The quest to find extraordinary botanicals is part of the learning process for many florists and designers. However, we know that searching for the “new and unusual” can be quite time-consuming. So, our mission has been, and it will always be, to make as many “cool and extraordinary” proteas more accessible to all who want them.
Therefore, if you’re looking for an interesting protea to transform an ordinary arrangement into something spectacular, look no further than the Hakea Laurina. This fabulous botanical will add any extra special touch to any centerpiece with its captivating flowers and beautiful foliage.
With poofy flowers, laurel-shaped leaves, and smooth brown stems, Laurina is truly awe-inspiring and eye-catching. Plus, it has several other fitting nicknames like Pincushion Hakea, Pincushion Flower, Pincushion Tree, and Emu Bush.
The faint, honey-scented blooms are round and measure up to two inches in diameter. Bulging from the reddish balls are 120-190 spikes. The long, white spikes together with the red hue of the flower make a very unusual version of a pincushion. Laurina’s flowering season typically begins during the month of December and runs through March.
If the Laurina’s flowers are not enough to let your love for this Hakea blossom, its beautiful foliage will. The laurel-shaped evergreen leaves are so striking that the plant was named after its foliage’s appearance… hence the name, Hakea Laurina.
It's an annual announcement: Come early December we all eagerly await for the experts at Pantone to release the Color of the Year, forecasting a shade that they believe will set the tone for the year ahead.
It looks like 2019 is going to be brighter, more vibrant, and a bit tropical. Or at least, that’s the mood being set by Pantone’s Color of the Year 2019: Living Coral. It’s described as an animating and life-affirming coral hue, with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge. It’s meant to symbolize the human need for optimism and joyful pursuits, as well as the “desire for playful expression,” says Pantone.
"Pantone 16-1546 Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, Pantone Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color."
In choosing the color of the year, Pantone looks at everything around us. They look to see what people are doing in art, fashion, beauty, film and entertainment industries. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and relevant social media platforms.
When I learned of Pantone’s 2019 choice, I began to contemplate what flowers we grow might emulate this awesome color. Here are my coral inspirations...
Leucospermum Sunbrust
Grevillea Flowers
Leucospermum Spider
Halea bucculenta
Christmas Bush
During a recent field trip, clusters of long pink flower spikes caught our eye. These giant Emu Trees, also known as Hakea francisiana can grow stems up to 8 feet tall. The vibrant flowers bloom within the blue-green foliage and the long sweeping style of the branches ensures that they are predominately displayed, never failing to attract attention.
They take their name, francisiana, from George William Francis a Victorian botanist who established a herbarium and was the first director of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens in Australia. This hakea has been in cultivation for years but is mainly suited to Mediterranean-like climates and it flowers best in an open, very well drained areas. Francisianna is tolerant of moderate frosts and its blooms are very attractive to pollinators. Use it as a feature shrub in the garden or as an accent flower in arrangements.
Dryandras are closely related to the Banksias, Grevilleas and Hakea, and like many proteas they have lots of individual flowers clustered into a globe-shaped inflorescences. Some blooms open up like a shaving brush, while others appear to be closed with individual outer bracts. Their colors are usually limited to bronze, yellow and maroon. The foliage can be very erratic, some have very narrow leaves with small jagged edges, others a coarse, fishbone look, or even large leaves like banksias. There are over 90 known varieties of Dryanda all of which are native to Southwestern Australia.
Dryandra Formosa
Dryandra Polycephala
Dryandra Quercifolia
Dryandra Borealis
Dryandra Praemorsa
Dryandra Nivea
An interesting fact: Dryandra seeds are only released during a bushfire or when the plant dies.
Hakea, or sometimes referred to as needlewoods, corkwoods, pincushion, cricket ball or frog Hakea, is a member of the Proteaceae family and its close relatives include Grevillea, Banksia, Dryandra, Isopogon and Telopea. Hakea, a very diverse group of plants, is an endemic Australian genus and is found in many different habitats; the tropics, mountains, the coast and desert areas. There are over 150 named species in the genus. Some Hakeas have spidery flowers, like grevilleas, others have globe-shaped, inflorescences, while others look like a long spear at the end of the branches. Flowers can be white, yellow, greenish, red, orange, pink and purple hues.
Hakea Bucculenta
Hakea Cinerea
Hakea Cucullata
Hakea Victoriae
Hakea Laurina
Hakea Corymbosa
Hakea Archaeoides
Hakea Multilineata
Although there are many ornamental and colorful species in the genus, Hakea has not achieved the same popularity in cultivation as its closest relatives Grevilleas and Banksia. And, in some ways Hakea forms a link between those two genera having hard woody seed pods with Banksia-like seeds while the flowers occur in Grevillea-like clusters.
Hakea Pods
Hakea Bucculenta
