[David Dickinson]

Just starting to flower for me again. I say "again" because when it arrived from the nursery in early summer this year it had some flowers but they disappeared very quickly. Now there are lots of buds.

I read a suggestion of growing it up through rosemary to counter its spindly nature. Has anybody tried this or any other combinations?

[John J]

Much better behaved and well-mannered than its horribly invasive, gate-crashing relative!

[Fermi]

This "Evening Primrose" is pure white rather than yellow (though there is a yellow variety) when it first opens; it collapses in the morning and if the weather is cool it reopens soft pink the second evening. If it is hot and dry the flower will shrivel and won't reopen.
It's certainly not as invasive as others in the genus and seems to be adapted to a Mediterranean garden despite coming from South America
cheers
fermi

[John J]

We planted a couple of these several years ago and ever since they have seeded themselves around. Mostly we pull them out before they establish but a few we leave where we don't mind a splash of colour.

[Hilary]

A pale yellow one in Sparta at the end of October.

[John J]

The oleander is so common it tends to get overlooked. This is a double flowered variety with a pleasant scent.

[John J]

Our Thunbergia alata did so well that it began to smother the plants around it so we had to cut it right back, but it is beginning to recover.

[David Dickinson]

Starting to come into flower now and it will give me some welcome colour throughout the winter. I think it has a bad reputation for its "perfume" but I don't think it deserves it. I can only smell anything if I brush against it and it isn't really that repugnant at all.

[Fleur Pavlidis]

I wonder how you manage this buddleja on your balcony, David. I use it for thuggish cover-all-in-sight jobs.

[David Dickinson]

It is true that it does sprawl but I let it grow out through the railings and so it is better seen looking up from the street level. It is in a pot so it doesn't get too out of hand. During the summer and still now a Maurandya barclayana was growing up through it so I had some colour and it compensated for its somewhat straggly growth (though I think it lost leaves due to the competition for light even though the Maurandya is lightweight and has small leaves)

[John J]

One of our Eremophila maculata 'Aurea' just coming into flower. They are in full sun for much of the day and receive no supplementary water in the summer.

[John J]

Pentas lanceolata, the red-flowered variety.

[JTh]

Do you manage to keep the Pentas lanceolata for more than one season? And do you grow it in a pot?

[John J]

I can't answer those questions yet, Jorun, as it is a new acquisition. Last week we visited one of the few nurseries on the island that we trust, they specialise in herbs and small perennials. The owner, who is a botanist and geneticist, along with a string of other ...ists, one of which she has a PhD in, is presently concentrating her efforts on salvias. We had a long conversation with her on this subject and along with the car boot load of plants we purchased she gave us this Pentas to try out. It's currently in the ground not far from our kitchen door where we can keep an eye on it so I'll try to remember to let you know how it  survives the winter and next summer. I have to admit that the last one I tried, several years ago, only lasted the one season.

[Joanna Savage]

From my past subtropical experience I would be surprised if Pentas can take lowish temperatures for long. But even in the subtropics it benefits from being cut back hard, or even being grown as an annual from cuttings. I seem to remember that it roots easily.