These are enormous plants with dramatic foliage, best used as a focal point in a large garden.
The huge inflorescence usua...Read Morelly requires staking and only lasts about 3 weeks. The scent is usually described as honey-scented, but many people find it unpleasant.
Cabbage butterfly larvae were a persistent problem for me, eating holes in the leaves. Patrolling for larvae wore me down, and I wound up getting rid of the plant. Bt or other suitable insecticide would be an alternate solution. Slugs and snails can also be troublesome.
These can take Z8 on the west coast, but Armitage says that in eastern N. America they can't take the hot humid summers of Z7-9. They require regular deep watering in the heat of summer.
My plant is at least 8 yrs old. It bloomed the 2nd and 3rd year but after that all I get is big leaves. Full sun, zone 6. Leaves look hea...Read Morelthy and plant appears to have sent up a second, smaller plant next to it. I used to have great success, but don't understand why it stopped blooming. Average soil, average rainfall. I do recall reading on line that sometimes the plant fails to flower. Does anyone know why? Also, I do not fertilize. Thanks for any help.
June 4,2015 my crambe cordifolia is now blooming with two strong stalks, 4'x4'. I guess bloom periods can be temperamental. It is a beautiful plant when blooming. No insect damage, very healthy.
My daughter has been growing this successfully for years, grows wonderfully big on the east side of her house in sandy soil, low moisture...Read More (because of limited water available) Blooms wonderfully every year. Live in zone 2b Norhwestern Ontario.
Saint Petersburg, FL (Zone 10a) | November 2009 | positive
I recently purchased one from our local nursery because we have a guinea pig we would like to feed. We've grown this back in '05 on the n...Read Moreorth side of our FL home, and surprisingly it bloomed in the limited light. Right now we have it in full sun. Our piggy should be happy. We'll have photos soon.
My plant in Portland, Oregon has become four plants (I call it the creeping crambe), with eastern exposure only. They bloom beautifully w...Read Moreith only morning sun (maybe a bit of filtered afternoon) in acid soil. I do stake the blossom stems, mainly because we get heavy rain or hail about the time they open up. Have had no problem digging and transplanting roots. Because my plants are near a busy sidewalk, crambe blossom time has become a neighborhood event (I've even devised a crambe cocktail in her honor). The scent, however, is a bit putrid.
I see this is listed as to be propagated by seed, but I would like to add that it is easily propagated by root stock division. I had to ...Read Moreremove the parent plant last fall, and I have 100% success on each of the pieces of the root stock now growing as a separate plant.
I 've wintersowed seeds january 2004 and planted them out that spring. End of april a stem with flowerbuds has emerged.
I hope it ...Read More'll get tall ...as I expect.
I cant get crambe cordifolia to bloom for me. It is planted in a zone 4b in a heavy clay, dry soil. I have replanted some of it in a li...Read Moreghter soil where it also grows but does not flower. it blooms at my friend's also in zone 4b.
Zone 4b, I've had it 3 years, and it has two leaves about 4" across... I keep waiting for it to get big... that's why I bought it. Some ...Read Morecatalogs list it only to zone 6... anyway, it's not happy in my garden.
It is interesting that all the literature on Crambe cordifolia list it as hardy to Zone 5, yet my Crambe has been thriving in Zone...Read More 4 for eight years.
I often wonder if the seeds germinated at home make for hardier plants.
This is a great plant for back of the border. The foliage is huge with wavy fleshy leaves about 3' long. The flowers are creamy-white a...Read Morend look like a gypsophila on steroids. The flower panicles are honey scented.
This large, round species is 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide. The large flower panicle may need to be staked. Benefits from an alkaline soil.
These are enormous plants with dramatic foliage, best used as a focal point in a large garden.
The huge inflorescence usua...Read More
My plant is at least 8 yrs old. It bloomed the 2nd and 3rd year but after that all I get is big leaves. Full sun, zone 6. Leaves look hea...Read More
My daughter has been growing this successfully for years, grows wonderfully big on the east side of her house in sandy soil, low moisture...Read More
I recently purchased one from our local nursery because we have a guinea pig we would like to feed. We've grown this back in '05 on the n...Read More
My plant in Portland, Oregon has become four plants (I call it the creeping crambe), with eastern exposure only. They bloom beautifully w...Read More
I see this is listed as to be propagated by seed, but I would like to add that it is easily propagated by root stock division. I had to ...Read More
I 've wintersowed seeds january 2004 and planted them out that spring. End of april a stem with flowerbuds has emerged.
I hope it ...Read More
I cant get crambe cordifolia to bloom for me. It is planted in a zone 4b in a heavy clay, dry soil. I have replanted some of it in a li...Read More
Zone 4b, I've had it 3 years, and it has two leaves about 4" across... I keep waiting for it to get big... that's why I bought it. Some ...Read More
It is interesting that all the literature on Crambe cordifolia list it as hardy to Zone 5, yet my Crambe has been thriving in Zone...Read More
This is a great plant for back of the border. The foliage is huge with wavy fleshy leaves about 3' long. The flowers are creamy-white a...Read More