Re: following on roses, orchids etc. (was 40°C)

--- Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

>  Yes I am myself pretty sorry looking at my poor
> damaged plants, (By the
> way Vireya not Vresia - I think the latter is a
> genus of Bromeliads).

Some of the Vriesia bromeliads are hardier than
Vireyas, but they both are generally best protected
from frost in winter.  The two plants do combine very
well for a subtropical garden effect, as the Vriesias
also bbloom over a very long period of time, and the
foliage can be quite showy as well.

> Vireyas are the tropical Rhododendrons which come
> mostly from South East
> Asia, with a single outlier in northern Australia.
> They have wonderful
> clear colours from red to white and also in the
> yellow-gold range, make
> great pot plants (many are epiphytic in the wild)
> and flower almost all
> year round. 

I'd agree that the flowering period and vivid colors
make them especially nice in warmer and more humid
mediterannean climates, but they don't fit in with the
drought tolerant crowd, and do quite well here in the
fog belt areas of coastal California.

> They have been extensively hybridized
> and the odd one is 
> obviously quite hardy, as a couple have come through
> the frosts
> successfully with their leaves still green and
> growing.

Moira, apparently there are quite a few more cold
hardy hybrids that have been developed recently, my
friend Chip Lima here in San Francisco grows and
collects them, and says there are many more to choose
from compared to just 10 years ago.  I gave up on them
after I lost all of them in the two hard freezes we
had in 1990 and again in 1998 here in California.

> I just hope the
> rest are not as dead as they look, but will revive
> like the Fuchsias
> usually do.

Again, I hate to be overly pessimistic, but the
chances aren't nearly as good for most Vireyas as you
describe them, none of mine came back from 25F.  I do
hope that you have better luck!



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