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RE: Pretty Flowers... YES

Rod ,

I find Banksia coccinea startling and brilliant but not pretty. That is
hardly the word for one of the great ones. Yes, I do grow it. It came from
seeds of different forms, some red, some orange-red and some with a
chocolate color buried in there. They grow fine but... and here is the
problem, they have not yet flowered for me either. I had one over 2 meters
high but lost it after a very dry summer to Santa Anna winds that just
dessicated it. There are a number of younger plants growing well and with
some luck may get them to flower. I am still trying as it is, to me, the
most dramatic of all the Banksias. In this part of the world I have heard
of people 200 km north here who have got it to flower, but that is unusual.
Banksia occidentalis, which also comes from your south coast does fine also
(well over 3 meters with me). It flowers while young but also needs
additional water in October. Our dry months are usually March through
November but often the dry period is a few months longer. I think it wants
a shorter dry season like it gets on your south coast. At 33 degrees north
we may be pushing our luck.

>Out of curiosity is anyone out there growing Banksia coccinea and
>getting flowers?
>I have seen plants in Perth up to 2 meters high and no flowers,
>apparently they refuse to flower
>when brought to far north of their native range, which is along the
>south coast of Western Australia (Albany to Esperance.. ish)

Andrew Wilson
awilson@fda.net
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