On Fri, 21 Mar 2003, Cass wrote:
Mike wrote:

On Fri, 21 Mar 2003, Cass wrote:

http://home.earthlink.net/~cbernstei...hevyPegged.jpg


Is that the dreaded yet ubiquitous red tip photinia I spy next to your
lovely rose? Here in TX, those are junk shrubs that breed disease and
defoliate on a regular basis. It's frightening to see it sitting so close
to a rose! Do they not have those problems on the west coast?

It's a shill, Mike. I'm disappointed that after 5 years into obsession,
you didn't recognize the tactic immediately. ;~) One day your spouse
leaves for work, and by the time s/he drags home at 7 PM, !presto!
another useless landscape shrub has been replaced by a lovely rose.
Since s/he isn't much of a gardener anyway, s/he won't really notice
anything amiss until the rose blooms. Neat. Clean. Fait accompli.

You're devious. I like that.

Actually, my photinia all tried to die the first 2 or 3 years. But
after they got their roots under them (and maybe after the soil had
been mulched long enough to change the pH), they really shot up. They
now live on a 1 gallon dripper all through the summer. As for disease,
that rose is impervious to everything, including the chainsaw.

Well, if you can grow photinia without those problems, it would be a
worthwhile shrub. I do like the red leaves in spring and the overall glossy
look to the foliage. Grows fast and makes a great hedge.The white
flowerheads are a nice touch, too. They just wont remain healthy here,
though. It seems when one photinia gets sick, it spreads it to every
photinia with a 10 mile radius. Yet, the two most common landscaping
elements here are crepe myrtle and red tip photinia. Go figure.

Mike
z8TX