Hi All you experts!
I'm in a hot, dry, arid place in Australia - Adelaide, that is. A new developement with no large trees yet.
We also have mild wet winters, with very seldom a night or two being freezing or below.
We have extreme UV and any usual plant or vegetable that says full sun on the label, needs to be under 50% shade cloth in the height of summer, or have only morning sun. Even tomatoes and corn benefit from shade here. There are hardy cacti that I have in places shaded from afternoon sun, or else they shrivel up and cark it.
If anyone can help me with these questions, I would be most grateful.
I have just recieved three brugs from two different nurseries. All labelled as the variety 'Frilly Pink" One place labelled it as B.candida, and the other as B.versicolour... but definitely the same plant.
FIRST question... does anyone know if this variety is also called by any other name? No-one here seems to know, but I've never come across this name outside Australia. It may be an Australian cultivar, however I can't seem to find any information on it at all. If there's an AKA, I'd be pleased to know it.
SECOND question... I have placed one where it recieves bright shade in the height of our severe summers (49c/120f top temps and virtually no humidity and UV well above safe limits), and the sun gradually comes around to be a bright, warm sun-trap there in the winter. It's my front porch, and out of the way of winds, light frosts and all the other vagaries of extreme weather... does this sound like a good place for it? I'm spraying it with water in the morning on the very dry days.
THIRD question...The other two are (1) in a large pot at the western side of my house only getting about an hour of intense sun in the mid- afternoon, and the other in a large garden bed with 50% shadecloth over a pergola on the top, so getting a couple of hours of morning sun. Does anyone with arid area growing experience know if I'm doing the right thing? There is an olla in the garden bed near that last one...
I'm hoping they will survive our very mild winters, but until recently had never even heard of these plants, and I'm struggling to find detailed information online except about overwintering in very cold climates.
All I can really find is 'go big with the fertilizer and water', but that info is more for areas with much more humidity than ours. I know people grow them here, but they have access to micro-climates that I just don't have.
If anyone can chime in with help or advice, I'd be immensely obliged to you.
I'm hoping it will be a success, as I have totally fallen in love with these plants.
