Leucospermum are the eye candy of our spring protea harvest, and if you’re not already reveling in their splendor, we’re betting you will be soon. Who can resist all the beautiful flowering heads with masses of styles that look like pins bristling from a pincushion? Fanciful blooms atop long sturdy stems create colorful focal points not only in the field (or garden) but when displayed in floral designs. It’s magic time! And now it seems every year, we get to enjoy a new variety or cultivar as many of the Hawaiian Hybrids are becoming more readily available.
You see, back in the 1970's the University of Hawaii started working on an exclusive collection of new and improved cultivars of pincushions. The goals were aimed at improved color, increased vase life and good stem length. The results - some amazing hybrids, many of which have quite complex ancestry, some with even ten species parents.
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