A few years ago, i saw a plant at the Huntington in the Australian garden with giant red flowers. I tracked one down and planted it in my garden - it was Eucalyptus macrocarpa. I wasn't sure how best to take care of it, so i just kind of let it do its thing. It grew a lot, looking like a giant octopus:
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| it got big! |
I never saw any flowers until last year, when i noticed them for the first time. They are big!
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| they hang down and expand over a couple of days |
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| this was in Nov/Dec - i'm not sure they like the cold? |
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| the buds are cool - that little cap pops off when they bloom! |
So flowers were good, but the plant was still giant. In early December, my parents took a trip to Sydney and came back with a book for me: the concise edition of Australian Native Plants by Wrigley and Fagg. In it, i found an entry for E. macrocarpa which said "needs regular pruning". Ah. That might help my giant octopus look a bit more like a real shrub!
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By the way - i now have a book full of pictures and information about gorgeous Australian plants i can't buy. This isn't helping my tendency to want weird, barely hardy, and hard to find plants...)
So, this past weekend, I decide to prune it quite a bit:
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| the after - i mostly cut back the long branches |
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| i tried to make deeper cuts so it doesn't turn into a square blob |
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| i think that one big branch in the back should get cut some more? |
It looks like the flower buds form further down on new wood, based on these clippings that came off the plant:
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| and they seem to grow in groups? |
I'm hoping the pruning will not keep new flowers from forming this year. Both the flowers and the foliage make good additions to vases, although the leaves last longer. I am happy that i finally got those flowers i admired at the Huntington!
It took a post on my own blog to start looking at others' blogs, and you've been at it since late last year! This Euc is a new one to me, and maybe I'll sneak in a few since my climate is much like your's, except our summer "wet" / winter dry...
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to keep it up - otherwise all the pictures just stay on my phone. I'm still not sure i'd recommend this Euc - it looks like a giant pile of tangled branches most of the time...
DeleteI don't think I've ever seen a prostrate groundcover Eucalyptus. It's foliage and flowers are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteha! in the interest of full disclosure, at the Huntington, it's about an 8 foot tall bush... I'm hoping mine starts growing up instead of out soon!
DeleteSo intimidating to start pruning a special plant but I think it will respond well. So many cool plants to grow but alas, so many unsuited to our climate.
ReplyDeleteI hope so! And yes, i am familiar with the "cool plant, unsuited to climate" problem. Like all the hellabore pictures that everyone else has right now...
DeleteI know that plant at the Huntington! Your pruning job looks great.
ReplyDeleteThank you! i'm hoping my plant will start looking more like the one at the Huntington... it definitely is memorable!
DeleteIt looks really healthy and happy, Renee, so whatever you've been doing is working.
ReplyDeleteI too am slightly surprised that it is so flat to the ground. The several I've seen look taller. However, it's a beautiful plant, and that is enough.
I think the plant was certainly improved by the pruning. The question I would have would be when exactly to prune as their year is topsy turvy from ours. Will it adjust to the northern hemisphere by flowering at the correct time. I imagine so as other plants do. Pretty little flower with an Australian look. Qwe were fascinated by all the banksias when we visited. No luck growing anything like that here!
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