Anyone else trying something new (for them) this year?

[charlie]

After 3 years in a row of visiting the National Dahlia collection in September I have been persuaded to try some Dahlia again after 35 years since I evicted them from the garden we inherited! - It remains to be seen whether they get to stay!

Also trying (yet again) to grow some Mutisia species from seed, previous experience suggests this will be ill fated! but every now and then a body feels the need for a bit of self flagellation :lol: 10 years or so since the last go so maybe I have learned from my many mistakes of the past?

So come on own up, what are you giving a go to this year?

[AndyC]

I haven't tried anything new this year, still getting familiar with the new garden. I will be trying a few species Dahlias next year if I can get hold of the seed. I did bring Dahlia tenuicaulis with me as I've found it to be the most reliable tree Dahlia for flowering, already planted out in a sunny corner.
Another plant I'd like to try again is Musschia wollastonii if I can get some fresh seed. We visited Lamorran Gardens in St Mawes yesturday hoping to see it again (it is the only place I've ever seen it in the flesh) but alas it is no longer grown there.

[LONGK]

This year sees me continuing to shift my emphasis towards bulbous plants and cacti and succulents as far as borderline plants go. Plus the usual few new Salvia species from seed.
Like Andy I want to have another go at M.wollastonii and I've just ordered some seed for Cubanola domingensis.

[charlie]

RE - Musschia wollastonii Some years back I distributed some seed of the dark/red flowered form which one member on GOTE managed to grow well and distribute and I know one of the recipients was Kev Spence on GOTE see his thread here http://growingontheedge.net/viewtopic.p ... ollastonii
Looks like he got them through the winter OK and he should have got masses of seed !

[Chad]

Calotropis gigantean
Dipogon lignosus
Neptunia oleracea
Tagetes nelsonii [except that it has germinated and doesn't have aromatic leaves - it may not be true to name]

And a whole lot of Racosperma that currently look all the same but should give me a full range of leaf and phyllode forms including no leaves at all in R.aphyllum.

There are lot of pots with interesting labels and no seedlings yet. I won't admit to them unless something germinates!

Chad

[tatter]

ok so not a new plant but new try out for me started a new fence to hide the corrugated fence behind .So decided to try a mural on as well

regards
JIM

[kGarden]

Azaleas. Alkaline soil here, but I have made an Acid bank, finger's crossed, in a horseshoe shape around a Coming Soon pond, based on some photos I had seen of Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park. So I went to visit it this year to get some planting ideas (colour combinations [Ha!Ha!, anything you like, provided its wacky ...] and planting distance. These are about 4' apart in a circle with one in the middle and looked stunning



but this is the sort of colour scheme I was looking for:



and the round-the-pond ones that I had gone specifically to see:



but they were North-facing, and in shade, and I thought the colours were muted. Mine will be South-facing ...



I don't seem to have bought as many as it turns out that I need ... familiar story that!

[AndyC]

ok so not a new plant but new try out for me started a new fence to hide the corrugated fence behind .So decided to try a mural on as well
regards
JIM

I like your artwork Jim but it needs a deckchair in front of it surely. I'd like to do something similar but not having any artistic talent is a real drawback.

[tatter]

ok so not a new plant but new try out for me started a new fence to hide the corrugated fence behind .So decided to try a mural on as well
regards
JIM

I like your artwork Jim but it needs a deckchair in front of it surely. I'd like to do something similar but not having any artistic talent is a real drawback.

Andy
in some ways what have you got to lose by having a go yourself. If it doesn`t work out the way you want you can always paint it over again.
Try some ideas ou on paper before hand.
Good Luck if you decided to have a go. :!:
regards
Jim

[LONGK]

ok so not a new plant but new try out for me started a new fence to hide the corrugated fence behind .So decided to try a mural on as well
regards
JIM

I like your artwork Jim but it needs a deckchair in front of it surely. I'd like to do something similar but not having any artistic talent is a real drawback.

I have to agree with Andy and I am also similarly limited. I'm not going to try because it will just look like a car crash if I do - guaranteed!

So to update my earlier post I went to the village plant sale this morning and came back with a few choice plants for very little money (ie a large potful of Crinum for £3.50 etc). But the plant that I am most pleased about is not "Pushing the Borders" as it is not hardy in any way, not in a month of Sundays. It is however a plant that I lusted after from the first time that I saw it at Oxfords Botanic Gardens and I immediately sought it out - easily found in California and South Africa but not here in the UK. Over time it got forgot about until today when I saw it on the table, thought to myself "no way", checked the label and rapidly parted with a whole pound!
So this year I am finally trying Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'................