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Crambe Cordifolia

Hello

Has anyone grown Crambe Cordifolia as mentioned by Monty Don on last week's Gardeners World?

I would be really interested to know how people have got on with it and whether they think it is a good large shrub.

Thanks

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Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,142

    It's a herbaceous perennial not a shrub. It dies back to nothing at the end of the season. It's tall and impressive in flower, takes up a lot of space at that time and dies back to brown stems and rather manky(spelling?) leaves. It's in the cabbage family and smells like it when the dying leaves get wet.

    It's one of the plants on my get rid  of listimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • ANNABEL3ANNABEL3 Posts: 7

    Thanks for you reply nutcutlet. Gives me food for thought.

  • BookertooBookertoo Posts: 1,306

    I also found that, including all the above, it was impressive for a very short period of time.  Mine shrank away to nothing in a couple of years, and I have not mourned it's passing. 

  • darren636darren636 Posts: 666
    You'll need space!
  • Mine isnt even trying to get big - and slugs love it!

  • davids10davids10 Posts: 894

    image

     can we be talking about the same plant?

    6 ft. tall. 6ft.across. a cloud of white for a month.

    mine is just starting to open. will be in full bloom in about 2 weeks and then gradually  fade away. it then disappears. 

    the leaves, up to 18 in. long, are very impressive in the spring.

    you should check to see what your nose says about it. it's one of those plants where half say yuck and half say nice. to me it has a faint but pleasant fragrance

  • davids10davids10 Posts: 894

    odd about smells-and smellersimage. i can't bear box, privet or euphorbia, but the absolute worst is actaea, which smells, to me, exactly like sewage.

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,043

    I had it behind a small formal pool in my last garden with a spotlight under the water. It looked stunning at night.

    Regards the flowers lasting a short time. I used to insert canes alongside the stems and as the flowers died they took on the same colour as the canes. Althought they were technically dead , they had the beauty of grasses in winter.

    Mine set seed and self set about the garden.

    If you've space: give it a go.

    You can always dig it out if you don't like it.

    Devon.
  • davids10davids10 Posts: 894
    image

     why i like crambe.

    when it's done, i'll cut it off at the ground and things behind and in front will fill the space.

    a noble plant.

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