Kangaroo Paw Celebrations Fireworks

Kangaroo Paw 'Celebrations Fireworks' (Anigozanthos 'Celebrations Fireworks') is a compact selection bred for pots and front garden beds rather than the back of a border. It holds at about 60cm tall and 50cm wide, sending up flower stems in red and yellow above a tidy fan of strappy foliage. It is a Western Australian native, drought and heat tolerant, and it brings honeyeaters in while it is flowering.

Why you'll love it

• Compact enough for a pot. At 60cm tall it suits a container or a low border, where taller kangaroo paws quickly look top heavy and need staking.
• Red and yellow flower stems. The two toned flowers sit clear of the foliage on strong stems and hold their colour for weeks.
• Made for dry, hot sites. Drought tolerant, heat tolerant and salt tolerant, so it handles a west facing wall, a coastal front garden or an inland courtyard.
• Birds notice it. The flowers are full of nectar and honeyeaters work them daily through the flowering season.

Where it works best

Pots and containers. A 300mm pot with a free draining mix suits one plant. Containers give you the sharp drainage kangaroo paws want, which is the biggest single factor in how long the plant lives.

Mass planting and borders. Plant 0.4m apart for mass planting. At that spacing the fans meet and the flower stems read as one block of colour rather than scattered spikes.

Coastal and feature planting. Salt tolerance suits a front garden near the coast, and a group of three or five in a gravel bed carries a planting through spring and summer.

Growing kangaroo paw in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun all day, with good air movement. Shade gives weak stems and encourages ink spot on the foliage. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, Mediterranean and arid gardens, and it takes light frost only, so cold inland and southern gardens should grow it in a pot that can shift to shelter over winter.

Soil. Sharp drainage is not optional. Sandy or gravelly soil is ideal, and on clay you should plant on a raised mound with coarse sand and gravel worked through. Wet feet through a humid summer is what kills most kangaroo paws.

Water and feed. Water twice a week through the first summer, then only in extended dry spells. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring, since standard fertilisers can damage the roots of natives from this group.

Pruning. Cut the whole plant back hard after flowering, down to about 10cm, removing old leaves and spent stems together. It looks drastic and it is the correct treatment: the clump reshoots clean and flowers better the following season.

What to expect when it arrives

This variety is supplied as tube stock, as 140mm plants in packs of ten and as 175mm plants in packs of six. Tubes are young single fans and the value choice for a mass planting, while the larger plants are established and closer to flowering size. All arrive as foliage rather than in flower.

Strappy foliage travels well, though a bent leaf or two is normal. Expect the plant to settle within a month and to flower in its first full spring. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• The complete kangaroo paw care guide
• Browse the Australian native range
• Bird attracting plants
• Plants that do well in pots

Common questions

Why do the leaves get black marks?

That is ink spot, a fungal problem brought on by humidity, shade and crowding. Cut the affected foliage out at the base, improve air movement around the plant, and water the soil rather than the leaves.

How hard should I cut it back?

Down to about 10cm once flowering finishes. Kangaroo paws respond to hard renewal pruning and decline if old growth is left in place year after year.

How long will it live?

Three to five years is realistic from a modern kangaroo paw, longer with sharp drainage, full sun and a hard cut back each year.