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Leucospermum 'Maui Magic' (Maui Magic Pincushion) - An evergreen shrub that will grow to 5 to 7 feet tall and as wide with medium long upright stems that are densely covered in upwardly inclined gray-green leaves that are entire along the margins except for several dentations near the leaf tip. In spring the flower buds are a pale orange pink color and intensify in color as the flowers open to nearly 5 inches wide with yellow pins and showy pink ribbons once fully developed. Has proven long blooming in Hawaii (from December well into summer) but likely to be strongest in spring in California gardens.
This plant is new to cultivation in California in 2019, but based on what is known about its parentage, standard cultural practices used on other pincushions should apply; we recommend planting in full sun in a well-drained soil with only occasional irrigation once established and mulched to keep the soil cool and retain moisture. It should prove drought tolerant once established and cold hardy to about 25 degrees F. Fertilizers should be time release and very low in phosphorus but contain the trace elements Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Manganese and Copper.
The name for the genus comes from the Greek word 'leukos' meaning "white" and and 'sperma' meaning "seed" in reference to the white fleshy skin, called a elaiosome, that covers the seeds. Leucospermum 'Maui Magic' is a complex hybrid created by Ken Leonhardt and Pam Shingaki at the University of Hawaii’s Protea Research Project. Its parentage is listed as Leucospermum 'T75-11-02' crossed with L. 'Scarlet Ribbon', which is a hybrid between Leucospermum glabrum and L. tottum. It was a selected seedling in 1998 that was registered in 2007. The goal of the University of Hawaii’s Protea Research Project is to develop Leucospermum hybrids with improved horticultural characteristics. These hybrids have been bred and selected for desirable floral, foliar, and plant structural traits such as earliness to flower; an extended flowering season; long, slender, straight stems; slender leaves; reduced leaf and stem pubescence; ease of propagation; high yields; good postharvest characteristics, lighter stem and foliage weight and improved colors. Tolerance of disease, including foliar fungal diseases and tolerance of the root pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi is also an objective of the program. This plant became part of Ball Horticultures Royal Hawaiian Series that was supplied to us as cutting grown plants from Star Roses and Plants in 2020.
This information about Leucospermum 'Maui Magic' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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