Can anyone tell me anything about a Wood Rose from Barbados? I know it is supposed to have an incredible growth rate. Is that true?
Wood Rose
If you break the central part open, there are 4 BIG seeds.
Yes, it does grow very fast, it's a monster!
What else were you after? It's VERY frost sensitive, one frost and all the foliage and small stems are toast.
I planted 2 seedligs last summer and did not get blooms, am hoping for blooms this fall.
Check the DG plant files. I searched for "Wood Rose." I found it on the first page. (I don't know how to post a hyperlink). It just shows the pictures of the seeds, but if you click on it, you will get a lot of photos of the plant, info, etc. It's called Wood Rose, Spanish Morning Glory and Yellow Morning Glory. Merrimia tuberosa. I've got to learn how to post a link.
I thought it was so unusual I wanted to see it too. I wonder if you can grow it in a pot to keep it from spreading like kudzu, because from the looks of it, it really grows abundantly. Anyone know?
Kaye C.
I figured out how to do a link. (I think) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53475/ Try it - I don't know what I'm doing.
Kaye C.
It can be very invasive in south Florida. I believe that it is illegal for nurseries to sell it down here.
Amygirl: If it's invasive down there, I'm sure it's invasive up here in the swamps - and I actually live on a bayou. Guess I'd better pass on this one. My neighbors would be furious with me if I introduced something that grew that fast, etc., like kudzu. Thanks.
Kaye C
Well, there are some plants that it is legal to have, just not to sell. Or there are special conditions on growing them, legally speaking.
Here's an idea for a theme garden - an outlaw garden! Filled with plants-of-ill-repute. The hoodlums of plantdom!
We already know two plants to put in it - wood rose and kudzu
This is a picture of the wood rose from underneath..it has spread in the canopy over the back garden. You use to see light..this is 3pm in the afternoon. I'm in a quandry, because the blooming time for this vine is in a few months..if I cut it back now, will this diminish bloom chances in an already diminished chances zone?
This is the top area. I let it grow into the castor bean tree because the leaves are so similar...it's hard to tell which is which except by size..and then sometimes it's a surprise because the huge leaf is really the woodrose.
Too bad this vine is so invasive. It would take over my neighborhood. I would love to have some of those "roses." Maybe I can buy some dried at the craft store here. The "roses" are just beautiful. I had never seen or heard of this vine before.
kaye c
I really doubt it would be invasive in a non tropical zone, it would be unlikely to bloom though with a shorter growing season and would die to the ground or even die entirely in the winter. If I can manage a few blooms myself this year I'll be very happy.
I am wondering the same thing RJH, mine is covering a grapefruit tree that's next to the gazebo and it's winning. I am watching my M. aurea though and all the blooms are on brand new shoots, not older ones, and they grow and develop very quickly so logic says that if we trim now, shouldn't that encourage a rash of new shoots that would all bloom?
I'm not certain, but I couldn't take it any longer. Cut it back this morning.. It had gone every where. I kept pulling and pulling and more kept coming...half of it is still there...the vines are very thick and the leaves are pretty large. The view from the ladder revealed the vine had invaded a bit further than I thought. Was in the Pear tree, the Papaya tree and was working it's way to the deck area and the garage like an octopus. I filled 4 large garbage bags.
It's much brighter in the back garden now.
lol I did some trimming this morning, too! Didn't get a ladder out so was relying on what I could reach, but I got quite a bit.
Right!? cutting out a two foot square section yields a ton of vine in itself? I have alot of vines, this one is at the top for speedy growth in relation to it's size!
It might be a good idea to terminally dispose of the cuttings - you don't want them to "root" and cause an ecological disaster!
Now here's the kicker....A friend and I have tried rooting them a couple of times....to date zero. I took over a big bag of the vines today for him to give it another try. He has a nice cutting set up with auto mister, so will be interesting to observe results. I did throw some on the mulch pile to see if anything interesting happened in the way of developing roots.
Cuttings aren't the problem. If there were any seed pods in what you threw out, those seeds might germinate.
See, and that IS the problem, I only get the bad side of the vine, as during the blooming time, it's not so humid here, and fairly cool. The vine is 2 years old now and no blooms to date. Which was my concern in cutting it back, was reducing the already reduced chance of it blooming.
Uh, yeah, I don't see this having any chance of being invasive for me.
LOL...I don't think I was prepared for a 12 inch leaf span on the buggers. Makes for a lot of shade when it hits the canopy.
I LOVE the shade value for this thing, I just wish it weren't so frost sensitive, a pile of sticks in spring is a real downer :(
I know. I was shaking my head and wondering why it is I have Jade vines, and stuff that has a chance of blooming like I have of winning the lottery.
Because we HAVE to try ;P
So true, the gamble is paying off for the Fern tree..Doing very good
Tried those, they did terribly, I saw pics of yours on one of the threads, nice job!
I hear ya. I have 3 other fern tree's that are struggling. You know what that means. dumb luck on the one good one. I'd like to claim fine tuned gardening skills, but the other 3 are suggesting otherwise.
lol Just like I know I'll try them again.....figuring I've learned and next one will live ;P
I'm trying a new method next time, (which is the way I did the successful one) and that is leave it in a pot for about 2 years first before putting in the ground.
lmao, that'll never work here, poor thing would be toast....am wondering how it lived for you.
I planted it in the ground the first year, then moved it to a pot to overwinter in the greenhouse. Planted it back the next spring..has stayed since.
www.mikenature.com has 3 or 4 in pots permanently, although they are not C cooperi..not sure what they are. They're pretty tall too.
Oh, Are they really that frost sensitive?
I'm pretty sure. I was very surprised it could make it to freezing. I think 32F is the magic fold in onitself and shed leaves temp. It does survive short (3 or 4 hours) of freezing. A couple of springs ago, over easter we had a hard freeze, (water frozen solid on the rain barrells). Every tropical got fried- lost all of their leaves, but the fern never flinched. The Bird of paradise right next to it frost burned too. I was lucky, everything did come back.
Ah, so it can handle some cold temps, that's good. We had a severe freeze very early in 2007 (I think it was), 3 nights in a row of lower freezing temps, I don't think a single ficus nitida didn't lose it's top in the Phx metro area. I was very lucky with that one myself, they said it was a '30 year' freeze...I sure as heck hope so, I have a lot more to lose now than I did then.
"fold in onitself and shed leaves temp" I like that
Yes, we had a freeze like that the same year around easter. The tropicals really took a hit, but amazingly came back.