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| Category: Shrub |
| Family: Proteaceae (Proteas) |
| Origin: South Africa (Africa) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Red |
| Bloomtime: Fall/Winter |
| Height: 6-8 feet |
| Width: 4-6 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Seaside: Yes |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F |
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Protea obtusifolia (Limestone Sugarbush) - Well shaped shrub to 9 feet tall with rich dark green leaves and large flowers with tightly overlapping pinkish red petals in fall though winter with some flowers lingering into spring. Plant in full sun in most any soil including clay and alkaline soils. Once established this plant is drought tolerant, requiring little irrigation. This long cultivated Protea is noted both for its beautiful flowers and for its reliability in the garden with long life and great tolerance for coastal conditions and alkaline soils (as high as pH 8.4). It is a great choice as a screening or hedge plant. To encourage dense growth and good branching structure plants should be pruned at a young age. The one drawback of this species is that it is not particularly cold hardy and early frosts can damage new growth, flowers and buds so protection may be required if temperatures drop below 29 F. Short stems have made this plant less desirable as a florist crop but flowers are extremely attractive and hold well in the vase. Photo courtesy of Jo O'Connell of Australian Native Plant Nursery in Ojai, CA.
The information about Protea obtusifolia that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.
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