Re: Carissa Macrocarpa

At 10:10 PM 3/1/99 -0800, ccopp@jps.net wrote:
>I have liked the Natal Plum, carissa macrocarpa, for a long time now, and
>have finally found a place for it in my garden.  I love the fragrance of
>the flowers, which is why I want to grow this shrub.  I have seen it
>growing very well in San Diego and Riverside, but not so well in Oakland,
>where I live.  Why should that stop me??  I will accept advice, however,
>from this esteemed group before investing real money.
>
>My plans are to put it (them?) next to the house, where it will get a
>little more heat.  It's a western exposure, although a fence and a tree
>create some shady times in the morning.  
>
>Sunset says its "rightful climates" are 22-24 which is along the San Diego
>coast and inland.  I also recall postings a few years ago when someone
>described eating the fruits as a child somewhere in Africa.  I haven't seen
>it fruit here, but that's OK.  
>
>Any advice?  
>

I have grown several C. macrocarpa from seed. Two specimens were situated on 
the north-east wall, under a generous overhang, in front of our property
in Sunnyvale, Ca. on UC Zone 15/17 boundary. One survived the great freeze
of '90 with no problem - which was somewhat surpising, the other was injured
and didn't recover. The soil there is black adobe with a little peat mixed in.

I've got another specimen on the southwest side of our house in Eastern San
Jose
in UC Zone 16. This year's so-called great freeze didn't bother it and in fact
it is in active growth, a brilliant red and green shoot finally adding 
some height to the glossy green sprawling, thorny mass. The soil at that site
was some sort of artifically placed fill.

The flowers are quite nice and that one specimen in sunnyvale did bear a few
tasty berries one season. In summary, the plant is pretty, quite undemanding,
will take mostly any soil, needs just a little water in summer and seems
to survive down to as low as 22 F or so (under an overhang) and apparently
takes
northerly or southerly exposures! I recommend it!

When I get a chance, I will go over to our property in sunnyvale to see
how that great freeze survivor is doing. I'm also trying C. haematocarpa
which looks quite different with similarly glossy leaves though shaped
like yew needles oops, sorry, Taxus needles.  <8)

karl.
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