What is it Pete ....

Hiya Pete

I've done a search with no results ... what is this plant that I think you have and you told me I'd like it because it's called a Bird of Paradise .. but it's not the Strelitzia ....

My gardening friend, Stu needs to know, thank you. k-l

 

Probably Caesalpinia gilliesii, Victoria

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQsAQwAA

 

That's it, thank you ... you never let me down ... :ntwrth:

 

Do you grow that Pete. The first referance I looked at said hardy in zone 8. That looks interesting.

 

Yes Peter, I have a plant growing up the house wall.
I'd not recommend it for anything other than a south or west facing wall, but it is quite hardy.

The wall just helps to make it flower, due to the extra heat in summer.



Last August picture.

It hates rain when in flower as it makes the flowers rot.

 

Thanks Pete - most interesting. The trouble is that my list of plants to try just keep getting longer. :D

 

Yes I know the problem, I wouldn't put this at the top of your list, if I were you.

To be honest it only does well here, with me, in our hottest summers.

 

Thats also helpful, thanks Pete. You can usually get plants through the winter, even if you have to keep them in pots under glass. But if they won't perform in the summer because of lack of heat - there is nothing you can do.

I found that out with Morning Glory - easy to grow, and in a hot year can do well up here. But if it not a hot year like the last few, they are rubbish. Growing them in the south is a different matter. Having said that there are other plants like Salvia leucantha from Mexico, which is reasonably exotic. Its not hot enought for it to set seed anywhere in this country, but it still flowers wonderfully well in a cool summer.

 

Yes Peter, the thing is to push plants to their limits, but if they only perform well one year in four you really need to decide if they are worth growing.
Caesalpinia does reasonably well for me most years but it must have been nearly ten years before I got my first flowers, this is from seed.

Likewise a plant that survives but spends all summer trying to get back to looking good after winter has got to be a non starter.

Some years morning glory can be a bit late flowering even down here, but I think some kinds are more likely to grow well than others, although I have not tried many.
Maybe you should experiment:lollol:

Am I right in thinking some of those salvias may be winter growers, in their natural habitat?

 

Pete, I think Salvias grow and flower in the UK at the same time as in their natural habitat. Though I am open to correction on that.

However you are right, there is a bunch of Salvias that flower in winter, because that is a good time for them where they come from. But they still flower in winter in the UK - which is not a good time. The most noteable being Salvia elegans, the pineapple sage from South Mexico and Guatemala. It starts to flower in November. I bring it into the house so I can see the flowers, but with the lack of light and my failure to water it properly it never flowers for me. :D

A lot of the Salvias that are popular in this country come from exotic places like Mexico and Brazil, but grow at high altitudes and consequently many will take several degrees of frost - but often not quite enough for our climate. That presumably also helps them to flower well in our cool summers.

As far as experimenting - I am doing that. I am growing about 60 lots of seed. Some are ordinary plants for the brder, but others range from Caragana microphylla (Siberian pea bush) to Cyperus papyrus (Egyptian papyrus) with five different Echiums, as a result of your encouragement. :gnthb:

 

Well good for you Peter, we never know what plants we really like until we actually get around to growing them.
Over the years I have tried lots of plants that wern't worth the effort, but until you grow, you dont know.

I had a notion that some salvias were winter flowering but assumed our summer would be as good as their winter, although I know some plants tend to be governed by day length rather than just temperature.
Its all this that makes growing interesting, and knowing the plant worthwhile.

I have Echuim bossieri from chilterns to try this year,(have you grown it?), along with a few other various seeds.

One note on the cyperus, I dont think its hardy or easy to accommodate in winter, but cyperus alternifolius is a lot smaller,(about four feet), and its been hardy in my garden for years.

 

Yes, I am currently growing some Echium bossieri, along with russicum and fastuosum. I am also growing wildpretti and 'Pink Fountain' for a second year, though I haven't seen them flower yet. I have no idea what to expect. I have recently read that they like poor soil, and if its too rich they just produce leaves and don't flower.

I do like to experiment and grow new things, as I know you do. But there are so many different plants that it would be nice to have a source that said try plants A, B, and C they are excellent, but don't bother with D or E - they are rubbish. You can pick up a lot of information from forums and the internet, and I am very grateful to you for the introduction to Exotic Gardens - there is a lot of knowledge there. But its still a long hard job. With Echiums, for instance, there are plenty of sites that give a list of names of species and their size and colour etc, but no one has ranked them in order of which are best to grow in the UK.

One of my favorite sources of information for border plants is Bob Brown's CGF http://www.cgf.net/plants.php He was a schoolmaster and ranks his plants on a scale of 0 to 10. I have found that to be very helpful, but he only covers a small amount of whats out there. I have just looked at his site again and he does cover Echiums - but not many. He gives his best score to E russicum. But he didn't like candicans.

Thanks for the info about the papyrus. Being in N Yorks, I assume nothing is hardy. :D So I am resigned to trying to overwinter it. I had read that it was difficult to overwinter, but a couple of people on EG said they didn't have a problem - we shall see. At the moment winter is a long way off. I will be very pleased just to get some of my plants to reach it. :D