Hello,
Does anyone here in CA have a Russelia? I just got 4 little ones that I intend to pot up and hang on my North facing wood fence.
I know they do really well in shade where I'm from (Brazil), but I am unsure about over here California! I'm in San Diego, zone 10b.
Thanks!
Roberta
I think they'll do fine for you--I bought one last fall and I think it's still somewhere among my vast collection of things I didn't find room for in the garden last fall. For some reason I thought they were full sun plants though, so you might want to see if it's listed in the Sunset Western Garden book, that'll tell you what conditions it would like here in CA. Or I'm sure one of the SoCal'ers will chime in shortly--I'm willing to bet someone near you has one of these.
This message was edited Feb 6, 2008 8:15 PM
Thanks ecrane!
great idea, I have that book at home. Do you have yours in full sun?
I'm not positive exactly where it is at the moment! LOL When I get around to planting it in the garden I was planning to put it in full sun though (but honestly I never looked it up in the Western Garden Book, I was going off other things I've read in various places)
I hear you, I bet they're in "pot guetto" now! lol! Thanks!
It is gorgeous, I am sure it doesn't grow in the high desert. That sucks.
No, doesn't look like it does...although if you grow it in a pot and make sure it's not baking in the sun during the heat of the day and protect it from frost in the winter it might get by. http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Scrophulariaceae/Russelia_equisetiformis.html
I'd have to be real strategic and put alot of soil moist in it but it is so gorgeous
How should they be looking like now? Mine look pretty sad...
I still don't know where mine is so I have no idea...the landscapers finished up terracing the last part of my yard so in the next week or so I'll be digging through the hundreds of pots I have lying around, if I find it then and nobody's helped you yet I'll let you know what mine looks like. I'm pretty sure they're evergreen though and your winter can't have been that bad so I imagine it ought to be looking OK...can you post a picture so we can see what "sad" looks like?
Ecrane, here is a picture I took today. Not quite like the picture used above huh? What do you think? I got these in 3in pots last month...
I'd give it some time, some plants need a little time to get established before they will really look good. The one in the pic in your first post is a large well-established plant so I wouldn't expect something you just got to look that nice yet. And unless yours has been growing like a weed lately (or unless your planter box is smaller than it looks in the picture), it looks like an pretty big plant to have been in a 3" pot, so it was probably rootbound and stressed and will take a little time to recover from that.
I wish, but what I have there are *three* 3in plants....
I'll try fertilizing this weekend...
I don't know if I'd fertilize yet, it's not usually good to fertilize things that you just planted, better to wait and let them get a little established first. I'm also not sure if these need a ton of fertilizer in the first place. Honestly I think the real problem is that you're expecting too much too soon from them. They need time to get their roots established, then start to put out some new growth, and it'll probably take a few years before they look like the one in your first picture. With plants you have two choices...save money and buy small ones but then be patient before they really start to look good, or spend lots of money on large ones that look nice right away.
I guess you're right....I think I was spoiled, I'm from Brazil and over there these grow like weeds without any care! : )
I will be more patient! Just don't want to kill the little guys!
I've had one in a deep pot on my porch (facing west). It gets quite a bit of sun and looks great. It made it through some nights at freezing in inland San Diego county. They do like sun, but i give it some shade in the high 90's.
