KANGAROO PAWS

The floral emblem of Western Australia is the Red and Green Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos manglesii) which is endemic to the southwest of the state. I remember this from childhood but have no memory of all the other coloured Kangaroo Paws that I’ve seen since returning including a blue version. Having done some research, I’ve now discovered that there has been a kangaroo paw breeding program at Kings Park since 2007 designed to develop plants that were both disease tolerant and heat resistant. The original colours were red, green, yellow and sometimes purple plants but new colours are emerging.

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-change-drives-creation-of-new-blue-kangaroo-paw-20220309-p5a38d.html

Wandering along St George’s Terrace in the Perth CBD, once can see orange- green, pink, burgundy, and lime-green flowers.



The largest collection of kangaroo paws I’ve seen was in an unexpected place: the Eden Project in Cornwall. Each space on the site had a different climate and one of them was “mediterranean”. Whether seen clumped together like this or just a couple of coloured flowering stems sticking up in people’s gardens, the different tones add a special richness to the environment.
Eden Project 2023


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