Leucadendron Jubilee Crown - Conebush

The Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown' is an evergreen bush of South African origin as original as it is ornamental, which should be able to be acclimated in very sunny coastal gardens. It is a cousin of the proteas, with which it shares a preference for poor, dry soils in summer, as well as full sun. This female selection stands out for its fine bluish-green foliage, slightly villous, and a unique flowering in the form of small cones turning from pink to red in summer. This plant is not very hardy (up to -6°C (21.2 °F) at the peak), it withstands sea spray as well as summer drought, but its cultivation is delicate in soil that is too rich and too wet.

The Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown' is a hybrid variety introduced in 1996, probably derived from Leucadendron lanigerum and L. Laxum, two botanical species native to Cape Town, South Africa. In this region of the Cape, regularly subjected to fires, the leucadendrons constitute an essential part of the vegetation of the fynbos which are plant formations very rich in biodiversity, in very poor, often acidic soils. These fynbos occupy a thin coastal and mountainous area characterised by a Mediterranean climate. These bushes are dioecious, meaning that there are male and female plants.

The Leucadendron Jubilee Crown is a woody and well-ramified plant from the proteaceae family. A female plant can reach up to 1.50 m (5ft) in height and 1.20 m (4ft) in spread in open ground and under favourable conditions. Its growth is quite rapid. The villous stems bear short and very thin leaves, arranged in a spiral, covered with silky hairs. They sometimes turn red in autumn due to the cold. The bush produces scaly inflorescences in the shape of small cones in spring, from April to June depending on the climate, at the end of the stems surrounded by a collar of small bracts with a sharp point, thick and leathery. These flowers are highly appreciated in floristry, due to their excellent vase life. These cones, often compared to raspberries because of their size, shape and colour, turn from pink to red over the weeks. The name of the cultivar, 'Crown Jubilee', is due to the fact that the top of the cone resembles a small red crown at the end of the season, that is, as Christmas approaches in the southern hemisphere.

The Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown' should be planted in coastal gardens spared by heavy frosts, in light soil with a sandy or loamy tendency, acidic, low in nitrates and phosphorus. It will be a sensation in isolation, in a windbreak hedge or even at the back of dry garden beds. Plant with Dasylirion, Grevillea, Callistemon, Canary Viperina, palm trees or even Leptospermum. In less favourable climates, you can cultivate it in a pot to winter like a citrus.