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Produce => Non Edible Plants => Topic started by: ACE on March 26, 2008, 16:33:27

Title: You don't see these very often
Post by: ACE on March 26, 2008, 16:33:27: The first pic is rhododendron macabeanum, I have just been able to strike a cutting off this plant after trying for 2 years. I t will take a few years to get to this stage but worth the wait.

The second picture is a californian laurel that has been hidden in a thicket for a few years and has just come to light this year after I cleared the area. It took a lot of research to find out what it was but I found an old label in the rubbish when I was clearing the ground.

Both of these plants are in a very sheltered garden and I cannot remember coming across them before.

(http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/5668/2595232960062644071S500x500Q85.jpg) (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2595232960062644071rYtoho)

(http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/40740/2235696860062644071S500x500Q85.jpg) (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2235696860062644071eDVmqD)
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: Deb P on March 26, 2008, 18:47:25: I'm not usually a big fan of the rhododendron, but that is a very classy plant. Well done for your patience Ace!
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: Gazfoz on March 26, 2008, 20:32:20: Beautiful flowers on the first, well done. I have about six rhodo's that I have had in pots for about 10 years and are pot bound but I can't bring myself to bin them.
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: debster on March 26, 2008, 20:35:46: am i mistaken in thinking a bay tree is a member of the laurel family
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: Gazfoz on March 26, 2008, 20:42:55: Why do you ask Deb?
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: ACE on March 26, 2008, 21:08:59: Laurus Nobilis, sweet bay, bay laurel, loads of names for the same plant. I think the Greeks used it as a type of crown. I expect the Romans did as well in their crown of laurels. Yes they are all related.
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: debster on March 26, 2008, 21:12:57: no particular reason gazfoz just showing off that ive been reading lol ;D
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: GrannieAnnie on March 26, 2008, 21:54:30: ACE are you going to have some lovely winding path back to the thicket with the laurel in it? It looks like an interesting setting for a different kind of garden.
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: ceres on March 30, 2008, 17:26:21: ACE, how did you strike the cutting? I have a rhodie now in a pot that I discovered under a rampant choiysia. It has the most beautiful cerise flowers but isn't a happy plant. It's very leggy and sparse - basically just a circle of leaves on the end of the shoots. I suppose it was struggling to get to the light under the choiysia. I'd love to get a cutting going to get a healthy plant out of it.
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: ACE on March 30, 2008, 20:09:02: Really you need a healthy plant to get a good result. I scraped a sliver of bark and pinned it in a pot while it was still attached to the main plant. So really it was layering rather than rooting a cutting.
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: ceres on March 31, 2008, 21:34:37: Thanks ACE. I think I'll have a look to see if there is a healthy shoot to try layering. I'd really like to save it if I can - the blooms are so fantastic
Title: Re: You don't see these very often
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on March 31, 2008, 21:39:26: The Romans took over the laurel crown (along with a load of other stuff) from the Greeks, so it was probably the same species.