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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. |
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Rosebay Willowherb
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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 |
#5
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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 |
#6
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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 |
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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. |
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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 |
#9
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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 |
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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. |
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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 |
#12
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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 |
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#14
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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 |
#15
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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. |
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