"DavePoole Torquay" wrote in message
oups.com...
There appear to be several forms of sikkimensis sloshing around; some
quite hardy, but others are very tender. I feel that unless you live
in the southern half of the country, it is definitely one to bring
under cover in winter. This past winter has tested a lot of plants and
it would seem that many have lost much if not all of their top growth.
Down here, all forms are hardy enough not to require any protection at
all and in mild winters retain some or most of their leaves. Go
further east along to Southampton or beyond and plants need the
'trunks' wrapped.

I planted mine as a 2ft. seedling in March 2000 and now it is a clump
of about a dozen 'trunks' varying in height from 3 - 10ft. excluding
leaves. By July the whole lot is up to 20ft. or more high. It resumes
growth about 2 weeks later than basjoo, but soon catches up. I prefer
this to basjoo since the leaves are less prone to wind-split, but on
the debit side they present more wind resistance and it is not unknown
for the 'trunks' to snap during violent summer storms.

Rupert, Ae Ae is a very tricky variety to grow well and extremely hard
to get. Much better to covet the variegated form of basjoo, but that
almost never becomes available Bookworm, the way I grow these
(basjoo, sikkimensis & balbisiana) is to provide a lofty canopy over
shade-loving 'understorey' palms (Chamaedorea, Arenga etc.). You can't
really stop them growing tall because that is the way they grow.

If you need something that remains at around 6ft. or so, maybe you
should try Musella lasicarpa instead. It really seems to do well in a
pot, appears to be happiest when root-bound and makes a very handsome,
tight clump of large, blue green leaves. After several years, the
oldest growth will flower spectacularly - rather like a giant, golden
yellow artichoke, which lasts for months on end. A big tub of this is
far easier to protect in winter since the 'trunks' never grow much more
than 3ft. high.

Thanks for that very useful info. The sikkimensis offered and grown from
seed do seem to have enormous variations in colour from bog standard green
to startling variations.
I was of course jesting about Ae Ae but if you have a few dozen spare I will
swop for a pot of wild garlic :-)