GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

David Hill · 09-03-2014, 02:11 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 09/03/2014 13:58, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Janet wrote:
In article ,
says...

I have tried twice in the past to get Tropaeolum speciosum
established, and failed dismally both times due to warm to hot,
dry periods during much of the summer. The recent cool, wet
ones (this is Cambridge) have made me think.

If I tried again, what chance would I have? Fat, slim, or
what?

I've grown it in cool wet Scotland. Just not in the places I planted
/wanted it. IME, if it graciously deigns not to die, it spends at least
a year lurking underground and burrowing to some more acceptable
location of its own choosing. Sods Law requires this is never where you
wanted it.

Having chosen a new abode it spends the rest of its life sending its
rebel teenage children on secret underground missions to find new places
and ways to annoy the gardener. They have all signed a suicide pact
should anyone try to tactfully relocate them.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am not into daily watering,
so will skip it.

I have had similar experiences to the above with Romneya and,
to a lesser extent, Passiflora incarnata. The former is not
actually thriving in its current position, but I am not going
to give it the opportunity to destroy the patio again! So it
seems to be sulking - and it's a second purchase because none
of the roots of the first survived forcible relocation.

I am, however, going to try Passiflora incarnata in a few other
places and see if I can get it going there. But it HATES winter
wet, so needs somewhere dry to hibernate yet where it can grow
out of when the weather warms up.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I'd have thought that this was a case for using a water retaining gel in
the soil when planting.