While doing some work in our dry garden last Sunday, I suddenly noticed how nice my
Leucadendon salignum 'Chief' was looking. It's a good-looking shrub when viewed from a distance.
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| Photographed looking north toward my neighbor's fence |
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| Photographed looking southeast |
But, when I looked at it up close, I was surprised to see that it was blanketed in small yellow and pink "flowers." The flowers are actually colored bracts surrounding a central yellow cone. I don't remember it flowering like this last year.
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| The tag that came with the plant described the flowers as blonde and pink |
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| It also has beautiful red stems |
Like many other
Leucadendrons, its winter color is dramatically different from its summer color.
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| Summer foliage (photograph taken in early August 2013) |
Leucadendron in the
salignum species or with
salignum parentage seem to fare particularly well in my garden. I planted
'Chief' in January 2013. It's currently about 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide but it may eventually reach 6-8 feet tall and wide. Native to South Africa, it has low water requirements but it needs full sun. It's said to be hardy to 30F (minus 1C).
Still fixated on the "flowers," I compared it to Leucadendron Wilson's Wonder.
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| Current photo of Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder' in my front garden |
Although, at maturity, the shrubs should be roughly equivalent in size, their flower size is dramatically different, as you can see here.
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| A stem of 'Wilson's Wonder' is on the left and 'Chief' is on the right |
Leucadendron salignum 'Chief' is my favorite plant this week (even if
'Wilson's Wonder' is one of my favorite plants of all time). This post is offered in connection with Loree's favorites meme at
danger garden. Loree presents her monthly favorites wrap-up on the last Friday of the month.
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© 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
