Pruning & Exotics
17 July 2009 17:31:26
Datura & Glory Lily
I went out into the wind today to prune my Mock Oranges. I have about 14 of them and they have just finished flowering.
In the books it's so clear cut. You prune the branch, which has just flowered, back to a strong shoot. Well, I could find no new shoots in many cases. Sometimes I imagined I could see a scar on the stem, like you do with roses, so pruned to that. Mostly I just thinned the bushes out by removed complete branches from congested centres. Very unsatisfactory. I really don't want to end up with leggy specimens!
While I was annoying the Mock Oranges, the Rosa Rugosa came to my attention. God, they're such invasive things, springing up miles from the original bush. I hacked at them but, annoyingly, when you cut off the outside branches, you uncover the unattractive spider like legs of the bush. But I think I've ranted on about Rosa Rugosa before in this journal so I'd better give it a break : )
Putting all that aside, my heart was warmed by the sight of my flowering Datura. And the scent - overpowering. You know, rainy Ireland can't be all bad when you can grow beautiful exotics like this!!!