Kakabeak; Clianthus maximus, or kōwhai ngutukākā in Māori. Image: Su Leslie 2019
I was given several seeds of this native plant, and this one is the first to germinate.
Although kakabeak is popular with gardeners in New Zealand, most plants are grown from a just few cultivars. In the wild, both Clianthus maximus and Clianthus puniceus are critically endangered.
Although it’s likely my seeds are from one of the common cultivars, it is still a wonderful plant to grow for its beauty and as a food source for native birds. Eventually.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
― Chinese proverb
Zimmerbitch 
Life begins anew. You are entering to a nice time of year.
Leslie xoxo
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We are. I hope your coming autumn is kind to you. 😀
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So far we are getting a lot of rain. It is still fairly warm thank heavens.
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Sounds like Auckland!
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I think all this rain has to be glacier melt.
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I like how you said “eventually”
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A lot of NZ natives are slow growing. It not much more than a centimetre tall at the moment 😀
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oh wow – and I bet seeing it brings this feeling of forward thinking
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PS
and I love the quote – about the burst year was then and next best time is now –
and sometimes – depends on the context –
but sometimes have added a line to the oak version:::
“like best time to plant an oak tree was fifty years ago
second best time is now
or….
go and find someone who planted one and see what you can harvest from them”
something like that –
depends on what you needed the tree for
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😀
I also read an old Greek saying about the mark of a civilisation being old men planting trees under whose shade they will never sit.
Basically, gardeners always need one eye on a future beyond themselves.
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that gave me chills!
such a beautiful thought for a Monday
and actually for any day –
helps see beyond the now
and three cheers for gardening and nature
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Amazing little NZ plant! May it live forever! Also, I like the Chinese proverb, Su.
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Thanks Peter. There are some very good efforts to save wild plantations of it and to propagate from them.
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That’s good to hear, Su.
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The seedling looks a bit like a sunflower baby to grow! Beautiful tale and GOOD LUCK, we should all try to protect anything in nature …. Am right now in Switzerland and I saw with great dismay how along one lane, every single shrub of box ´tree´ was eaten naked by some caterpillars. Years ago we had the same thing in France and our 60 yrs old box shrubs were dead within hours. They needed to be cut down to the roots and burnt…..
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Oh no; that is terrible. In New Zealand one of our largest and most iconic tree species, the Kauri, is suffering from a disease that rots the roots, causes defoliation and ultimately kills the trees. Kauri are incredibly slow-growing and we’re losing trees that are hundreds of years old.
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…. so I wish you even MORE LUCK with those seedlings. I’m hurting bodily when I see such things. Hundreds of years, destroyed in no time, what a waste of beauty and goodness!
I shall check those Swiss shrubs out in springtime, but IF they know what it is (and I do know), they will also have to take them all out, burn them and NOT plant the same box plants anew. That would just be a friendly invitation for the buggers to finish the newcomers too.
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Oh, I hope it continues to flourish. It is such a pretty plant.
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I’m hoping some of the others will germinate too.
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Lovely! I have a few seedlings of C.puniceus which the snails are really enjoying….
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☹️ here, C. puniceus only exists in the wild on one island in a harbour just north of Auckland.
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Very sad. I actually got the seeds to grow grafting stock for the extremely tricky Sturts Desert Pea but my single seedling of that seems to be doing ok ungrafted.
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Bonus!! I’ve just checked out Sturt’s Desert Pea (which I’d never heard of) and learned something new. Thank you Darren 👍👍
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Tender greens are so beautiful.
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The miracle of life. And green fingers. Which I do not possess. Here’s wishing the seedlings well!
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Thanks Ju-Lyn. Not totally sure about the green fingers. Like most things, I garden with more enthusiasm than skill.
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I like your approach to life, Su: the enthusiasm that comes from passion & interest … that’s certainly what I am striving towards!
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Yay to first one of hopefully many! 😄 I love the sight of new life sprouting from the earth! There’s nothing quite like it especially in spring. And what a wonderful quote that is, I haven’t heard it before.
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Three more seeds have begun to emerge, but their progress is very very slow so I’m not sure they will survive. 😕
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Do they get enough light? Or are they a bit sticky? Because if so there might be hard to see minute insects sucking at them already and stopping them from growing. I had that with mango trees once. 😯
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They are getting the same about of light and moisture as the seed that has germinated properly, and there does seem to be some small change in their appearance, so perhaps the first seed was just particularly quick to germinate. 🤨
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Just like with children then, some are eager to get their feet on the ground and make their first steps, others take their time. 😉
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