Plant in full to pat sun in a well-draining soil and water occasionally. This plant is fairly hardy, tolerating temperatures down to 15ºF to 20ºF and is quite resistant to wind.

Pachystegia insignis grows naturally in coastal limestone rock faces in the Marlborough district of the northeastern South Island New Zealand as well as futher inland Kaikoura Ranges. The name for the genus comes from the Latin words 'pachy' meaning "thick" and 'stegia' meaning "cover or "covering" in reference to the the thick bracts that cover the flower head. The specific epithet means "conspicuous", "eminent", "notable","distinguished" or "outstanding" which are all apt terms discribing this attractive plant when it looks its best.

We offered this beautiful plant in the mid-1990s, listing it in our 1994 to 1996 catalogs. Our plants were seed grown plants from seed off plants growing in a raised bed in the shade house next to the Biology Department greenhouses at the University of California Santa Barbara by the greenhouse manager John Bleck. Unfortunately, this plant was difficult to vegetatively propagate and produced very few viable seed. Young container plants of this species are rarely very presentable in a container and this combined with the limited numbers produced forced us for practical reasons to discontinue production of this plant. 

The information about Pachystegia insignis displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.