I
keep my garden as a "whatever survives I keep, whatever doesn't, I don't
plant". I don't have a lot of marginal plants, but I've got a few things I'm
trying. For instance, I've got Metrosideros collina 'Springfire' growing, and
the last frost fried all of the leaves. It could make it back, but we'll see.
I've had one M. excelsa growing in ground that seems to have had bad burn on
its lower leaves, but marginal burn on the leaves higher up (the plant is only
a few feet high). For a while it kept getting hit hard. I think it might've
finally acclimated (others around town planted as trees seem to fare better,
I've always purchased mine as shrubs). My Protea cynaroides didn't show a
single scratch with the last two frosts, however, my Leucospermum
patersonii has lots of leaf burn. I think it may have more by the end of this
weekend... perhaps branch dieback. The P. cordifolium shows little if any
damage. My Protea 'Pink Ice' shows no damage as well.
My brugs are
probably toast to the ground, and the Wigandia... I have little hope for that.
My one burning dissapointment is the leaves on my Corymbia ficifolia show lots
of burn, so it may be killed back to the trunk (it's a 6 foot high sapling).
All hope may not be lost.
After this weekend, I'll take stock of what
didn't make it and remind myself never to plant that ever again
;).
Barry
Living a few hundred feet above the general neighbourhood in
this region I am rather more restricted in what I can grow than the rest of
the City, and one thing which does not do well here, though it is like a weed
in both Lower Hutt itself and nearby Wellington, is Metrosideros excelsa. It
will grow all right for a few years and then suddenly we get one of those
infrequent extra-murderous frosts and that is usually the end of it. I had an
example of this a few years ago right before my eyes when my neighbour
opposite tried one in his front garden (He has not lived in this street as
long as I have.!) I can confirm though that Protea cynaroides is quite frost
proof, provided it is grown where there is free air drainage as I had one for
over 40 years which eventually succumbed to sheer old age. Proteaceae
generally are a bit fussy about frost, but far more so if growing in heavy
moist soils or in low lying frost pockets. I have only tried mine on a
well-drained hillside terrace down which frost must simply roll to the flat
ground at the bottom where it tends to pool behind the house. This I allow for
by using it to grow my raspberry canes, thus ensuring they get enough winter
chill to bear well.
It is a pity that more people don't follow your sensible
example of assessing what will safely grow and not trying to force the
boundaries(which only leads in the end to disappointment and a lot of wasted
investment). It is a strange failing of gardenrs to aspire always to grow the
difficult and the exotic rather then trying to achieve excellence with what
does best in their particular environment. I must admit it took me some
time to fully learn this lesson!
Moira
