HELP!
This is the second plant I've gotten. The first one died from to much water I think. What kind of soil should I use when pla...Read Morenting it in the ground? Can this plant be grown in a pot?
This last season (Summer) in Johannesburg I propagated sixteen canary bird bushes from the seeds harvested from of our first bush.. The e...Read Morexercise was a great success. Now, at fall, they are all three feet high and a few flowered in the first season. The original bush is ten feet tall after three seasons, and is an absolutely beautiful sight in our garden. The root system seems fragile as at one stage strong winds pushed it over, but the soil was soaked after much rain. I repositioned and supported the stem, and it is now flourishing. Perhaps I had planted it too shallow?.
I am however mortified to read in your description of the plant that all parts are poisonous!. This is bad news as we have a standing policy in our garden not to have anything that can be ingested by infants of visitors to our home. I filled up our fish pond with soil for the same reason. Rather safe than sorry, and alas I must now uproot the mature canary bush and destroy the fledgling plants.
I have harvested about fifty seed pods from the mature bush and will send it free to anyone who so desires, but not at my postage costs. I don't have a digital camera so cannot send a pic to your magazine of the lovely mature bush, sorry!. My misfortune regarding ignorance of the plants poisonous characteristics is a perhaps a lesson to all,.. first read the instructions!!.
Botanica Encyclopedia
CROTALARIA - Rattlebox
This large genus of legumes consists of around 600 species, occurring in most ...Read Morewarmer regions of the world but with the great majority confined to Africa and Madagascar. They include annuals as well as evergreen perennials, subshrubs and shrubs. The leaves are simple, or compound with 3 leaflets and the flowers are of the pea-type, from medium-sized to quite large and mostly yellow to greenish yellow. The hard, inflated seed pods are a distinctive feature of the genus, with loose rattling seeds at maturity that give them their common name--- when the seeds have dried out they rattle inside the pods.
CULTIVATION:
They are nearly all frost-tender plants and need a sheltered location in full sun and moderately rich, well-drained soil. Pruning after flowering will keep them compact and encourage a second blooming. Propagate from pre-soaked seed or from tip cuttings in spring or summer.
CROTALARIA AGATIFLORA - Canary-Bird Bush, Bird Flower
Native to upland areas of eastern Africa, this shrub of rather open habit is grown for its elegant, large greenish-yellow pea-flowers that appear from spring to fall on ascending spikes. It has pale green leaves with 3 leaflets and grows to a height of 10-12' and a spread of about 8'. The common names refer to the flowers' resemblance, before they open fully, to small birds perched on twigs.
ZONES: 10-12
Just got this plant from City Farmers off Home Ave. Not much experience with this but LOVED the way it blooms - like a yellow erythrina....Read More Anyone here have any experience with it in a coastal exposure? Would love to use it in future designs.
HELP!
This is the second plant I've gotten. The first one died from to much water I think. What kind of soil should I use when pla...Read More
The Canary Bird Bush grew and thrived in my grandparents' garden in Long Beach, California, eight blocks from the Pacific Ocean, for years.
This last season (Summer) in Johannesburg I propagated sixteen canary bird bushes from the seeds harvested from of our first bush.. The e...Read More
Botanica Encyclopedia
CROTALARIA - Rattlebox
This large genus of legumes consists of around 600 species, occurring in most ...Read More
Just got this plant from City Farmers off Home Ave. Not much experience with this but LOVED the way it blooms - like a yellow erythrina....Read More