Press Release

Wakehurst Place Records First Protea To Flower In South East

Protea Clark's Red has burst into spectacular flower at Wakehurst Place, Kew's country garden in West Sussex.This is believed to be the first record of Protea to flower out of doors in the south east of England.

Proteas, prevalent throughout South Africa, were first seen in Europe in the early years of the seventeenth century.They will not grow where the temperature drops below 0-2°C, but they can be grown successfully out of doors in sheltered areas and against south-facing walls. They have previously been recorded in the Scilly Isles, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset .

Chris Clennett, garden manager at Wakehurst Place has long wanted to establish Protea as a feature of the 500 acre estate's Southern Hemisphere Garden: “One of the themes that links beds through this garden are ancient plant groups that remain from the early supercontinent Gondwana, which occupied the southern hemisphere until 90 million year ago but was broken up by Continental Drift (vicariance). This includes other members of the Protea family, such as the Chilean fire bush (Embothrium) and Telopea and Banksia from Australia, which we have growing well in several beds.

“Now we can add Protea itself. Clark's Red are two year old plants that were covered in their first winter by fleece ‘tents' but have been unprotected since and have just begun to flower for the first time. I am confident this will be the first record of a Protea flowering outside in Sussex, and probably in the south east.”

In addition to exotic plant collections, Wakehurst Place is home to extensive formal gardens, temperate woodlands, two nature reserves and a sixteenth century Mansion; plus Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed collection in world. It is located on the B2028 between Ardingly and Turners Hill (Junction 10 off the M23), West Sussex, and open daily, from 10am, except December 24 and 25. For more information, telephone 01444 894066 or log on to www.kew.org

-ENDS-

Information and Images

Please contact Sharon Buckley in the Place Press Office. Telephone: 01444 894018 Email: s.buckley@kew.org

For further Press information please contact: