Shrubs from seed
Does anyone ever try growing shrubs from seed ?
Certainly worth giving a go should any in your garden produce fruits .
A form of 'natural stratification' is often necessary :- simply scatter the seed in pots in a coarse gritty growing medium , & cover in about an inch of the same . Thoroughly drench the compost using w/can with rose and then double clingfilm the top of the pot ; secure with strong rubber bands , stand somewhere semi-shaded outside for the winter , and simply forget about them !
Nine times out of ten you'll see tiny seedlings appearing in the spring . Quite satisfying to grow your own shrubs really .
I have grown several genera in this way ; Desfontainea , Crinodendron , Cotinus and Decaisnea to name a few . Easier species like Cotoneaster often self seed anyway . I have Solanum laciniatum in my garden which appears sporadically every year ; a tender Australian , somehow and somewhere the seeds overwinter and germinate outdoors .
Anyway , enough rambling on ; just thought I'd enquire as to other growers success stories !
Posts
yes, lots of them, and trees. I can't help myself, it's an obsession,.
Clerodendrum trichotomum is easy, Chimonanthus praecox (maybe not quite so easy, I only got one) lots of different Cotoneasters and Loniceras. Eleagnus umbellata and angustifolia, Catalpa. The list is long and will be longer.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I have a white Buddleia davidii that I grew from seed 35 years ago. It is still going strong!
Fascinating isn't it ?
I remember seeing a large shrub of Clerodendrum trichotomum as a child on Nottingham Arboretum ; didn't know it then , but I do now ; stunning berry colour .