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Dead ceanothus
I have two evergreen ceanothus bushes in different parts of the
garden, both about five years old and grown from cuttings from a plant in a garden about a mile away, in West Cornwall (don't know the variety but possibly Dark Star). Over the winter, both lost virtually all their leaves, apart from a very few on the side protected from the winter gales. This spring, there were a very few signs of new shoots appearing, but mostly the branches were dead. I've cut them back fairly hard in the hope that they'll regenerate, but I'm not optimistic, especially as it's my understanding that ceanothus don't take kindly to such treatment. But I was surprised it happened. The winter was milder than usual, with less frost than in previous years. AIUI ceanothus in general are maritime shrubs mostly from California, that tolerate a degree of salt gale exposure, and although the winter gales this year were possibly a bit stronger than in previous winters, I wouldn't have expected them to have suffered the way they did. They've always come through past winters unscathed to provide a mass of deep blue flowers about now. Curiously enough, the parent plant from which these were raised has suffered in exactly the same way. There are just a few green shoots on the leeward side. This one is almost at sea level, some 300 ft lower than us, and winter frosts in that position are a rarity. Could it have been the dry summer that actually did for them, and the winter gales just stripped off what were virtually dead leaves? Having said that, I thought they were reasonably drought resistant. Are ceanothus short-lived plants? Has anyone else lost their ceanothus this way this spring? -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
#2
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Dead ceanothus
In article , Chris Hogg writes: | | But I was surprised it happened. The winter was milder than usual, | with less frost than in previous years. ... That's the problem. Seriously. Root rot causes more death of such plants in the UK than cold, and it is the long, dark, wet winters that do it. The fungi and bacteria thrive, but the plant isn't active and so can't resist them. | Could it have been the dry summer that actually did for them, and the | winter gales just stripped off what were virtually dead leaves? Having | said that, I thought they were reasonably drought resistant. Are | ceanothus short-lived plants? Has anyone else lost their ceanothus | this way this spring? Doubtful. They are. They are, in the UK. And not this spring, but I am in Cambridge. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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