In article , david@abacus-
nurseries.co.uk says...
On 11/03/2013 16:54, Janet wrote:
In article , lid says...
On 11/03/2013 10:57, Sacha wrote:
On 2013-03-11 08:45:14 +0000, Charlie Pridham said:
Same for us here Janet, lack of summer heat is a bigger problem than
winter cold.
Plus winter wet! We had a Cytisus battandieri in what we thought was a
sheltered spot and it lasted precisely one year. I don't think it was a
particularly cold winter, so suspect it was the wet wot got it.
I wouldn't be surprised.
I have one five years old, has grown well to five ft wide and hight, but still
hasn't flowered :-( It's in a raised bed, sunny spot, sheltered from wind..
One thing we haven't mentioned is the source of the plant.
Probably "a polytunnel in Holland".
Janet
I was always taught to buy from the North.
That way the plants would be more hardy that plants bought from the south.
If only we could! I live in and buy in the north. The problem is that
the north being cold (and dark in winter) makes it an expensive area for
commercial propagation of tender plants; so nurseries that do propagate
tend to stick to hardy plants.
Virtually every Scottish GC sells mostly bought-in stock imported or
raised somewhere south, and (depending on the time of year) it needs
careful hardening off. Just today, I stopped in a large chain GC in
Perth where whole swathes of their brand new Easter stock of ordinary
herbaceous plants was flat or shrivelled, badly frosted in the current
cold snap. What a waste.
If Northern gardeners find something that's been propagated in the
north and is a bit rare/tender/special , it's more usually the
handiwork of keen amateur gardeners who don't have to make a living from
it. Mostly, amateur propagators swap or sell at local "open garden
days", garden clubs, or fund raisers for local charities etc; rather
than commercial outlets.
Janet.