"Jeff Layman" wrote ...

Bob Hobden wrote:
"queen eleanor" wrote
I was wondering if someone could help me. I have recently acquired a
big
ceramic pot which would be suitable for a small tree. Can anyone
recommend a nice looking, easy to care for, small tree? I don't want it
to grow massive... am I being stupid in assuming I could get a small
tree that will stay small?!?

Also, someone has given me some cherry tomato plants which are in my
kitchen window. I don't know how to care for them, can someone give me
some tips. I would prefer them to be outside. I don't have a proper
greenhouse but I do have a mini greenhouse from Homebase.

Thanks very much for your help!


Albizia julibrissin (the Silk Tree) being in a pot you can ensure good
drainage which is what it likes especially in our wet winters. Can take
the
frost just does not like it wet too. Very pretty tree and beautiful and
unusual flowers. Try to get the red flowered one and don't bother with
the
red leaved one.
Put the Toms out in the garden in a sunny spot, we grow all ours out on
our
allotment without cover, you will get much tastier Toms with their roots
in
the soil.


Does root restriction of Albizia encourage flowering, Bob? I assume it
keeps the plant a bit smaller than in the garden, and that would be useful
here. I have an A. julibrissin v. rosea which has been in the front
garden for around 10 years, a couple of metres from the SE wall of the
house. It's now about 3 metres high, and I think (wishful??) that it
might flower for the first time, as there seem to be some buds of a
different shape from the leaf buds. BTW, it is in solid clay soil, but
that doesn't seem to have bothered it too much!


Yes, A julibrissin v. rosea is the preferred variety, I notice Burncoose are
selling them in three sizes.
I have three non-rosea that I grew from seed collected in a friends garden
(SW France) where it's been down to -13°C. They are still in pots while I
find somewhere for them to be planted and are about 4 years old, one
flowered last year. There is one in a front garden about 5 miles away and it
is more like a large shrub than a single trunked tree, say 5ft tall, and was
covered in flower last summer.
I thought they had planted out a couple at Kew but haven't seen them yet.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK