Anigozanthos "Gold Fever"

Oooooh.....pretty...............

Brilliant so unusual...

Very unusual ... it made me think of crabs claws !

Thanks all! The common name is Kangaroo Paw...............

So unusual ... there is a Kangaroo Paw Flower shampoo ... just thought I'd throw that useless bit of information in!

I love them Shirley! I have a couple of species coming along from seed too - may be large enough to bloom next year.

I wish you every success with them, Meanie .......

Meanie:

A weed!!! LOL! :>) Just giving you a bad time. Hehehe!

They're so common here...it's not even funny. Is this a dwarf variety...or one of the large ones which can have flower spikes to more than 6' (2m) tall?

Nice weed to have!

It is a dwarf, branched form - very floriforous!

They're so common here because of their extreme drought tolerance. Most of the time people just plant them and let them grow without any water.

Yes, this plant can bloom almost all year.

Might this be the 'Kangaroo Paws' mentioned in the Australian song, "Tie Me Kangaroo Down"?

I've answered my own question by doing a search & found the following:

"These perennials are endemic to dry sandy, siliceous areas of southwest Australia, but they occur as well in a variety of other environments and soil types. They are grown commercially in Australia, the United States, Japan and Israel."

Taken from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anigozanthos

Balcony:

Another reason why this plant is so commonly grown here is because they're native to the Eucalyptus forest of Australia. We grow more Eucalyptus (species) trees in California than anywhere outside of Australia in the World!

Eucalyptus (species) is the most widely naturalized non-native tree in California.

I didn't know the latin name...! Kangaroo Paw can be bought as a cut flower from a good florist shop :o) They are grown in several colours too! :o)))

Balcony - are you tempted to try some? Easy from seed.

P/T - I also have A.manglessii coming along from seed.............

http://bit.ly/1iUsUYZ

And A.flavidus...............

http://bit.ly/1iUt2YC

That photo is of the one at OBG. Mine isn't flowering size yet.

Delonix - I was looking at Eucalyptus seed the other day. I never thought of them as flowering trees, but some of them are stunning!

Oh yes, some are extremely ornamental. Some species of the genus Eucalyptus have been moved into the genus Corymbia; however, most nurseries still sell them as Eucalyptus.

Some of the spectacular trees (which are extremely common here) are: Corymbia (Eucalyptus) ficifolia the varieties come in orange; red; pink; white, they are widely planted along our freeways. Eucalyptus deglupta (rainbow gum) which is native to New Guinea and the Philippines has one of the most beautiful trunks of any tree in the world...and E. citriodora is extremely common with its ghost-white trunk. These three trees are very tender to cold and will only grow in frost-free climates.

Many 100' (31m) tall E. citriodora trees were killed in the 1990 freeze in the San Francisco Bay Area (mostly further inland). Most of the Corymbia ficifolia trees around the bay survived; however, were moderately to badly damaged by the cold (with the exception of the millions of trees in San Francisco, which were not even touched by the freeze). Corymbia (Eucalyptus) ficifolia trees were mass-planted in many areas of San Francisco around a hundreds years ago.

"Corymbia (Eucalyptus) ficifolia trees were mass-planted in many areas of San Francisco around a hundreds years ago."

That's the trouble with mass planting - if anything happens (virus, extreme weather etc.) the lot is gone. Far better to mix things up a bit IMO.

Nothing affects Corymbia (Eucalyptus) ficifolia trees here in California. They are very widely grown here in California along with so many hundreds of other E. species.

I didn't know these could be grown from seed! I'd be willing to give them a try! :-))

It would be funny to see people's faces when I tell them I'm growing "Kangaroo Paws" on my balcony! :-D)

I went back to the Wikipedia page to see what it said about their hight & spread or if there was any mention about growing them from seed. I saw it is possible for them to throw up a 2m stem with flowers but it says nothing about the width nor seed sowing.

Balcony:

Most likely you're going to want a dwarf variety. The flower spikes can easily grow to more than 2m tall. I've seen them here almost reaching the eaves of some houses.

A dwarf variety it would have to be! LOL!