Kangaroo Paw

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These plants, native to Western Australia, evolved in isolation to become one of the truly unique wildflowers of Australia and they were just too cool not to have in my So. Ca garden also!

Anigozanthos, combines the Greek words anoigo, meaning "to open," and anthos, meaning "flower," and reflects this flower's inclination to open widely, flaring almost to the blossom's base. Members of the Haemodoraceae family, some 11 species of this perennial herb/wildflower are known. Perhaps the most common is Anigozanthos flavidus, which is available in red and yellow varieties. But some Kangaroo paws produce yellowish-green, green, brownish-yellow, red and pink blooms and some bicolor varieties also exist. Besides their unusual appearance, kangaroo paws attract hummingbirds, which is another bonus. This yellow paw pictured was planted in this location by our gardener Jose, who is your typical CA cut & blow guy, but is sweet and helps me out with digging up the garden beds every year and sometimes has taken initiative if I've left plants out and put them in the ground where he thinks I want them. In this case, he jumped the gun, but after it was in, I realized it wasn't going to do as well where I wanted to put it anyway, so I just left it where he put it.

The hardest thing about having this plant is its fussiness when it comes to watering. It is planted in cactus mix, and really doesn't like a lot of water. In fact, after it was first planted, the paw died, and it wasn't until I gave it practically no water for several months that a new one started to grow. But it is near plants that need water, and when we had the sprinklers going, a lot of care had to be taken to shield that plant, which we did, because it is such a cool-looking plant it really is worth the effort. And actually, since we quit using the sprinklers since one of the heads broke, and the tomatoes were having some mildew problems anyway (which watering from overhead only exacerbates), taking care of this plant has become easier. In fact, once we started hand watering, the whole garden improved because we can more carefully manage what gets watered when. And the kangaroo paw has never been happier. We have also resurrected one of the red paws in a pot, Anigozsanthos flavidus, which came back this year better than ever.

Bottom line: kangaroo paw goes dormant and needs to stay almost totally dry from the end of the blooming season, until growth starts again in the fall. To propogate, divide clumps in the spring.

Am on the lookout for this one: Purple and Red Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii )

So if you know where I can one, let me know...

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