Talking (sternly) to my mesembryanthemum

Now listen. It's time we had a little talk. How long have we known each other? Five years? More you think? Maybe. And in all that time you haven't given me one single measly flower. Not one.

I didn't blame you the first year. Well, you should know me well enough by now. When have I ever condemned a plant without checking first? And sure enough, all the sites told me you wouldn't flower if you were overwatered. So I cut back. And still nothing. The next year I cut back still further. You just turned brown and tatty.

Now credit where credits due - I've tried hard. I've tried fertilising and not fertilising. I've put you in the sun, out of the sun, half in half out. And still you just sit there. I've pruned you back, I've let you grow, I've taken cuttings. And where did that get me? I now have two of you who won't flower instead of one.

So here we are again. You're supposed to flower from June to August and what have you given me? Not so much as a bud.

Well I'm sorry, but I've had enough. You know I never throw a plant away unless it dies, but I think you're just taking advantage. You're a tatty mess and you refuse to perform. So this is your last chance. I'm afraid you take up too much space for me to be patient any longer. I've checked all the gardening sites I can find, and I'm following their advice to the letter. I've put you in the sunniest spot I can. I'm watering very moderately and you're not getting fertilised if you beg for it. But this is it - you give me some flowers by August or I'm afraid we'll be parting company.

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Help - my tree is dying

I've blogged several times about my Ficus benjamin tree. I got it about thirteen years ago when the company my husband worked for closed, and we "adopted" a pair of Ficus benjamins that had stood in reception (the only very small silver lining in a very nasty cloud). One died five or six years later, but this one has gone from strength to strength. It was already a well-grown tree then - not less than seven or eight years old, I'd estimate.

The tree has always lived in a corner of the balcony in the summer, and then in the living room in winter. Our flat is horribly dark - the disadvantage of having a building lined by balconies is that they block out the sun - so it's never been entirely happy inside and would frequently lose a few leaves just after it came in. But nothing drastic.

Until this year. It came in at the same time as ever, was placed in the same corner, and treated in every way the same as ever. And then the leaves started to fall. And fall. And fall. And it's now looking very bare and sad.

What went wrong? Did I overwater? Underwater? I don't think so. Is it just old age? I remember once coming across an article on the web which said they only survive in pots for about fifteen years, but I've no idea if that's accurate. It must have been pot bound for years, but it's already in the biggest pot I can manage.

I'm hoping it will hang on for another six weeks, when I'll be able to put it back outside. And perhaps with a bit of pruning and tender loving care, it may revive. I'll take some cuttings from the healthier looking twigs too, just in case. But if you've got any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

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This Year's Failures - 2

I've had several plants this year which have seemed to be growing well, but haven't bloomed. Apart from the ones I mentioned in my last post, there's my Philadelphus, which has got much bigger and looks quite happy, but didn't flower at all. It's only the second year I've had it - is it just too early or am I doing something wrong?

And in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture you can just about see a pink mesembrantheum which I can hardly ever get to flower. Yes, I know I should restrict the amount of water it gets, and I do. I got about five flowers last year, but this year again nothing.

A much bigger disappointment though has been my Mandevilla. I got it from the garden centre last year when it was small but already in flower. It continued to bloom all summer, and also grew considerably. To get it through the winter I cut it back and took it indoors, where it continued to grow back all winter - it didn't seem to rest at all, and I wonder if that might be the problem. It went back outside in the spring and is now growing up a trellis against the wall of the balcony. There have been two problems - firstly that it's lost a lot of lower leaves - they gradually turn yellow and drop, though I can't see any pests and don't think watering is the problem - and secondly, it hasn't flowered at all. Not enough sun perhaps? The balcony wall only gets direct sun for a fairly limited amount of time each day.

And then there's this lot - irises, calla lilies and agapanthus. I planted the agapanthus and the irises in December - OK, not the best time. The irises have hardly done anything - next year perhaps ? But the agapanthus seem to be doing OK except for the lack of flowers. My books say they flower July to September, so I'll keep hoping for a bit longer. The calla on the other hand have been in there for three years now, and every year it's the same - great leaves but no flowers. What's my mistake?

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This Year's Failures - 1

I said in my last post that there were a few plants on the balcony which I've had to give up on - they've either done generally badly or just haven't bloomed. This is the case of four plants on the back balcony - my hollyhocks, lychnis, sweet peas and foxgloves. The first three are in the photo, and the fourth would have been but it finally died completely.

After last year's really good results, I was particularly disappointed by the hollyhocks, Althaea rosea. I'd planted loads, intending them to be a focal point this year, but though a good number made it, they've remained very small and haven't flowered at all. they were also amonst the plants most damaged by the caterpillar plague, as you can see from the photo.

The caterpillars don't explain the weak growth, however. I did a couple of things differently this year, any one of which might have made the difference. Firstly, I didn't sow them direct but in small pots, and then potted on gradually. Secondly, they were all on the back balcony rather than the front - and nothing does as well there. Next time, needless to say, I'll be sowing direct and out front. Being at the back also meant they were in different containers. Was it a size problem? I don't think so as there wasn't really any difference. Was the soil not rich enough? Did I sow too late - the books say May, but mine always go in in September. I can't keep seedlings over the summer - my plant sitter always drowns them while I'm on holiday - and as we have a long warm autumn here, I can usually get away with sowing biennials as soon as I get back in September. It certainly didn't cause problems with the previous plants.

So - do I start again, or should I just move these out front, and see what happens the second year? One thing I hate about gardening books (and there are others - but that's for another post) is that they often tell you things without giving an adequate explanation. In this case, concerning hollyhocks - "They are often treated as biennial plants though true perennials". (from Percy Thrower's Everyday Gardening - one of the old gardening books I inherited from my Dad but still find really useful. I mentioned it in a previous post last September.) OK, but why? Is it because they're invasive or get too big otherwise? Because they don't flower so well in successive years? Because they don't make it through a hard winter? Tell me why Percy and I can decide what I want to do.

One of the other plants in the photo, Lychnis coronaria, seemed to be growing as well as usual, but just didn't flower. They like sun - maybe they didn't get enough - except that in this case they were in just the same position as last year, and last year flowered.

The sweet peas, lathyrus odoratus, are very sad as you can see, and were pulled out as soon as the photo was taken. I love sweet peas and try obstinately to grow them here even though I know that they hate the hot, humid conditions that we have. The same thing happens every year. They're doing well in spring, but then succumb to red spider mite - and no amount of spraying seems to make a difference. Last year I got one flower spray from them. It's the most I've ever achieved.

Much the same happens with my foxgloves, digitalis purpurea. They seem to be doing well all spring, but never flower. And then when the heat sets in give up the ghost. Here I wonder if I might not do better if I could sow earlier - that way they might be ready to flower while it was still relatively cool.

Sadly, these are not the only plants which haven't done well this year. More in the next post ...

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On Roses

Try as I might (and I have, I have) I can’t grow roses. It’s always the same – after a couple of weeks the lower leaves start to dry, stalk by stalk, and fall off until the whole plant is bare and dies. Is it a virus? Am I over-watering? Is the balcony just too hot and humid for them? I don’t know, but until I find out I’ve given up.

However, as a hangover from the days when I was trying, I still receive the Barni Roses catalogue to show me what I’m missing. They carry roses from a variety of growers, but the majority of their stuff is their own. If you’re a rose freak, check out their new rose Etrusca, which is the most stupendous apricot colour. It’s one of a collection called Le Toscane, which also contains my all-time favourite Bella di Todi, (the photo on the site doesn’t do it justice). The different collections are listed on the left hand side of the site - if you like old-fashioned roses, look too at Le Farfalle.

I also love their trailing roses and if I ever have a garden again, it’s going to have to have a bank with a low stone wall so that I can grow them.

Meanwhile, back on the balcony the mirabilis jalapa is finally doing itself justice. Don’t know why they call it the four o’clock plant – seven o’clock is more like it for mine. I suppose plants are like people – some of us just take longer than others to get out of bed ….

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