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RE: Pretty Flowers... YES

Hi Andrew, 

Good  to hear  you have B. coccinea. The only reason I don't grow it is
it won't flower in Perth.
The plant is similiar in form to many other Australian natives in the
Proteaceae Family but I really do find the flowers very pretty, guess
its my style. Another I like is Banksia leptophylla a very understated
yellow ball of a flower in a small shrub that looks nothing like a
Banksia.

Perth sits at 32 ° Lat and the furthest north B. coccinea grows
naturally is about 33° Lat
Los Angeles is way up there at 37-38° Lat so I guess they got the soil
and water right
San Diego is borderline but you've got a better chance than I have!

The soils B. coccinea would normally grow in are extrememly well drained
soils and while the summers get pretty warm in Australia the south coast
here is much cooler sometimes 20° Celcius in the same day!

We are in a heat wave at the moment with 42° C for the last few days but
down south 30° and cool nights, lucky swine!

My guess it is our warmer summers up here combined with a daylight
requirement to stimulate flowering
in Los Angeles they may have had a cool summer that year??

Keep trying and beware of dieback, a root fungal pathogen, wipes
Banksias out!

Rod Randall
Weed Risk Assessment
Weed Science Group, Agriculture Western Australia
Home Page  http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/progserv/plants/weeds/Weedsci.htm

             "I weed..."
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