On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 14:05:24 GMT, "Matthew Durkin"
wrote:



hehe - I lost my only molissima when the seed that sprouted did so upside
down. I got a nice view of the root for about 4 days; unfortunately by the
time I realised this it was too late and no other seeds sprouted.

I have heard that the molissima is slightly hardy - more so than the
vitifolia in fact. How old / big was the one you lost?

About 15 ft tall, up a leylandii stump, and about three years old,
although that was its first (and last) winter outside. I have another
in the conservatory. I wouldn't have put it out if it was my only one.

I found that p. vitifolia didn't flower until it too was a couple of
years old and a similar size to the molissima.

Where do you live?

West Cornwall. Almost frost free apart from that cold snap in Feb when
we had -2C here, but with a cutting wind that saw off a number of
tender plants that I hoped would generally be OK here.

I live in Hertfordshire so pretty cold - though that said my non-hardy fuscias
all survived through snow and ice. Maybe my garden is sheltered.
Sadly I don't have a conservatory otherwise I'd grow them in there! I also
don't have a garden big enough to take a conservatory

My mother, also in W.Cornwall, lost all her tender fuschias, so maybe
you are a bit sheltered. But in general I think you're going to have
difficulty. Try it in a pot in a window and train it over a large hoop
support, round and round. Take cuttings, and when you've got several
plants on the go, then try one outside. You might be lucky.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net