Solandra - has anyone grown this?

[otorongo]

I saw them in flower in Madeira in December last year but didn't know what they were until I stumbled upon the name mentioned somewhere today.

They bloom in the winter, and Plantfiles rate them as hardy to 8b, but the comments say frost causes leaf and flower damage (the vine survives though).



Maybe not such a bad idea for a London south-facing brick wall?

[GREVILLE]

Maybe not such a bad idea for a London south-facing brick wall?

Someone did exactly that a few years ago in a front garden in South London. I saw it planted with just a few blooms on it and trained up some trellis at the front of a small terraced house in Vauxhall. Checked on it since but it's no longer there.

There's a nice specimen growing through a wire fence in the communal gardens near my apartment..........in the Canaries

Allow me to shatter the illusion of its exotic status - it's a relative of the potato

[Conifers]

Allow me to shatter the illusion of its exotic status - it's a relative of the potato

So is Brugmansia, and everyone here considers that exotic

[Yorkshire Kris]

Potatoes are exotic!

[charliepridham]

I found it grew too well but started taking damage when it was supposed to flower, it would like to be everygreen, but our winters dont allow it to be, it does (or did) recover but I ended up with a large unrully plant and no flowers. If its the leaves you want you may as well grow a Kiwi!

They have a couple of Solandra species in the main biome at Eden

[Conifers]

Potatoes are exotic!

True!

They are also hardy, and of tropical origin . . . maybe there should be a special forum here about growing them?

[flounder]

I obtained some cuttings from a fella in germany a couple of years ago after seeing the madiera ones. i managed to kill them(actually my nephew did through not watering them whilst I was on holiday elsewhere ). So easy they root in water overnight(couple of days!).
Its a good job its not fully hardy, could turn out to be a real thug with its speed of growth....must get another one

[otorongo]

Cool, thanks.

Yes, they're closely related to Brugmansias and I don't see why they wouldn't be considered exotic?

I'm after the flowers, have only seen seeds (on ebay), a cutting would be better...

[otorongo]

I took a cutting in Alicante in April, it rooted easily and it's now planted in the ground and growing away in this warm weather. Not as fast as the brugs, but still fast. We'll see what happens to it in the winter.

[GREVILLE]

Well done for trying this, Otorongo. After your original post I thought I would bring some cuttings back from the Gran Canaria specimen when I went back at the end of last year but forgot to take any before I switched to Lanzarote. Didn't find any there at all

Since learned that I'm not allowed to bring any plants or cuttings back from the Canaries and the temptation to smuggle one home from my regular trip this summer has been removed as I will not now be going

As my work often takes me to the North West London area there is now an alternative temptation to go on a cutting scrounge..............

[flounder]

Brilliant Greville.......they're getting closer

[otorongo]

Well it's still a small plant, but shouldn't take long until it reaches a cutting-taking size.
I didn't know it's not allowed to bring plants from the Canaries.

The plants themselves look a bit less elegant than Brugs IMO, but I like the glossy foliage.

[charliepridham]

The Canaries have opted out of the EU proper so unlike Madeira you can no longer (officially) bring back unlimited uninspected plants, I believe there was a good palm nursery exporting to the UK which went to the wall because of the change.

Oh and well done on the Solandra! view from our hotel room on Tenerife this January

020 by charliepridham, on Flickr

[Conifers]

The Canaries have opted out of the EU proper so unlike Madeira you can no longer (officially) bring back unlimited uninspected plants, I believe there was a good palm nursery exporting to the UK which went to the wall because of the change.

As would happen to Britain too if we were so stupid as to leave the EU

[Alexander]

We grow it here in our tropical butterflygarden. It flowers during winter. Well if people want cuttings let me know.

Alexander