Re: Lobster Claw - "

Thanks for the responses folks.  

It amazes me to find that this is apparently a very short lived plant
- especially when you consider my experiences with C. puniceus 'Alba'.
I've also known several 'venerable' ordinary Clianthus lasting at
least 5 years.  However, I note Moira's remarks about giving a sparse
'diet'.  My 'Alba' was growing in the thinnest scrape of 'soil'
imaginable consisting of mainly stone rubble and nothing else.  It was
mercilessly baked on a hot south wall and given gallons of water in
summer, but nothing at any other time of year.  Due to its position,
it was often quite dry at the root even after a prolonged period of
wet weather during winter.  Quite often, the leaves had a slightly
yellowish caste on account of the lack of food.  Because growth was so
vigorous, I didn't feel it essential to give additional feeds.  

My current plant isn't in exactly the best of soils either, but I do
give it a feed of Miracid a couple of times each summer.   That's
probably part of the problem.  Most of the branches are growing very
well and there's quite a reasonable set of seed, so together with the
few cuttings I've already got going, I'll be able to start all over
again if it does peg out on me.

Dave Poole
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