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Bauhinia blakeana
Anyone growing this outside in the UK?
I notice it grows in the USA in zones that get a few degrees of frost so would appear to be able to take winters in the milder districts of the UK although I don't know about the cold and wet combined climate we have most winters. -- Regards Bob Hobden just W. of London |
#2
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Bauhinia blakeana
Bob Hobden wrote:
Anyone growing this outside in the UK? I notice it grows in the USA in zones that get a few degrees of frost so would appear to be able to take winters in the milder districts of the UK although I don't know about the cold and wet combined climate we have most winters. Sadly, there is little if any correlation between "a few degrees of frost" in the USA and what we might experience in the UK. The major difference is what happens in the summers, if that doesn't sound too odd. Over there, they often experience summers with many days above 35°C - sometimes above 40°. That apparently hardens the wood of certain trees and shrubs which allows them to withstand winter cold better than here. I have no if the winter wet we experience (rather than the dry cold they have) makes any difference, but I suspect it would not help. However, if you have enough plants, why not try one outside? I would go for a south or south-west wall to begin with. -- Jeff |
#3
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Bauhinia blakeana
Jeff Layman wrote:
Sadly, there is little if any correlation between "a few degrees of frost" in the USA and what we might experience in the UK. The major difference is what happens in the summers, if that doesn't sound too odd. *Over there, they often experience summers with many days above 35°C - sometimes above 40°. *That apparently hardens the wood of certain trees and shrubs which allows them to withstand winter cold better than here. Even when you get Bauhinias to over-winter successfully, they need hot weather to flower well. I've had B. yunnanensis growing here for about 10 years and it is an indifferent performer unless we have a prolonged hot spell. I completely gave up with B. purpurea, which survived winters well but only gave the occasional flower right at the end of summer. |
#4
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Bauhinia blakeana
DaveP wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote: Sadly, there is little if any correlation between "a few degrees of frost" in the USA and what we might experience in the UK. The major difference is what happens in the summers, if that doesn't sound too odd. Over there, they often experience summers with many days above 35°C - sometimes above 40°. That apparently hardens the wood of certain trees and shrubs which allows them to withstand winter cold better than here. Even when you get Bauhinias to over-winter successfully, they need hot weather to flower well. I've had B. yunnanensis growing here for about 10 years and it is an indifferent performer unless we have a prolonged hot spell. I completely gave up with B. purpurea, which survived winters well but only gave the occasional flower right at the end of summer. I've been growing B. yunnanensis for 3 years from seed. Still pretty small, and can't seem to make up its mind whether it's a shrub or weak climber! Interesting that it needs prolonged hot spells to do anything, but typical of "inland continental" plants. But is your B. yunnanensis hardy enough to survive outside? I still keep mine in a frost-free (1 - 2°C) greenhouse, and it is pretty much deciduous even under those conditions. -- Jeff |
#5
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Bauhinia blakeana
Jeff Layman wrote:
I've been growing B. yunnanensis for 3 years from seed. *Still pretty small, and can't seem to make up its mind whether it's a shrub or weak climber! Interesting that it needs prolonged hot spells to do anything, but typical of "inland continental" plants. It does take a while and it is a very definite climber. A seedling has a few years of very skinny stems and then suddenly, comparatively strong thick shoots develop from low down on the plant. Growth then becomes quite vigorous and 2m or so of growth can be expected each year. Flowers form in clusters at the tips of axillary shoots and can appear at any time from June to September. I raised mine from seed in 1999 and first flowers appeared in late 2003. Even when carrying a lot of bloom, it's not exactly a show-stopper though and must rank as one of the least showy of the Bauhinias. But is your B. yunnanensis hardy enough to survive outside? *I still keep mine in a frost-free (1 - 2°C) greenhouse, and it is pretty much deciduous even under those conditions. Yes my plant has been growing outside since its second year and with the exception of this winter, is more or less evergreen. Here, temperatures may fall to minus 2C for an hour or so a couple of times each winter and there may also be a few short lived drops to minus 1C, but it is more or less frost free for most of the time. |
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