Daphne's in tufa. Problems and questions

[CRSHEP0]

Daphne's in Tufa.   Getting a few small Daphne's that I want to put in tufa.  I did not have good success with tufa dust and chips and lost 3. D. Velonovski.  One has sat there for two years alive but barely any new leaves.  Can someone suggest a soil Mix to put into the drill holes?  Any other suggestions?   Also, can they do well under the same conditions as Sax as I have many of these im tufa.  Thank you.  Oh yes, another question, how often would you feed the Daphne's in tufa.        I apologize as I am using IPhone in car and I am not friendly with it.  Cecile

[David Nicholson]

A recipe for disaster I would have thought. The growing medium needs to both well drained and moisture retentive and I would think tufa to be far too constraining for Daphnes. They are expensive plants and if I were you I would spend a few $ on a copy of "Daphnes: A Practical Guide for Gardeners" by Robin White, published by Timber Press 2006. Spending to save

[CRSHEP0]

I have the book, it is excellent.  No, he never mentioned putting in tufa.  I guess that's the reason why the others expired, and the last one is doing poorly.  I will experiment with other plants, any suggestions for soil mix for other alpines?

[David Nicholson]

Try Saxifrages from particularly Section Porphyrion, (many pictures on the Forum) they'll romp away with the sparse diet that tufa provides. Have a search through Ian Young's Bulb Log and look at troughs. Ian can grow Saxes in lumps of concrete

[ian mcdonald]

I have a few small pieces of tufa with a soil bank behind them. I drilled holes into the tufa and have had success with small lime tolerant ferns, such as rusty back, Ceterach officinarum and maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes. Haberlea is a good plant for tufa, see photo. There are many photos of plants growing in miniature tufa "gardens" on SRGC and AGS sites. img. 1020293.

[Paul Cumbleton]

Robin White does briefly talk about growing Daphnes in tufa in his book (page 93). He advises drilling the hole right through so the roots can have access to the soil beneath - he says failure to do this can result in plants which survive but do not really grow or flower well. He also advises that for Daphne petraea it is best to bury two pieces of tufa with a gap of 2.5 to 5 cm between them and plant it in the gap.

Paul

[ruweiss]

The picture from last year shows Daphne jasminea in the tufa wall of the Alpine House at
the Tuebingen Botanical Garden. The stone gets the water indirectly from the back side and
sometimes directly to the front during the warmer season. This enermous plant started from
3 small plantlets which grew together by the years.

[astragalus]

Daphne's in Tufa.   Getting a few small Daphne's that I want to put in tufa.  I did not have good success with tufa dust and chips and lost 3. D. Velonovski.  One has sat there for two years alive but barely any new leaves.  Can someone suggest a soil Mix to put into the drill holes?  Any other suggestions?   Also, can they do well under the same conditions as Sax as I have many of these im tufa.  Thank you.  Oh yes, another question, how often would you feed the Daphne's in tufa.        I apologize as I am using IPhone in car and I am not friendly with it.  Cecile

There are many of the small daphnes in my garden and some of them are growing in tufa beds and crevices quite well. Only one was planted directly in tufa (a D.arbuscula form) and it has never done well but is not removeable now. I don't grow D. velenovskyi in the tufa bed because somewhere I heard that it was not a lime lover. Not sure if this is true but here it grows very well in a fairly neutral, fast-draining mix. The mix is very lean. The plants are in full sun and a windy spot.