On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 20:30:51 +0000 (UTC), "Dwayne"
wrote:

totally new and not very keen to the world of gardening but I do like to see
a nice garden. Anyway my wife to be was given a Spanish bayonet which had a
baby growing. we seperated the baby and both have grown really well (even
though I put the parent plant in leaning it has straightened up). Now we
have moved house and we have planted the parent in the front garden and the
youngster is temp planted out in the amazon jungle the previous occupiers
left for us (dont even want to think about that for the moment shudder).
What I would like is some suggestions on plants that will complement the
bayonet as we want it to be the center piece of the garden. as I said i am
totally new to gardening so any ideas are most welcome.



aka yucca aloifolia, sometimes classified as a succulent but
reasonably hardy. Slow growing but will eventually form a trunk and
reach 2 metres. I have one, still small, planted with other spikies
such as Hesperaloe parviflora, Fasicularia bicolor, Puya alpestris and
P. venusta and Dasylirion wheeleri. Also various sea hollies
(Eryngium species) and Phormiums and you could also plant other Yucca
species.

Many of these are of borderline hardiness, so it depends where you are
and how cold and wet it gets in winter. All like a well drained gritty
soil and plenty of sun. You could even try certain Opuntia species
(prickly pear cactus), although I don't like the form. O.compressa,
O.grandis, O.lindheimeri are all frost hardy, but winter wet is the
bigger problem and very gritty soil is essential for excellent
drainage. A light-coloured gravel mulch sets them off well and gives a
'desert garden' effect.

These spikies can be quite nasty if you collide with them. I wouldn't
recommend any of them, including Spanish bayonet, if you have young
children. Spiky leaves at eye level.....


--
Chris

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