LESS HARDY PLANTS 2008
FEIJOA (Feijoa sellowiana)
A most exotic plant from South America is this close relative of the Guava family, and amazingly, it is even hardy enough to survive outside in sheltered mild spots. It's an evergreen shrub with grey-green velvety leaves, white underneath, and incredible fuchsia like flowers which if you can bring yourself to, are edible in themselves. Don't be tempted to eat too many though or you'll miss out on the sizable and intensely aromatic fruit, that can be produced in significant numbers during the autumn and makes a great addition to a fruit salad or delicious jelly. If you can't find room for it in your conservatory then try it somewhere warm and sunny in the garden.
£6.00
HOTTENTOT FIG (Carpobrotus edulis)
This is a succulent from South Africa that has become naturalised along the coastline in the West Country. It can cope with a few degrees of frost but mine over winter in the cold greenhouse to be on the safe side. It requires a very well drained soil, preferably sandy, and plenty of sun. As it's happy in dry conditions, it would do well on or by a sunny wall or rock garden.
The leaves are long, triangular and fleshy and the woody stems like to trail along the ground covering quite some distance where they are happy. The flowers can be yellow, magenta or lilac, large, being up to 7-10cm across, loved by bees, and are followed by the fig like fruits which ripen to a purplish brown. They are not fully ripe until they begin to shrivel and are then either eaten raw or cooked, dried or even pickled. The leaves are sometimes eaten raw in salads as well.
LOQUAT (Eriobotrya japonica)
Actually from China not Japan, this attractive tree will survive well enough outside in this country but is unlikely to fruit unless in a greenhouse or conservatory. Small and evergreen, it will normally reach about 3m in time, with large handsome leaves and pale yellow flowers that are strongly scented. The trouble is it produces them in the late autumn when not only is it getting cold, but there are no insects around to pollinate them. If you can offer them a little warmth at that time and don’t mind pollinating by hand you might persuade it to fruit but even if you can’t, it still makes an attractive pot plant. Delicious eaten just as they are.
£6.00
MEYERS LEMON (Citrus meyeri) SOLD OUT
Like all citrus trees the Meyers Lemon is an attractive evergreen with wonderful scented flowers in spring and early summer. It used to be considered a variety of the ordinary lemon, c. limon, but is now classified on its own largely because it is hardier, surviving a few degrees of frost, the fruit being rounder than most lemons, thin skinned and very juicy. More of a shrub than a tree, it does very well in a pot of lime free compost, sits out side in the warmer months but mine come into a cold greenhouse in the winter which is when the fruit ripens. Could be tried outside in a sheltered sunny spot but would have to be very sheltered and free draining.
£6.50
MYSORE RASPBERRY (Rubus niveus)
From southern Asia is this formidable raspberry, with large, vigorous, pale green canes, vicious spines and masses of rosy pink flowers. If you are brave and can find it a sheltered sunny spot without too much in the way of frost, (ours have taken over one of our cold greenhouses) it will reward you with large quantities of beautiful bloomy black raspberries right through the summer into the autumn.
These are very sweet and juicy though they lack acidity. This makes them an ideal addition to fruit salads where they not only look good, but also allow you to get away with adding less sugar than you might have had to otherwise.
£6.00
NATAL PLUM (Carrisa macrocarpa)
One for the conservatory or windowsill is this, being a small, slightly spiny shrub from South Africa. Attractive with its small shiny leaves and clusters of fragrant white flowers, which are similar to Orange blossom and can, appear any time of the year. Large plum like fruits should hopefully follow, about 5cm in size and purpley/red in colour. They are eaten raw if fully ripe or cooked if not.
£5.00
POMEGRANATE (Punica granatum)
The Pomegranate makes a very decorative addition to any conservatory, or patio in the summer. From late spring onward it has the beautiful orange flowers and delicate pale green shiny foliage. The form we have is ‘Nana’ which will stay small and compact, more than happy to stay in a pot and is actually a little hardier than the type. Even so, it needs protection in the winter and heat to develop the fruit, but you can’t beat a pomegranate from your own tree.
£6.50
PRICKLY PEAR (Opuntia ssp)
There are many members of this large family of cacti, most of which produce fruit. We have two on offer at the moment, the Western Prickly Pear, o. compressa, which is quite sprawling in habit but a fare bit hardier than most cacti. It is said to survive outdoors in the UK but would need sheltering from too much wet and frost. A gritty, free draining soil is essential and they are likely to perform better with some extra heat, but as they happily grow in large pots, they could inhabit a greenhouse or windowsill with pleasure.
Indeed, our other type will only survive indoors, the Indian fig, o. ficus-indica, is the type that usually supplies the fruit in your supermarket. More upright in habit, it has larger flowers and fruit but is less cold tolerant. Originally coming from the arid parts of the USA it has naturalised in many parts of the world that suit it. It became a complete menace in Australia, where, having been introduced for its fruit it spread like wild fire and had to be painfully removed by the authorities. Shouldn’t be too much of a problem on your windowsill though. The hotter it is, the more they will like it.
The big flat pads are not too spiny as cacti go, more like hairs, but care should be taken as they can cause irritation. They both have beautiful big yellow flowers, hopefully followed by delicious sweet fruit from about 4cm in size which could be either yellow, orange, red or purple in colour. Just pick, peal and eat.
O. compressa
£7.00
O. ficus-indica
£7.00
STRAWBERRY GUAVA (Psidium cattleianum)
The Strawberry Guava is a lovely plant for a conservatory. It’s attractive, reasonably tolerant of the cold and quite content to be in a pot, being bushy in habit it can be cut back quite hard in early spring. The flowers are a creamy white fluffy affair with an exotic perfume in the early summer, and are followed quite late in the autumn by the fruit, which is fragrant and delicious, about the size of a strawberry and a dark burgundy colour, the flesh is paler and when fully ripe, sweet and juicy.
£5.00
UGNI (Myrtus ugni)
Also called the Chilean guava, this is a small evergreen shrub from Chile resembling the myrtle to which it is related. Upright in habit it can get quite tall but will accept pruning happily enough. Although it does survive outside, mine will only fruit in the greenhouse, doing very well in pots of any good compost which stand outside in the summer to facilitate pollination. The small white bell like flowers are produced freely in late spring with the fruit ripening in the autumn. These may only be the size of peas but have a delicate strawberry like flavour, which make the little effort of producing and picking them well worthwhile. Eat raw or cooked or steep in cold water to make a very pleasant drink.
£6.00
UMBINZA (Halleria lucida)
Enjoyed by the native people in the southern area of Africa where it grows, this is a very graceful plant sometimes known as the African Honeysuckle. It needs the shelter of a conservatory or greenhouse in this country to survive, making an attractive pot plant, shrubby in nature reaching about 1m in height but will cope well with being trimmed as necessary.
The beautiful orange/red, tubular flowers are particularly rich in nectar and followed by purple/black berries, which are sweet and juicy, about 1-2cm in size and usually just picked and eaten, though in some parts of Africa they are also used in rituals and witchcraft…
£6.50