Spritzhenry's Inbox

I love this plant, it's so shiny it looks it's plastic and it blooms at least twice in a season. Great picture !

You could also check some of the brachyglottis spritz (they used to be senecios). I have B.munroi which looks a bit similar

Hi Barbara
Iv just taken a PIC of a SHRUB i have in apot in my garden It looks just like the 1 your trying2name?But its wet from the rain.What do you THINK is it this ?

another to try would be Azara several spec, with toothed hairless dark green leaves, again i think most do flower, and no pic, or mention of underside of leaf, but might be another avenue to try.

how about Ardidia crispa - does your plant flower and have fruit? cos these do, not sure about the underside of the leaf and my pic does'nt show or mention this but the top side looks very simular! there is also another variety that sounds like a possiblilty A. japonica - but i don't have a pic.

defo not E.pungens, can rule that one out for you spritz - i have one of these and completely different! will have a look through some of my dutch books for ya.

Try Osmanthus x fortunei

Right. Another bite of the cherry. I now think it's an Eleagnus, which is what I was thinking of before! (I had a eureka moment in the bath). I'm not completely sure, but the glossy evergreen leaves and the silvery reverse points to Eleagnus. My book mentions wavey leaf margins, but not toothed leaves. The mystery deepens.......

I have discovered orchids, too. Always thought they were for others...too exotic for me...but I found a waif cymbidium at a WalMart...it was dying and nobody seemed to care...I brought it home and I'm nursing it...I have a phalenopsis that blooms and rests in cycle.. It's my favourite.

He has a very determined look about him, doesn't he? I think you could like him, maybe? I have doves and pigeons and today my back deck(where I feed everyone) was visited by five large crows.

No. Sorry. I'm mistaken. Just looked it up and Euonymus has oposite leaves. Your shrub looks to have alternate leaves. Does look familier though.....

Looks like some sort of Euonymus to me - are the undersides of the leaves pale and sort of powdery?

Good luck with your floppy acanthus! I wonder if it is floppy because it is in a shady position and is reaching for the light?

And check the undersides of the leaf - is it green as well? Or white?

Reminds me of SUMMER Spritz :)

Fab photo

Wow looks just like alittle star :)

It looks like a 'Holly Fuchsia'. I found this link to a photo which looks like the same leaf shape? What do you think. It says it does well in shade so I wouldn't be surprised if it had been lurking at the back of the border....
http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s855580.htm

i thought you had problems with Saxifraga? this does'nt look like it has problems to me! lol beautiful - far better than mine!

ah spritz how sweet, is it pink or red? cos it looks very simular to mine but mine is defo red! 'Scarlett Baby'

Have you ever noticed any flowers on it spritz? How tall is it and what aspect?

Although the book says this is easy, the author obviousy doesn't have MY snails. They absolutely love it and I've never managed to keep a plant for more than two weeks :-(

I've remembered to take pictures of the link stakes I use and have just uploaded them.

Do you let your acanthus self-seed spritz? That is how mine started to spread so now I deadhead it after the flower has faded. Any seedlings are removed in early spring before they have a chance to get a long tap root established

Looks like a Mahonia to me Spritz.

Geoff Hamilton used to use 5mm wire cut to length and bent into a U shape to hug the plant then legs bent down the right length for the height of the plant. He then pushed this into the soil to around the bottom third of the height to support the plant.
Muddled description I know but hard to explain. Customised supports!

Hello Spritz! I think I have a fairly unique way of supporting floppy plants - I use the long arching stems of buddleja. Just last week I coppiced my large buddleja. I then strip off the thin side shoots. What I'm left with is sturdy 'canes' about 8ft long apeice. Over the last 10 years or so I've found they have several advantages over bamboo canes. For one, they look alot more natural as the colour and texture are more simpathetic. Another big advantage is that they are rougher in texter than bamboo - have you ever grown sweet peas up bamboo canes, then there is a big storm and the plants have all slid to the bottom? THis doesn't happen with buddleja canes and the wigwams I make from them look really good too. The other big advantage is that I get a new crop of them every year! The thinner twiggier stems get used in the veggie patch as pea-sticks - all in all, there is not alot that gets wasted. I try to use natural materials in my garden as much as possible.

hi spritz, don't know if this is the same thing that andrew is saggesting but you can buy packs of something very simular in B & Q fairly cheaply i think they were 3 or 4 pounds per set and they are a bit like andrew discribed 4 or 5 linking supports in green covered metal that make a neat support, i was thinking of getting some for some of my taller things, i liked them because there are no sharp edges or sticks to poke your eye out with - thought they would look much better than the bamboo kanes with play dough stuck on the ends that i used last year lol.

I use link stakes. These are green metal supports that come in five different sizes. Each one has a hook at one end and a loop at the other for the next hook to go in (difficult to explain - I'll try and remember to take a picture tomorrow). Then you put them round the plant, however many are needed. They are not the cheapest method but by buying two or three dozen each year, you gradually build up a good collection
I use the circular steel ones for herbaceous paeonies - never thought of giving my acanthus any support

so pink! wow

How could they not like each other Barbara their both such LOVELY PLANTS ; )