A while back I purchased seeds of Leucodendron album, L. saliginum, Protea exima, P. mundii, P. nerifolia, and P. repens from Fine Bush People in Africa (http://finebushpeople.co.za/). Seeds from most of the species germinated eventually (winter, cool weather germination). Some had a low percent of germination, but nonetheless seemed viable. Likely they can germinate another year if I keep the effort going.
I recommend the nursery because they let you choose how many seeds you want, and then you pay about ten cents per seed. The seeds seemed to be quite alive and viable; low germination is to be expected for seeds of some wild shrubs.
I had high hopes for the species listed above, they have reputations as being somewhat easy, at least by comparison with others in the two genera.
I now have only two plants of P. repens left. As summer came on, with the heat and first round of rains, I lost about one quarter of whatever germinated. Then, when I moved them to larger pots, I lost another fraction. I continually applied captan after every rain or transplant, and it did seem to help (but not much).
Lately, weÂve been over 100 F, with rain in mid-July and again the past 2 days. Everything has died but the two P. repens plants, they are about six inches tall. My goal is to grow them outdoors, it is certainly not too cold for them here. Cross your fingers.
Cordially,
Here is a link that might be useful: Fine Bush People
safariofthemind
davidrt28 (zone 7)
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