Re: Romneya coulteri
- Subject: Re: Romneya coulteri
- From: M* P*
- Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 23:45:17 -0700
> I recently purchased this Romneya, after seeing it in all its glory at a
> Daylily farm I was visiting. I had no idea what this 7" tall white
poppylike
> beauty was,(it was not for sale). I just got lucky to even identify it,
but
> now that I have tracked one down, all I am hearing from sources around me
is
> that it is SUCH a difficult plant to get started, and that it is SO hard
to
> propagate. I have heard that it needs exceptional drainage, and that one
> should cut it down to nearly the ground in late fall. Does anyone have
> anything else to add regarding the proper care of this plant? How fast
does
> it grow? Mine is about a foot tall. Should I expect blooms next year?
> I am going to have to yank something out in order to fit it in my bed, so
I
> want it to be very, very happy. : )
> Thanks in advancem!
I've had two clumps of the species for about 7 years. I'm in zone 8. I cut
it down hard every fall. It travels underground. I have it in very, very dry
gravelly soil in one spot and it does better there than in the other which
is in heavy clay. This year I bought the hybrid "White Cloud" which is much
more wrinkled and has larger blooms than the species. The species shoots
straight up but the hybrid has many branches. The hybrid is also planted in
a raised bed that is filled with rotted manure/sawdust mixture and I am
amazed at how much better it has grown.
The nursery that propagates them never water their mature plants and they
have very large clumps of them. Of course we don't know how many plants they
started out with in each clump. I too understand they are hard to grow from
seed, they need to be put in a pan with grass over and burned if I recall
right. A friend did give me a few starts from her clump and they grew fine
for me.
I am going to topdress the two clumps of species this year in hopes of
getting more shoots in the future.
Good luck with yours.
Mary P
Duncan, BC, Canada - on the wet coast.
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