Telopea truncata

Telopea truncata at Hartz Mountain National Park




Telopea truncata or Tasmanian Waratah is one of my favourite plants in the Tasmanian bush,the most common flower colour is red but there are other colours such as yellow ,white and pink Telopea flower colours.
The Tasmanian Waratah is a slow growing plant of the sub alpine zone but can be found at lower altitudes on the Tasmanian Peninsula. It can also be found in drier areas such as Platform Peak in the south east,Snow Hill in the Eastern Tiers and even a record from Brown Mountain in the South East.

Round leafed form of Telopea truncata found at Cape Pillar



Seed follicles forming on Telopea truncata at Cape Pillar



















In cultivation you need a cool and protected site and the soil must be very well drained  but moist ,as they will die in waterlogged soil.Waratahs benefit from fertilising with Blood and Bone or any fertiliser low in phosphorous at least once a year in spring.

Telopea truncata in cultivation on our block collcted from Snug Tiers.

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Telopea truncata growing on Snug Tiers

Waratahs are easy to propagate from fresh seed(less than 6 months old),but you will loose allot of them because of damping off Damping off, you could spray them with a fungicide such as Banol PDF or better still you could make sure the seedling mix is not  kept to damp and has plenty of air movement around the punnets which will help control this disease.

Waratahs benefit from pruning off the old flower heads(if you don;t want to collect the seed) to promote a bushy plant that will have more flowers on it.