On 8/3/05 17:26, in article , "Bob Hobden"
wrote:


"Charlie Pridham" wrote after
"Sacha" wrote
Has anyone tried growing this in UK? I can't imagine it surviving
outside
a
large conservatory but I'm curious to know if anyone has tried and
therefore
whether it will grow and flower in a smaller form as e.g. the Jacaranda
will. I think its proper name is Delonix regia.

Hi Sacha, I tried growing it from seed but it was unhappy in the unheated
greenhouse (Tibouchina was fine) so I gave up!


I brought some seeds back both from Jamaica and also from an orange form I
chanced upon in Cyprus, both eventually germinated (sandpapered and then a
saucer of water to see if they swell) but like Charlie they were never happy
and faded away. Never got much bigger than seedling stage.
With Rays rather big greenhouse it's worth a go though, especially as summer
is just round the corner (they say!)
Not seen any at Kew or Wisley so I think they must be "difficult" here. They
certainly make large trees, oak tree size.

I'm going to sow them and see what happens but not with a great deal of real
hope as to performance.

Hope you both had a nice holiday in the sun, we got snowed in on Exmoor!
:-)
Lovely holiday - came home with a flu type bug, Ray on anti-bs, me hacking
like an old coal fire, so we've barely moved for 5 days! We're on the mend
but yes, it was wonderful. Dolphin encounter the best thing, botanic garden
rather disappointing. But the plants we saw just round and about the
islands were wonderful. And while on that subject, there was a climber with
a pale lilac pea-shaped flower which appeared to be wild. I hadn't seen it
before and nobody local seemed to know its name. We saw it in St Barts and
Nevis, particularly but I'm sure it must have been right through the region.
Anyone any idea of the name? And in the botanic garden in Nevis we did see
the most lovely Sarietea and a blue jade vine that we're hoping to get
(Strongylodon macrobotrys)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)