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Martinnicklin
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:06 pm Posts: 2675 Location: Telford UK
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Dendroseris litoralis in flower
I was going to put this on Adrian's "What's your plant of the moment?" thread (which incidentally has been a really interesting thread seeing the great plants folks are growing and looking good at the moment so thanks Adrian). However, I do have a specific question about this plant. I was surprised to see my Dendroseris flowering today (photo below) - it has obviously enjoyed the wet June and I never expected to ever see it flower so I am really pleased to do so. However, my two plants are now so tall that I think after this year's growth they will be unmanageably tall. I am wondering how they will respond to being cut back hard? I am nervous because I have nurtured these from seeds and I did a similar thing with Rojasianthe but the pruning killed my three very healthy plants.
Apologies for the poor photo - it was up in the air and me on tiptoe!
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Sun Jun 26, 2016 2:47 pm |
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Adrian
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:32 pm Posts: 185 Location: Folkestone Kent UK
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
Wow Martin, that certainly IS your plant of the moment. I have no experience of growing it so I can't give any advice. Seems a shame you can't let it grow naturally, but I'm guessing space is at a premium?
Thanks for the kind words about my thread on here, I've also seen some very interesting things posted. Good luck with the secuteers (or lack of, whichever is appropriate), all I know is it would be a tragedy to lose this specimen.
Adrian
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Sun Jun 26, 2016 4:18 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
VERY nice. I've seen them planted in the entrance garden to the San Francisco Botanical Garden. I didn't know they had such exotic flowers.
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Sun Jun 26, 2016 7:41 pm |
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Kev Spence
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:59 pm Posts: 10902 Location: Loughborough, Leics, central UK
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
Wow Martin well done I failed miserably with my 2 attempts and in the end mine got to tall and I cut it where it went into decline. It tried to grow from 2 points and got some disease wheras I lost interest and it died last winter....in my experience cutting is bad!
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Sun Jun 26, 2016 8:16 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
Martin,my gut is telling me if you MUST cut it back? right afterwords,put it into a larger pot. Pruning and leaving it in the same pot drains the plant. You might even wash off the old top soils..give it a new start with no root damage. And,June is the best time to do it all.
With the cuttings? The BEST way is 100% perlite in a pot and always keep it watered,never go dry.
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Mon Jun 27, 2016 12:29 am |
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ChrisW4
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:46 pm Posts: 130 Location: London UK
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
I've done it with woody stuff but I've never tried it with anything like this, but if you're going to cut it back anyway, might it be worth attempting air layering?
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Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:25 am |
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Martinnicklin
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:06 pm Posts: 2675 Location: Telford UK
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
Thanks for the replies folks. I'm guessing not as many grow it as I'd hoped. Chris, air layering is certainly one option I had not considered and could well work. Stan, I had thought of cuttings but the branches are so thick and succulent I had assumed they would rot before rooting. To be honest Stan, I had little faith in it flowering - I was growing it more for the exotic foliage and form. That said, didn't we have a £50 bet on Kev, as to whose would flower first??!!! ... so I'm very sorry to hear your news!!!! They can't go into bigger pots as the ones they are in at the moment are already almost too big and heavy to move and the plants themselves are very heavy. They certainy will not fit back into my conservatory this year so unless I hear otherwise and hope Kev's unlucky pruning experience was just a one-off and I may have no option but to chop! However, I think I will have a go at the air layering as an insurance premium. Worth a go. Martin
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Tue Jun 28, 2016 7:51 pm |
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Andy1
Joined: Mon May 26, 2008 11:31 am Posts: 93 Location: Edinburgh
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Re: Dendroseris litoralis in flower
Hi Martin, the plant we have in the temperate house at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh flowered and produced lots of viable seed. I was quite surprised, we grew a few new plants from these and had to throw quite a few away. I think growing replacement plants from seed would be your best bet.
Regards Andy
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Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:23 pm |
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