On Sat, 1 Oct 2005 19:01:58 +0100, Flower Bobdew
wrote:

Speaking of evergreen Hebes... Anyone else had significant problems this
year with black spot and defoliation? I've mostly used Hebes in pots, so
far, to pleasing effect - but this year most of them look desperate.

Apparently they're not keen on being watered from above, but when hand
watering I've kept this to an absolute minimum. My local garden centre
suggests it might be down to our mild but wet winters, and they're
planning to not stock them after spring/early summer next year, as
clearly no one is going to buy anything that looks like...well, what I
have out there now, sadly.

It's a shame, as I really fell for Hebes in quite a big way when
beginning gardening a few years ago.

I've had significant problems this year with some form of mildew or
blight on my hebes, although in my case I wouldn't describe it as
black spot. This spring I planted a bed of them, so no experience
from earlier years. The bed was heavily composted and them mulched
with composted hedge shreddings, but wasn't watered at all after
planting. They're very exposed to the SW winds we get here in west
Cornwall, so stagnant air is not the cause!

They're mostly the large-leaved large-flowered hybrids mentioned by
JB, but with one probable species (? H. salicifolia). Grown from
cuttings 'aquired from various sources' ;-). All suffered to some
extent from a fungal infection, manifesting itself as a dirty
yellowish coating on the under sides of the leaves, which themselves
went yellowish, then curled and eventually dropped. All four plants of
one type (purple leaves, small racemes of deep purple flowers, ?'Amy')
were nearly completely defoliated. Dithane 945 (Mancozeb) killed the
fungus, and new shoots are now emerging, so all is not lost.

I suspect fungus from the mulch. It wasn't my own but bought in from a
tree surgeon, as I had none available at the time.


--
Chris

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