The protea grows natively in South Africa.  With over 1,500 species across the world, it is one of the largest families of flowers. It is also the South African national flower.

So what makes this flower special to us?  While we were missionaries in S. Africa we came to appreciate this flower.  We like how there are so many different versions of the flower even inside the same protea family.  God has created a beautiful flower in the Protea.

this is the King Protea (Mary’s favorite)