I went to Wicks(builders merchants) today and found they have a small
garden centre, mostly run of the mill plants but they had some 10inch
pots of Astelia Silver Spear, The plant I got was twice the size of
any other there and the price was £9.95p
Looks interesting and may well suit my damp shaded areas.
Anyone here ever tried it?
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

In article b6524a02-6007-4d8f-8a5e-
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says...

I went to Wicks(builders merchants) today and found they have a small
garden centre, mostly run of the mill plants but they had some 10inch
pots of Astelia Silver Spear, The plant I got was twice the size of
any other there and the price was £9.95p
Looks interesting and may well suit my damp shaded areas.
Anyone here ever tried it?
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

Yes sadly mine never grew, may have been the conditions although word was
that a batch had been micro proped and it had resulted in dwarf plants (I
would image that they have rectified that by now!)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

It's very easy to grow in moist yet well drained soils and seems
reasonably hardy, although possibly not as tough as A. nervosa. I've
always grown it (A. chatamica aka 'Silver Spear') in full sun, which
encourages a more silvery sheen. I dare say it would tolerate shade,
but suspect it might become rather more green, which sort of defeats
the object of growing it somewhat. A very nice plant and remarkably
fast growing when well sited. When I was living at my old house, I
bought one that was about 18" high. Within 2 years it was a bold
clump some 4 feet across and almost as tall. It does well in the
Midlands and should be a doddle with you in S. Wales.

On 11 Nov, 17:06, Dave Poole wrote:
It's very easy to grow in moist yet well drained soils and seems
reasonably hardy, although possibly not as tough as A. nervosa. *I've
always grown it (A. chatamica aka 'Silver Spear') in full sun, which
encourages a more silvery sheen. *I dare say it would tolerate shade,
but suspect it might become rather more green, which sort of defeats
the object of growing it somewhat. *A very nice plant and remarkably
fast growing when well sited. *When I was living at my old house, I
bought one that was about 18" high. *Within 2 years it was a bold
clump some 4 feet across and almost as tall. *It does well in the
Midlands and should be a doddle with you in S. Wales.

I have one growing in a shady part of my garden (shade from the house
as opposed to overhead shade from other plants). It still retains a
nice silvery sheen, albeit less so than if grown in sun, and the light-
reflecting quality is of great value in a shady spot, in my opinion.