Albany Woolly Bush - Adenanthos sericeus

Since writing about sheep manure the other day I thought I might continue the 'sheepish' theme and show off my very woolly, woolly bush. It's a garden mainstay here in the South-West of WA for a few reasons and I can't remember a garden where we haven't planted one.

The Albany Woolly Bush is named after a town where it grows indigenously 4.5hrs drive south of Busselton. It's a coastal plant that neither needs much water or copious amounts of attention. In fact, it seemingly thrives on neglect. It doesn't need rich, loamy soil instead preferring well-draining sandy soils that are littered with limestone rock.

And it's the lack of rock that becomes its downfall. It's not uncommon to find these shrubs taking up horizontal space after a spate of gusty winds. Their limp root system combined with their non-aerodynamic foliage make them great candidates for toppling over. They actually need the rock to anchor their roots. Otherwise, finding a sheltered corner of the garden might be your next option.

While the Woolly Bush, Adenanthos sericeus, flowers during late winter - early spring, its blooms are completely insignificant. Even with their shades of red one might expect that the contrast on the green foliage might be more pronounced, yet that's not the case. In fact, you would need to search through the foliage to find them or at least be very close to the shrub to spot one.

But flowers aren't the reason why the woolly bush is so endeared. It's the foliage and the justification for it's name that is sought after. If you're into tree hugging then this 2-3m shrub is the pinnacle of hug-able plants. The foliage is super smooth and so soft one could be excused for thinking it is actually wool.

Propagating the Woolly Bush

I haven't had much success propagating this form of Adenthanos. Actually, the phrase 'much success' is clearly an overstatement because frankly, I've had NO success with this plant. I can tell you what doesn't work and that is soft-wood and hard-wood cuttings (though finding hard-wood on a woolly bush isn't the easiest of tasks).

My next attempt will be either air or soil-layering techniques because they just don't seem to take with straight cuttings. I will let you know whether I have any success in getting these going.

Posted by Stuart on March 6, 2008 6:18 AM | Permalink | Check to Subscribe to this Comment:

Comments

what an interesting plant.

Posted by: sam | March 6, 2008 11:15 AM

Hi there

Just a quick note to advise that my wife and I have found someone who successfully propagates the Albany Woolly Bush.

In our hunt to buy strictly native plants for our garden, we came across Jamie Gould at Gould's Nursery - 22 Kurrajong Avenue Batlow NSW 2730 Phone 02 6949 1098 - sadly he has no internet connection.

I have personally found Jamie to be a most amiable chap and ready to share tips and ideas at any time.

I'm confident he would be willing to share his propogating techniques with you.

Kind regards..........

Posted by: Mark Cockburn | February 14, 2009 6:47 PM

Hi, I'm really interested in pruning techniques for the Albany Woolly Bush. I haven't attempted to prune my bush yet as I haven't found any advice anywhere.
Hope you can help,
Dianne

Posted by: dianne stewart | August 5, 2009 5:21 PM

hi all. i too am a woolly bush fanatic they are great. and i would like so much to propogate them too

Posted by: moyra | August 9, 2009 4:28 PM

hi all any update or instructions on propogating the albany wooly bush yet.
cheers

Posted by: moyra | August 15, 2009 10:01 PM

Hello all,

This species requires semi-hardwood cuttings to propagate successfully. I have had success with taking tip cutting in autumn and late winter. In fact, I just put in some cuttings this morning that should strike within about 6 weeks or so.

Removing the growing tip before setting in the propagation medium increases my strike rate greatly, as does the use of a rooting hormone gel.

I use the standard Debco brand propagation medium.

It is best transplanted as soon as root initials form, so inspect the cuttings regularly past week 4 or 5.

Never try to propagate this species in the hotter months, they'll die very quickly.

Autumn is the best time, I get a higher strike rate in autumn, but cuttings taken about now will strike too.

Disinfest the cuttings in a 10L bucket of water with a thimble full of bleach for 15 minutes before setting to strike. This will avoid fungal problems during the striking process - A. sericeus is particularly prone to fungal problems due to it's 'wooly' leaves.

All the best.

Posted by: Jim | August 23, 2009 2:00 PM

An update for any following this thread.

I potted up the struck cuttings of [i]Adenanthos sericeus[/i] I set to strike in mid August (previous post).

Of the 16 cuttings I set to strike (2 pots, 8 in each), eight did, giving a strike rate of 50%.

I checked the cuttings two weeks ago for the second time since I'd set them, and no root initials had formed at all. I checked again this afternoon, in the pot that I didn't disturb last time I checked them, and all eight of them had struck. The pot that I had disturbed two weeks ago, only two had struck.

Taking cuttings in late winter, as I did with this batch, it's best to leave them for 8 weeks at a minimum.

This species is easy to propagate, give it a try!

Regards.

Posted by: Jim | October 17, 2009 5:32 PM

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