Re: Pittosporums

--- Tim Longville <tim@eddy.u-net.com> wrote:
> Thanks to Margaret and Glenn for the encouragement:
> though when did I
> ever need in gardening terms to be told
> 
> >Go for it, Tim!
> 
> Most folks would say, 'Whoa back there, you eejit,'
> might be more
> appropriate advice...
> 
> I don't grow P. crassifolium itself but I do grow a
> P. crassifolium x
> P. tenuifolium cross, which seems to have most of
> the virtues of both
> of its parents - and none of what *some* people
> (!G!) describe as P.
> tenuifolium's vices - and the cross is rapidly
> making a really
> handsome shrub.
> 
> At least it was. Now I have my fingers crossed - and
> for P.
> eugenioides and P. revolutum, too - because since
> Christmas Eve we've
> been having by our standards a real cold snap,
> certainly the coldest
> since the same period at the end of 95, with temps
> down to -5C at
> night and barely rising above freezing during the
> day. I've been
> deliberately (as well as out of sheer idleness and
> lack of
> organization) cutting down on the amount of winter
> protection I
> provide, so it'll be interesting to see what does
> and doesn't survive.
> 'Interesting'?! Ah well, at the worst there'll be
> plenty of space(s)
> in which to try new plants next season....
> 
> Tim Longville
>

Tim,
Hope that you get through your winter freezes okay, we
have been rather fortunate so far here in the SF Bay
Area, in fact, it has been rather balmy since some
early November chill.  Even so, 40F at night is not my
cup of tea, and I am headed for Mexico, (Chiapas,
Oaxaca and Mexico City), for a couple of weeks of
plant hunting and being warmer.  So far the only
damage to my garden has been the usual mischief of the
raccoons tearing up my bromeliads on their nightly
wanderings, they seem to prefer the more expensive,
slower growing species to the more abundant garden
varieties around...

Regarding your questions about Pittosporums, I assume
that you are already familiar with P. tobira and
cultivars P. t. Wheeler's Dwarf  and P. t. variegatum?
 These may not be fully hardy for you, but being of
smaller stature, might be easier to protect?  P.
crassifolium 'compactum' is also a nice dwarf shrubby
type.  There are quite a few other shrubby species
from Southeast Asia/China which have not made it into
the trade here in California which might be of
interest to you, but I have no personal experience as
to their hardiness.  This past summer I saw a species
new to me at Viveiros Sotogrande,(Jorge Zehr, owner),
in Sotogrande, Spain, labeled as P. truncatum, which I
can't find listed in any of my reference books.  It
appeared to be a shrubby type with foliage the size of
P. tobira, but not glossy.  This might be worth
investigating for use in England.  

I know that Saratoga Horticultural Society has been
growing at least one(or more) tree sized specie for
trial as a future introduction(s).  (Possibly P.
brevicalyx and P. daphnipylloides), more info
available at Monterey Bay Nursery's web site) and that
Jeff Rosendale in Watsonville, Ca. also has/or had a
Pittosporum species which is not commonly in the
trade, but I don't recollect the species name.  The
amount of cultivars of P. tenuifolium here are
considerable, among them: Deborah, Marjorie Channon,
Mrs. Gorman, Silver Sheen, June, Theodore, Wally.  

If you have a greenhouse, you might be interested in
trying P. phyllyraeoides/Willow Pittosporum, which is
atypical of the others in that it is weeping in habit,
and loves heat and reflected sun, even doing well in
our desert climates here in California, but not very
common.  Probably not a good choice for you in
England, but it would be  good for the warmer parts of
 Greece, Spain and Italy.  

P. undulatum/Victorian Box is also another tender
species which can be killed back here in the SF Bay
Area in severe winters, but is such a fragrant bloomer
with lush dark green tropical appearing foliage that
it is often planted outside its climatic range here. 
Our 1990 freeze killed many mature plants, but mine
survived 24F, but lost major branches back to the
trunk.

Well, hope it warms up for you the rest of the winter,
and that your damage was minimal...

Best wishes for the New Year,
David Feix    


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