Hi, Jim!
On 29 September 1997 Jim Venedam wrote to Maria Edelhausen:
 JV> I had to think about it for a minute.... When I put the Christmas
 JV> lights up, the leaves are still there, so they don't lose their leaves.
Then I suppose that you have the hibiscus Rosa Sinensis (not hardy) in your 
garden, or should it even be the hardy hibiscus Syriacus?
 JV> Yes. The Lantana lives thru the winter. The branches are quite
 JV> woody, so I imagine they'd survive a frost, maybe even a freeze.
Maybe, because they are really woody that they could have a freeze, but when 
I let my lantana in containers outside for a freeze they will die.
 JV> These two bushes are becoming a nuisance to me. I have a "hedge"
 JV> behind my pool as a screen. There is about 15 feet of Cardinal
Latin name please, suppose it could be  "Erithrina crista gallii" but I'm not 
sure.
 JV> Plant which grows to about 6 feet. It has big leaves and loads
 JV> of red flowers all summer and fall. (The flowers look something
 JV> like salvia). The plants have spread easily from the one plant
 JV> my neighbor gave me. They do die off easily in the first frost,
 JV> but the roots live and come back in the spring.
When I'm right in guessing the Latin name, I can tell you that mine in the 
pot is just opening now the third flower of this year, which makes me already 
very happy.
 JV> frisky to keep neat. Grow every which way. They also seed
 JV> themselves everywhere. The flowers interested me when I first
 JV> saw them. A flower made up of circles of smaller flowers, all
 JV> multicolored.
Yes in your nice climat those plants are really doing well. Where they all of 
the same color? I've here several colors (all in pots) : white, creme, pink, 
red and orange. The changing of the colors from red to yellow and then red 
again as final color is really wonderful.
 JV> I have two 1 gallon pots of the orange lantana that I'm going
 JV> to plant somewhere at my mothers house. I've seen them in some
 JV> commercial plantings. They grow low, and from a distance look
 JV> like huge beds of marigolds.
Didn't know that there was a real low growing lantana. Don't think it will be 
necessary for us here to get that kind of lantana, because cut the plants for 
about 5O% when putting them in the greenhouse for the winter. That we do to 
save place and because they even loose all their leaves.
Greetings
      Maria
--- FMail/386 1.0g
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