"Glen Able" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

When I moved into my house last year, at the end of April, I posted to
urg about the sorry state of my new B. davidii. The foliage was all
misshapen with yellowish patches and fell off easily. Nobody recognised
this problem. I've been keeping an eye on them and thought I'd post an
update.

They flowered ok last summer, even though the foliage was always a bit
poorly looking. I was surprised afterwards in autumn to see them start
sprouting new leaves while the old ones were being shed (is this
normal?) They kept this new growth and, as of a month ago, all 4 plants
were covered with healthy-looking leaves around 2-3" long. However,
since the hard frosts (-8C) a couple of weeks ago, these leaves have
started to look rather misshapen again. So perhaps the problem has been
frost damage? I'll be chopping them back soon, so hopefully this year
it'll all be healthy new growth. Btw would it be a good idea to use a
lower-nitrogen fertiliser now to promote flowering?

cheers,
G.A.


Cut hard back to just above the 2nd set of leaves on each stem

Give a thorough feeding of pelleted chicken manure plus lashings of good
garden compost
and water well