green.  If I had more room, I would never
have planted this in such a shaded spot, and enjoy the
fact that it is actually doing well here.

The other Leucospermum cordifolium species in full sun
are also spectacular at the moment, and combine well
with the California poppy and Euphorbia tirucallii
'Sticks on Fire'  adjacent the shrub.  I never tire of
the form of this flower, with each individual flower
lasting for a month or more.  I'd recommend these two
Leucospermums for anyone with a mild garden and room
for a large winter to spring blooming shrub.

On another note, I wonder if anyone else is growing
one of my favorite winter blooming Euphorbias, E.
xantii?  I've had trouble keeping this one happy in my
garden due to lack of a truly hot sunny spot, but it
is just gorgeous in bloom with the densely spiky
growth and light pink flowers which completely cover
the plant when in bloom.  There are some plantings of
this at the Huntington Botanic Garden in the desert
section that show off this plant well.  It can get
big, to 8 feet tall, but being from Baja California,
it survives here in California on winter rainfall
alone, and does well in the milder San Francisco Bay
Area gardens with a hot, reflected heat, sunny spot. 

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