Rosebay Willowherb
 

OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy.

Rosebay Willowherb
 

In article , says...
OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy.

never tried to grow them from seed bit tricky I would think, you are
right they are very pretty. Would it be possible to go out and get some
roots from where they are growing in the wild.
kate

Rosebay Willowherb
 

in article , Kate Morgan at
wrote on 7/4/03 4:59 pm:

In article , says...
OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy.

never tried to grow them from seed bit tricky I would think, you are
right they are very pretty. Would it be possible to go out and get some
roots from where they are growing in the wild.
kate

That's illegal, Kate! As to sowing the seed, I've never found it necessary.
Leave one plant and in no time you'll have a clump!
--
Sacha

Rosebay Willowherb
 

"andrewpreece" wrote in message ...
OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy.

It is a plant of woodland clearings. As such it probably needs light.
I would surface sow. You are not the only one who likes growing this
plant. Many lepidopterists grow it as it is the foodplant of one of
our loveliest moths.
The Elephant Hawk Moth.

http://cgi.ukmoths.force9.co.uk/show.php?id=1753

The adult as you can see is pink. Yes there are pink elephants!:-)

It gets its name from the trunk like head of the larva which is a
snake mimic.

http://cgi.ukmoths.force9.co.uk/show.php?id=240

--
Neil Jones- http://www.butterflyguy.com/
"At some point I had to stand up and be counted. Who speaks for the
butterflies?" Andrew Lees - The quotation on his memorial at Crymlyn
Bog National Nature Reserve

Rosebay Willowherb
 

On Sun, 6 Apr 2003 13:19:35 +0100, "andrewpreece"
wrote:

OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy:

If you're sure you want to do this g - they're very invasive - you
might try burning them. They are called fireweed in America, I
believe, because they often appear where the land has been burnt (and
I think appeared on bomb sites in London during the war, as well). We
germinated some successfully some years ago by burning them, but can't
remember exactly how.

Get those matches out!



--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
Remove the LIZARD to email reply

Rosebay Willowherb
 

In article , Andy.

never tried to grow them from seed bit tricky I would think, you are
right they are very pretty. Would it be possible to go out and get some
roots from where they are growing in the wild.
kate

That's illegal, Kate! As to sowing the seed, I've never found it necessary.
Leave one plant and in no time you'll have a clump!

I`m not going to do it I have plenty of my own, was just trying to be
helpful :-(
kate

Rosebay Willowherb
 

In article ,
Kate Morgan wrote:
In article , Andy.

never tried to grow them from seed bit tricky I would think, you are
right they are very pretty. Would it be possible to go out and get some
roots from where they are growing in the wild.
kate

That's illegal, Kate! As to sowing the seed, I've never found it necessary.
Leave one plant and in no time you'll have a clump!

I`m not going to do it I have plenty of my own, was just trying to be
helpful :-(

Making it illegal was one of the more disgraceful land-grabbing
laws of the 1990s.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Rosebay Willowherb
 

I have half a dozen plants of White Rosebay Willowherb growing in a pot,
still trying to get rid of the ordinary one.
If you want roots of the ordinary one Andy then you can have all you want,

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Rosebay Willowherb
 

Hehe,
I thought it might turn into a love it/hate it thread!
Alas I dug up the roots of the old plant when I remodelled
my garden last year; I thought I was being clever in saving
the seed 'cause I could grow all I wanted.......
As for setting fire, I only have the seeds and they would
be so much charcoal if I put a match to them. I shall try again
and maybe try various germination regimes ( i.e. wet/dryish,
light/no light, cold soak or raised temperature in a polythene
bag etc. That ought to cover the options.
I have a small shady patch a the bottom of my garden set
aside for wildflowers, and have Red Campion,
Purple Toadflax, Welsh Poppy, Foxgloves, Yellow Archangel,
Cuckoo Pint, Yellow Fumitory, Primrose, Mayweed, Wood
Forget-me-Not, Tutsan and Columbine down there. It's experimental;
I expect the Willowherb would be better off somewhere sunnier
if I ever get it to germinate. Thanks for
the replies anyway,

Andy.

"david" wrote in message
...
I have half a dozen plants of White Rosebay Willowherb growing in a pot,
still trying to get rid of the ordinary one.
If you want roots of the ordinary one Andy then you can have all you want,

--
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

Rosebay Willowherb
 

On Mon, 7 Apr 2003 12:40:25 +0100, "andrewpreece"
wrote:

As for setting fire, I only have the seeds and they would
be so much charcoal if I put a match to them. I shall try again
and maybe try various germination regimes ( i.e. wet/dryish,
light/no light, cold soak or raised temperature in a polythene
bag etc. That ought to cover the options.

You missed one. Try putting a small seed tray of them in the freezer
for three weeks or so before they get to the warm.

Huss

Grow a little garden

spam block - for real addy, reverse letters of second level domain.

Rosebay Willowherb
 

andrewpreece wrote:

As for setting fire, I only have the seeds and they would
be so much charcoal if I put a match to them. I shall try again
and maybe try various germination regimes ( i.e. wet/dryish,
light/no light, cold soak or raised temperature in a polythene
bag etc. That ought to cover the options.

It is concievable that all you need to do is water them with some wood ash and
water.

Various South Africa semi-desert plants have specific germination inhibitors
that require passage of fire followed by rain before they will let the seeds
germinate. Ensures little or no competition for the seedlings after a bushfire
has cleared an area.

Not heard of it for rosebay willow herb before, but I guess it is possible. Many
of the successful weeds have very long lived seeds with extremely erratic
germination so they can opportunistically germinate when coditions are right.
Poppies on newly disturbed earth is a classic case.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Rosebay Willowherb
 

"andrewpreece" wrote in news:3e920c5c@
212.67.96.135:

I thought it might turn into a love it/hate it thread!
Alas I dug up the roots of the old plant when I remodelled
my garden last year; I thought I was being clever in saving
the seed 'cause I could grow all I wanted.......

Hmmm.
You dug up the garden last year, and you reckon you will have no rosebay
willowherb this year as a result?

I think: leave it a couple of months and you'll find the stuff appearing!

Incidentally, you may not know that posting about Rosebay Willowherb on URG
has the power to summon the stuff. A few years ago I posted that I rather
liked it. My garden had no willowherb in it up to that point, nor had I
noticed any nearby - but that summer it appeared. So you now have a double
safeguard.

Good stuff too: if you are gonig to have a rampant plant then it might as
well be gorgeous say I.

Victoria

Please does anyone know of any garden centre where I can buy Rosebay/Fireweed seeds from? I live in Manchester and I would love to grow some in my garden, I have only seen it on railway embankments and it's far too dangerous to go near there. Any help would be very much appreciated. Edric

Rosebay Willowherb
 

edricdegus wrote:
andrewpreece Wrote:
OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's
beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of
the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the
greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy.

Please does anyone know of any garden centre where I can buy
Rosebay/Fireweed seeds from? I live in Manchester and I would love to
grow some in my garden, I have only seen it on railway embankments and
it's far too dangerous to go near there. Any help would be very much
appreciated. Edric


I should think most gardeners are trying to get rid of it! You could
try Googling for someone who specialises in wild flowers, though. And
did you really go back to 2003 to find a thread on Rosebay Willowherb?
Amazing!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon

--
edricdegus

Rosebay Willowherb
 

"Jupiter" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 21:05:30 +0000, edricdegus
wrote:


andrewpreece Wrote:
OK your average gardener regards it as a weed, but I reckon it's
beautiful
and wish to have a stand of the things in my garden. I saved some of
the
seeds from last year, which are of the fluffy airborne variety, but my
standard technique of sticking them 1/4" down in compost in the
greenhouse,
keeping it moist and praying has failed.
No seedlings, and it's been 6 weeks now. Any ideas?

Andy.

Please does anyone know of any garden centre where I can buy
Rosebay/Fireweed seeds from? I live in Manchester and I would love to
grow some in my garden, I have only seen it on railway embankments and
it's far too dangerous to go near there. Any help would be very much
appreciated. Edric

Lovely stuff on railway embankments, in old goods yards, bombsites and
the like. A pernicious weed in gardens and a nuisance to your
neighbours.

ISTR Mynd Hardy Plants had a white cultivar in their catalogue, as epilobium
angustifolium alba, or something similar. I've never actually had to buy any
Rosebay Willowherb, myself, they just keep on appearing, like it or not.