Viewing comments posted by JRsbugs

This plant survived 7 weeks below freezing in the winter 2010/11 in the UK when temperatures dropped to -17C. It needed some pruning to remove damaged growth but it survived. The small flowers are very sweetly scented, and are produced over winter. It hasn't grown quite as well in the ground as it had done in a pot, perhaps two years of drought didn't help it.

I've had this plant for around 6 years, it does well by my south wall, but living over 53 degrees latitude north it doesn't get the day length requirements soon enough for the flower buds to open before the plant gets frozen. It has often got through frost to -5C, the leaves have had some frost on them and survived it, but an extra degree to -6C or different frost conditions usually kill it.

In the UK it grows to around 11 feet tall by my wall. I have grown more plants from it and put in other places in the garden, but they never thrive, although some have lived. Buds in the last three years have looked so promising. This year some plants farther south in England made flowers in mid November but mine were about to be frozen by mid December, so I cut the stem to put in water. There's only one promising bud, which I am not holding my hopes for. Getting to mid December is a miracle in itself. Unless we happen to have very mild weather it would struggle to flower in very low winter temperatures here. I keep trying and hoping, though!

Wind can be a problem when the new stems are still soft. I have had some blow over, but with age they go woody. My plant survived in the ground after the very hard winter 2010/11 in the UK, with 7 weeks continually below freezing and with temperatures down to -17C.

New plants can easily be grown from young shoots taken with a little of the woody base. I have also grown them from the stem near the base after winter, which was still "green" inside although the stems are hollow. If you have a live stem, cut a length either side of two nodes with a length of stem between them, and place just under the surface of compost laid on the side in a large pot. They will root and make new plants from the nodes, so with two nodes you will get two plants, which can be cut apart once the roots are sufficiently formed and repotted individually. I did this in a cold greenhouse, where the pot got plenty of sun. If they are grown in the ground in a greenhouse, I might get more chance of flowers. I now have a greenhouse with broken glass in the roof, so next year maybe I will grow another plant to put in that greenhouse even though it gets some shade. Worth a try!

Crinum campanulatum is endemic to the Albany floristic region of the Eastern Cape, where it occurs in temporary pools and seasonal marshes in grasslands. Information from plantzafrica.com

I bought this as a young plant. It grew well and started to bulk up nicely. At first I brought it inside over winter, as it is "tender," but after building a pond in 2009 I put it in the shallow part in a pot, where it seemed to be very happy. In their natural habitat in South Africa they can go dormant in the dry periods or can remain evergreen. In the spring to summer rain season, when the ground becomes covered with water, they flower! They can live permanently in water.

I had intended to bring the plant under cover for the winter after putting it in the pond, but the wildlife in the pond quickly grew and I did not want to disturb any creature which may be living around the plant, so I left it in the pond. Winter 2009/10 in the UK was quite a hard one. The pond had a good depth of ice to about 5 inches, which was well below the depth of the top of the pot. The leaves remained green even with ice for some time! Eventually the leaves died back, leaving the stems above the bulbs as seen in the photo. They were alive and grew to make an even bigger plant! Unfortunately, the last winter we had, 2010/11, was much harder with 7 weeks below freezing with temperatures down to -17C. The last time we had such harsh conditions was about 30 years ago. The plant died, to my disappointment! The flowers on this one were supposed to be the reddish form. There is also a white form, and it would have been nice to see the flowers!

This has taken time to start to show it's true form, I purchased a division (not tissue cultured) from a reputable source but was initially disappointed with the flowers. The first flowers were not much like the photos I had seen, but with searching I found other people were getting the same disappointing results with a barely visible edge and poor colouring.

We had a very harsh winter 2010/11 in the UK with 7 weeks continually below freezing, this did not harm this plant. I grew it for a start in a pot with gritty 'river soil' and leafy compost which suits just about anything I grow in it. I planted it in the ground in 2009 in a semi-shaded location with more home made leafy compost as a mulch. I have acidic, sandy soil. This year I was very pleased to see the flowers had improved a good deal, almost as I expected them to be! Hoping that next year I will see a better edging to the flowers.

I grew these from seed obtained from VanDusen Botanical gardens. Planted in a very free draining quite poor soil, they survived our extremely cold winter 2010/11 in the UK. I have not found them to be invasive here, nor have they yet managed to seed around. The plants have slowly increased, they take little space and are attractive to bees as well as a social wasp I see on them every year. Ideally I would like them to bulk up a little more but they are alive! A group planting would be a good idea.

Leaves are mostly basal with a flower stem rising from them, there's usually a few smaller leaves on the flower stem. The leaves look like a thisle leaf, are prickly and grey-green

This is very hardy and a very easy Arum to grow in the UK. I had to move it from the first location I had planted it in which was under the north side of a spreading Fatsia japonica. The original bulb had made several more smaller bulbs, I worried that moving it might be the end of it as it was in growth which is a good thing but some Arums can be difficult. In its present west facing location it gets some shade and sun, I planted it with plenty of leafy compost and it never looked back. The same year I moved it in 2009 the leaves and spathe grew even bigger. In 2010 it produced two spathes. The harsh winter of 2010/11 in the UK with temperatures below freezing continually for 7 weeks, dipping to -17C did not kill it. The leaves grow over winter and will survive frost.

This is a natural hybrid which originally was found in one of only three small populations of A. cyrenaicum in Crete.

This was a fast grower and bulked up quickly, as I kept it in a pot in a cold greenhouse I had to split the plants and repot them. With mild winters and reasonably warm springs in the UK it did well for a start although I rarely saw a flower, but after a second very cold summer in 2008 and cold springs it didn't flower at all. The very harsh winter 2010/11 in the UK with 7 weeks continually below freezing rotted them all. It may have survived in the ground but unless it got warmth in late winter and spring I doubt it would have done well, these start into growth in late winter.

This was one of my favourite shrubs. I had it in an exposed location where there was very little top soil over sandstone, and a nearby oak tree kept the ground quite dry. It grew well for around 10 years and got to be a medium-sized shrub around 4 feet tall. It doesn't flower for a long time but the flowers and leaves are so attractive that it doesn't matter. It becomes full of flowers, making a spectacular shrub. On a sunny day with a breeze, the scent fills the air if you happen to be downwind.

The flowers resemble crumpled tissue paper, and the blotches around the centre are spectacular. Honey bees were always attracted to the ample pollen the flowers produced. I speak in past tense as the main shrub died, but it had made another two by rooting from branches laid on the ground. These were promising, but one died after winter 2009/10 and the other died after the even harder winter 2010/11 in the UK with 7 weeks below freezing and temperatures down to -17C.

I have tried more than one Colocasia including 'Illustris' and 'Black Magic', this is the only one remaining alive. Illustris grew well from a tiny tissue culture seedling to make a large tuber but with two cold summers and going dormant over winter it gave up the ghost when there was not enough warmth for it to regrow in spring, these conditions do not affect 'Fontanesii' the same. In the UK it is advisable to keep them in a pot and bring inside over winter, this one will keep growing a little even over winter inside at temperatures around 16C give or take a little so the problem of bringing it into growth again does not exist. I think it prefers to be outside in summer, this year I kept it in a greenhouse but it didn't thrive, so natural rain water might encourage good growth as it brings down nitrogen although 2011 in the UK was exceptionally rain free. I grow it in a mix of gritty 'river soil' and lots of leafy compost which most bulbs thrive in. Runners are sent out from the main tuber and if they have room will make new tubers, I now have three in a larger pot than it was in originally, the first time it made a runner the pot wasn't wide enough for it to take root so I lost the advantage of having the plant make a new tuber.

I planted this in the ground as a young plant in 2001. It is evergreen and grows quickly in a fairly upright manner with some branches spreading out from the main trunk. The flowers are fragrant and attractive to insects. The leaves should have some darker green markings on them but my plant only had them on a branch coming from near the base, the rest of the leaves were pale yellowish green often fading with more sun.

The very harsh winter 2010/11 in the UK with 7 weeks continually below freezing and temperatures dipping to -17C the leaves were killed, and I suspected most of the thinner branches were also dead. I cut the top off to the main trunk at around 5 feet from the ground, the wood in the main trunk looked to be alive. It has since made a lot of new growth all the way up the trunk! I'm waiting to see how this grows next year as there are several new stems growing from each growth point.

I had this for several years, kept in a large pot in a cold greenhouse. I grew it in a good gritty 'river soil' mixed with lots of leafy compost. It can survive very low temperatures in the UK and produced a spathe reliably every year, although a repot occasionally is advisable to give it a boost with fresh compost. It is later to show than many other Arisaemas, it will place itself very deep in a deep pot so don't panic if it's slow to show although I have at times scratched down to see if all is well you have to be careful not to knock off it's new growth tip.

I had never fed it as it got sufficient nutrients from the compost and I believe artificial feeding can often reduce hardiness. It managed to get through a very cold winter in the UK in 2009/10 but the winter of 2010/11 was an exceptionally cold winter with temperatures below freezing continually for 7 weeks dipping as low as -17C, that killed it! Worth another try though!

I planted three originally, they started to increase but I moved them to a better location when I replanted the bed they were in which was under a south facing wall, where I felt they weren't doing the best. The bed I moved them too became too crowded with other shrubs blocking out too much light and maybe taking too much water, they were growing leaves in spring but stopped flowering. I moved some once more, this time I had even more bulbs as they split making several bulbs. Moving is best done 'in the green', that is when they start to grow leaves in spring as they make flowers only in the autumn.

The bed I put them in is on a slight slope, they are planted around the bottom end of the slope where they keep moist but also get some sun as well as shade. This seems to suit them! I have sandy, free draining soil, the bed had been mulched well with home made compost consisting of mainly leaves. I have never fed them and they continue to do well, they have proved to be very hardy in the UK but should be planted deep. Leaves die back for the summer.

I bought this as a young plant around spring 2000, grew it in a pot for a year and planted it in the ground in 2001. It grew very quickly, making a tall shrub about 10 feet or 3 metres tall but it didn't spread sideways, rather it grew in more of a columnar habit although it had a reasonable width. Leaves are quite small with wavy edges and a broad irregularly marked yellowish-green centre. Flowers are about as black as they come, quite small and highly scented. The thin branches are almost black too, making a very attractive shrub. It had gone through more than one severe winter with no damage at all, but the winter of 2010/11 in the UK killed it as we had 7 weeks on continual freezing temperatures down to -17C. Heartbreaking! It had taken down to at least -11C before even when young with some very prolonged frost but the last winter was too harsh for it.

This is a sport of ‘Rotundifolium’ which itself was a sport of P. tenuifolium, found in New Zealand. 'Eila Keightley' was raised by Robinsons Nursery in New Zealand in 1964. Information from the RHS.

I find it's best to choose the plant in leaf so you know you are getting one with good patterning, also a plant in growth is better than one you might buy in a bag where they can dry out and take a long time to establish if at all. I planted this in an old metal baby's bath tub with a few holes drilled in the bottom. It likes where it is, I planted it in a good mix of fertile gritty 'river soil' (if you have a drain to dig it from it's great for plants) and home made leafy compost, all I have needed to do so far is occasionally top the pot up. I have never fed it, there's sufficient food in the compost mix, I prefer to grow plants naturally as I think it makes them healthier and hardier.

Fire and Ice gets better with every year, it flowers every year now and the flowers attract the occasional bee. I have not had any problems with slugs or snails nibbling the leaves on this plant although some others I have seem to be delectable to both slugs and snails. I try to keep the nibblers at a minimum by picking them up and depositing them on lush vegetation along the road side.

I had this for many years, although it never made a large plant it was a wonderful sight to see the deep red blooms trailing down a bank. I had it planted near the top of a shallow bank, it trailed down but the base became woody. It didn't seem to respond well to hard cutting back, it had a few dead stems which I cut out in spring, leaving any stems which had growth. Eventually it stopped growing well, this may have been due to moles undermining the roots! It died after a hard winter but I'm not sure if the winter was wholly responsible, I had permanent mole trouble in the area of the roots so the moles could be more to blame.

I have had this in the ground in a built up bed beneath a huge Horse Chestnut tree for several years, I added a lot of gritty 'river soil' and leaf compost but also leave fallen leaves. It increases slowly, and seems to be happy in dry shade. The time of flowering in late May to June is not so long after the tree is in full leaf, over winter months the tree loses the leaves so the plant gets winter wet and more light which seems to suit it.

This is the most commonly sold Polygonatum in the UK, it is a cross between P. multiflorum and P. odoratum but unlike the species it does not make seed. It is very hardy. It is said to be susceptible to Soloman's Seal sawfly (Phymatocera aterrima) which so far mine has escaped.

Alpine Sunset is one of my favourite roses although I have put the poor thing in a place where it seems to be struggling! With a little more care, mulch and some food it is getting better. It is in a place where the soil is often quite dry, it might do better in better soil where it gets more moisture but those places are already taken! Cutting it back hard each spring is probably the best thing to do to encourage new growth, this year I cut it back to about 6" from the ground and it responded a little better than it had previously done. I planted it in 2006, it was hot that year and it was a young plant but the following two years in the UK were very cold summers so it shivered along with the rest of us! I decided it was too pretty to let it wither so this year got around to giving it a mulch of compost and some organic rose food. The whole of the year 2011 where I live in the UK was lacking rainfall more than I can remember, but the plant responded a little to my well-intended care. I will have to keep pampering it, and I am sure it will slowly improve. It has never suffered from black spot. My garden and soil are more suited to shrub and floribunda roses, but with care I think I am winning with the hybrid teas!

I bought Evelyn directly from David Austin Roses, it was one of the first roses I got for my present garden and was planted in spring 2009. I had made a bed to put my first purchases in and some still do well, others produce just a few flowers. My garden doesn't get a lot of sun, it is sandy acidic soil and the bed is on a slight slope. Evelyn manages to keep producing long new growth which is bendy, but not a lot of it. It does marginally better than some of the hybrid roses but the buds dislike wet, rain causes them to 'ball'. The flowers are a very nice cupped shape flattening out with age, buds start more orange in colour fading to pink or pink-orange tones. It has a wonderful scent, the type which makes you want to keep coming back for more. This rose was grown for use in perfumes.

I have not had any problem with black spot on Evelyn although another rose nearby has suffered from it. As it is part of a bed with other plants growing around it it doesn't matter to me whether it flowers well, I appreciated those which it makes. I occasionally give the plants a mulch of organic compost, and organic rose food once a year but I must admit they don't get it every year. It's a good idea to cut out the older wood in spring to encourage new growth, and prune back long growths to a pair of leaf buds. I usually cut them below the previous year's branching stems on the stronger growths, and cut out weaker growths.

I have had this for several years. It continues to hang on although I have never found it to do well in my garden. It grows quite tall, but with mostly one main new stem. I prune it back each spring to good leaf buds and cut out the older wood, but it still doesn't want to grow more stems for me. The flowers open to a very large, loosely petalled bloom, which is spectacular and heavily scented. The scent was the reason I bought it in the first place when I saw it at my local garden centre. As I have other plants around it, I am happy to enjoy the few flowers it presents me with. My garden doesn't get enough sun for some roses and my soil is very sandy. Although I mulch around the roses with organic compost and feed them with rose food once a year, I find that the old fashioned shrub roses or floribundas do best for me.

I had this in a pot kept under the edge of a tree where it got a little sun and a lot of shade, it did well and survived quite a harsh winter in 2009/10 with temperatures dipping as low as -11C at night. It seems to be able to withstand some frost, but not prolonged hard frost kept in a pot as the even harder winter 2010/11 with 7 weeks below freezing continuously with temperatures dropping as low as -17C killed it in the pot.

I had taken a piece of the plant and put it in the ground a couple of years ago, I put it in a dryish location which did not suit it so it barely grew. Our very dry year (in the UK) 2011 probably didn't suit it either but it did manage to regrow a little after the very cold winter! The secret seems to be winter dry, summer wet, with some shade and plenty of organic compost which is what I grew it in in the pot and added to the ground where I planted it although the soil there is very poor and sandy. If it grows again next year I will certainly be trying to grow it well again in a pot, and maybe bring some inside over winter as it is well worth the effort.