WINTER 2001/02

 

 

 

Hardiness Test...

The following plants are to be left outside, to discover how well they cope with a wet cold Norwich winter ....

 

After a mild October, in which the garden continued to thrive, the weather suddenly turned more Autumnal. The unusual occurance, of a combinaton of strong winds, lightning and snow at the beginning of November snapped the top 3ft off a stem of Musa basjoo, and to my dismay burnt out the modem on my computer !

We experienced the first hard frost on the 15th of November. After this the rest of the month turned out to be very mild. December brought rain in abundance, and during dryer periods, frost. Musa Dwarf cavendish promptly turned brown and gave up the fight. Musa Basjoo (the Japanese Fibre Banana) was wrapped for the winter on the 21st of December, the latest I have left it. This banana tolerated minus 2c which browned the leaves but did no damage to the stems. A small basjoo ( 4ft of stem) with one sucker has been left unprotected to establish just how low a temperature it can take before the stem is lost !

New years eve was a very cold night with a low of -6c. Farfugium japonicum Aureomaculatum with it's large green leathery leaves splashed with yellow, which was planted last summer, wilted severely and curled up its leaves. This was a suprise to me as I thought this was a fairly hardy plant. As the temperature rose slowly the next day to around 2c at lunch time, to my relief it suddenly returned to its normal self. Fatsia japonica displays a similar reaction to hard frost, wilting it's leaves in an alarming manner, but quickly recovering as the temperature rises. The following night brought a low of -7c, this browned the fronds of Dicsonia antartica somewhat, but was not enough to cause the treefern to defoliate. Unfortunatly it was cold enough to turn Strelitzia reginae a very nasty brown colour ! January continued with a mixture of rain and frost.

February was a wet month, damage to Agave american became apparent, the lower leaves turning to mush and the centre spear turning black. I think this damage was caused in January when a mixture of wet / freezing weather took its toll. This succulent needs excellent drainage to succeed in the garden. I think with hindsight I should have given the Agave some protection from the worst of the cold/ wet, but was lulled into a false sense of security by the way it had sailed through the last two winters with no protection whatsoever.

 

Exotic's in the Bedroom !

What do you do if you don't have a greenhouse or conservatory to overwinter your more tender exotic plants ? Easy (or so I thought), just convince the rest of your family that they will make wonderful house plants !

This is how a 9ft banana (Ensete ventricosum) became a resident in my bedroom. First I had to get it up the stairs, no easy task on your own, so help was called for. After much huffing and puffing negotiating the bend in the stairs it finally reached its winter quarters. The plan was to keep it rather dry, " just ticking over for the winter months".

The Banana however had other ideas, and seemed to relish its new home. It quickly threw out two new 5ft leaves much to the alarm of other 'users' of the bedroom. The situation became even worse with the third leaf, which bent back on itself after hitting the ceiling. Access to the wardrobes was fast becoming near on impossible, and having to duck under a huge leaf as you entered the room was starting to raise a few eyebrows despite my assurances that growth will soon slow down. Another leaf later the banana did slow down but I think this was due to the falling daylight levels rather than anything I could do to slow it down. March stirred the banana into strong growth once more, it suddenly dawned on me that I had to get down the stairs again, I dare not wait any longer and on the 22nd of the month it was reunited with the outside world, left any longer it would have been imposible to move without some major surgery to the leaves. (The banana was protected with fleece to help aclimatise it to cooler surroundings). If the banana continues to flourish, over wintering is going to get a little tricky next time around.

 

Micro Climates...

The night of the 2nd of January brought a low of -7c to the garden, interestingly just one mile away a low of -10c was recorded. This highlights the advantages of creating the best micro climate possible for your plants.

Things to bear in mind when trying to maximise your micro climate ...

Keep these things in mind and you may well find you are able to grow plants you thought too tender for your garden.

 

Agave americana

Hardiness Test Results...

( A cold and wet winter, with several hard frosts, snow a low of -7c )

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Other losses this winter...

Astelia chathamica. Maybe I should have grown it on in a pot to allow it to bulk out a bit before planting out, then the outcome may have been different. I thought this plant was fairly hardy, but alas it is no longer with me after losing its leaves after the first hard frost.

Cordyline indivisa. This must be the most infuriating plant I have tried to grow, one minute all seems fine, the next it develops a wobble where the stem meets the ground, then rot sets in and its all over ! I had told myself this was to be my last attempt to grow this beautiful plant, but its massive broad leaves producing a truly exotic look have seduced me, and soon another attempt will be made to establish one in the garden. If anyone has any pointers on sucsefully growing indivisa I would be more than pleased to hear from you. ( GUESTBOOK )

The plant losses listed above may at first sight seem depressing, but if you don't test them through winter then you will never know how well they perform or in some cases don't. It is through experimentation you find out what works in your garden, indeed this was how I discovered that I could over winter cannas and gingers in the ground rather than lifting them every year. The expense involved with any losses is still less than restocking your garden with bedding plants every spring only to discard them in the Autumn, and when a plant dies its an opportunity to try something new and exciting in its space. On a brighter note, Aspidistra elatior has sailed through the winter unprotected with no damage whatsoever, and I am becoming more confident that one year I will be able to overwinter a small bromeliad on the trunk of a treefern.

The Banana's...

Musa basjoo was uncovered on the 9th of March, they were already pushing out new leaves. I try not to leave them wrapped for longer than is strictly necessary as this can encourage rot to set in, it's far better to have the air circulating around the stems, which can easily deal with a few degrees of frost. Musa Sikiminsis has not overwintered very sucessfully, it was brought indoors to spare it the worst of the winter weather and was doing quite well until February when it had a rather nasty accident involving a 'karate chop' which ended up removing the top half of the stem. I thought that the banana would recover from its brush with the marshall arts, but shortly afterwards the stem turned soft it it entered a terminal decline.

 

After all the doom and gloom of the winter, once more my thoughts are turning to spring. Clematis armandii is flowering heralding the start of the new growing season, soon the huge leaves of Gunnera manicata will be adding their imposing presence to the garden, cannas will return from their winter rest to grace the garden with their lush foliage and the gingers will be pushing up through the soil with a promise of great things to come. Looking down into the crowns of the treeferns I can see the huge new crosiers waiting to unfurl. A fantastic time of year in the garden with so much activity, and fresh lush growth. I have a few new plants to try this year including Alpinia zerumbet Variegata ( the shell ginger ), Dahlia imperialis the monster of the Dahlia world, and Alocasia macrorrhiza, and no doubt I will be tempted to a few more as the season progresses, all I require is a shoehorn to squeeze them in !

The garden will be open to visitors for the first time on the 1st of September 2002 between 1and 5pm, the garden is small, but I take the 'densely planted' approach to gardening to get over the confines of limited space. Tea's and home made cakes will be available and hopefully the sun will be shining. If you fancy a stroll around The Jungle Garden please drop in and help raise some money for worthy causes.

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