Re: Tecomaria capensis
- Subject: Re: Tecomaria capensis
- From: J* D*
- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 11:42:00 -0800 (PST)
The yellow Tecomaria I've seen is serenely elegant.
The species is a great coastside plant, too,
especially where it can get a touch of warmth. Like
Griselinia (heck, and even Myoporum) it is one of
those glossy bright evergreen shrubs that provides
relief from the grainy grey tones that tend to
dominate among coast-adapted shrubs in this part of
the world. Do hummingbirds sip from it?
-Jason Dewees
San Francisco, Calif.
--- Sean O'Hara <sean@support.net> wrote:
> At 01:17 PM 3/21/2002, Charl de Winnaar wrote:
> >Does anyone have experience with Tecomaria Capensis
> and picket fences?
> >
> >I have planted several of these plants alongside a
> timber fence and the
> >shoots need support in order to cover it. I want to
> thread them through
> >the fence but fear that as the plant ages the
> shoots will thicken and
> >eventually start to pull the fence apart. How thick
> do these shoots
> >become?
>
> Charl -
>
> My experience with Tecomaria capensis would suggest
> that it would be best
> to tie the branches to the fence rather than to
> thread them through.The do
> gain some girth as they grow, but this is not the
> main reason I make this
> suggestion.
>
> Tecomarias are 'sort of' vine-like, with long
> pliable young stems. As they
> age, they become woody and self-supporting. I find
> that it is often good
> to cut out a stem occasionally to correct the
> plant's form. Trying to
> remove a single stem that has been 'threaded'
> through a picket fence would
> very likely damage the fence stakes. If the stem
> was tied, especially with
> something that would naturally degrade all by itself
> (natural jute twine,
> or something like this), then this would not be a
> problem. By the end of
> the first season the stems should be pretty much
> ready to support
> themselves so the twine would no longer be
> necessary.
>
> The dwarf yellow form often called 'Lutea' is a
> little different. Instead
> of the new shoot growing up through the plant (or
> whatever else is growing
> nearby), they come out completely horizontally, even
> running along the
> ground for several feet. These stems become rigid
> as they mature, and can
> hold themselves at whatever angle they have assumed
> initially (even kinks
> and bends that they acquired as they 'bumbed' into
> walls, rocks, etc. The
> shrub never gets as tall as the regular forms, but
> the secondary shoots
> become more upright and shrubby. This habit makes
> me curious to know where
> this form occurs naturally and is this is a specific
> adaptation to local
> conditions.
>
> My own plant of 'Lutea' cannot be allowed to run
> horizontally as it would
> like, so I try and train the new shoots into a more
> upright form as they
> appear. This makes for a mass of arching stems
> about 4-5ft tall. Nearby,
> I have a melon orange form that is about 10-12ft
> tall, with a narrow 'vase'
> shape that arches outward slightly at the top. Each
> of these grows in poor
> soil, south-west exposure, between two stairways in
> a difficult to irrigate
> bed only about 2ft wide. I love the evergreen,
> glossy foliage of these
> shrubs and their bright flowers which come over a
> long period from summer
> through fall (and into winter most years).
>
> I also have the form called 'Buff Gold' which has
> flowers of a peachy
> yellow with overtones or orange-bronze, quite
> different from the two clear
> colored forms mentioned above. I can't wait to find
> the 'perfect' spot to
> plant it . . .
>
> Regards,
> Seán O.
>
> No. Calif. Branch of the Mediterranean Garden
> Society
> Seán A. O'Hara - Branch co-chair
> (510) 987-0577; fax (707) 667-1173; sean@support.net
> 710 Jean Street, Oakland, California 94610-1459,
> U.S.A.
>
http://www.MediterraneanGardenSociety.org/branches_CANo.html
>
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