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I have scoured my local nurseries for heliotrope plants and wisteria with no luck.  "Nurseries" are now garden centres and are full of clothing and masses of other tat.

The closest I got were some heliotrope seeds which I planted a few weeks ago but they are VERY slowwwwww. I wanted some plants to get there quicker! Think they are a semi-annual???

Gen in Northumberland

Hi.  I heard that Heliotropes were coming back into fashion (not sure where) and quite rightly too as it's a lovely plant.  I grow mine from seed and treat it as an annual.  For what it's worth I know that my local nursery were selling plants last year.  Have you tried the RHS plant finder?

G x

Both my local nurseries and the bi weekly market sell both of those.......sorry!

RHS only told me about stockists south of Lancashire, no use to me in Norhumberland. Phoned the other "garden centre" here and they only had wisteria - bigguns £40, middleuns £20. Pah! forget it. Will go out with my secateurs one dark night.....................

Gen in Northumberland

good luck!! (they don't take from cuttings) you are better to layer a sideshoot, after damaging the cambium. leave buried for a whole growing year, and seperate from parent plant in the spring, after it has started to grow new shoots. leave in ground for another year before moving into a pot. (now you know why they are expensive) ;)

Amazing it ever survived evolution with no help from people!

Gen in Northumberland

I'm still gutted that our new next-door neighbour cut down the wisteria at the end of his garden (but grew across to ours too) - the savage! :(

Quote from: genlistlass on May 17, 2009, 21:21:36
Amazing it ever survived evolution with no help from people!

Gen in Northumberland

you can grow from seed, but that takes several years before flowering1

 :'( :'( :'(

Gen in Northumberland

I grew heliotrope for the first time last year and it did really well.  The seedlings are tiny for ages but once they are big enough to handle and transplant they seem to put on a spurt and grow.  It's a beautiful flower, I'm surprised it's not more widely grown.

Squash64 - thats the first good news I've heard ;D

My heliotrope seedlings are still just green dots but I'll give them a talking to, as in - Grow ya b--------s grow, or A'll hoy ya oot! - in the local dialect :o

Gen in Northumberland

Hi

Our Homebase had heliotrope last year, I had never seen them before but a friend had shown me hers and let me smell them, they are lovely, so when I saw them in Homebase I recognised them and had a good sniff! :-[

T.

The first photo shows Heliotrope seedlings, about 4 weeks after sowing.



This one was sown at the beginning of April, and transplanted when it was the size of the ones above.


(Both photos were taken today)

Glad to say our garden centres in surrey have loads of Heliotrope both in pots and 6 pack ,they are a fantastic plant to grow.

 I have been re doing my front garden over the last year have tried to grow older more traditional varieties this is some of what Ive decided to do so far http://www.mulu.co.uk/plant_info.php?id=495 to go next to my cordylines
http://www.plantpress.com/plant-encyclopedia/plantdb.php?plant=8485 this is planted on the other half of my garden wall opposite this http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/climbers/other-climbers/hydrangea-anomala-subsp.-petiolaris/itemno.PL00003342/ i cant wait to smell this one http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/shrubs/philadelphus-virginal/itemno.PL00080330/ along with all these various bulbs its all starting to come up now cant wait first year for me growing flowers have really got the bug more so than veg