|
Leucospermum pattersonii 'Brothers' (Gary Brother's Pincushion) - A medium size dense rounded shrub with thick corky bark that grows to 4 to 6 feet tall by 6 to 8 feet wide with soft pale green leaves that are broader than most other pincushions and have leaf tips having prominent toothlike dentations. In late winter through spring at the branch tips it produces many long-stemmed glowing orange pincushion shaped 4 inch wide flowers that darken to red-orange.
Plant in well-drained soil, along with full sun to ensure a bountiful bloom. It is drought tolerant and needs little to no summer irrigation. It is noted as also able to better tolerate alkaline conditions better than most other protea plants and is cold hardy to about 25 ° F, but winter flower buds can be damaged if temperatures dip down long to 28° F. Cut stems for flower arrangement or trim plants by early summer to not remove the stems that will initiate flowering in the next season. This is a great cut flower variety and also makes a very showy landscape plant. Its attractive broad pale green leaves are similar to Leucospermum conocarpodendron and the well known Leucospermum conocarpodendron hybrid 'Veldfire'.
Leucospermum patersonii is restricted to alkaline soils on limestone outcrops along the coast between Kleinmond and Cape Agulhas in South Africa. It was a plant first collected in the late 1600s but misidentified until recollected by a Mr. William Hugh Paterson (1873-1963), a schoolteacher, amateur botanist and mayor of Hermanus and then was described by the South African botanist Edwin Percy Phillips in 1928. This selection with long stems and showy large flowers for cut flower this purpose was made by Gary Brothers at Brothers Brothers Inc. cut flower company in Watsonville that operated from 1980 until 1998.
The information about Leucospermum pattersonii 'Brothers' that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
Please note that after 46 years in business, San Marcos Growers will be discontinuing nursery operations by the end of 2025 and the property will be developed for affordable housing.
|
