Sacha wrote:
On 2010-02-11 19:29:29 +0000, Rusty Hinge
said:

Sacha wrote:
On 2010-02-04 10:36:51 +0000, S WHITE
said:


Hi,

I am looking to buy my husband a plant for Valentines Day - I wanted
something like a lemon or orange tree, can someome tell me firstly if
they actually can be grown here and if anyone knows where I might be
able to buy one - I haven't seen them in my local garden centre.

Many thanks
Sarah

Just a thought with this, if you're not fixed on a citrus tree, think
about Ensete ventricosum maurellii, if you have a conservatory.
It's a cousin - for want of a better description - of the banana and
has much more interesting foliage, IMO. Ours go out for the summer
and come back in for the winter but as they get quite bulky you can't
move them about forever!

But being a grass you can mow them with a machete...

Absolutely. I think they're remarkable and very handsome, too!

You have to work on them. Scrub the handle with scouring powder and
steel wool, wash, and dry. Button polish is a good finish, bt generally,
treat the wood with chromic acid (if a hardwood) and afterwards use a
good quality wax polish.

Carefully fettle the edge with a first-cut file, using the drawfile
method, then polish the cheeks (oo-er!) with a buffing mop and buffing soap.

For a dazzling finish, use a fresh mop and jeweller's rouge.

HTH

--
Rusty