"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...
Talking about my gunnera fad in another thread put in my mind some of
the unsuccessful trials in my garden.
One of those is a couple of Pieris forest flames, which I see so many
glorious ones in gardens around the place, and which in my garden are
making unconvincing efforts at not dying completely.
Am I right to suspect that Pieris needs ericaceous compost? If I were
to dig them up, dig a large hole full of the stuff, would they
potentially recover, and perform better?

Another subject of wonder is a hypericum I planted three years ago -
the very first plant I planted in my new garden. It goes through
alternate periods of intense growth, producing lots of shoots with lots
of new greenery - reddish greenery - then looking for all the world as
if somethign was burning it.
I first thought that I had dug some too fresh manure in the ground,
that that was what was burning it. But everything else in that patch
is just thriving - with the exception of one sorry gunnera.

Any thought?
TIA

Cat(h)

Missed the other question.

Yes Pieris likes acid soil. Either pot it up in ericaceous compost or grow
it in a raised bed with ericaceous stuff. Run off from the surrounding
alkaline soil will eventually buga up the acid material unless you happen to
be able to plant the thing on top of a hill:-)

What's wrong with your Gunnera? Which particular one do you have?