GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

17-11-2005, 08:43 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 18:20:19 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

On 17/11/05 18:05, in article ,
"Chris Hogg" wrote:

On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:11:35 +0000, Dave Poole
wrote:

Sacha wrote:

Speaking of swags, I love the Muehlenbeckia in the Abbey Gardens on Tresco
and we have a much younger one growing up the front right hand corner of the
house. It's not a spectacular plant in any sense but I find its leaves
extremely attractive and like the swags that forms as it gets older and
bigger.

Yes, its a nice thing - I like its common name - 'Maidenhair Vine' -
very appropriate. There's a vast one that has taken over part of the
cliff face down on the sea front. It must cover well over 30 sq.
metres and hangs from the highest part almost to the base of the
cliff. In spring when the new growth is brightest, you can make it
out from across the bay some three quarters of a mile away.
Considering it is so delicate in appearance, its ability to withstand
searing east winds and salt spray in winter is truly remarkable.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

I started to grow one thinking it would bridge the gaps of a SW-facing
hedge exposed to salt gales. Then I saw the one on Tresco and promptly
took it out. Didn't fancy my whole garden taken over by a 70ft twining
climber!

Ummm. Try again - Tresco does have absolutely ideal conditions and can
leave outside all kinds of things that won't over-winter on the mainland.
You must have seen the wall full of Aeoniums and the Puyas, too? They're
there all year around, sink or swim.
Maybe your home climate will act as a sort of natural brake on your Muehle
plant. Ours has been going up the wall for three years or so and so far,
the chimneys seem quite safe. ;-) Besides, it's fun to try. Before I
married Ray and when I used to come here as a customer, I lived in a village
that was a bit of a frost pocket. Ray used to give me all kinds of plants
as experiments in survival, telling me that I was at the 'cutting edge' of
gardening. (When we married, Andy Mabbet said "some women will do anything
to get cheap plants" ;- ) We rather like people having a plant or two
from us of some reputedly tender thing or other, just to see how it survives
or how it grows in their particular environment.

I passed it on to my SIL, who lives in mid-Cornwall and where the
climate is a little more hostile. She's planted it her back hedge
where it can do what it likes. Down here, I've also seen it used as a
hedge, trained over an ordinary chain-link fence and hiding it very
effectively. But it had 'escaped' and completely overwhelmed a ?30ft
conifer, blanketing it and killing almost all the green growth. The
owners have now felled it. I didn't want that in my garden!

--
Chris

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