Re: rehmannia elata/chinese fox glove

--- loretta gerity jacobs <lorettagerity@home.com>
wrote:
> My neighbors Mastiff, a very large beast, romped
> into my shady
> garden, and snapped off the above named plant at the
> base, right
> at ground level. This is one of my favorite plants,
> I've had it
> over 10 years, moved it from Mill Valley to Fairfax
> 3 years ago.
> My question is can this plant be rotted? Or saved?
> And if I were
> to try and root it, would I take a cutting from the
> top part, as
> opposed to the bottom, which is quite woody? I've
> ordered 3 more
> to replace it, but I'm just curious. I have a
> question regarding
> a fushia, which sems to be making odd shaped flowers
> now, that
> contain little seed-looking things. Like the
> Wisteria, I wonder
> if these seeds can be sprouted? I'm aware that all
> these plants
> probably don't qualify as medit-plants, but you guys
> are so
> knowledgeable that it's hard to resist asking.
> thanks for all the advice that I've lately received
> from you
> all. You're the best.
> loretta in Fairfax

Loretta,

Rehmannia can most definitely be rotted, :), throwing
it on a damp compost pile works best!  Rooting it is
not much more difficult, just remove/cut off flower
spikes, which tend to inhibit any type of cutting from
rooting, and pot up in well drained mix and place in
bright shade, keeping humidity up as mentioned by
several others.  I'd try both soft and woody pieces,
cut to 4/5" lengths.  Your original plant will also
most probably send up new shoots from the roots, as it
tends to spread by sending out underground shoots, in
any case.  There are rose/lavender as well as white
forms of this in the trade, if you are interested.

This used to be a favorite plant of mine,(for the
blooms and long season of bloom), until I realized
that it was always going to be a rather floppy,
straggly subject in too much shade, which was where I
placed it, and would need staking for best appearance,
and I banished it from my garden for new things to
try.

Kirengeshoma palmata is another plant of similar
cultural preferences which I also grew bored with, as
the plant just never quite measured up here in
Berkeley.  Yes, the flowers were a nice pale yellow,
(but faced down so they really didn't show that well,
nor last that long). The foliage was an interesting
maple leaf shape,(but was deciduous and left a gap in
the plantings in winter), and a little too attractive
to snails and slugs.

Regarding the oddly shaped fuschia flowers, are you
sure those are seeds, and not the warty sort of
distorted growth that can result from an attack by the
Brazilian Fuschia Mite?  Fuschias form a rather juicy
berry, with 100's of small seeds inside the fruit.  If
you are averse to spraying for control of the mite, I
find that a good hard pruning  to remove all foliage
and cutting back to hard wood, will allow the fucshia
to outgrow the mite.  For extra control at this point,
a light oil dormant spray would also help.  This might
give you several months of fresh growth before being
reinfected.  If there are other hybrid fuschias in the
vicinity, do this to all of them at the same time... 
Before a plant gets badly infected, control by
individually removing all infected leaves/flowers. 
Alot of the species Fuschias are completely resistant
to this mite, Fuschia boliviana is one of my
favorites, and loves Sunset Zone 17/24 climates, and
will also do fairly well in cooler microclimate sites
in Sunset zones 14, 15, and 16.  Give it room, though,
as it can get to be a small tree.
> 


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