"Hussein M." wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Mar 2003 07:37:03 GMT, "David Berry"
wrotc:

This is the plant that prompted a minor domestic dispute in my household.
I
think that it is wonderful. My wife has a different view of it and
wanted
to remove it completely. An agreement was made to reduce it's size. So
better half attacked it with a bread knife(!) - removing much of the
outer
growth. Poor little thing must have thought that it was going to die and
so
put out flowers which must have got to 12ft. If this goes, so do I ;-)

I'm curious what time of year your P. was attacked by a bread knife
and, if this was early in the year, it flowered in the same.

It's just that Mike in an earlier message said he cut his down to
the ground every year and it never flowers.

Huss
(I had better go and reassure Strapper tomorrow morning with a caress,
certainly not a slash, in case he is misreading the airwaves).
Grow a little garden

Amazingly, just after posting my response, I caught my wife with a slightly
smaller, serrated knife attacking said plant (possibly the bread knife was
being used elsewhere!). So the answer to your question about the best time
of year to cut this back must be the 22/3/03. My wife has the greenest
fingers I know and does these things instinctively - without resorting to
books - so this must be right.

As a side issue she is also gloating about finding (and killing) more than
40 snails hiding away in the recesses of the plant.

Regards

David Berry