Ceanothus query

 Have a lot of people lost theirs in the winter cold? We've sold out of
all ours and local suppliers say there's been a big demand for them.
The winter weather is the only thing we can think of!  Or are they
suddenly 'fashionable' for some reason - articles in magazines, tv prog
mentions? My favourite remains C Dark Star but ours died a couple of
years ago.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

 

I have two Ceanothus here, planted against the SW facing wall of the house
and despite long spells where the temperature fell below minus 20C they are
both fine although a little slow to start this year. I think that the
problem this winter was that it started so early that many plants had not
reached full dormancy. The other thing is that Ceanothus hate wet roots in
the winter and it was very dry by the house wall, despite 18" of snow.

Phil
Northern Highlands of Scotland

 

Is it perhaps that people are seeing the last winter as abnormal and
accepting losses but that a ceanothus in full flower is such a sight
that they want to replace them? I replaced winter losses of  ceanothus
several times for that reason before giving up.

 

I lost a C. gloriosus Emily Brown, but I see she's only good down to
about -5C, and we had -6C here so it's perhaps not surprising she
succumbed. My others, about six of them of various types, were OK.

I've still got one Protea, P. venusta, that has survived. It's more or
less prostrate, and was buried in snow for at least a week, but it is
a mountain type so probably experiences snow in its natural habitat.

--
 
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall overlooking the sea.
Mild, but very exposed to salt gales

 says...


  Our coldest garden temp was -6C, but we had weeks of unbroken below-
freezing. C Italian Skies never even blinked and is just coming into
flower, earlier than usual. It's about 6ft  high and wide, growing in
exposed position facing north and unprotected from Siberian east winds.
This is the first year it will actually fulfill my plan of flowering
simultaneously with the double gorse beside it.

   My other ceanothus whose name I forgot, the evergreen low-down
crouching one with arched branches.. growing in the most sheltered
southfacing suntrap corner...is completely bald and looks dismally dead.
But if I scratch the bark it shows green so I'm not giving up hope yet.


   Janet (Arran, west Scotland)