I just received one as a gift...I am in zone 7B and it says Large shrub to 10'...it it lochroma cyaneum "violacea" I was not sure whether it would be hardy here and a ten foot shrub in a pot could be rather large...lol anyway any info from someone growing them as to hardiness would be great. I have lots of things that come back here that are not supposed to but wasn't sure about this shurb, since it is late in the season, will it grow quickly...or if I put it into the ground and I just planting it to die...thanks!
JanetS
Does anyone grown a shrub called Lochroma
Did you mean iochroma? I grew it for years in Marietta, GA. It wasn't suppose to be hardy but became a large shrub in our front yard. I grew it from seed bought from T&M. It was called acnistus years ago.
Here is a picture of it in bloom looking up into the branches.
I've heard they're only hardy to zone 9, but often plants are hardier than they're given credit for and you can't argue with personal experience from someone who's grown them in colder zones. However, I had an Iochroma cyanea (different cultivar than yours) in my old garden (also zone 9b) and it suffered frost damage--it did come back but had several months where it didn't look very good. hcmdole's pic is an Iochroma but I'm not sure if it's cyanea (the cyanea's I've seen have narrower flowers), so I don't know if different species have different hardiness (PF lists almost all of them only down to zone 9a). If I were you, I might keep it in a pot for the winter and then plant it out in the spring--young plants are riskier to get through the winter than ones that have had a little more time to establish themselves. Or you could keep it in the pot--it's unlikely to get to 10 feet if you grow it that way, things tend to stay smaller in pots.
The variety I had was acnistus (now iochroma) australis (a native of Australia - supposedly a tender perennial). Ecrane is right that the shrub can suffer frost damage but it just goes dormant during winter but it didn't kill it or any of the hardened branches. I had to prune it each year to keep it shaped up but it was very reliable. Braselton is not far up the road from me so if Janet has the same kind, then it should be okay to plant outdoors if planted soon (let it get some good root growth and harden up).
Here is another view of the same shrub. You can see the dead ends of branches but it hasn't slowed down new growth or blooms.
Wow, I am going to try, those are beautiful pictures! Thanks for all the information and I will keep my fingers crossed and mulch really well for the winter. We haven't had hard winters here in quite some time, so maybe it will perform well.
I'm glad to know these are hardier than they're supposed to be--I have quite a collection of small ones in pots and I was a little worried about planting them in the ground after the frost damage on the one I had, but now I'll feel more confident! (I sold the house before I had a chance to see if it came back all the way to its full glory--it was leafing out but hadn't started blooming yet when I moved)
I've heard of those, the leaves do look like brugmansia! I tried to start some from seed a web friend sent me from Poland, but no luck - thanks for posting, it is pretty!
WOW... I probably wouldn't have frost damage but I don't t know that they could stand up to our summers.
Seems like if they're native to Australia, then they should stand up to your summers. They seem to handle drought pretty good - a lot better than brugmansia.
There are a few images I took in San Francisco of the violet blue ones. These are the more common ones than the grandiflora ones shown above that look like mini blue brugs.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/116896/
Janet, Sue's picture looks like I. cyaneum, so that's what yours will look like. A little different looking than the earlier pics, but I still think they're pretty!
Yes, that is what it looks like..it is small now, but it does have some blooms already...I can't wait to see it grow!
i've always wanted to try one of these, but can never find them locally. I did speak to someone on the brug forum that lived in LA too. She said they do survive the heat. if you wanted more info you might try looking in the brug forum. please keep us posted on how it does.
If you want some, Kartuz sells a ton of different kinds--they're all in tiny 2.5" pots, but they'll grow!
thanks. i'll look it up. gotta love a fast grower! :o))
eBay has them as well.