In the next couple of months Kangaroo Paws all over Australia will be stretching their stems for the sun, flaunting their flower ladened spikes for the birds and the bees. But not just for the wildlife, Anigozanthos are undoubtedly one of our nations most iconic genus and with recent breeding in the taller range, they are now available in so many striking colours. But one of my favourites is the somewhat subtle Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lime’, some may consider this too pale but I find the vibrant green flowers are a fantastic highlight in the garden.

I am quite obsessed with green flowers in the garden, I love the lime Bottle Brushes and Melaleucas, there is something surprising about a green bloom, they are punchy in an under rated way.

The stems on the Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lime’ when they first throw are a furry purple and the bright orange stigma poking out is an added bonus.

Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lime’ is a flavidus species, this wild species of kangaroo paw is the most reliable and long lived of this group. The leathery, dark green leaves are very tough and narrow and tend to hold up better against ink spot than all other kangaroo paws.

They suit most soils including clay and can be grown in sun to part shade, though the more sun means more flowers, I usually only grow Kangaroo paws in full sun.

Kangaroo Paws make excellent cut flowers, be aware you will need a very large vase 😉 by cutting the flower stem down from the base you are also helping maintain the health of the plant.

In the image above you can see ‘Landscape Lime’ in a mixed garden bed with ‘Landscape Scarlet’ and ‘Landscape Tangerine’, the Lime flowers standout beautifully offset with silver foliage in the background.

Anigozanthos flavidus likes to be fed in spring with slow release native fertiliser, they are drought and light frost tolerant once established.

The most important thing to do your your larger Kangaroo paws is to prune after flowering, Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lime’ will flower well into the Summer months, so once it’s finished cut the whole clump back to the ground. I have written in more detail about that here.

So if you are looking for a clumping feature plant, I highly recommend Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Lime’ with its 2 metre tall flower spikes it makes the other colours look a little gaudy 😉