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Inside the edge - under plastic.
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Chad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:03 pm Posts: 2343 Location: Inland Cornwall UK
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Inside the edge - under plastic.
Having shown my New Year 'outside garden' on thread I would like to share my polytunnel New Year.
That such a thin layer of plastic can make such a huge difference to what I can grow was a revelation. Winter lows are not very different from outside, but winter days are usually back in to double figures [over 10C] if there is any sun at all.
My biggest problem is that things grow larger than I had expected so I will need to ruthlessly 'edit' the collection [note that I say I need to, not that I will!].
Lycianthes quichensis has been in bloom for over a year after a frost free winter last time round. I need to cut it back!
Brugmansia sanguinea declined gently in the open garden, but is a woody shrub under cover. Locally it does well outside against south facing walls, but I don't have any of them! I think it is too big and needs 'editing' - I want the space for things I haven't yet grown. Will I actually have the nerve to dig it out? Perhaps if I pruned it hard?
Bartlettina sordida hasn't yet made it out of a pot and into the soil. Here it is flowering through the leaves of Podachaenium eminens. The Podachaenium is too big too! I keep cutting it back as it presses against the plastic. I was so proud of it when it first grew. It 'should' be edited out. It isn't hardy enough to survive outside even in a frost free winter it died off. In here it loses its leaves if frosted, but grows back.
Montanoa bipinnatifida is the most impressively leafed of the Montanoa that I grow. It is also the most tender and doesn't survive outside. It has small white flowers too high up to get a good look at it. I could really use the space for something else. But it was a gift to me. And I'm not sure there is another in the UK. Does that give me 'a responsibility' to maintain it?
Fuchsia splendens [or a near hybrid] flowers all year in here.
Salvia involucrata is a rangy shrub here. The lower light levels of the tunnel 'draw it out'.
Salvia sagittata never really got going outside, but is flowering in here.
Salvia dombeyi is out of focus - I couldn't get near it! Does anyone else have success with this?
Tropaeolum smithii has been a rampant success this year. Dare I risk it in the open soil either in here or outside?
I won't make any decisions on 'editing' until the spring. A 'good hard frost' could edit it all back for me!
Chad.
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Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:52 am |
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david feix
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:54 am Posts: 3206 Location: Berkeley, California
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Re: Inside the edge - under plastic.
Got to be frustrating Chad, just when looking good winter comes, they get so big, are just about ready to bloom, etc, etc.
_________________ David Feix Landscape Design http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/
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Tue Jan 03, 2017 7:17 pm |
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Martinnicklin
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:06 pm Posts: 2675 Location: Telford UK
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Re: Inside the edge - under plastic.
Chad, your tunnel looks like my idea of plant heaven. Many of the cuttings you sent me turned, like yours, into enormous beasts to the point where the only way I could envisage being able to keep them was to plant them out. They all grew far too big for my conservatory. Last year the Polymnia got through winter unprotected and made about 10 ft of summer growth with wonderful canes. However, I am saddened to hear that the Montanoa and Podachaenium stand no chance outdoors - I planted them out last summer as huge shrubs hoping they too could make it. I am guessing they wil already be dead. It was great fun growing them from tiny leafless twigs a few years ago and seeing them develop into magnificent foliage plants. The Podachaeniums flowered well but I never managed flowers on the Montanoas which I was hoping would flower al fresco next year!!! The one plant I will not risk is the Telanthophora, in full flower at the moment. I love it - its fabulous foliage, its huge domes of flowers and the coconutty scent. Martin
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Tue Jan 03, 2017 9:48 pm |
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Chad
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:03 pm Posts: 2343 Location: Inland Cornwall UK
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Re: Inside the edge - under plastic.
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Wed Jan 04, 2017 8:46 pm |
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david feix
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:54 am Posts: 3206 Location: Berkeley, California
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Re: Inside the edge - under plastic.
Chad, I know the feeling about liking the various tree daisies, and am fortunate they're mostly perfectly hardy outdoors here. Still, they do take up room, so I indulge my tastes by using them in client's gardens. I cut back my Polymnia maculata from 20 feet tall to 10 feet, so I'd get more winter sun on my office balcony. The Tree Dahlias also get cut back to ground level about now. The Verbesina turbascencis are still going strong in bloom, but the rains have splayed the stems all over the place. Montanoa grandiflora is well behaved, and typically needs no pruning on my part. The Telanthophora grandiflora is still fairly small, only 6 feet tall.
_________________ David Feix Landscape Design http://www.flickr.com/photos/20217462@N02/
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Fri Jan 06, 2017 3:39 am |
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Tom Velardi
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:20 pm Posts: 4337 Location: Kyushu, Southern Japan (33.607N latitude)
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Re: Inside the edge - under plastic.
That's like an eternal spring tunnel of flowers - "editing" aside, I'd be thrilled to have such a place at my disposal. It is funny to me sometimes how us "edgers" constantly reach out for things that just aren't meant to be, and in doing so remain in a continual state of "if only…"
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Fri Jan 06, 2017 8:58 pm |
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