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Scilly

Q – How can I grow better aubergines?

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Bob – They need a lot of bright sunlight.Ìý You could try hand pollinating them too.

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James – You could try growing Thai pea aubergine instead

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Q – I have a Coleonema pulchrum which is too big – can I prune it?

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Mike – Yes you can cut it right back.Ìý To take cuttings you can take 40-50 six-inch (15cm) cuttings and put them in a pot and they should root quite easily in this climate

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Q – How do I prevent bud drop from a Fremontodendron californicum?Ìý

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Pippa – This can be caused by the plant being too dry.Ìý With Camellias and Rhododendrons this can happen when the buds are forming.Ìý You need free-draining soil as it doesn’t want to be soggy either.

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Bob – Do be careful of touching the plant with bare skin – it can cause serious irritation

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Q – Can you recommend fast-growing and dense plants that will withstand strong salty winds please?

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Mike – New Zealand plants do well eg Pittosporum crassifolium, Elaeagnus ebbingei and Gressilinia literalis.Ìý Olearia traversii as an individual shrub.Ìý

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Bob – Sea Buckthorn.Ìý You need male and female versions.Ìý Pampas grass too will grow in these conditions.

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Plants mentioned in feature with James and Mike:

Monterey Cypress

Proteas

Gazania splendens from South Africa

Agave

Cistus

Washtingtonia palm

Trachycarpus palm (from China)

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Matt Biggs in Levenwick:

Primulas

Oriental poppies

Thrifts (Sea Thrift)

Candelabra

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Shetland

Q – I have a coastal garden and I rely on raised beds.Ìý Which rhubarb variety would be best to grow?

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Matt – ‘Timperley Early’, ‘Grandad’s Favourite’, and most of the others will do well.Ìý They need moisture but don’t waterlog them

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Q – Can the panel suggest hardy flowering plants for late summer colour (apart from Crocosmia)?

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Matthew – Daisy flowers like Asters and Rudbeckia and Helenium.Ìý Chrysanthemums as well.Ìý Aster lateriflorus horizontalis.Ìý Aster alma potschke.Ìý

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Anne – Japanese anemone ‘honorine jobert’. Physostegia virginiana (‘Obedient Plant’)Ìý

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Matt – Geranium pratense.Ìý Geranium macrorrhizum.Ìý

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Q – I have a dwarf cherry tree – a ‘Compact Stella’ – and it’s growing out of control. What can I do?

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Anne – Bend the branches and tie them down

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Q – What are the best plants for a foliage border?

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Matt – Euonymus fortunei ‘Silver Queen’.Ìý Also Fortunei radicans.Ìý

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Anne – Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’.Ìý Asarum europaeum (related to the ‘Mouse Plant’).Ìý Cornus canadensis (‘Creeping Dogwood’).Ìý

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Matthew – Dryopteris erythrosora.Ìý Hostas.Ìý Hosta sieboldiana ‘Big Daddy’.Ìý

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Q – What plants/seeds would the panel take to an unknown land?

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Matt – Hops. Juniper berries. Sloes.

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Anne – Citronella

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Wilson – ‘Grass Pea’ (Lathyrus sativus). Old wheat varieties.Ìý Gourds.