On Sun, 17 Dec 2006 17:26:04 +0000
Sacha wrote:
On 17/12/06 16:33, in article ,
"Emery Davis" wrote:
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I don't think it's the cold per se because as a lad we had a "Mimosa" (as the
yanks
call the silk tree or Albizia julibrissin) growing outside of NY city. It was
a large tree
that always bloomed spectacularly and had no problems at all with the very
tough
winters. I think because the summers there are really hot, too, and of course
the
winters are dryer as well.
I think the wet must be a more significant factor than anything else. I
asked Ray about it and he said that, even here, he doesn't think it's
particularly successful. Certainly it's said not to be hardy but if it can
withstand an NY winter........! Thinking of the 'wet' factor, I know that
the year the one died in my friends' garden in France, they'd had masses of
snow which had lain for weeks, feet deep in places. Perhaps the steady
thawing of that into the roots of their tree, plus cold weather, finished it
There are masses of these growing around La Rochelle and on the Isle de Ré.
Certainly it's very wet there too, although perhaps not so much as here
in Normandy or in Devon. But I wonder if soil drainage plays a key role,
since it's certainly very sandy there. Whatever you may say about my
soil here, well drained it's not! (I jump through constant hoops for my
maples, some more successful than others. Didn't do anything special
for the Albizia though.)
Like Crepe Myrtle it's indeed said not to be hardy, but I always thought it
was because of the NY experience. I also admired the C.M. around La Rochelle,
and am determined to grow one at some point. I've heard there is a hardier
cultivar, but have never found out which one it is.
off. I'm suspicious of your nurseryman's claims that others he's sold
flower well. How does he know? Our experience is that while customers DO
sometimes remark on things that do particularly well, you hear much quicker
about things that don't!
My thoughts exactly. It was a rather glib response. He didn't ask me
about position, soil, nothing. (That's what I get for dealing with the son
and not the father, perhaps!)
It sounds as if its requirements might be rather like those of Lagerstroemia
(sp?) which flowers its socks off in Bergerac where summers are pretty hot
and long but where winters can be very windy, apparently. One nurseryman
told us that they tie the trees up in fleece during the winter, even though
they are comparatively mild. We brought a couple back for us and for David
Poole and I think his did pretty well in his v. sheltered, walled garden
whereas ours sulked and only do anything in the greenhouses.
Interesting. Ah, for a walled garden...
cheers,
-E
--
Emery Davis
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