Hi everyone,

I would like to increase my stock of Muehlenbeckia (sp?) complexa, just by a
plant or two. Has anyone on this ng tried taking cuttings - or is layering
the best way to proceed? What time of year should it be attempted?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Spider

On 15/10/04 14:10, in article ,
"Spider" wrote:

Hi everyone,

I would like to increase my stock of Muehlenbeckia (sp?) complexa, just by a
plant or two. Has anyone on this ng tried taking cuttings - or is layering
the best way to proceed? What time of year should it be attempted?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Ray took a long piece from the front of our house about three weeks ago, cut
it into short pieces and most of them have struck. Ours is going great guns
after about two or three years and the one we've seen in the Abbey Gardens,
Tresco is very effective.
For those who don't know the plant, a Google image search will kick up a pic
taken by Trevena Cross Nursery of the one in Tresco.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 14:10:09 +0100, "Spider"
wrote:

Hi everyone,

I would like to increase my stock of Muehlenbeckia (sp?) complexa, just by a
plant or two. Has anyone on this ng tried taking cuttings - or is layering
the best way to proceed? What time of year should it be attempted?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Spider

The one on Tresco is huge, going up 50 ft or more! IME it roots
wherever it touches the ground. If you've already got one, have a look
at the trailing ends to see if any have rooted.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 15/10/04 14:10, in article ,
"Spider" wrote:

Hi everyone,

I would like to increase my stock of Muehlenbeckia (sp?) complexa, just
by a
plant or two. Has anyone on this ng tried taking cuttings - or is
layering
the best way to proceed? What time of year should it be attempted?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Ray took a long piece from the front of our house about three weeks ago,
cut
it into short pieces and most of them have struck. Ours is going great
guns
after about two or three years and the one we've seen in the Abbey
Gardens,
Tresco is very effective.
For those who don't know the plant, a Google image search will kick up a
pic
taken by Trevena Cross Nursery of the one in Tresco.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sombody gave me one this year, is it worth growing then? it looked for all
the world like an evergreen russian vine! so I kind of lost interest (or is
my muelenbeckia present a different one :~)

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

On 15/10/04 19:14, in article
, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
snip Ours is going great
guns
after about two or three years and the one we've seen in the Abbey
Gardens,
Tresco is very effective.
For those who don't know the plant, a Google image search will kick up a
pic
taken by Trevena Cross Nursery of the one in Tresco.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sombody gave me one this year, is it worth growing then? it looked for all
the world like an evergreen russian vine! so I kind of lost interest (or is
my muelenbeckia present a different one :~)

*I* like it. ;-0 I think it's worth growing in certain areas. Ours is just
scrambling up the trunk of a Wisteria and onward and upwards but we have
friends in Salcombe who have it growing over a low wall which then plunges
down to a much lower terrace, hooking up with a few branches etc. on its way
down and I think it looks marvellous. I can't say you grow it for showy
flowers, though! It's probably fair to say that it's a bit of a curiosity.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:27:11 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 15/10/04 19:14, in article
, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
snip Ours is going great
guns
after about two or three years and the one we've seen in the Abbey
Gardens,
Tresco is very effective.
For those who don't know the plant, a Google image search will kick up a
pic
taken by Trevena Cross Nursery of the one in Tresco.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Sombody gave me one this year, is it worth growing then? it looked for all
the world like an evergreen russian vine! so I kind of lost interest (or is
my muelenbeckia present a different one :~)

*I* like it. ;-0 I think it's worth growing in certain areas. Ours is just
scrambling up the trunk of a Wisteria and onward and upwards but we have
friends in Salcombe who have it growing over a low wall which then plunges
down to a much lower terrace, hooking up with a few branches etc. on its way
down and I think it looks marvellous. I can't say you grow it for showy
flowers, though! It's probably fair to say that it's a bit of a curiosity.

It takes any amount of salt gales, but I'm not sure about frost. In
places it can become rampant (I've completely stripped mine out), and
will eventually smother and even kill everything it grows on. A bit
like a fine-leaved ivy.



--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

On 16/10/04 8:41, in article ,
"Chris Hogg" wrote:

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:27:11 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

snip *I* like it. ;-0 I think it's worth growing in certain areas.
Ours is just
scrambling up the trunk of a Wisteria and onward and upwards but we have
friends in Salcombe who have it growing over a low wall which then plunges
down to a much lower terrace, hooking up with a few branches etc. on its way
down and I think it looks marvellous. I can't say you grow it for showy
flowers, though! It's probably fair to say that it's a bit of a curiosity.

It takes any amount of salt gales, but I'm not sure about frost. In
places it can become rampant (I've completely stripped mine out), and
will eventually smother and even kill everything it grows on. A bit
like a fine-leaved ivy.


We had frosts to about -5 here last winter but as I say, this is up a house
wall which faces south, so that might have helped. It's scrambling around
on the same wall as the Wisteria, a Clematis rehederiana, a honeysuckle, a
Chaenomeles and a Rosa banksia, so perhaps they all help each other. One of
these days I almost expect the front wall of the house to subside into the
garden!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Chris Hogg wrote in message
...
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 14:10:09 +0100, "Spider"
wrote:

Hi everyone,

I would like to increase my stock of Muehlenbeckia (sp?) complexa, just
by a
plant or two. Has anyone on this ng tried taking cuttings - or is
layering
the best way to proceed? What time of year should it be attempted?

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Spider

The one on Tresco is huge, going up 50 ft or more! IME it roots
wherever it touches the ground. If you've already got one, have a look
at the trailing ends to see if any have rooted.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Thanks Chris and Sacha,

That all sounds very promising - except for the hardiness implications!, but
that's just another reason for taking cuttings.

As has been said, it's not a plant one buys for flowers, but I think it
makes a lovely textural foliage plant esp. for use with large-leaved plants.
In a 'jungle' setting, it would provide attractive liana-type swags .. or
indeed, more formal swags in an appropriate setting. I think of it rather
like an aerial box (buxus); it needs clipping to keep it in order, just as
box does. It can even be used for topiary. I bet flower arrangers rate it
highly, too.

Thanx once again.
Spider