Anigozanthos 'Bush Games' (Red and Green Kangaroo Paw) - A perennial that forms clumps of 2- to 3-foot-tall gray-green sword-like leaves with tall wands 3 to 4 feet tall of flowers at the tips in spring and summer. The yellow base of the flowers and the inflorescence below the flowers are densely covered with red hairs with the tube and flared petal lobes a chartreuse green - what a sight!
Give this plant a well-drained soil in full sun and irrigate through the growing season. Hardy to 25 F. The breeding of this plant adds longevity to Anigozanthos manglesii, which has been difficult to grow in the garden, but this plant is still not as tough as some of the older A. flavidus hybrids.
The genus was first named by the French botanist Jacques Labillardière 1800 when he collected and described the type species, Anigozanthos rufus, which he had collected during the d'Entrecasteaux expedition to Southwest Australia in 1792 though he did not provide a meaning for this name in his description. Several botanical texts list it as a combination of the Greek words 'anoigo' meaning "to expand" and 'anthos' meaning a "flower" which would be in reference to the flower being split but others speculated it to be the combination of the Greek words 'anisos' meaning "unequal" and 'anthos' meaning a "flower" in reference to the irregular corolla.
This Angus Stewart hybrid was bred by crossing the beautiful Red and Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii) with the durable Anigozanthos flavidus and also with Anigozanthos viridis and Anigozanthos humilis. The name Bush Games comes for this plant's use in as a centerpiece flower for all the bouquets given to medal winners at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. We grew this plant from 2006 until 2009 and would have grown it longer but it became unavailable from tissue culture labs.
The information about Anigozanthos 'Bush Games' 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. |