This much loved shrub is a glorious sight in gardens around the country from July to December. The original species comes in shades of orange to red, with many cultivars available around the world in variations of these colours, including yellow. Flowers are borne in clusters at the ends of long, fairly straight branches perfect for the vase. Preferring acid soils this shrub grows successfully in most parts of the country, but they last only eight to ten years. Leucospermum are susceptible to the fungal disease, Phytophthroa cinnamomeum, that kills the plant, but are otherwise hardy garden plants. Tolerant of sandy and coastal conditions.