Mel linariifolia claret Tops seed

[treeman]

Melaleuca Claret Tops.

Does anyone have a mature one in the garden or nearby and can collect and send seeds?

[Kevin]

Hello Mike,

I'm not sure that this variety will propagate from seed, whether they are sterile or throw back to the parent.

I looked up an old contact (attached link below) and they do not stock 'Claret tops'. Well not advertised anyway.
http://www.harvestseeds-nativeplants.com.au/

Anyway, search 'Native Seed Wholesalers' as there are many more in Australia and very cheap to buy by the kilogram.

Goodluck, and interested to know if they can be propagated by seed.
Kevin

[treeman]

Hi Kevin, Thanks for the reply.
I have no idea if it's a sterile cultivar. I would be surprized if it is. There's another new cultivar (little red) which is a PBR plant. I would not be surprized if it was developed from Claret tops, but I don't know.
I can readily find the plant but I would like to grow it from seed to see any variation.

[shibui]

Hi Mike, There are seed capsules all over the ones in our garden but they don't look ripe yet. I'll try to remember to keep an eye on them and get some seed when it is ready. Happy to receive the occasional reminder in case I forget.

Any reason for trying to grow from seed rather than vegetative? I assume you'll get a range of characteristics from seed.

[treeman]

Hi Mike, There are seed capsules all over the ones in our garden but they don't look ripe yet. I'll try to remember to keep an eye on them and get some seed when it is ready. Happy to receive the occasional reminder in case I forget.

Any reason for trying to grow from seed rather than vegetative? I assume you'll get a range of characteristics from seed.

Hi Neil, I just saw this, sorry for the late reply. Yeah I'm interested to see if there is any variability in the red factor. I like propagating as much as I like bonsai!
I'm messing with a few unusual natives at the moment....

Thankyou!

[shibui]

I like propagating as much as I like bonsai!

Me too
I'll keep an eye on it and grab some when they look ripe enough.

I'm interested to see if there is any variability in the red factor

Size will be another variable with these. Claret tops appears to be staying quite small in the garden here - less than 2 m in 6 years