On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 22:48:20 GMT, Rus Sheptak

Thanks for the info. I'm just north of San Francisco, in Contra Costa Couny. We get one or two frosts a year, on average. Its good to know its supposed to shoot in the autumn. Mine's been putting them up sporadically since spring, but recently I've no
ticed multiples, which sounds like it behaving normally..

Parts of your post were apparently
missing, at this end.

You quoted the whole post...what seemed missing?


Oh i dunno what seemed missing. the very end of a word, perhaps.

Listen, if in a frost you get dieback to the ground, do not despair,
the plant will regrow. some years ago there was a record breaking low
in Louisiana, where some lush growth, perhaps 30+ feet tall, of B.
oldhamii, died back to the ground, and to the surprise of the owner,
that next season, regrew to the full 30 feet. Of course, the soil did
not get as cold as the air temps there. I am always interested to know
how plants do in climates which are not really kind enough to them,
let me know, if you remember.
For US, we find it awful that it shoots in late fall, instead of early
spring, because we DO suffer the loss of some culms, and also the
branching out, and subsequent leafing out, is done at the unkind time
of year; yet, it is still a giant and still performs. for this we are
thankful, it is the ultimate screen for southern California in our
opinion. good luck with yours, maybe mulch with straw or the like.