Protea

A steep hillside in Fallbrook, California, provides ideal growing conditions for cultivating protea. Photo: courtesy of Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers

Ismael “Mel” Resendiz considers the protea to be flower royalty.

Protea and its South African and Australian relatives are exotic, but the good news for anyone living between Monterey Bay in the north and San Diego and its environs in the south is that members of the Proteaceae family are well-adapted to California coastal regions. These subtropical flowering shrubs provide drama and stature in the residential garden, but you’ll also find them blanketing the hillsides north and east of San Diego. That’s where some of the best proteas in the world are produced on flower farms large and small.

Ismael “Mel” Resendiz inspecting the Leucadendron discolor ‘Pom Pom’ crop in March. Photo: courtesy of Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers

Since immigrating to the United States in 1977, Resendiz and his family have grown a wide array of cut flowers and plants, particularly South African and Au...