Crispy Ceanothus

[MisterC]

Hi - after a fortnight of minus 12-15 here in the Charente our Ceanothus has interestingly crispy dark brown leaves which fall off when touched but I think the stems are OK. Normally it would flower on last years growth I think (I stand ready to be corrected) It looks as though it needs a good trim which would probably mean no flowers this year. What should I do apart from dig it up along with the Cordyline/Chusan Palm/Phoenix Canariensis/ Rosemary & Bay Tree which despite fleecing are all v sick. (or will they recover too?) help please

[kizpip]

Sorry to see that you haven't received any replies as I was hoping for some advice myself. We have the same problem with our spreading Ceanothuses (one of which is about 10 feet wide) - crispy is a good description. I don't think the whole plant is dead though so I'm going to prune it quite hard and hope for the best.

As for your other plants, I don't hold out much hope for the Cordyline/Palms, etc. I've seen many dead ones in our area and we're further south. My rosemary plant is dead as a dodo (scratch the stem to see if it's still green). However, I don't believe I could kill a Bay tree if I tried. Ours haven't suffered at all.

[Gardengirl]

I found my big ceanothus had also suffered when I returned to the Thames Valley. It's fairly well-protected by a fence, so I was surprised. I've cut it back to undamaged parts, and I'm hoping it will still have some flowers on it. Another, smaller one in a less-sheltered position, but facing the same direction, escaped unscathed. Good luck, both.

[Jo]

My ceanothus is partly sheltered by a wall, some parts are distinctly crispy, but I'm leaving it until I can see how much has survived. My Lavetera has really suffered, but when I cut back into that the stems are still green inside despite everything else being black so I have pruned that and will wait and see. Just out of interest I have stuck some of the prunings into the veg patch to see if they take[:)]

[Cluzo]

My cordyline in the UK caught by the weather last winter eventually showed signs of life by sprouting from the base in OCTOBER .

So if you can leave it alone for many months it may eventually sprout from the bottom like mine did and you will finish up with  a bush instead of of a tall tree.

[Loiseau]

Yes, I was about to say that, Cluzo. My Vendee cordylines have copped it during one or two harsh winters, but they have ALWAYS recovered - often producing two strong trunks where there was only one before.

So don't do more than clear away the most visible horrid-looking dead bits.

Angela

[brianagain]

Having lost two ceanothi (?) in the past two years I was surprised to find that they only have a life expectancy of 10 years or so. This may well be the reason.

Brian (again)

[Gardengirl]

I guess my large one is at least 20 years old, so it's not doing too badly, even if I've had to cut it back recently. I know they aren't meant to last more than about 10 - 12 years, but I've usually had them for ages in various gardens; even the 2 smaller ones are about 8 years old.

[MisterC]

Thanks for all your replies. Not sure how old this one is as it was here when we bought the house 3 years ago. It was very straggly with no bottom and my wife did a wonderful job of pruning it over two years so although it is (or was) a bit of an umbrella, it now looks nicely shaped. Have not started cutting ti back yet because we have had more frosts here in the Charente over the past 5 days. Have given it feed though and as we are promised balmy weather this week will start trying to save it! Rosemary is gone completely and the Cordyline is now just a 5 ft high trunk. I've cut the bay right back and here's hoping - but it was in a pot so that won't have helped.

[phylisbide]

I have just taken out a pair of ceonothus because they had so little green left - had one in the uk some years ago which caught the frost and one small branch at the bottom was green - we cut out all the rest and tied the horizontal branch to be vertical - and it grew beautifully. Until it was frosted too. They are not long livers and if you have only odd bits of green I think you will struggle  - the brown majority will look a bit odd when all the leaves fall off. PB