WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2017

This link was kinda my bible to growing it...............

Swainsona formosa - Growing Native Plants

Canna altensteinii...............
Canna altensteinii by longk48, on Flickr

The seed was sown in February.

 

Hi @longk oh yes, thank you - I had read that site, but forgotten about it! I even tried the grafting route many years ago (onto colutea), but I am too clumsy to graft such tiny seedlings. I fell in love with the plant when I saw it at the Liverpool Garden Festival (1984!) ...

 

Here's my gardnerianum at last, something worth taking a photo of!
and the peachy flowers are H. Pink Diamond being swamped by whatsitsname.....begins with 'A', big grass! Arundo donax!

and Canna 'Stuttgart'


finally, the Asimina triloba (difficult to get photos of all the fruit!)

Finally finally, a photo for CarolineL....the Salvia is doing really well! Thank you!

 

Heehee..nearly.....Canna nain 'Louis Cottin®'

 

Hi @noisette47 - that salvia is doing nicely! You'll be glad to learn that the roots you sent me are all shooting!
Your Stuttgart is looking good - we had a discussion about the fact that it frazzles round the edges, but yours isn't! What's the secret?

 

What Salvia is that please?

 

Hi @CarolineL That's excellent news!
As my trees are getting bigger, they're providing more much-needed shade. Anything variegated frazzles here if planted in full sun, except the aforementioned Arundo.
@pete, why not leave Cannas, Dahlias, Zantedeschias etc in the ground? Given a good thick mulch, they will survive winter without all the hassle of digging them up and trying to store them with just the right amount of humidity. They all came through the 10 days of -17C we had here in 2010, and you wouldn't call the soil exactly well-drained!

 

Hi @longk Salvia Black'n'Blue.....at last one that likes me!

 

Hi, @noisette47 , kind of wondering how you got that "stuttgart" with so little browning on the leaves, mine, the one you sent me last year, just looks a mess to be honest.

I'm not keen on leaving them in the ground to overwinter as they take up room I dont have.
Space is my problem, and shade is becoming more of a problem each year, not only from my own stuff but the neighbours who have two trees twice the height of anything I have, probably 40ft high now.

 

40ft is a bit excessive! Still, now you know what to plant near them . Aren't there laws about tall trees or is it just hedges? A neighbour forced us to chop down a Lombardy poplar donkey's years ago on the grounds that branches dropped off it onto his small grandchildren during storms and gales.

 

The two trees in question are a goat willow and a ailanthus, both planted by the previous occupant more than 25yrs ago.
I have a feeling the neighbours would like to get rid of them but it would cost.
The next house has 20ft laurel, again planted by a previous occupant.

I have a fair few trees of my own but every year, or every other year depending on variety I bring them down to 8ft at least, just a few palms and the odd one here or there that doesn't get the chop.

 

Would it be practical to offer to contribute to the cost of chopping/removing them, @pete? Or offering to help them do it? Sometimes the softly softly approach works wonders!

 

Dont think so, they are not gardeners and just about manage to cut the grass really.They are higher than anything I would like to chop down without damage.
Anyway, the house belongs to the housing association, so I'll not be contributing to them.