Re: Iochroma grandiflora
- To: , "Medit- Plants"
- Subject: Re: Iochroma grandiflora
- From: s*
- Date: Wed, 24 May 00 18:10:46 -0700
Kurt,
Iochroma grandiflora is a great shrub that thrives in the greater Bay
Area. Hard freezes will damage established plants but they usually come
back. You can control height and encourage new basal growth by pruning
out the oldest and tallest stems. I've seen blooming specimens around 10
ft. tall in Berkeley. The Sunset Western Garden Book lists it hardy in
Sunset zones 16, 17, 19-24 but it probably can be grown against a wall
with an overhanging roof in colder gardens. Have you seen it in Stockton
(Sunset Zone 14)? You could probably also grow the plant in larger
planters and move it inside during cold spells.
Hummingbirds love Iochroma plants which can bloom nearly year around in
mild coastal climates. Best used against walls or in the background of a
border. You may need to give the tallest stems some support as they can
lean over. Other colors locally available in the genus locally include
Iochroma fuchsiodies (orange scarlet), Iochroma cyanea (purple blue) and
an unamed salmon color form I have seen growing in Berkeley gardens.
Peony flowered hybrid forms of P. somniferum are available throughout the
San Francisco Bay Area in many nurseries. I was under the impression that
the straight species is illegial but that the hybrid forms are legal
but I really have no information to back up that idea. You can also order
seed from many mail order nurseries.
Ernie
All things hang like a drop of dew upon a blade of grass. - Yeats
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 10
"All Plants Considered" at www.gardens.com
