Flowers from Spain
 

in article , Nick Maclaren at
wrote on 8/4/03 11:01 pm:

In article ,
Sacha wrote:

By all means, if people want to take cuttings to ensure another year's
produce, well and good. But I don't think we'd got into those realms up
until now, or did I miss something? Tis is NOT the same as saying one can
safely grow such a plant outside just because it's in the SW.

Well, I may have been at fault. It certainly had naturalised at
Trelowarren in an derelict greenhouse in a walled garden, but that
must be about the most sheltered location in the UK outside Torquay!

Even Cornwall can have its cold spots! But the conditions you describe do
sound very sheltered and ideal.

I did assume that people in the extreme south west could mimic those
conditions if they actually try, though I would not regard Dartmoor
as comparable to Helston. And I was assuming that such protection
would involve some way of diverting the rain from the soil around
the roots in winter.

That may be true of areas closest to the sea and keeping cold water from
standing on the roots would be a must, IMO. But while it's worth a try if a
plant isn't too expensive, it's a bit more fiddly than quite a few people
might want to attempt. All too easy to forget the diverting the rainwater
etc.


Ipomoea will NOT be reliably hardy or even half-reliably hardy in all of the
SW of England. And it needs a lot of sun hours to produce its best display.
It isn't a question of 'may' need some protection against winter wet. It
most certainly WILL. This is a plant that grows best in sharply drained
conditions with a lot of daily sunshine. It seems clear to me that England
rarely offers those conditions and especially not over winter. That said,
if someone cares to make the experiment, taking cuttings as 'insurance',
well indeed, why not give it a try? But nobody should be encouraged to
believe that their original parent plant will survive a winter just because
it's in the SW of England. Location, location, location.

Yes, that seems right. The derelict greenhouse gave it some reliably
dry soil to overwinter in, even though there were panes missing in
the roof. And, similarly, some extra warmth in the summer.

Absolutely. It sounds as if that particular plant found the ideal spot!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk

Flowers from Spain
 

Sacha wrote in
:

Well, I may have been at fault. It certainly had naturalised at
Trelowarren in an derelict greenhouse in a walled garden, but that
must be about the most sheltered location in the UK outside Torquay!

Even Cornwall can have its cold spots! But the conditions you
describe do sound very sheltered and ideal.

Well, my bit of Cornwall is not the warmest, but I'm now thinking of trying
this in my greenhouse. I have a soil bed under my greenhouse staging that
I don't tend to grow anything in because it's a bit difficult to get at and
shaded by the staging.

There is a corner broken off one of the panes down there, so I'm thinking -
plant into the shaded bed under the staging, and train the shoots out
through the little gap into the outside world, where there is a sunny
berberis hedge it can ramble over.

It's not a heated greenhouse though, so I guess I will need to take
cuttings each year and overwinter inside, if I try this.

Any obvious holes in this idea that I have not spotted?

I have grown annual purple ipomoeas in that greenhouse and they seed
themselves about in there. But I've decided it's time for a change because
I've grown them from seed for about 6 years now, and the flowers are
starting to get noticeably smaller with each new generation now.

Victoria

Flowers from Spain
 

in article , Victoria Clare
at wrote on 9/4/03 10:45 am:

Sacha wrote in
:


Even Cornwall can have its cold spots! But the conditions you
describe do sound very sheltered and ideal.

Well, my bit of Cornwall is not the warmest, but I'm now thinking of trying
this in my greenhouse. I have a soil bed under my greenhouse staging that
I don't tend to grow anything in because it's a bit difficult to get at and
shaded by the staging.

There is a corner broken off one of the panes down there, so I'm thinking -
plant into the shaded bed under the staging, and train the shoots out
through the little gap into the outside world, where there is a sunny
berberis hedge it can ramble over.

It's not a heated greenhouse though, so I guess I will need to take
cuttings each year and overwinter inside, if I try this.

Any obvious holes in this idea that I have not spotted?

Sounds good to me but yes, if it's not heated at all, I think you'll have to
take cuttings. The house ours are kept in is kept just above freezing over
the winter. You could always experiment with one of your cuttings outside
over winter, once it's a big grown up plant!
snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk