As mentioned in a separate thread, I spent a day down in Tacoma this past weekend. I visited one of my favorite nurseries, Jungle Fever Exotics (which is fairly frost bitten after this winter) and purchased a small Grevillea victoriae. I haven't planted it yet, but will this weekend. I wanted to see who has had some long term success with this plant, and what suggestions for success can you offer?

I can (and have) looked it up online and in reference books, but if you're growing it successfully (or killed it!), feel free to share any cultural tips. There's just no subsitute for first-hand experience.

Jungle Fever did have a lot of damage from the cold, but they also had plenty of plants that looked great, including the "mother" plant from which my little cutting was started. My little plant is only six inches tall, but is already sporting a small cluster of buds and survived the winter at their nusery uncovered.

Any tips/tricks would be great. Otherwise I'll just put it in my warmest west-facing quick-draining bed.

Take care and thanks!
Grant

After this last winter I'm having a hardyness reality check. I lost my Bottlebrush, Agave, and a few others to the Winters death grip.

I have had Grevillea victoriae since 1998. It was the second Grevillea I bought, after G. robusta, which is not very hardy. In my garden, it was originally in the sun but now it receives partial shade from surrounding eucalypts and other trees - but it still looks fine. It it on heavy clay and has always done great with no care whatsoever. More recently I have acquired a few other forms of it. The selection 'Murray Valley Queen' has superior flowers in much larger clusters, and it is very showy in bloom, but the not-as-silvery leaves and more open plant habit are a little less appealing than the regular form. I have had it since 2000 and it seems very hardy as well. I have propagated lots of it and this winter it lived through 13 degrees in 1 gallon pots with no damage. 'Marshall's Seedling' has smaller leaves and is very hardy. I also have G. victoriae var. leptoneura, but it is only hardy to about 20 degrees (at least, the form I have) so it is not really suited to long term outdoor use in our climate. And I just got the variegated form 'East Gippland' at the UCSC Arboretum in October. I don't know how hardy that will be but it is pretty cool - the first variegated Grevillea I have seen (although I have heard of a couple others).

My tip would be to put it in the sun, and don't water and feed it too much. Most Grevilleas have done much better in winter for me if they are allowed to thoroughly harden off before fall.

I have collected about 55 Grevilleas now. Some are in the garden and some are in pots, but since the exact cold hardiness of many species and varieties is not well known, I always take cuttings to keep a plant in the greenhouse in case I should lose one.

I wrote this, too, but it was a couple years ago: Some of the information here needs to be updated. I haven't had a lot of luck getting G. victoriae var. leptoneura, G. aspleniifolia, or 'Poorinda Golden Lyre' to live through the winter outdoors. Perhaps they would flourish in a more sheltered garden until a really cold one comes along.

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Ian, GREAT reply--thanks for the eye candy and the great information. I'll site my little plant accordingly and grow it a bit hard. Your other types all sound great. Obviously I'm covetous of the variegated one. Feel free to send some pics some time. Thanks for all of the neat information and gotta-have's.

I've heard of this plant off and on for awhile, but Ketzel Levine's description in Plant This is what tipped the scale for me. I really like her writing style as she encourages people rather than lecturing them like so many wannabe garden writers.

Mary, we'll have to compare notes on how ours do during their first year in the ground.

Anyone else growing this? I'm planning on giving it plenty of room, that's for sure.

Take care,
Grant

I'll have to head down to Jungle Fever and see what all croaked. I was there in December, and it looked like the November freeze pretty much spared them - but I haven't been there since. The Agave americana was heavily damaged in December 1998 and survived, but still had some burned leaves from that event even last summer.

Thanks for confirming the eventual size. I planted it this weekend on the west/southwest facing sloped bed in my front yard (I converted the "lawn" to gravel this weekend so it will also get some reflected heat too). Keep us posted on all of your new treasures. To say I'm envious is an understatement!

Jungle Fever: not all of their agaves got zapped, but many did. The americanas all looked fine, with the damage from previous years that you mentioned, but many of the potted agaves look like they melted from the cold and a cold/wet combination. Several of what looked to me like parryi and some attenuata were totally gelified (English takes a bold step forward), plus a few others too. Still, they had a few that looked unscathed. No surprise, the Hesperaloe parviflora (one of my favorites for decades now) looked absolutely unbothered at all.

Anyway, they did have plenty of damage, but plenty of great-looking things too. I'll have to head back in early summer to see which of the plants that appear dead (bougies, bottlebrush, some Eucalyptus, etc) resprout. I really like the atmosphere there.

Anyway, my little grevillea is planted and seems happy. Wish it luck, lol.

Thanks again for all of the replies,
Grant with a sore back from shovelling over a ton of gravel this weekend.

Ugh! Sorry for your agave loss (great pics though). That's really too bad. :( I'm glad your covered ones are doing better in general. I've got some variegated A. americana, some variegated A. angustifolia (great yucca-looking foliage and a precocious bloomer), an A. attenuata (which has damage from being knocked over by the wind, but not by the cold (yet anyway)), and a variegated hybrid Agave 'Cornelius'. So far so good but we'll see come spring! Sorry again for your agave losses, though it sounds like we can rest assured that the combination of cold and wet is the worst. Too bad.

Jungle Fever had several that looked like yours unfortunately, but some that looked great (and like I mentioned the little Grevilleas (all in four inch pots) looked totally fine.

Thanks for the post, and sorry again for the agave jelly. Let us know (and see!) how the others all fair. I've been watching half a dozen agaves planted in my neighborhood, all in the ground, slowly fading.

Take care,
Grant

I would highly recommend A. protamericana (often misspelled "protoamericana"). It seems like a winner for our climate - much hardier than A. americana forms, doesn't seem to mind lots of moisture, and it grows pretty fast.

Another favorite that ought to be pretty tough is Agave montana. I have started a lot of these as I think it will be pretty popular. I've tried a few Agaves in my garden but most of my collection is in pots right now.

Roots freeze and die well before tops, any potted stock left out in cold I wouldn't pronounce viable until I had seen the roots and they looked good or the tops grew away vigorously this spring or summer.

I've seen 'Porrinda Constance' out in front of Ciscoe's but don't remember the other. She has more impressive flowers on a less impressive shrub.

These shades of pink aren't that great with the Royals, but it is only from the office that they are in the same view.

No snow downtown (Seattle) or at my little West Seattle house yet. I hope it stays that way!

Take care all,
Grant

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I have a few Grevilleas I got from Ian. I love them, and am working on finding places to plant more. Here are a couple of pictures.

-Brian

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Great pic--thanks for sharing it. I plan on purchasing more of these too if this little baby of mine thrives. Yours really look great. I've got desertnorthwest bookmarked in my list of online favorites. He's got a lot of great ones listed.

Thanks again for the eye candy. Very good motivator!
Take care,
Grant

I bought two Grevillea victoriae last year, and I never got around to planting one of them. It sat in a pot all through our very rough winter. I thought it was a goner, but it sprouted a few leaves this spring.

I still forgot to plant it, and it sat in a 1 gallon pot with no water, under an eave, all through our hot summer. And it's still going just fine! I think I'll finally plant it, it's a tough little plant with a will to survive.

Seriously, I just got 2 small starts from the Arboretum sale--from the arboretum greenhouse.
My concern is what kind of potting soil to use that would not have phosphorus.

In recent years I have been having a problem with flower buds of Grevillea victoriae dropping just before the flowering season starts in late fall, in both the Snohomish and Island County plantings. There was also a carpet of aborted flower buds beneath the specimen along the drive, across from the garage at Heronswood last time I was there, earlier this month.