The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

You can visit our Solanum page or browse the pictures using the next and previous links. If you've been inspired take a look at the Solanum plants in our garden centre.

Solanum rantonnetii

meanie

By Meanie


Solanum rantonnetii (Solanum rantonnetii (Royal Robe))

Flowering for the first time this year despite having been planted out in the main bed. The mild winter helped.



Comments on this photo

 

Flowering for the first time? Really? LOL!

This plant becomes a very big shrub here and blooms heavily all year. It's a really good shrub for poodleing (I think I spelled this correctly) lol.

8 Jun, 2014

 

First time this year. I planted it out last year and basically I'm just pleased that it survived the (admittedly mild) winter.

What's poodleing mean?

9 Jun, 2014

 

LOL! We call it poodleing here becuase it's how poodles are cut. Cut like round balls or shapes in sections of a shrub or tree. I had seven branches with different size round-shaped foliage on top and you strip all the leaves below. I had a S. rantonnetii in the SF Bay Area which I shaped like this...it looked very good.

Here's an example. It's commonly done on Ficus and Olive trees here in California.

http://www.examiner.com/article/fruit-trees-for-desert-gardens-olive-trees

9 Jun, 2014

 

Ahhhh - what we call a standard. I loath them! Just look unnatural to me.

9 Jun, 2014

 

A standard here in one trunk, not multiple trunks or branches.

The poodleing technique is widely used at amusement parks like Disneyland.

10 Jun, 2014

 

Sounds more like cloud pruning to me....very skilled and costs a fortune...

12 Jun, 2014

 

Dottydaisy2:

Yes, it's also called cloud-pruning. I think Solanum rantonnetii looks very good pruned this way because it's an extremely fast, gangly-grower to 20' (6m) tall and almost as wide. I think this plant looks awful when allow to grow in every direction. There's one a block from where I live which is much taller than the house and is growing in every direction. I think it looks ugly even though it has a million flowers on it.

13 Jun, 2014

 

I much prefer the natural look...................

13 Jun, 2014

 

I don't think you would say this if you saw how large and gangly it looks. It looks so much better when pruned and shaped.

14 Jun, 2014



Comment on this photo


   Photo 96 of 169

  • previous slideshow photo
  • next slideshow photo

What else?

See who else is growing Solanum rantonnetii (Royal Robe).

See who else has plants in genus Solanum.

This photo is of "Solanum rantonnetii" in Meanie's garden

Members who like this photo

  • Gardening with friends since
    3 Jul, 2010

  • Gardening with friends since
    2 Jan, 2012

  • Gardening with friends since
    9 Sep, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    27 Sep, 2008

Garden centre