[Bolanthus]

I had the opportunity to admire these Ptilostemon chamaepeuce plants at MGS Sparoza, in their best season (early to mid -June for low altitudes in Attica)

This is a truly outstanding species, and it’s a pity that –to my knowledge- there isn’t a single nursery in Greece to provide it.

The photos below are taken from Hymettus above 500m, where ptilostemons bloom nearly one month later -and many of them are still in bloom.

I have also tried repeatedly to collect some seed, but unfortunately in every case the seeds seemed pretty damaged as there were holes on them.

[MikeHardman]

Nicely captured, Bolanthus.
The ones in the wild hereabouts look rather scrappy for most of the year, and don't flower for long. I guess given a bit of gardening, they can look as good as the ones you photographed.

[Alisdair]

We have a lot of ptilostemons in the "managed wild" part of our garden in southern Greece, where they flower at much the same time as in Sparoza, perhaps a week or so earlier. As Mike says, if left untended they do indeed look pretty scrappy for much of the year. Bolanthus's wonderful picture shows the seed heads at their best, but we find that to keep the area looking reasonably appealing after flowering finishes it's best to shear the plants back firmly. The older plants (which quite quickly develop a massively woody base) tend to be the ones that look most untidy after flowering, and it's best to remove them periodically, allowing their replacement by one of the self-sown young plants which you will find trying to populate the ground densely around their parent.
Sally Razelou at Sparoza does swear by this plant, and it can be a stunning addition to a semi-natural hot mediterranean garden. It is absolutely drought-hardy and will stand moderate frosts to about 10 deg C. You can buy plants from specialist nurseries such as Olivier Filippi.

[Bolanthus]

P. gnaphaloides is another species that I think looks a lot like P. chamaepeuce. It appears to have broader and longer leaves -also somewhat more whitish stems (?)
I found out about this species just a fortnight ago and haven’t yet distinguished the 2 species in the field. Based on what I'm getting from google photo- search it seems to be more “untidy prone” than P. chamaepeuce. I’m wondering if this could be the case of the “untidy ptilostemons” in some instances, as I have seen untidy and more “tidy” ones on the nearby hills in winter  

[Alice]

Really impressive specimens of ptilostemon, Bolanthus!
I have grown two from seed obtained from Chantal. I have found them slow-growing (under our conditions) and no flowers yet after three years.

[Bolanthus]

Thank you Alice, I hope your ptilostemons to pleasantly surprise you May-June 2013

[Alice]

Thank you. Looking forward to it.

[Alice]

Our first flower on Ptilostemon chamaepeuce, grown from seed, photographed end of May 2013.