Last year I paid £18 +p/p for six plugs of 'white swan'. I potted them up, nurtured them - and every one died! I wrote to the supplier and they gave me six more. I managed to get two into the garden but then they disappeared. This Spring I was looking for a more mature plant but none were available so I end up with another three one litre pots of 'white swan'. Yes, they keeled over, one by one. I gave up all hope of ever growing them, but then, in early summer, one small plant emerged, one of the two I had got as far as the garden last summer. It flourished and gave me some beautiful flowers, at long last. I only hope we don't have a harsh winter this year or it may not re-appear next year. Isn't gardening exciting!!!
My Wild Swan pushed up new shoots in March (I think?). And died a few weeks later. It may be the dry April we had and me being foolish enough to think the small plant would have put out enough roots over autumn/winter to avoid having to keep it throughly watered. Or maybe I just overestimated the toughness of the plant.
Interestingly Gillenia trifoliata, foxgloves and Luzula sylvatica also put in as small plants have thrived. Geranium phaeum put in as small divisions from 2L stock also did well. I will try a 3L Wild Swan in a more favourable spot and really baby it, but I don't have much patience with plants that need cossetting, and certainly wouldn't put them in a client's garden where they might be planted in large numbers - imagine if they all failed!
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
I had 3 decent sized plants last autumn planted in different parts of the garden,
I covered all off them over with a pane of glass placed on bricks, all survived the winter as this spring they started into growth, but then all kicked the bucket, they seem to have a death wish!
I had got them from Hayloft and they had already replaced the first lot I had got from them, those never made any attempt to grow on from plugs, I spoke to Hayloft and they admitted they were difficult to grow!
To cap it all, this week I have been digging out massive plants of the ordinary pink and white anemones that have got Houttuynia Chameleon growing through them which is a real thug, have been spraying the tops of (HUT) since last summer without success so the border has had to be cleared for now!
If only Wild Swan would make the effort to grow like the ordinary ones!
My one surviving plant from the fifteen I bought over the last couple of years seems to be growing now. It has become totally surrounded by Welsh poppies but I am reluctant to move them as I may disrupt the anemone. It is growing right up against the log roll on the edge of the border so I think I will try moving that out a bit and giving the little 'swan' more room to breathe. Fingers Crossed.
The ones i succeeded in getting established (after many failures) are doing well, having just made it thru winter number 2. I'll let you know in a couple of years Verdun
my experience of sudden death of the plant in spring is exactly the same as others.
i got a 2 litre plant last autumn, it came through winter ok and started putting on new growth in spring, then in the space of 3 weeks the leaves stated going brown at the ends and then receding back through the stems and the whole plant died despite having perfect conditions.
its a mystery to me what caused this particularly as it was in active growth and no visible insects of fungi and other anemone's in the same location doing ok.
i can only think its some weakness or over-sensitivity in the strain.
Hi guys, I got two batches of wild swans from two different nurseries. One batch is thriving but all the plants from the other batch suddenly withered and died. I contacted the nursery that discovered and distributed wild swan. The answer is a kind of phytophtora fungus that the plant is very sensitive to. It causes severe root rot. Unfortunately a couple of nurseries had plants infected with that specific fungus so it spread through the wild swan population. That explains the many mysterious sudden deaths. A lot of nurseries now have 'clean' plants for distribution. When buying wild swans lift them out of the container and check the roots. If the roots are brown, don't buy. Healthy roots should be white. Above ground check for withered leaves, leaves with a red coloration or curled edges. That is usually a sign for this type of fungus infection. If you have a healthy plant that is in well-drained soil that never completely dries out, the plant should be fine and thrive.
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Last year I paid £18 +p/p for six plugs of 'white swan'. I potted them up, nurtured them - and every one died! I wrote to the supplier and they gave me six more. I managed to get two into the garden but then they disappeared. This Spring I was looking for a more mature plant but none were available so I end up with another three one litre pots of 'white swan'. Yes, they keeled over, one by one. I gave up all hope of ever growing them, but then, in early summer, one small plant emerged, one of the two I had got as far as the garden last summer. It flourished and gave me some beautiful flowers, at long last. I only hope we don't have a harsh winter this year or it may not re-appear next year. Isn't gardening exciting!!!
My Wild Swan pushed up new shoots in March (I think?). And died a few weeks later. It may be the dry April we had and me being foolish enough to think the small plant would have put out enough roots over autumn/winter to avoid having to keep it throughly watered. Or maybe I just overestimated the toughness of the plant.
Interestingly Gillenia trifoliata, foxgloves and Luzula sylvatica also put in as small plants have thrived. Geranium phaeum put in as small divisions from 2L stock also did well. I will try a 3L Wild Swan in a more favourable spot and really baby it, but I don't have much patience with plants that need cossetting, and certainly wouldn't put them in a client's garden where they might be planted in large numbers - imagine if they all failed!
.
Hello BillDB,
I had 3 decent sized plants last autumn planted in different parts of the garden,
I covered all off them over with a pane of glass placed on bricks, all survived the winter as this spring they started into growth, but then all kicked the bucket, they seem to have a death wish!
I had got them from Hayloft and they had already replaced the first lot I had got from them, those never made any attempt to grow on from plugs, I spoke to Hayloft and they admitted they were difficult to grow!
To cap it all, this week I have been digging out massive plants of the ordinary pink and white anemones that have got Houttuynia Chameleon growing through them which is a real thug, have been spraying the tops of (HUT) since last summer without success so the border has had to be cleared for now!
If only Wild Swan would make the effort to grow like the ordinary ones!
My one surviving plant from the fifteen I bought over the last couple of years seems to be growing now. It has become totally surrounded by Welsh poppies but I am reluctant to move them as I may disrupt the anemone. It is growing right up against the log roll on the edge of the border so I think I will try moving that out a bit and giving the little 'swan' more room to breathe. Fingers Crossed.
I bought a 9cm pot in the sale last year and it looks cheerful enough and has a couple of buds already.
I'm hoping it'll get on fine without any looking-after despite all that's written above
We'll see
my experience of sudden death of the plant in spring is exactly the same as others.
i got a 2 litre plant last autumn, it came through winter ok and started putting on new growth in spring, then in the space of 3 weeks the leaves stated going brown at the ends and then receding back through the stems and the whole plant died despite having perfect conditions.
its a mystery to me what caused this particularly as it was in active growth and no visible insects of fungi and other anemone's in the same location doing ok.
i can only think its some weakness or over-sensitivity in the strain.
Hi guys, I got two batches of wild swans from two different nurseries. One batch is thriving but all the plants from the other batch suddenly withered and died. I contacted the nursery that discovered and distributed wild swan. The answer is a kind of phytophtora fungus that the plant is very sensitive to. It causes severe root rot. Unfortunately a couple of nurseries had plants infected with that specific fungus so it spread through the wild swan population. That explains the many mysterious sudden deaths. A lot of nurseries now have 'clean' plants for distribution. When buying wild swans lift them out of the container and check the roots. If the roots are brown, don't buy. Healthy roots should be white. Above ground check for withered leaves, leaves with a red coloration or curled edges. That is usually a sign for this type of fungus infection. If you have a healthy plant that is in well-drained soil that never completely dries out, the plant should be fine and thrive.