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Mutisia ilicifolia



11th June 2012


The Asteraceae don't usually present problems in cultivation but I have repeatedly burnt my fingers trying to grow Mutisia. I think they need rather dry conditions at the root and warm conditions in summer but what would I know. I have seen M.ilicifolia growing against a wall in a agrden a few miles away and I have seen it growing in the open border at Kew, but I have failed repeatedly to keep it.
Putting my past experience to one side, I bought a sturdy plant from Cotswold Garden Flowers, and I didn't even manage to keep it through the first winter. Here it is shortly after I bought it, it went downhill from here with depressing determination.
If I get another chance I will take it. I have a large pot of sandy loam in a sunny greenhouse waiting ready and I am reckless enough to keep going until I become a figure of horticultural fun, repeatedly banging his idiot head against a sheltered wall.
If I succeed, I will be enchanted by a scattering of pale lilac daisies on straggling stems.