Protea obtusifolia ‘Red’

limestone sugarbush
Rounded evergreen shrub sports big (4in) shiny red flowers in winter. Adaptable: tolerates coastal exposure, alkaline to acid soils, pots. Prized and rare.
Protea obtusifolia 'Red'
height 8–12ft
width 10–15ft
tolerates Coast, Drought, Pots, Salt, Wind
water
needs		 Low – Moderate
water
info		 Proteas are well adapted to our Mediterranean climate, making them carefree plants with bountiful rewards. After a few years, when your protea is established, it will want deep watering every couple weeks, though it will tolerate more if the drainage is excellent.

Protea respond very poorly to clay soils, especially if they are overwatered. If you just have to plant one in your clay garden, mounding or planting on a slope can help. Also amending with liberal minerals such as lava or pumice helps.
hardy
to		 28F
exposure Full Sun – Part Shade
indoor
outdoor		 Outdoor
drainage In Ground: Cactus Mix, In Pots: Cactus Mix, Tolerates Sandy Soil
origin South Africa
california
native		 No
sunset
zones		 13, 16, 17, 21–24

Sunset Zones Map

Outdoor Exposure Guide

OUTDOOR EXPOSURE GUIDE

Full Sun
Six or more hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Shade
Three to five hours of sun beams directly landing on the plant's leaves.

Part Sun
One to two hours of sun beams directly landing on the plants leaves.

Full Shade
The plant is never fully lit by sun beams, but is in a bright spot or has dappled sunbeams playing over the leaves throughout the day.

Deep Shade
The plant never has dappled light on the leaves, and is in a place that feels dim, even on a nice sunny day.

SUNSET ZONES MAP

Growing Notes

Perhaps the best protea for alkaline soils.
Proteas can be kept smaller by pruning, but do not prune more than two years of growth where there are no leaves and the branches are woody. Proteas can even be espaliered or pruned into a loose informal screen.
By tip-pinching buds early on (each time they have grown a few leaves), you can force your protea to become more dense. Since they bloom on the terminal buds, this will delay flowering.
Proteas have evolved to live in very poor soils, and so they should never have phosphorus fertilizer, which many a grower has learned the hard way. If you give your protea all-purpose fertilizer, it will likely be completely dead within a couple weeks. They do respond well to light acidic fertilizer, such as cotton seed meal, or nitrogen fertilizers such as blood meal and fish emulsion. Generally its better to sit back and see how the plant grows without fertilzier, which is typically not needed.

Special Interest

This plants species name comes from the up-curved leaves with the broadest part of the leaf beyond the midpoint, descried as oblanceolate.