Re: Grevillea rootstock question
Sacha
"Chris Hogg" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> A couple of years ago I bought a tender hybrid grevillea 'Orange
> Marmalade' from a local nursery (Trevena Cross near Helston). It was a
> grafted plant, as are a lot of these tender grevilleas, and it has
> since died back to the grafting point, but the rootstock has started
> shooting.
>
> My question is, does anyone by any remote chance know what rootstock
> is commonly used for grafting these tender grevilleas onto. I've asked
> the nursery but they don't know. All they could tell me was that the
> plants were imported from Spain.
We take cuttings direct from our Grevillea but we think most Grevilleas, if
grafted, are on the rootstock of Grevillea robusta. I don't think Trevena
Cross are doing much in the way of the rare or unusual nowadays, so whoever
imported those at the time might not be there now.
Incidentally, we find our plant to be a very good one at earning its keep.
It's in flower for long periods each year. Unfortunately, it was given to
Ray so we're not certain of its ID but it might be G. rosmarinifolia. Ours
is on top of a bank so it drains pretty well and has some shelter from a
Cordyline beside it.
--
Sacha
Jeff Layman
> On 28/4/08 18:04, in article
> 4ktb14hs7ge4j699b...@4ax.com, "Chris Hogg"
> <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> A couple of years ago I bought a tender hybrid grevillea 'Orange
>> Marmalade' from a local nursery (Trevena Cross near Helston). It was
>> a grafted plant, as are a lot of these tender grevilleas, and it has
>> since died back to the grafting point, but the rootstock has started
>> shooting.
>>
>> My question is, does anyone by any remote chance know what rootstock
>> is commonly used for grafting these tender grevilleas onto. I've
>> asked the nursery but they don't know. All they could tell me was
>> that the plants were imported from Spain.
>
> We take cuttings direct from our Grevillea but we think most
> Grevilleas, if grafted, are on the rootstock of Grevillea robusta.
I very much doubt it. Grevillea robusta ("Silky Oak") is tender in the UK,
and only seen as a houseplant. It is commonly used in Australia as the
stock for grafting difficult grevilleas.
--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)
Sacha
"Jeff Layman" <jmla...@thetapetcp.co.uk> wrote:
The OP's imported plant came from Spain and has died. It was not grafted
and raised hard in UK. Please think about that. It's a potentially tender
import. So - it's possible - definitely not certain - that his rootstock
will throw G. robusta which may or may not survive for him, depending on
what frosts he gets, if any. Wet feet won't help it, either.
That is why we take cuttings direct from our own plant, growing here, 3
miles from Dartmoor. One needs to consider the origins of the imported
plant, if known, or be sure one is buying from hardy stock. I don't know
what kind of frost the OP had recently (if any) but we had a horrible one a
couple of weeks ago that shrivelled the tops of our Hydrangeas in the garden
and took out all the potted up Actinidia kolomiktas. The latter will come
back next year but they're blasted for this one. But our Grevillea and its
potted up babies soldier on unscathed.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'
Sacha
"Chris Hogg" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> Thank you for those comments. You're both saying the rootstock is very
> probably G. robusta, so I'll take it that that is what it is. The chap
> I spoke to at Trevena Cross had been there for several years and knew
> G. 'orange marmalade', as he had also had one and it had also failed
> at the graft!
>
> Incidentally, Trevena Cross listed both G. robusta and G.
> rosemarinifolia in my couple-of-years-old copy of their catalogue,
> indicating that they're hardy to -5 and -10C, respectively, when
> established.
Ours has certainly gone down to -5C but not usually for long periods or very
often.If you ever go to the Abbey Garden in Tresco you'll see quite a few
Grevilleas there. If Mike Nelhams is around or the head gardener, they
should be able to tell you quite a bit about them.
Charlie Pridham
sa...@nowhere.myzen.co.uk says...
> On 29/4/08 08:28, in article 1ajd14pm461vndtpg...@4ax.com,
> "Chris Hogg" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> > Thank you for those comments. You're both saying the rootstock is very
> > probably G. robusta, so I'll take it that that is what it is. The chap
> > I spoke to at Trevena Cross had been there for several years and knew
> > G. 'orange marmalade', as he had also had one and it had also failed
> > at the graft!
> >
> > Incidentally, Trevena Cross listed both G. robusta and G.
> > rosemarinifolia in my couple-of-years-old copy of their catalogue,
> > indicating that they're hardy to -5 and -10C, respectively, when
> > established.
>
> Ours has certainly gone down to -5C but not usually for long periods or very
> often.If you ever go to the Abbey Garden in Tresco you'll see quite a few
> Grevilleas there. If Mike Nelhams is around or the head gardener, they
> should be able to tell you quite a bit about them.
>
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea
Jeff Layman
I don't disagree with you - but do wonder why (even in Cornwall!) a tender
grevillea is being sold grafted onto a tender rootstock. As to the
rootstock shooting, it may well be G. robusta, but it won't last. It is
several years since I visited Tresco, but don't remember seeing G. robusta
there. There is a ref to a G. robusta growing on the site of a demolished
hothouse in Swansea, but I could not find a ref to it growing anywhere else
outside in the UK. Unless it makes a particularly poor rootstock, I wonder
why G. rosmarinifolia (maybe in the guise of one of its many cultivars) is
not used as a rootstock. In my experience, it is extremely hardy. I have
never seen frost damage on my 4 metre high plant, despite temps of -7°C.
And it has been growing in solid clay for 8 years.
> That is why we take cuttings direct from our own plant, growing here,
> 3 miles from Dartmoor. One needs to consider the origins of the
> imported plant, if known, or be sure one is buying from hardy stock.
> I don't know what kind of frost the OP had recently (if any) but we
> had a horrible one a couple of weeks ago that shrivelled the tops of
> our Hydrangeas in the garden and took out all the potted up Actinidia
> kolomiktas. The latter will come back next year but they're blasted
> for this one. But our Grevillea and its potted up babies soldier on
> unscathed.
Given its parentage, I am surprised that your Orange Marmalade has done so
well outside. Perhaps it doesn't know that it's meant to be frost tender!
Jeff Layman
> In article <C43C974A.6B6D4%sa...@nowhere.myzen.co.uk>,
> sa...@nowhere.myzen.co.uk says...
>> On 29/4/08 08:28, in article
>> 1ajd14pm461vndtpg...@4ax.com, "Chris Hogg"
>> <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you for those comments. You're both saying the rootstock is
>>> very probably G. robusta, so I'll take it that that is what it is.
>>> The chap I spoke to at Trevena Cross had been there for several
>>> years and knew G. 'orange marmalade', as he had also had one and it
>>> had also failed at the graft!
>>>
>>> Incidentally, Trevena Cross listed both G. robusta and G.
>>> rosemarinifolia in my couple-of-years-old copy of their catalogue,
>>> indicating that they're hardy to -5 and -10C, respectively, when
>>> established.
>>
>> Ours has certainly gone down to -5C but not usually for long periods
>> or very often.If you ever go to the Abbey Garden in Tresco you'll
>> see quite a few Grevilleas there. If Mike Nelhams is around or the
>> head gardener, they should be able to tell you quite a bit about
>> them.
>>
> Shirly Clemo has lots of different ones at Pine Lodge
The finest garden in the UK, IMHO.
Sacha
"Jeff Layman" <jmla...@thetapetcp.co.uk> wrote:
> Sacha wrote:
<snip>
>>
>> The OP's imported plant came from Spain and has died. It was not
>> grafted and raised hard in UK. Please think about that. It's a
>> potentially tender import. So - it's possible - definitely not
>> certain - that his rootstock will throw G. robusta which may or may
>> not survive for him, depending on what frosts he gets, if any. Wet
>> feet won't help it, either.
>
> I don't disagree with you - but do wonder why (even in Cornwall!) a tender
> grevillea is being sold grafted onto a tender rootstock.
I suppose they thought it was worth a try? We don't know if the OP was
warned that it's tropical to sub-tropical. We have a very few customers who
can grow e.g. Plumbago and Bougainvillea outside, and they're willing to
take risks if they really like something. Obviously, we can't be certain
it's G. robusta as a rootstock but it's the favoured one, apparently.
However, I've done a bit of Googling on G. Orange Marmalade and have found
that it's a hybrid of Grevillea glossadenia and Grevillea venusta. Both
parents are Australian species, so I wonder if one of the parents is used as
rootstock for G. Orange Marmalade. Or if that was done, would it make it
revert, perhaps? I looked in the Plant Finder and can't see any suppliers
of G. Orange Marmalade at all. It's an old copy (04/05) and it lists
Trevena Cross and Halsway Nursery in Taunton as having G.robusta.
> As to the
> rootstock shooting, it may well be G. robusta, but it won't last. It is
> several years since I visited Tresco, but don't remember seeing G. robusta
> there. There is a ref to a G. robusta growing on the site of a demolished
> hothouse in Swansea, but I could not find a ref to it growing anywhere else
> outside in the UK. Unless it makes a particularly poor rootstock, I wonder
> why G. rosmarinifolia (maybe in the guise of one of its many cultivars) is
> not used as a rootstock. In my experience, it is extremely hardy. I have
> never seen frost damage on my 4 metre high plant, despite temps of -7°C.
> And it has been growing in solid clay for 8 years.
>
>> That is why we take cuttings direct from our own plant, growing here,
>> 3 miles from Dartmoor.
<snip>
>
> Given its parentage, I am surprised that your Orange Marmalade has done so
> well outside. Perhaps it doesn't know that it's meant to be frost tender!
That isn't the one we have. We think ours is Grevillea rosmarinifolia but
as it was a gift to Ray, we're not 100% certain of that. Next time we go to
Tresco, I'll try to remember to take a bit and see if Mike or anyone there
can ID it positively.
Sacha
"Charlie Pridham" <cha...@roselandhouse.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <C43C974A.6B6D4%sa...@nowhere.myzen.co.uk>,
> sa...@nowhere.myzen.co.uk says...
>> On 29/4/08 08:28, in article 1ajd14pm461vndtpg...@4ax.com,
>> "Chris Hogg" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Thank you for those comments. You're both saying the rootstock is very
>>> probably G. robusta, so I'll take it that that is what it is. The chap
>>> I spoke to at Trevena Cross had been there for several years and knew
>>> G. 'orange marmalade', as he had also had one and it had also failed
>>> at the graft!
>>>
>>> Incidentally, Trevena Cross listed both G. robusta and G.
>>> rosemarinifolia in my couple-of-years-old copy of their catalogue,
>>> indicating that they're hardy to -5 and -10C, respectively, when
>>> established.
>>
>> Ours has certainly gone down to -5C but not usually for long periods or very
>> often.If you ever go to the Abbey Garden in Tresco you'll see quite a few
>> Grevilleas there. If Mike Nelhams is around or the head gardener, they
>> should be able to tell you quite a bit about them.
>>
> Shirly Clemo has lots of different ones at Pine Lodge
We went there too early in the year to see those at their best but that's a
garden I'd like to visit again.
Jeff Layman
> I suppose they thought it was worth a try? We don't know if the OP
> was warned that it's tropical to sub-tropical. We have a very few
> customers who can grow e.g. Plumbago and Bougainvillea outside, and
> they're willing to take risks if they really like something.
> Obviously, we can't be certain it's G. robusta as a rootstock but
> it's the favoured one, apparently. However, I've done a bit of
> Googling on G. Orange Marmalade and have found that it's a hybrid of
> Grevillea glossadenia and Grevillea venusta. Both parents are
> Australian species, so I wonder if one of the parents is used as
> rootstock for G. Orange Marmalade. Or if that was done, would it
> make it revert, perhaps? I looked in the Plant Finder and can't see
> any suppliers of G. Orange Marmalade at all. It's an old copy
> (04/05) and it lists Trevena Cross and Halsway Nursery in Taunton as
> having G.robusta.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantfinder.asp
> That isn't the one we have. We think ours is Grevillea
> rosmarinifolia but as it was a gift to Ray, we're not 100% certain of
> that. Next time we go to Tresco, I'll try to remember to take a bit
> and see if Mike or anyone there can ID it positively.
I assumed you had Orange Marmalade. If it is G. rosmarinifolia, you have a
very hardy plant which will survive anything Devon can throw at it in the
way of cold weather. Keep the chainsaw handy ;-)
Sacha
"Jeff Layman" <jmla...@thetapetcp.co.uk> wrote:
> Sacha wrote:
<snip>
>> We think ours is Grevillea
>> rosmarinifolia but as it was a gift to Ray, we're not 100% certain of
>> that. Next time we go to Tresco, I'll try to remember to take a bit
>> and see if Mike or anyone there can ID it positively.
>
> I assumed you had Orange Marmalade. If it is G. rosmarinifolia, you have a
> very hardy plant which will survive anything Devon can throw at it in the
> way of cold weather. Keep the chainsaw handy ;-)
I'm afraid chainsaw it about right. We have to hack large pieces off it at
least once a year.