Phooey! Phygelius!
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Phooey! Phygelius!
- From: t*@eddy.u-net.com (Tim Longville)
- Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 18:52:47 GMT
Re Jan's query. Well, maybe in a relatively dry and hot climate Ye
Cape Fuchsia may not cause trouble but here on the mild wet west coast
of the UK it is a monster. Ok, a beautiful monster. But a monster all
the same. Example:
To counteract the wetness inherent in our climate (I like my gardening
to be difficult, not to say absurd, ok?), I garden entirely in raised
beds, made out of drystone redsandstone walls and filled with suitable
drainage-and-fertility-modified soil. I am just about to begin
completely taking to pieces one such bed, walls and all - oh, and the
gravelled paths all round the whole bed - because the complete (all
right, call it ridiculous: see if I care) confection has been invaded
by phygelius: red phygelius, pink phygelius, yellow phygelius,
probably purple-and-puce-spotted phygelius. Invaded by seedlings and
invaded by runners. And when once it gets in, believe me, it's hell's
teeth trying to get it out.
As to size. Here, provided it's out of the salty gales, it's an
evergreen shrub to 8+ feet in the open border and to 12+ feet against
a wall.
It's really a magnificent plant and if I had acres and acres I'd
happily give it a couple (tho' keeping the flame-throwers ready at the
boundaries) but since I only have a few square yards...
Tim on the Solway Coast, where it is, yup, mild and wet: tree ferns
exploding into new growth, Anopterus glandulosa in full flower,
Acradenia frankliniae ditto (does this get grown in the U.S.? it
doesn't seem to much in the UK but it seems to me a beautiful plant
and the flowers seem as near as dammit eternal) and Wittsteinia just
about to be in flower. I'd like to know more about Wittsteinia, given
to me by a friend, no names, no packdrill, no bio. Can anyone help?
Ultimate size? Ideal conditions? Temp level at which it might suffer
damage/die?
Tim Longville
