Quick Question & Answer

QPlEAsE could you identify this 8ft (2.4m) plant? Ian Mitchell (via email)

AI feel sure that the perennial sunflower that you are growing is Helianthus multiflorus or one of its varieties.

Normally ascending to around 6ft (1.8m) yours are exceptionally tall at 8ft. Best in full sun but tolerating light shade, it is drought resisant and spreads quickly in good soil.

QPlEAsE can you tell me what this plant is and whether it can be propagated by cuttings? Lee Battersby (via email)

AIt is pheasant berry, a lowmaintenance shrub from China and Tibet.

Propagate it by taking cuttings in spring. Take a healthy length of shoot, dip it in rooting powder and insert it into a pot of cuttings compost and grit.

seal the pot in a plastic bag and keep it somewhere light and warm until new growth emerges, then pot on the new plant. Move it outside after hardening it off, keeping it watered.

QTHIs most beautiful flower is growing in the garden of my new house. What is it?

P McKenna (via email)

AIt is either a globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus), which has edible flower buds, or a cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) with silvery leaves, fetching blooms and immense architectural appeal.

Both tolerate very dry soil. They also look wonderful with agapanthus, whose blue flowers complement the cynara’s silvery foliage.