Protea Ceres. A QUEEN SIZE bloom or what we call a ‘Hybrid Queen’→ this breathtaking protea is a splendid blend of magnifica and obtusifolia. When fully open, this flower is often 5 to 6 inches in diameter… making those crimson-red bracts with white feathery tips hard to miss in the field and definitely in a bouquet or arrangement!
Ceres has divine deep green leaves and sturdy long stems. And since this stunning protea is in blooms winter through early spring, there’s a bounty of beauty, love and joy to spread through the holiday season and right into Valentine’s Day.
These chic flowers are all style… or perhaps better said, all styles. In other words, their lively, round heads are formed mainly by the long, sprout-like structures, each one ending in a globular knob called a pollen presenter. Together, the mass of styles look a lot like pins bristling from a “pincushion”, a similarity that has given rise to the popular name for this genus.
So appropriate is the name “Pincushion Protea” that it has in fact replaced the original South African name of “Luisies” which refers to the grayish-white, rounded seeds found crumpled in the dried flower-heads.
Leucospermum comprises some forty-eight species, of which all but three are endemic to South Africa’s Cape Province. Flowering time is generally early winter through late spring. Unlike flowers of the genus Protea, which rely on their showy bracts for visual appeal, leucospermum put all their art into the colors of the flowers themselves as well as the flowing shape of each curving component.
In the 1970's the University of Hawaii’s Protea Research Project 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 and gorgeous hybrids, many of which have quite complex ancestry, some with even ten species parents.
It’s no secret that we love lush, green foliage here at Resendiz Brothers. Our year-round favorite? Ivanhoe… bursting with color, texture and volume. This extremely popular species of the Australian genus of Grevillea is a hybrid cultivar derived from a combination of G. Longifolia and G. Caleyi. It has beautiful serrated and deeply cut foliage with deep green leaves and silver undersides, while new growth is a bronze color.
If you’re looking for something tall and showy, Ivanhoe is perfect… stems can be harvested from five to six feet tall and displayed in huge, elaborate arrangements. Need filler? Well then, take Ivanhoe’s long branchy stems and separate them into 15" to 18" stems to fill up your favorite vase or container.
