Comments on: Virtual bonfire

By: Lyn

Lyn — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:32:33 +0000

Kris,
Check out pgs.84,85 in The New Perennial Garden (Kingsbury,1996) for a sensitive
analysis of Gunnera requirements. Seems to be more of a wetland plant than bog plant
so lack of air in the soil could be problematic. I once saw a whole wet meadow of them growing
happily in Swansea MA . On another note, I too am suffering from a bizarre form of
homesickness after hearing Fergus Garrett’s terriffic talk. So it was wonderful to be able to
revisit with your blog.

Lyn – You’re kidding – Gunnera in Swansea?! We’re convinced and very bummed but we’ll (Dan will) take the poor baby back out of the pond this week. Now I just hope it survives the whole ordeal… I’m so glad you were at Fergus’ talk – and so glad that we can keep revisiting it as necessary together. -kris

By: Stone Art Blog

Stone Art Blog — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Hi there, sorry about your Gunnera, its one of my favorite plants. I’m afraid Gunneras like to be near water and not actually it! I recently wrote a post about gunneras over here in Ireland you might find interesting http://stoneartblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-alien-im-legal-alien-im-gunnera-in.html

Good luck with it, let us know how it gets on!

Thank you for the info! What fascinating plants they are. But I’m more and more convinced that we’ll have to move ours back out of the pond. Sad. -kris

By: The Display Vegetable Garden in June | eGardening - Information on Vegetable Gardening, Organic Gardening

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:13:10 +0000

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By: ed

ed — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:40:52 +0000

Did you feed the Gunnera, Chris? I recall that the big potted one at Sean’s used to collapse in the heat if it had been fed. Also, they aren’t fond of heat. The pic seems to show it in full sun, which it wouldn’t like here – it needs some shade. Good luck!

Ed, I can’t for the life of me remember if I threw any fertilizer in the potting mix – which I do remember being heavy on the compost… After cutting off the biggest leaves and blooms it appears to be perking up. (I’m still worried about it being in full sun but really don’t want to have to move it!) -kris

By: Kira

Kira — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:36:59 +0000

Since this is my first year at gardening, I’ve hit plenty of snafus. Let’s see – there was the time when I somehow believed the right edge of my house was in full shade and filled it with coleus and elegans hosta, only to realize it in fact gets blasted by hot afternoon sun. Whoops. Or the row of dahlia tubers I planted along the south edge of my house and that my husband immediately knew would completely cover the window in his office that gives him the best air ciculation. Whoops again. I could go on and on, but I love the mistakes because I’m learning so much and I’ll never make those mistakes again. Thanks for sharing yours!

Kira, I still am in denial about a couple of hostas being in full sun at my house. Poor things have burned leaves and everything. At least you are learning from your mistakes. Garden on! -kris