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04-02-2006, 10:56 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 4/2/06 20:25, in article ,
"Chris Hogg" wrote:

On Sat, 04 Feb 2006 13:19:56 +0000, Sacha
wrote:
snip
I found mine seeded themselves around in Jersey but we have little luck with
them here, even in our comparatively mild climate. One flowered last year,
so I'm waiting to see if it produced any viable seedlings nearby. There
hasn't been the problem of wetness so much this year but of course, it has
been very cold. I am always terribly envious of the people of Tresco when
we go there and see the darn things growing wild!
In fact, thinking about it, I'm tempted to put some into 'interesting' pots
and see what happens if we just grow them that way.
snip

They grow wild in west Cornwall too. A few years ago I saw a 'copse'
of them, like triffids, on some uncultivated semi-moorland near St.
Ives. It looked as if someone had dumped some garden rubbish there,
including I suspect a few dead flower stems of EP, and it had
scattered its seeds around which then germinated freely!

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. My Jersey ones came from three that
grew to at least 12 feet and were a sort of high rise restaurant for every
bee in Jersey, it seemed to me. They were teeming with them, including my
own bees. They were then were hit by an unusually hard winter for Jersey,
or so I thought. I was convinced they were nuked. Next spring there were
literally hundreds of seedlings around the area in which they were planted -
hundreds. I was begging people to come and take them away.
I realise now how much I took for granted when I was gardening there!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
)