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Old 17-11-2002, 01:05 AM
Chris Stewart
 
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Default Cordyline

Hi all - some advice please. I have a purple cordyline outside in a raised
bed - it's open to weather from the north. It's in a circular raised bed. I
live in Aberdeen. Could I get away with a fleece screen held up with bamboo,
wrapping round the raised bed, or should I wrap the plant. I'm worried that
the wet / cold will get it, but it looked so attractive in the spring, I
thought I'd cross this bridge etc etc.

Chris S


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Old 17-11-2002, 03:09 AM
Hussein M.
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cordyline

On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 00:05:20 -0000, "Chris Stewart"
wrote:

Hi all - some advice please. I have a purple cordyline outside in a raised
bed - it's open to weather from the north. It's in a circular raised bed. I
live in Aberdeen. Could I get away with a fleece screen held up with bamboo,
wrapping round the raised bed, or should I wrap the plant. I'm worried that
the wet / cold will get it, but it looked so attractive in the spring, I
thought I'd cross this bridge etc etc.


I have a feather palm (butia) which, while it is still young, I have
to protect over the winter. I didn't the first winter (E. Anglia) and,
though it didn't die, it certainly looked the worse for wear in the
Spring.

My solution has been to acquire some of that stiff plastic coated
(1") wire mesh, and line one side of it with bubble wrap. I do this
with thin wire which goes round and round, periodically jabbed through
both bubble wrap and mesh at intervals necessary to keep wrap and mesh
close together. I then making a circular tube by wiring two edges
together (with an inch or two of overlap). The bubble wrap for
aesthetic (and other) reasons I have on the inside of the "tube".

The cage doesn't have to be too huge as I can stroke the fronds of
the palm up and tie them loosely with elasticated cord. I peg the cage
down with tent pegs and, for good measure against the wind, ram two
(last year four) longish stakes closely around the outside of the tube
and then wire the tube against these stakes (another reason to have
the bubble wrap on the inside of the tube).

I don't know if it's really necessary and in fact I haven't done it
this year, but I last year I got two lengths of thicker rigid wire,
made a star shape out of them and then attached the four ends of the
star to the top edge of the cage to ensure that the radii of the star
were sufficiently long to necessitate a dome shape. I then simply
draped another sheet of bubble wrap over the top (of the dome) and
wired the bottom edge of this to the cage. The dome means that snow
will fall off rather than fill the cage. You would be surprised at how
tough bubble wrap is. No, it doesn't tear even when only anchored by
thin wire.

The wind chill is most certainly negated and the crown kept dry. It
sounds like a lot of work but it's only once. Your cage is re-usable
year after year until the plant is high enough to escape the freezing
ground level of air.

I know some people when using such cages also fill them with Autumn
leaves. The plants don't need light in the winter and will still be
redolent with chlorophyll when the Spring sunshine comes.

How big is the Cordyline?

Respect

Hussein
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Old 17-11-2002, 03:51 AM
Hussein M.
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cordyline

On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 00:05:20 -0000, "Chris Stewart"
wrote:

Hi all - some advice please


Further to my last post, the helpful and curious bunny in me went
and looked up Cordyline.

PFAF : (there are two species)

The species you might expect to have acquired in Blighty are

australis - A very ornamental plant[1], it is not very cold-hardy,
tolerating short-lived lows down to about -10°c[260]. It only succeeds
outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[1, 11, 59]. It grows very well
in Cornwall where it often self-sows[1, 11, 59]. A form with purplish
leaves is hardier than the type and succeeds outdoors in
Gloucestershire[11].

and indivisa - Plants are not very hardy in Britain, they tolerate
temperatures down to about -3°c[260] though one report says that they
can survive occasional lows down to about -10°c[11]. They succeed
outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[11]. This species is more
tender than C. australis[49, 59].

Funnily enough at the residential home where my 98 yr old auntie
lives I have admired a Cordyline. Maybe it is exactly this plant that
they mentioned with reference to the australis specimen in
Gloucestershire as she lives in that very county (but close to the
warming influence of the Severn Estuary). RHS 'paedia pictures a
cultivar 'Atropurpurea' but the one at Wisma didn't look obviously
purple to me. It's about 20' tall, never gets protection, and I
noticed on my last visit it had been quite severely lopped.

The reference for the minus 10 is:
Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2
Phillips. R. & Rix. M

The reference for the tree in Glos. is:
Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement.
Bean. W.

I am sure it will be like my Butia. Once the crown gains sufficient
height to be out of the reach of the freezing *wet* at ground level,
it will be safe.

The complete bumph for C. australis goes as follows:

Cultivation:

Prefers a good sandy loam rich in humus[1]. Succeeds in full sun or
light shade[188]. A very wind hardy plant, tolerating maritime
exposure[49, 166].
A very ornamental plant[1], it is not very cold-hardy, tolerating
short-lived lows down to about -10°c[260]. It only succeeds outdoors
in the milder areas of Britain[1, 11, 59]. It grows very well in
Cornwall where it often self-sows[1, 11, 59]. A form with purplish
leaves is hardier than the type and succeeds outdoors in
Gloucestershire[11].
The flowers have a delicious sweet scent that pervades the air to a
considerable distance[245].
Mice often kill young plants by eating out the pith of the stem[11].

Edible uses (if you decide you've had enough of it!):

Root - baked[105, 153, 173, 177]. It can also be brewed into an
intoxicating drink[183].
Pith of the trunk - dried and steamed until soft[173]. Sweet and
starchy, it is used to make porridge or a sweet drink[173].
The root and stems are rich in fructose, the yields compare favourably
with sugar beet (Beta vulgaris altissima)[153].
Edible shoots - a cabbage substitute[105, 128, 173]. The leaves are
very fibrous even when young, we would not fancy eating them[K].

Other uses:

The leaves contain saponins, but not in commercial quantities[153].
The leaves contain a strong fibre, used for making paper, twine,
cloth, baskets, thatching, rain capes etc[1, 46, 61, 128, 153]. The
whole leaves would be used for some of these applications. When used
for making paper, the leaves are harvested in summer, they are scraped
to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 24 hours
prior to cooking[189].

Respect from the bunny.

Hussein

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Old 17-11-2002, 09:13 PM
Chris Stewart
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cordyline


"Hussein M." wrote in message
...
On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 00:05:20 -0000, "Chris Stewart"
wrote:

Hi all - some advice please


Further to my last post, the helpful and curious bunny in me went
and looked up Cordyline.

PFAF : (there are two species)

The species you might expect to have acquired in Blighty are

australis - A very ornamental plant[1], it is not very cold-hardy,
tolerating short-lived lows down to about -10°c[260]. It only succeeds
outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[1, 11, 59]. It grows very well
in Cornwall where it often self-sows[1, 11, 59]. A form with purplish
leaves is hardier than the type and succeeds outdoors in
Gloucestershire[11].

and indivisa - Plants are not very hardy in Britain, they tolerate
temperatures down to about -3°c[260] though one report says that they
can survive occasional lows down to about -10°c[11]. They succeed
outdoors in the milder areas of Britain[11]. This species is more
tender than C. australis[49, 59].

Funnily enough at the residential home where my 98 yr old auntie
lives I have admired a Cordyline. Maybe it is exactly this plant that
they mentioned with reference to the australis specimen in
Gloucestershire as she lives in that very county (but close to the
warming influence of the Severn Estuary). RHS 'paedia pictures a
cultivar 'Atropurpurea' but the one at Wisma didn't look obviously
purple to me. It's about 20' tall, never gets protection, and I
noticed on my last visit it had been quite severely lopped.

The reference for the minus 10 is:
Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2
Phillips. R. & Rix. M

The reference for the tree in Glos. is:
Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement.
Bean. W.

I am sure it will be like my Butia. Once the crown gains sufficient
height to be out of the reach of the freezing *wet* at ground level,
it will be safe.

The complete bumph for C. australis goes as follows:

Cultivation:

Prefers a good sandy loam rich in humus[1]. Succeeds in full sun or
light shade[188]. A very wind hardy plant, tolerating maritime
exposure[49, 166].
A very ornamental plant[1], it is not very cold-hardy, tolerating
short-lived lows down to about -10°c[260]. It only succeeds outdoors
in the milder areas of Britain[1, 11, 59]. It grows very well in
Cornwall where it often self-sows[1, 11, 59]. A form with purplish
leaves is hardier than the type and succeeds outdoors in
Gloucestershire[11].
The flowers have a delicious sweet scent that pervades the air to a
considerable distance[245].
Mice often kill young plants by eating out the pith of the stem[11].

Edible uses (if you decide you've had enough of it!):

Root - baked[105, 153, 173, 177]. It can also be brewed into an
intoxicating drink[183].
Pith of the trunk - dried and steamed until soft[173]. Sweet and
starchy, it is used to make porridge or a sweet drink[173].
The root and stems are rich in fructose, the yields compare favourably
with sugar beet (Beta vulgaris altissima)[153].
Edible shoots - a cabbage substitute[105, 128, 173]. The leaves are
very fibrous even when young, we would not fancy eating them[K].

Other uses:

The leaves contain saponins, but not in commercial quantities[153].
The leaves contain a strong fibre, used for making paper, twine,
cloth, baskets, thatching, rain capes etc[1, 46, 61, 128, 153]. The
whole leaves would be used for some of these applications. When used
for making paper, the leaves are harvested in summer, they are scraped
to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 24 hours
prior to cooking[189].

Respect from the bunny.

Hussein

Thank you, you're a star. Now if it croaks, at least it'll have had a
chance!!

Chris S


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Old 18-11-2002, 12:28 AM
Hussein M.
 
Posts: n/a
Default Cordyline

On Sun, 17 Nov 2002 20:13:19 -0000, "Chris Stewart"
wrote:


Thank you, you're a star. Now if it croaks, at least it'll have had a
chance!!


Thanks for that - I'll feel more inclined to help others.

BTW - because the garden I grow is constantly gazed on by the
general public I think I am going to spray the visible side of the
bubble wrap with some dark brown/green enamel paint. The glistening
white is not very in keeping while there is no snow.

H.
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