Re: Chiranthodendron pentadactylon

If I recall, I think this is being grown by some
nurseries in Italy, and I have certainly seen it in
the south of Spain, and it is also probably present in
some of the better known gardens of the French and
Italian Riviera's. I am in the midst of moving back
into my house after remodeling it all summer, so can't
put my finger on my Italian Nursery Catalogues or
other books on gardens of the Riviera.  This tree
grows quite readily here in the San Francisco Bay
Area, and can get monstrously large with good fertile
soil and year round water.  I saw one old tree in a
Santa Cruz Garden that must have been nearly 80 feet
tall, and they do set viable seed here in northern
California.  I think it would have to be brought
indoors for the winter in Britain, as it is distinctly
a zone 9b and above plant, with very little freeze
tolerance much below freezing, although most did
easily survive 10 days of 25F nights back in the
December 1990 California freeze.  They are densely
shading trees that drop lots of litter, so their
location in a garden requires thoughful consideration.
 I prefer to appreciate them in the local botanic
gardens where they have plenty of room, and wouldn't
begin to consider one in my own tiny backyard.  They
do have a very extended bloom season here locally, and
drop lots of the intricate flowers where they can be
seen on the ground.  If you can't find a European seed
source, you might try seeing if this makes the seed
list for the 2005 California Horticultural Society
Seed Exchange List, which will be posted on line next
month as the seed donations are tallied for
distribution in spring 2006

--- Gill Pound <gill.cei@wanadoo.fr> wrote:

> Does anyone know of a seed source for the above? 
> Or, a supplier of the plant in the UK or France?  It
> doesn't seem to be very well known in Europe and I
> would like to try it!
> 
> Gill Pound
> Languedoc
> S France



		
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