With its glossy leaves and brilliant flowers and fruits, this is an aristocrat in the garden. But like some aristocrats, it can be difficult to please. It grows best in areas with moist climates and it does not like dry heat and cold. It is suited to coastal areas, with good specimens found in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth gardens, as well as in the Wildflower Garden at Paarl Rock. Inland gardeners may find it difficult to cultivate. Young shrubs sometimes die back after a few years for no apparent reason, even in coastal gardens.

Alberta magna is grown from seed and cuttings, but is not an easy tree to propagate, and even under good conditions it is usually slow growing, but it does flower while still small.

Various methods have been proposed to aid seed germination. Seed is often damaged by insects and not viable. Unless viability is checked, it is best to sow heavily. In nature the seeds normally stay on the tree for at least a year before being shed. One school of thought is that seeds require this period of ripening on the tree for at least one year in order to reach full maturity. They will not germinate without this period of "after-ripening".

Others prefer to sow seed densely soon after it ripens and let after-ripening take place underground. Some people have had success by refrigerating fresh seed for two to three weeks before sowing. Another method advocates cleaning the fresh seed and soaking it in a weak solution of 1% sulphuric acid for 24 hours before planting.

Seed does best if planted in a porous, absorbent medium e.g. a riversand/bark/vermiculite mix. Some form of scarification or excision of the pericarp (seed coat) aids germination. Seedlings have a long juvenile period and should not be transplanted until well developed.

Trees can also be propagated from cuttings (from mature wood) and by tissue culture.