On 19/2/08 20:28, in article ,
"Chris Hogg" wrote:

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:50:33 +0000, Sacha
wrote:


It sounds bizarre even to me but after 10 years of living in England, I'm
still trying to get used to any frost at all! Our winters are pretty mild
here but I was used to leaving Pelargoniums out all year round and having
them bloom again in the following year, for example. I grew Ballota in a
crack in some granite paving once and it was up and through a very mature
Camellia within 3 years. To me, this is inhospitably cold and it isn't a
jot or tittle of what other parts of Britain have been getting. It's the
east wind that does it - the original lazy wind. Too lazy to go round you
so it goes right through you.

I've often wondered about the CI's (I assume they're what you're
referring to). I've always assumed them to be mild, but has anyone
taken advantage of the climate to produce the equivalent of Tresco? I
don't get the impression that they have, but I don't understand why.

I don't understand why, either, except of course, that Tresco is one
privately owned estate and with the exception of Brecqhou and Jethou, the
CIs are not. I'm not sure that Jethou has a tenant now.
There are many terrific gardens in Jersey but they're all private with one
or two exceptions. Even then, we've given my son and a few friends some
plants Jersey has never seen but all of which *could* have been growing
there for years. Some years ago a garden belonging to the mother of a friend
of mine was mooted as a Botanic Garden after her mother had died. The
States wouldn't fund it. The possibilities for gardening in the CIs are
terrific but no, I don't think any public money has ever been truly
dedicated to that.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'