On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 13:45:07 +0100, "mike. buckley"
wrote:

I don't have a pic but I'll try and describe it as best I can (I need to
know when to prune).

It flowers like a rose, pink rose like flowers, multiple buds from the
end of each stem, the flowers also have yellow stamen. It grows like a
small tree, with a single trunk and bushy at the top and it's about 6'
tall (I have a smaller plant, also at the same height, just less bushy
and not so thick a trunk). It's flowering now (madly). The leaves are
quite thick, smooth, dark green, uniform in colour and about 2 inches in
length, shaped kind of like the end of a teaspoon.

Anybody help? I wish I'd pruned it last year as it's now dropping the
dead flowers into the pond faster than I can clear them, and I can't
reach half the plant anyway.

I'd also go with camellia, as others have suggested.

The best time to prune is fairly soon, after the flowers have all
dropped (into your pond!). You can prune it quite hard, but it may
take a couple of months to shoot from old wood if you over-do it. But
you're unlikely to kill it however hard you prune it, even down to a
foot or so.


--
Chris

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