Re: Metrosideros with golden new growth?

Doobieous wrote:
> 
> There are in
> > cutivation in NZ some forms with gold edged leaves,
> > but that is of
> > course rather different.
> >
> 
> I had never noticed this plant there before because
> its pretty small still and passing by it one sees just
> red. So i at first thought it was either a reseeded
> pyracantha or maybe a heteromeles that had found its
> way there, but as I drove up to it, it really looked
> like a metrosideros, and none of the other commonly
> cultivated myrtaceous plants here have the same color
> and flower form (except the callistemons which have
> the right color, but i know this wasn't one).
> 
> Speaking of variation, most of the metrosideros here
> seem to have deep red flowers. My city planted a few
> along a new road (along with some Schinus, and
> Aesculus californica) , and these have a brighter red
> color to them. It's very pretty and stands out better.

I think the deep red is the original colour, but most populations here
seem now to have some plants with lighter and more attractive red
flowers. Some are even so pale they really should be described as pink,
but I think less attractive..

They also sometimes occur here  with yellow flowers and cultivars of
this form can be purchased, but I feel they lack the visual impact of
the reds and tend to look quite wishy washy

> Do they tend to have year round flowering or is it a
> once a season thing in new Zealand? Isn't there a
> species or variety that has less spectacular, but year
> round blooming?

Not here though I have heard of them doing this in the States. We only
get one spectacular burst of bloom for about a month over Christmas and
hence they are known here as the NZ Christmas tree.

Ther are some related species here like the Ratas which flower over a
longer period, but perhaps are less spectacular as a result. None I know
of though flowers anything like year round.

Moira
> 
> >
> > Last summer was partiularly good here for
> > Metrosideros flowering and we
> > were astonished atthe range of flower size and
> > density and in some cases
> > of depth of colour which we saw driving into
> > Wellington around Christams
> > time.
> 
> It must have been quite a sight. Here i think the more
> spectacular displays of flowers on trees (reliably)
> are when all the Corymbia ficifolia bloom. They do get
> covered in flowers. I'd love to see a street planted
> with a long line of these.
> 
> > We are right on the end of the climate range for
> > this tree here and
> > while it grows so well at sea level at this
> > latitiude, it is useless
> > even at the 300 ft altitude where our own  garden
> > lies. It either dies
> > young in the heavier frosts we occasionally suffer
> > or if it survives it
> > simply refuses to flower. Futher north is a diffent
> > matter as it is
> > reliably native and a  a great feature of the
> > countryside (though it
> > always most favours seaside localtions, especially
> > liking particularly
> > to perch on cliffs just above the water..
> 
> We must have the right temperature range here, as i
> haven't seen any of the Metrosideros here killed back
> from frost, and it will flower.
> 
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-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
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