Re: Downunder plants

**Larry Maupin larrymaupin@sbcglobal.net>**

on 6/17/02 6:52 PM, tony fawcett at tonyfawcett@bigpond.com wrote:

> I am a garden writer working out of Melbourne in the south of Australia and am
> doing a piece on Aussie plants that have moved around the world, and what
> gardeners think of them.
Tony - 
Back in the mid to late 70s while I was at Nortex/North Haven Gardens in
Dallas, Texas, we received a sample package of small liners from a marketing
company in Australia offering plants for export/import. Some plants arrived
in good condition and some were beginning to rot. Ralph Pinkus, the owner,
and I carefully potted them all in soilless mix, labeled them and watched
them daily. Some were more interesting than others, but the ones we both
liked were the Formium varieties. They took hold and grew well in the
nursery and in our trials. Several varieties have become established in
commerce, and I noticed that the burgundy leafed form is being used at our
Dallas Arboretum as seasonal color in containers. They will only use proven
performers in their display gardens.
Watching your liners take hold in Dallas many years ago was my first
experience at our global relationship. I realized that USDA zone 8 can be
simulated in various parts of the world, and vice versa.
-- 
Larry Maupin
Maupin Photography
Freelance Garden Writer/Photographer
Member, Garden Writers Assoc. of Amer.
larrymaupin@sbcglobal.net
Dallas, TX   214/341-3933

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

If you have photos for GWL, send them to gwlphotos@hort.net and they will
show up at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos