Re: Psoralea pinnata

Gayle & Tim Kalman wrote:
Dear Linda,
We grow Psoralea pinnata here in El Cerrito. I've also seen a few others growing in peoples yards around town. Here they like full sun and lots of water. They seem to like a bit of fertilizer a couple of times a year as well. Here they seed themselves around a little making me wonder if they could escape in the right circumstances. They don't seem to live very long as they get leggy after a couple of years and don't flower as prolifically with age. So I replant every three to four years with the seedlings that they provide. I really like this plant and its blue pea flowers which smell sweet with strong notes of grape bubblegum. Where you are maybe a west facing exposure would be best?
Living up in the hills my winters are too cold for this, but there are plenty in Wellington city.

Two things which have been mentioned about Psoralea need a bit more emphasis I think. In one garden I know of they seed copiously and the lady provides plants to many friends and relations. I have not yet heard of it appearing in a feral sitution around the area, but I can see it would need quite careful watching.

The other is is the flip side of its high water requirements, it is very unfriendly to plants growing under it because it _does_ hog all the moisture it can get. The only equally water-greedy plants I can think of just now are Eucalyptus spp and Casuarinas.

Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES AND DIAGRAMS ADDED 20/Feb/2005

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