Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Daphne - any suggestions?

Grace Peterson here
here is growing a plant I would love to succeed with: a daphne. Please can anyone give me some tips on how not to kill the poor things?

4 comments:

  1. Nope, I've only killed the one I had. A long slow death. I do have a friend who has one, she does well with hers in mostly shade next to a driveway. It may be the drainage that is key. Not sure. good luck.

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  2. I've killed two, and with the second, I made great efforts to be nice to it. The smell was just amazing.

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  3. I have a gorgeous variegated one , Carol Mackie. They love alkaline soil so be sure to test the area where you plant it. If the soil is acidic there then you need to amend it with lime or other alkaline additives. Daphne's do better in sun than shade. Add a layer of finely shredded bark for winter protection.

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  4. Thank you Carolyn. Perhaps I should just accept that camellias and daphnes are unlikely to thrive in the same place and be grateful for one or the other. But maybe I'll try a bit of lime in a year or so's time, if I'm pleased with my progress!

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