On Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:18:22 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

You may possibly get away with Tibouchina against a hot wall with a loose
mulch but are unlikely to see flowers.

I have a friend in Bristol with a small, walled, well-protected
garden. Her potted Tibouchina has been outside for over a year and is
about 7 feet high and just coming into bud. She did keep fleece round
it last winter but gets very little frost in her garden. I have not
yet managed to overwinter one yet.

Pam in Bristol

On 13/10/06 10:40, in article ,
"Pam Moore" wrote:

On Thu, 12 Oct 2006 09:18:22 +0100, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:

You may possibly get away with Tibouchina against a hot wall with a loose
mulch but are unlikely to see flowers.

I have a friend in Bristol with a small, walled, well-protected
garden. Her potted Tibouchina has been outside for over a year and is
about 7 feet high and just coming into bud. She did keep fleece round
it last winter but gets very little frost in her garden. I have not
yet managed to overwinter one yet.

She is probably much more sheltered as a result of her courtyard, of course.
The trouble with those occasionally, is that once frost gets in, it can't
get out, if you see what I mean. In a walled garden I once had I found
that the wind seemed to do more damage than one could have expected because
it just kept going round in circles!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

Pam Moore wrote:
You may possibly get away with Tibouchina against a hot wall with a loose
mulch but are unlikely to see flowers.

I have a friend in Bristol with a small, walled, well-protected
garden. Her potted Tibouchina has been outside for over a year and is
about 7 feet high and just coming into bud. She did keep fleece round
it last winter but gets very little frost in her garden. I have not
yet managed to overwinter one yet.

I have a sunken garden at the back but it doesn't get sun after around
2/3pm. But it's warm as it is south facing, but has my house at an
angle casting a big shadow late afternoon. I'm quite pleased since the
Clavata requires part shade. The veranda deeps into the sunken yard and
all along this wall it is the perfect sheltered place. I'm almost
tempted to get seeds instead of a plant and try my luck with them. If
unsuccessful I find it less painful )

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...

Pam Moore wrote:
You may possibly get away with Tibouchina against a hot wall with a
loose
mulch but are unlikely to see flowers.

I have a friend in Bristol with a small, walled, well-protected
garden. Her potted Tibouchina has been outside for over a year and is
about 7 feet high and just coming into bud. She did keep fleece round
it last winter but gets very little frost in her garden. I have not
yet managed to overwinter one yet.

I have a sunken garden at the back but it doesn't get sun after around
2/3pm. But it's warm as it is south facing, but has my house at an
angle casting a big shadow late afternoon. I'm quite pleased since the
Clavata requires part shade. The veranda deeps into the sunken yard and
all along this wall it is the perfect sheltered place. I'm almost
tempted to get seeds instead of a plant and try my luck with them. If
unsuccessful I find it less painful )

I will bear you in mind, mine sets seed most years (but not always) I do not
normally bother to collect them.
There are several Tibouchinas you can grow out side in the UK if you have
the right place the easiest is T. urvilleana, the hardest T. grandifolia
(syn multiflora) both purple flowered. less shrubby and white flowered T.
paratropica behaves more like a perennial all need quite cool wet conditions
in summer and not too much frost in winter. all are much better out for the
summer even if in over winter.
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea

Sacha wrote:

Thinking of purple flowers, I heard from David P the other day that his
Hardenbergia violacea is going great guns and threatening to take over half
his neighbourhood.

It seems there are quite a few variants of H. violacea, although I
doubt that there are more than a few grown in the UK. I'm happy enough
with the vigorous purple form. I had a plant from Ray & Sacha last
year and decided to test its hardiness before giving it pride of place.
Last winter here was colder than any in the past 20 or so and it came
through unscathed, even managing to produce a few flower spikes. This
year it was planted against the wall next to the back door and has
raced up producing a mass of pleasing, deep sage green 'tongues'.
Already I can make out flower buds forming in almost every leaf axil so
I'm anticipating a good show of colour in late winter.

Moving on to Tibouchina, I've only tried T. urvilleana outside in
Torquay (in my previous garden) and it proved to be an excellent late
summer flowering shrub carrying on until early winter. Hardiness
wasn't an issue here since it can easily handle our very infrequent and
light frosts. It is fairly widespread in its native Brazil and is
largely tropical in origin where it can exceed 5 or 6m. In the UK it
can be grown against a wall in some southern counties, but needs
frost-free protection in most of the country. It's a wonderful thing
both in leaf and flower. I especially like it toward the end of the
growing year when the first chills of late autumn cause the older
leaves to turn a vibrant orange - very fetching in combination with its
silky purple flowers.