Do any of you grow Streptosolen jamesonii - Marmalade Bush? I have killed all three that I have tried. What I have read about it doesn't indicate that it is that difficult to grow......and it is gorgeous! I am in zone 9a but so far none has survived long enough to make it into the ground. Any hints will be appreciated!!!!!
Marmalade Bush
My only experience has been with the blue Browallia, similar leaf so I'm assuming they are related. Generally unsuccessful here in Florida, I did better with it as a basket subject in Salt Lake City, used as an annual.
Reading through the Plant Files entry for it, looks like folks in California are successful with it. This leads me to think maybe it doesn' t like humidity. So it's staying too moist through the hot summer months and suffering root rot, maybe?
I've struggled to grow lavender here, which has the same problem. The only way I've been successful is to start it from a transplant in the winter, baby it through the cold, and get it well established in a big pot with great draining planting mix by summer. (add extra perlite to regular potting soil) Then I place it so that it gets sun morning and evening and shade through the mid-day. I have a big stand of bamboo, and I put the pot on the south side of the bamboo for shade, and it also protects it from the heavy rain a bit.
Long story short, start a new plant now, get it going well, and if you want to put it into the landscape, choose a spot on the south side of a tree that will shade it through mid-day and also steal some of its water, to help keep the roots on the dry side through the summer months. As the sun angle gets lower in fall through spring the plant will get full sun if you've placed it right.
I have one that I've been growing in a pot in my greenhouse for a couple years now. They won't survive my winters outside but it seems to do OK in a pot. I don't do anything special for it--water when it needs it, and it gets probably 5-6 hrs of sun a day.
If Wikipedia is correct, they're native to Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia so I don't think humidity's likely the issue. It could be too much sun...Annie's Annuals says half day sun, which in TX probably means probably only morning sun, PM sun would probably be too hot. http://www.anniesannuals.com/plt_lst/lists/search/lst.srch.asp?prodid=1008&srch_term=streptosolen Mine gets a little PM sun but our summers aren't as hot as yours.
The only place I have seen Streptosolen jamesonii grow well is in the arboretum in San Francisco. It likes cool conditions. It blooms all summer at Strybing. I have tried it here once, it died very quickly in the heat of summer.
At the community garden, Fort Mason, SF, CA>
i had good luck with them here. they thrived and bloomed ok but ended up being a pest magnet for scale so i ditched them finally.
Thanks for all the information......I've about decided to give up........I am embarrassed to order another one from Annie's.....she may have me arrested for plant murder! It probably is too hot for it here in South Texas.....and I don't need another bug magnet....I will just have to admire it in the photographs!!!!
TB
I wouldn't worry about Annie arresting you...they'll probably just figure you love them so much that you need to have a 10th! I'm with you though on knowing when to give up and admit that a plant just isn't right for your climate...I have a 3 strikes rule. I figure random accidents like forgetting to water can happen sometimes so killing something once or twice isn't a big deal, but if I kill it a 3rd time I figure it's my climate and not me so I don't let myself buy that plant again.
Though I've never grown this plant before, keep in mind that it is from a mountainous climate where temperatures likely drop significantly at night - many highland climates, even in the tropics, drop to the 40s or 50s after dark. I think this would be a more important issue than humidity, since even the mountains in the areas to which this plant is native are quite damp. If the plant is grown in areas that have high nighttime temperatures in the summer, it might suffer from heat exhaustion or be prone to root rot. The climate here in California tends to be more hospitable to highland tropical species because we have a large temperature differential between night and day - in my area, even in the height of summer the nights cool off to about 55 degrees and the humidity goes way up. Again, I've never tried to grow this plant, but these are just some thoughts on why it might do well out west but not in the south.