Re: MYRSINE AFRICAN

David,

My favourite small hedge material is the Box Honeysuckle.  It can be
kept clipped less than a foot high.  I also like it in a floppy
appearance, not clipped on the sides but kept at a foot in height.

I have a 5-6 foot plant of L. nitida 'Baggesen's Gold' which puts
out great "fronds" of growth each year.  I cut these into 10-inch
lengths and put them in a pot of potting mixture, pushing them in
about 4 inches, quite densely planted.  A year later, I can up-end
the pot and separate the cuttings carefully and plant them.  Most
will have rooted successfully.

I started my hedge by putting these cuttings in about a foot apart.
The hedge is behind a single row of red bricks so has to be kept
low.  The following years, I planted between the original ones and
extended the hedge.  Now, if there is a bare spot, I just push a
cutting in and they almost always produce roots.

There are other varieties:
Lonicera nitida; a very dark green one; a purple-leaved one; and a
couple of varieties of silver-frosted ones, one with gray-green
leaves edged in white.

Diane Pertson
Vancouver Island


----- Original Message -----
From: "david feix"
To: "helene.pizzi"

> Helene,
>
> This was just the actual experience that I was hoping
> to get from someone in the group, and I really
> appreciate it!  The Myrsine africana is definitely
> much faster growing, (I can hear the maintenance
> gardener grinding his teeth already), and larger in
> small containers at the nursery, and will give more of
> an immediate finished look to the garden, as well as
> stay within my budget.  I just wasn't sure if it was
> really suitable to be kept that small, reassuring to
> hear that it is.  I suspect it is also a better year
> round green than any of the supposedly winter green
> cultivars of Boxwood, which always seem to go bronzy
> or yellowish here in northern California winters.
>
> Joe Seal's suggestions are all good ones, I am sure,
> but except for the dwarf myrtle, (equally small and
> forlorn as typically seen in 1 gallon cans), don't
> match the aesthetic qualities of clipped boxwood, as
> well as perform equally well in sun and shade. This is
> an important consideration when the hedge needs to
> look the same in both exposures, in the same garden.
>
> Thanks again for the advice, Helene...
>
> Now do you think it is too scandalous to combine the
> clipped hedge look with tropical Vreiseas,Heliconias,
> Strelitzias and Leucospermums?
>
>
>
> --- "helene.pizzi" <helene.pizzi@tin.it> wrote:
> > David Feix wondered about this charming little
> > plant.  Yes it will make a very attractive hedge
> > that can easily be kept under 12" high.
> >
> > At La Landriana gardens, Marchesa Livinia Taverna
> > had successfully planted it as a series of little
> > clipped balls making an amusing parterre in her
> > elegant and formal orange garden.
> >
> > It is a very good choice as an alternative border
> > plant.
> >
> > Helene Pizzi
> > Rome
>
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