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Ceratopetalum gummiferum 'Fairley's Coral' (Festival Bush) - This species generally grows in gardens into a large pyramidal evergreen shrub or small tree to 15 to 18 feet tall, but it can reach 30 feet in height in its natural habit. The foliage is very attractive with 3-inch-long glossy leaves divided into three finely serrated leaflets and the new leaves emerge a pale color green with pink highlights and age to a rich bright green. In late spring erupts a display of small cream-colored flowers which makes an attractive show in mass, but the main attraction of the plant is the display of the salmon-pink sepals and papery seed capsules that only begin to expand and darken after the flowers have faded. This often occurs in early to mid-summer and this show can last well into fall if late summer temperatures are not too extreme and if plants are protected from wind.
Plant in full sun (best) to part day sun in a moderately-well to well-drained soil and irrigate regularly - do not let dry out completely! Benefits from an application of iron sulfate in spring. Vigorously regenerates after heavy pruning, which is best done soon after the flowering period in late summer. There is a wide variation in hardiness data on this plant but we are relatively sure that this plant is cold hardy to at least 25° F and it is known to be hardy at the National Botanic Garden in Canberra, which gets winter temperatures down to 23° F. The sepals and foliage are widely used for cut flowers in Australia and more recently also in the US where the common name is often listed as Festival Bush.
Ceratopetalum gummiferum is endemic to the state of New South Wales in Australia, where it occurs to the east of the Great Dividing Range. The name for the genus is from the Greek words 'kerato' meaning "horned" and 'petalo" meaning petals in reference to the petals of some species that resemble a stag's horns. The specific epithet alludes to the large amounts of gum that is discharged from cut bark. The common name in Australia is New South Wales Christmas Bush as this plant's flowering display is most prominent in early summer around Christmas in Australia; for us in the northern hemisphere this display occurs in June.
This plant is a 2019 Koala Blooms University of California Santa Cruz Austrian Plant Introduction. In the UCSC Arboretum this plant has long been growing in a large container near their office building and Helen Englesberg, the arboretum's longtime but now retired nursery manager, has told us that it does well in containers as small as a nursery gallon can. We grew this nice plant from 2019 until 2024.
Information displayed on this page about Ceratopetalum gummiferum 'Fairley's Coral' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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