My Poor Convolvulus Silverbush

Hi All

I bought one of these recently when visiting my brother in Leatherhead. It did have to endure a 2 hour journey back home but seemed to bear up OK. I made my first mistake when I planted it in a container and gave it a really good watering (because I thought that's what you do for all plants) and it turned out I'd given it too much. It had just started to recover and flower again when we got all that rain in the south east and now it's looking very sorry for itself again.

I think the poor thing just needs to dry out, it does have a few buds trying to poke through but a lot of them have just dropped before opening.

Any tips on how I can protect it? I was thinking of trying to construct something out of wire, canes and bubble wrap to act as a kind of plant umbrella.

 

They are mediterranean sun-lovers but should be able to cope with what we've been having. I would have thought sudden changes of temperature might make the buds drop just as likely as over-watering. If the foliage is constantly getting soaked it would spoil their lovely silvery bloom, but not kill it, and new leaves growing through would look fine.
I'd be more inclined to make a sort of plant capelet to tie round the stem and over the rootball to stop that getting waterlogged. I'd let the top get as much sun and air as can be arranged in your neck of the woods.

 

Yes.

 

Ahh, OK, thanks.

That describes it exactly.

Great idea, thanks for your advice.

It's in the sunniest part of the garden already - and almost as if to tell me I was fretting unnecessarily it's produced two flowers today with more buds showing. Yaay![/quote]