So I've lusted after franklinia for a hundred years.
I had one plant live long enough to eke out a bloom, then promptly swoon a minute later.
I've killed dozens others in my attempt to get one to grow here.
So a couple years ago, they came out with 'x gordlinia grandiflora',
an intergeneric cross between franklinia and gordlinia.
So of course, I bought a couple.
They have languished in pots, since I'm nervous about proper siting,
having killed so many of their kin over the years.
At any rate, imagine my surprise today, when I arrived home to see this gorgeous bloom.
It's on a scrawny potted 2-year old plant.
Fall color has been variable, but sometimes remarkable.
Now of course, I'm eager to plant one out to see if they are less finicky than either parent.
Gordlinia
Good luck!
Ooooh, maybe I could plant one instead of the Sorbus...
Do you have anything resembling conditions along the Altamaha River on your property? If so, plant them there. If not, you might as well send them north to Wisconsin. I'm sure they'll do really well here.
Or here...
Your posts are a mirror of what I experience here in NJ. I have lost 3 Franklinia's and am now trying a gordlinia, but the deer likeitand ate 1/2 the leaves before I could protect it with a plastic netting. I am keeping it in a large pot (18" x 24"). Sometimes potting hard to grow things in a large pot with ideal soil, allows the plant to develop enough of a root mass to get it started and plant it out after a few years. It also allows it to be moved indoors in winter.
I'm trying the same theory. But I can't imagine where I'll plant it out without the deer finding it...
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