Proteas

Become an expert at protea culture and identification.

True Proteas come from Africa. Many produce spectacular flowers, with great commercial value as garden shrubs or a cut flower crop.

The term “Protea” is sometimes loosely used to refer to any plants in the Protea (or Protreaceae) family; though the scientific name “Protea” is strictly confined to one genus. Even nurserymen and cut flower growers the world over, may sometimes use the term Protea to refer to related plants in the Proteaceae family, such as Telopeas, Leucadendron and Leucospermum (though strictly speaking they are not Proteas).

This course is primarily concerned with those plants classified scientifically into the genus “Protea” (but does have some wider relevance). The true “Proteas” do share characteristics, with related plants:

• similar soil and water requirements
• susceptibility to the same problems
• other similar cultural needs
• sometimes a similar appearance, in foliage and flower.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Review of the system of plant identification
   • General characteristics of Proteas
   • Information contacts (ie: nurseries, seed, clubs, etc.)
   • Protea Botany
   • One way of Classifying Proteas
2. Culture
   • Planting
   • staking
   • mulching
   • watering
   • feeding (nutrition requirements, deficiencies etc)
   • pruning
   • protection from wind, salt air etc.
   • drainage requirements
   • techniques for providing drainage, etc.
3. Propagation
   • Methods of propagating this group of plants (cuttings & seed)
   • Propagation of selected varieties, etc.
4. Most Commonly Grown Varieties of Proteas
   • Protea cynaroides
   • Protea mellifera
   • Protea repens
5. Pests, Diseases and Problems
   • Protea botany
   • Pest & diseases
   • Drainage problems
6. Other Proteas to Grow
   • Protea aristata
   • Protea caffra
   • P. coronata
   • P. cedromontana
   • P. compacta
   • P. exima
   • P. grandiceps
   • P. holosericea
   • P. lacticolor
   • P. laevis
   • P. laurifolia
   • P. longiflora
   • P. longifolia
   • P. lorifolia
   • P. pulchra
   • P. punctata
   • P. rubropilosa
   • P. recondita
   • P. speciosa
   • P. stokoei
7. Making the Best Use of Proteas
   • Reasons for Growing Proteas
   • Proteas for warm climates
   • Hybrids
   • More cultivars for landscaping
   • Foliage affects
   • Harvest and post harvest
   • Dried Flowers
   • Growing Proteas in Containers
8. Special Assignment - based on one of the following (your choice)
   • How to grow Proteas for commercial flower production.
   • The botanical characteristics and cultivation requirements for a selected Protea culivar.
   • A collection of different Protea cultivars on a budget equal to an average one weeks wage for workers in your country. selection of the varieties to grow, how to establish them in
   • containers, how to maintain peak health throughout the year.
   • Month by month what to do to proteas to achieve and maintain peak health in your garden. You should indicate when to feed, how much & what.....when to prune, and how, when & if to mulch, pest control measures etc.

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Explain the taxonomy of Proteas and closely related genera.
• Describe the cultural requirements of Proteas and related Proteaceae plants
• Propagate Proteas.
• Compare a range of commonly grown Protea species.
• Manage problems including pests and diseases with Proteas.
• Discuss a range of different Protea species and cultivars.
• Determine and describe a range of ways to grow and use Proteas; including as a landscape plant and as a cut flower.
• Discuss a subject related to Proteas in depth.

EXTRACT OF COURSE NOTES

What affects Protea Growth

There are three main things which affect the way a Protea grows.

They are environmental factors such as temperature, light or moisture; nutrition (ie: the supply of food to the plant and the influence of pest & diseases on the plant's health. You should strive to gain a broad appreciation of these three factors. With such an understanding comes the ability to make your own decisions about how to grow a particular plant in a particular place.

Environmental Factors

• Consider where the plant grows naturally.

This may give you some idea of its requirements (e.g. Proteas commonly occur in well drained soils, indicating that they need good drainage; plants which grow above the snowline will probably tolerate very cold conditions, etc.). A plant which is grown outside of its natural environment can often still be grown successfully, but you may find that it will grow differently (e.g. tropical plants which are grown in the southern states tend to be smaller in size; in other words the plants may need more protection than they do in the north).

• Consider light and temperature conditions.

Most Proteas occur naturally in situations that are not heavily shaded.

Characteristics such as foliage colour, flowering, fruiting, rate of growth, etc. are largely controlled by temperature and light conditions. It is helpful to think of plants as having "optimum", "tolerable" and "intolerable" ranges of environmental conditions. For instance, for a particular Protea, optimum growth may be achieved if temperatures stay between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade. The same plant may tolerate temperatures as low as minus 5 degrees C. and perhaps as high as 50 degrees C., but above or below these extremes the plant will die. Many plants will lose the brilliant colour in their leaves if they do not get ample light. Flowering and subsequent fruit development will also be affected by low light levels for many plants. Similarly rainfall, wind, hail, frost, etc. will all affect plant growth.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Why Choose This Course

• Unique course materials (developed by our staff) and more current than some colleges (many reviewed annually); as a result, ACS graduates can be more up to date.
• We work hard to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field (It’s more than just serving up a collection of information –if all you want is information, buy a book; but if you want an education, that takes learning to a whole new level).
• Start whenever you want, study at your own pace, study anywhere
• Don’t waste time and money traveling classes
• We provide more choices–courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you; a huge range of elective subjects are offered that don’t exist elsewhere.
• Tutors are accessible (more than elsewhere) – academics work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day. Answering emails and phone calls from students are top priority.
• We treat students as individuals –don’t get lost in a crowd. Our tutors communicate with you one to one.
• Extra help at no extra cost if needed. When you find something you cannot do, we help you through it or will provide another option.
• Support after you finish a course –We can advise about getting work, starting  business, writing a CV, etc. We can promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Graduates who ask will be helped.
• Support from a team of a dozen professional horticulturists, living in different parts of the UK, and in both temperate and tropical climate zones of Australia.

About ACS

ACS was started in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was a gardening author, horticultural consultant and lecturer in horticulture at several colleges across Melbourne (in Australia).  Over the summer that year John discovered that there were thousands of applicants going to be turned away from horticulture courses at Burnley Horticultural College (now Melbourne University). There were simply too few courses being offered for the number of people wanting to study horticulture in Australia. This situation prompted a move to establish a correspondence course at Burnley; but after months of unsuccessful lobbying for support from government; John wrote a course, and with help from a colleague at Council of Adult Education, marketed it.

Standards were originally set in line with what were seen to be the standards of Australia's top horticultural college; and over the years, those standards have never been reduced. This makes our courses longer and more demanding than some other colleges; but it has also led to us building a credibility that stands tall in the horticulture industry across the world. 

In the early 1990's John started visiting the UK and becoming involved with the horticulture industry there. Around the mid 1990's ACS began offering RHS courses, and in 2003, John was formally recognised for his contribution to British Horticulture by being made a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture. ACS, as a school, established an office and staff in the UK in 2001, and has expanded considerably since then. Today it is formally affiliated with five other colleges in the UK (including Warwickshire College); all of who license and deliver ACS courses. 

A team of leading horticulturists work for the school's horticulture department, including 12 faculty members in both the UK and Australia

How You Study

• As soon as you enroll, we send an email to explain it all.
• We direct you to a short orientation video (downloadable over the internet) to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
• You are either given a code to access your course online, or sent out a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
• Work through lessons one by one, each lesson typically having four parts:
  • An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
  • Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
  • Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
  • Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
  • Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.
• We provide access to and encourage you to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
• We provide a "student manual", that is a quick solution to most problems that might occur

Recognition

• ACS has a highly respected international profile: by employers and academics alike. People are more aware of us than many other distance education schools –just do a search for “horticulture distance education courses” and see what comes up on the internet; or search for ACS Distance education on Facebook or Linked in, and see how many connections we have compared to other colleges.
• Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
• ACS has been educating people around the world since 1979
• Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
• Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
• A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.

Extra Books or Reference Materials

• The course provides you with everything that you need to complete it successfully.
• Assignments may ask you to look for extra information (eg. by contacting nurseries, visiting gardens or searching the internet), but our school's resources and tutors are always available as a back up. If you hit a "roadblock", we can quickly send you additional information or provide expert advice over the phone or email; to keep you moving in your studies.
• Some students choose to buy additional references, to take their learning beyond what is essential for the course. If a student wants to buy books, we operate an online bookshop offering ebooks written by staff at the school. Student discounts are available if you are studying with us. The range of e books available is being expanded rapidly, with at least one new ebook being written and published by our staff every month. See www.acsebook.com