A tall and tough kangaroo paw with mid orange flowers, designed for landscape use and permanent garden plantings as part of the ‘Gardening With Angus’ range of kangaroo paws, this versatile plant will light up the landscape with its iconically Australian flowers in Spring and Summer.

Selected for its longevity, low maintenance requirements, and improved resistance to drought, pests and diseases such as black spot and rust, ‘Landscape Orange’ was created to fill the need for a tough and reliable kangaroo paw that will perform well long term in a wide range of conditions, making it perfect for landscapers as well as gardeners!

Description:

‘Landscape Orange’ is a very tough tall variety which is long-lived and low maintenance. With its dark green sword like foliage growing in a cluster up to 1m wide and vibrant orange flowers, it creates a bold presence in the landscape. Flowers prolifically once a year atop a well branched flower stem up to 2m high throughout late spring and summer, and the birds that they attract will be an added bonus. Extra flowers can appear at the lower stem junctions, giving a second blooming period.

Features:

•Great for Wildlife – Kangaroo paws are excellent for attracting birds, as their abundant nectar provides a feast for native birds including honeyeaters, wattle-birds and spinebills. The tubular flowers also attract butterflies and bees.

•Excellent Landscape Plant – Bred for toughness, longevity and beauty ‘Landscape Orange’ represents all the best qualities of Australian native plants and has been created to fill the demand for a reliable kangaroo paw for permanent garden plantings and landscaping.

•Spectacular Native Flower – The vibrant orange flowers with their lovely furry texture create a gorgeous display in the landscape or home garden, and are always popular as a cut flower.

Uses:

Landscape and Garden

‘Landscape Orange’ is an exceptional landscape plant. It is tough and low maintenance and will perform reliably for years. ‘Orange’ is also great for large pots and containers.

•The lush evergreen foliage and stunning flowers make it a spectacular feature plant, it is also fantastic for mass plantings where the floral display will really make an impact.

• A great backdrop plant for mixed planting, with other varieties of kangaroo paw and popular native grasses to add colour and depth to native garden designs, or for a more general plant mix.

Requirements:

•They like full sun though they will also grow well in partial shade. Shadier places can slightly lessen the number of flowers, and will deepen the flower colour.

•Drought tolerant once established

•Frost tolerant. They withstand light frost, and if there is damage from heavier frosts, the blackened foliage can be cut back to ground level once all frost danger has passed, and the plant will reshoot

•Soil – Good drainage is necessary. Adding a small amount of organic matter to the soil will encourage strong healthy growth.

•Low maintenance- Once yearly pruning is important to keep plants looking healthy, they will thrive long term if maintained in this way.

Maintenance:

•Tall kangaroo paws grow from an underground rhizome, which will resprout with healthy new growth after a hard pruning. This can be done once a year after flowering has finished at the end of Summer. Cutting back hard at this point will encourage healthy new shoots to grow which will bear the next year’s flowers, as each fan of leaves supports just one flower stem and will begin to die back after the flowers have completely finished.

Kangaroo paws should be cut back right to ground level, removing all old foliage and flowers. This can be done with secateurs or even a lawnmower for larger patches!

•Larger plants will respond well to being lifted and divided every three years or so, this will renew the plant.

•Fertilize after cutting back with a generous handful of general purpose or native fertilizer. Either can be used as the tall kangaroo paws are not overly sensitive to Phosphorus. Repeat in Spring during their growing season for spectacular results.

•Extended flowering can be encouraged by watering the plant well throughout the growing season, particularly when flower buds are forming. Though they are drought tolerant they will respond best if watered well during early Spring and Summer, which helps to maintain the longevity of the blooms. Water well when establishing and apply mulch after planting.

Hint from Angus- 

A handy tip to prolong the flowering season of the taller kangaroo paws is to cut the top half of the flower stem (cut off just above the lower flower buds on the stem as soon as the first flower opens) and use it indoors as a cut flower.

This encourages the dormant flower buds that remain on the bottom half of the flower stem to grow into side branches that will extend the flowering period (usually from late spring to mid-summer) by up to a month or two.

Read more about growing kangaroo paws

See my article on Renew Your Kangaroo Paw for maintenance tips>>>

Database entry

Watch Angus’s videos about kangaroo paw cut flowers and the  Bush Gems Landscaper Paws