Re: Perovskia
I used to grow a decent stand of this in thin, very poor, gravelly
soil where it was never watered and most surrounding weeds would often
die during hot weather. It was hard pruned (stooled) every spring and
rapidly grew to well over 2 metres. Despite being in a windy exposed
site, it never needed any staking. In rich or even moderately decent
soils it is less hardy, nowhere near as 'grey' and tends to flop all
over the place. In such soils, it is probably best grown against a
sunny wall where it will get the support it needs and in turn, can act
as a host for a slender climber such as one of the less vigorous
Tropaeolum species or even one of the weaker growing, hybrid texensis
Clematis. It looks pretty good with 'Duchess of Albany'.
Dave Poole
TORQUAY UK
