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Does anyone know where I can buy a coprosma (mirror plant) I live in Kent u.k...... Are they only in the garden centres at certain times of the year?

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Charlie Pridham wrote:
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Does anyone know where I can buy a coprosma (mirror plant) I live in
Kent u.k...... Are they only in the garden centres at certain times of
the year?

I'm very fond of coprosma and have acquired several different ones at
branches of B and Q, but they seem to be only occasionally in stock.
I don't know why, other than that they are not very well known in the
UK yet.

Janet

Could be because they are not very hardy - all mine are dead here!

Must be some other reason. Have a look here at the Coprosma list (with
hardiness level included):

http://www.countyparknursery.co.uk/C...Plant_List.pdf

Graham Hutchins has been growing these for 50 years, so should have a fair
idea of which are hardy and which are not. Sadly, no mail order...

Yes but that is in London with a much milder climate away from the towns
you have little chance of getting a plant through its first 3 years, they
are not hardy and anything below -4 -5c will damage them below that they
die, you could of course give them awarm wall or glass protection but
that doesn't make them hardy just less likely to die :~)
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Pridham[_2_] (Post 852325)

In Graham Hutchins has been growing these for 50 years, so should have a fair
idea of which are hardy and which are not. Sadly, no mail order...
---
Yes but that is in London with a much milder climate away from the towns
you have little chance of getting a plant through its first 3 years, they
are not hardy and anything below -4 -5c will damage them below that they
die, you could of course give them awarm wall or glass protection but
that doesn't make them hardy just less likely to die :~)

There's quite a lot of species of Coprosma. Wikipedia says 45 in NZ, and about another 45 in warmer places. I was in the Savill Garden (in Windsor Great Park) this weekend, which has a large NZ garden. The planting was chosen as intended to be hardy in the UK. It should have suffered a low in the vicinity of about -9 this winter, I guess, as it is well away from dense urban-ness, and that is the typical minimum that other people I know a few miles outside the M25 and well inland suffered. There were one or two gaps in the planting where plants had died over the past winter, but very few overall. There were several Coprosmas which looked untouched, and one or two other that looked like they might have suffered a bit, but were still alive. But probably not the most decorative kinds that sell well. And in general the garden did include several things that are not commonly cultivated, as they are not normally considered particularly ornamental.

So I reckon there are some pretty hardy coprosmas available, but they may not be the most commonly cultivated.

It is not an uncommon situation. For example I have Metrosideros umbellata, the southern rata, the hardiest of the New Zealand "Christmas trees", very little seen in Britain even though it is a lovely thing and pretty hardy. You'll find it much easier to buy a Metrosideros robusta, which can only really be grown in very mild corners of Britain. M. umbellata survived this past winter untouched with me in the Chilterns. I don't even have it in a very clever place - I put it in a large pot rather than in the ground, as I once intended that I might drag it into the garage if cold weather threatened. But it's too heavy to move, so it stays there, not even close to the house.

Quote:

Originally Posted by echinosum (Post 852470)

You'll find it much easier to buy a Metrosideros robusta, which can only really be grown in very mild corners of Britain.

I meant M. excelsa.