Joey's Outbox

Hi Michaella, this is 'Henri Matisse' and smells glorious as well as making wonderful dried flower petals. You can see this and my other plants in 'my garden'.

I think this must be right. I lived in Gifu in Japan for 2 years and this is one of the main persimmon or kaki (italian and japanese!) or sharon fruit growing regions over there. There are endless orchards that drip with the fruit and still have beautiful dots of orange peeking through the snow in the winter. It gets very cold in this central region of Japan and I had to dig my car out of snow drifts every day for a good couple of weeks... probably not like a Russian winter but pretty chilly all the same.

In Japan they start eating persimmon earlier than we normally would so they are sometimes served quite hard rather than leaving them to go a bit soft first. I hope you are successful in your endeavours Chrispook!

Buzzbee is right Greenfingers.. they need to be planted but will apparently do well in a jar of water for a little while at least - good luck.. and dont get rid of those pollution eating plants - they are cleaning your air even if they are not able to live on it!

Oh no thats not fair at all Chrispook, this was a display at Horticultural Halls and they were all fabulous maybe better luck next time??

arg... I cant remember at the moment Nancym.... and it is a bit chilly tonight to venture out with the torch to find the label! I will go and have a little look in daylight.

I just love these much maligned beauties! I just dont have the confidence to go for it from seeds yet... good luck with your crop.

I have no doubt at all Jacque, the female is smaller and less brightly coloured than the showy male. I was lucky with my macro lens and a good auto-focus (as well as a little jiggery pokery with photoshop to zoom in a bit more!) to get this lovely man!

I dont think so, it is in the glasshouse at RHS Garden Wisley.... gorgeous isnt it!

Fantastic news! I always thought your garden looked fabulous! Well Done.

sorry roger, missed this post - hurrah! I hope I am right and you dont have a tree in your living room next spring! Keep us informed of your progress

thanks for the tips everyone - the website was great too!

Ooo yes please show us some pictures of your veg... they make fantastic photies - I have a pull out of pumkins on my office wall..... should I admit that?

Many thanks Owdboggy, I might be able to squeeze some in the fridge but otherwise the shed will probably do.

Me too!

I have cats and birds in my garden but it is a bit of a struggle to keep both happy! Sodapop has the right idea, we 'train' our cats to stay away from my houseplants and the birds with a spray bottle and they really get the message. Cats are quite lazy too... my cats are definately urbanites and have never got close to the wiley birds (the mice arent so lucky) my mum keeps a bird table near to the house and has a water pistol by the kitchen sink as her cats are hardened hunters! For smaller areas try putting a feeder with suckers on a window out of harms way!

if not, what size were the berries and what colour were the leaves... and any idea where the bouquet came from?? Cheers

Hey Puss, if you could post a picture of any bit of the plant it might help.

I lived in Gifu for two years working as a teacher at elementary school and Kitakyushu for one year as a university student.... great times. I do miss it lots now! Specially the food!

oh wow! Can I have this delivered please! I miss proper sushi :(

I am not sure whether this has any influence - and it might not be of any huge help - but this year there has been a significant increase in insects such as gnats, mosquitos and midges as the weather has been perfect for them. Bluetongue is now in the news in an outbreak near my hometown - it is carried by biting insects and has never appeared in our climate before. Times are a-changing. If you havent come out in big swellings with mozzies before - keep an eye out for horse-flies they can be nasty little watsits. Goodluck Darryluk - I hope you find the source of your problems

Hi Spritz and David - have a look at this list for some hints http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/dogs/index.html

I am sooo stumped by this one Roger - none of my books are coming up with it either... I will keep an eye out for you though! I am slightly stuck on the idea that it might grow to be quite big one day....

Thanks peter! Yes, these are all on the same plant. The new growth comes out pink and green - you can see some of the curly ones below! The older ones tend to be green and cream. Only little as I had it in the wrong place for a while and it didnt fair well!

Thanks maple, it certainly is a lovely place to take a break! I wish I could get there more often and take advantage of the tea and coffee making things that have appeared in my old room! ;D

ooo yes! you definately should and we can organise a mass Grows on You convergence on your garden! I, for one, would come armed with both cameras and extra memory cards!

I'm just behind you Owdboggy! I will go with Streptocarpus too... if you want to know some more about care I can look it up for you.

Hi Roger, really quite stumped but I would hazard a guess at a type of Solenostemon or possibly Quercus (oak tree)... two very different plants but it is the best I can do. Do you know if it is an indoor plant? That would rule out Quercus!!

You would say that! Tehehe - Thanks argerfenhouse!

Yup, thats my mum!

The very snazzy allotments near to me cost £35 a year with pic-nic area, shop and toilet facilities on site - free horse manure too! I suspect that people might pay that much if they think it is the going rate.... London, I suspect, could get that pricey.
What a shame! I should stick to your own plot and make the 3 mile journey!