My Feijoa sellowiana, Punica granata (not surprisingly), Callistemon
rigidus all shrugged off nights of -8 Celcius and having their pots
frozen. Agapanthus africanus suffered, but lived.

Hedychium gardnerii, Acacia retinoides and Caesalpina gillespii all
survived being left (very) dry and dropping below zero. I am surprised
about the first.

Brugmansia aborea lived, but hasn't show signs of life yet, and Erythrina
crista-galli seems to regard our apology for a spring/summer as not worth
sprouting for. How ON EARTH does it grow in Edinburgh?

And I have lost half my rosemarys, most of my marjoram, but not my
origano, and some of my thyme and winter savory.

Plus, I moved most of my horseradish and have lost the lot! Perhaps
it is sensitive to walnut exudations.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article .com,
"La Puce" writes:
|
| Poor you - your post left me all upset, still not knowing if your
| pomegrenade has survived or not.

Thanks, but it is actually better than I had expected! Yes, the
pomegranate came though - it's real problem is waterlogging, as it
grows in some really harsh climates. Other people may be interested
to know that both it and Feijoa seem to be hardy in pots even here;
they make good patio plants.

| I've forgotten where you live so not
| sure if your Erythrina will ever show it's bright red flowers and

Cambridge. But it is no colder than Edinburgh.

| finally because of the 'walnut exudations' which I don't think had a
| connection with the horseradish, and you didn't mentioned anything
| about squirrel,

I don't think that squirrels eat horseradish :-)

| I'm now humming Bob Marley's 'Exodus' song .... How do
| you do that?!

Dunno. I recognise the name, but only vaguely.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:
|
| Erythrina
| crista-galli seems to regard our apology for a spring/summer as not worth
| sprouting for. How ON EARTH does it grow in Edinburgh?
|
| Does it? !! Where?

I have a recollection of seeing it in a sun-trap corner in either the
University or the Botanic Garden, but I may be suffering from senility
and be remembering it somewhere else (Oxford?)

| Edinburgh often feels a lot colder in winter than it actually is,
| due to windchill..if you're out in the unprotected blast of east wind
| howling down the street straight from Siberia. But the proximity of sea
| means that in wind-sheltered spots, such as the courts sheltered by
| granite tenements on all sides, the temp may seldom fall much below 0C;
| much warmer than places 20 miles inland.

Or Cambridge :-)

The problem with E. crista-galli is that it doesn't appear to sprout from
its roots until the soil warms up - and the past few years have been damn
cold (in summer).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

My Feijoa sellowiana, Punica granata (not surprisingly), Callistemon
rigidus all shrugged off nights of -8 Celcius and having their pots
frozen. Agapanthus africanus suffered, but lived.

Hedychium gardnerii, Acacia retinoides and Caesalpina gillespii all
survived being left (very) dry and dropping below zero. I am surprised
about the first.

Brugmansia aborea lived, but hasn't show signs of life yet, and Erythrina
crista-galli seems to regard our apology for a spring/summer as not worth
sprouting for. How ON EARTH does it grow in Edinburgh?

And I have lost half my rosemarys, most of my marjoram, but not my
origano, and some of my thyme and winter savory.

Plus, I moved most of my horseradish and have lost the lot! Perhaps
it is sensitive to walnut exudations.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

There is I am convinced no reason to it all, I had been told my two tender
Fuchsias would be ok outside (paniculata and boliviana) and so it was, they
came up at the same time as the hardy sorts. my Tibouchina's though seemed
very dead both grandifolia and urvilleana but yesterday I spotted that they
were shooting at the base, will they get back to flowering size in time? no
idea leaving them out was an experiment. As for the Erythrina last time I
tried it did make it as far as winter, this time I have sown the seed in
ericaceous compost and its looking a bit happier!

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)