On 10/4/08 10:07, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Once past the seedling stage, Strelitzias benefit from being placed out of
| doors in light/dappled shade (they burn in direct sun) from early summer to
| late autumn before the arrival of the first frosts.*

Well, I am sorry to contradict such an expert as David Poole, but
the parenthesised statement is wrong - as it stands.

I keep mine in direct sun, Cambridge gets more summer sun than most
of the country, and I have never had trouble. More importantly, in
their native habitat, they are grown in the open, and I can assure
everyone that the savanna sun at 20 degrees south and 5,000' (i.e.
where I used to look at them out of my schoolroom window) is a LOT
stronger than anything this country ever sees!

What may be the case is that they burn if suddenly exposed to strong
sun, or that they burn if sun falls on them when they still have
droplets of dew on. The latter is, of course, why many plants are
recommended to be planted on west walls rather than east ones.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Perhaps David is referring to sun through glass. We grow ours here in a
large greenhouse, in a central bed and while they have a lot of light, it's
slightly dappled because of climbers and other plants growing over and
around them. They flower pretty well.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'