YOu'd be very surprised what I have taken back out of the compost heap after I threw it out there thinking it was dead.

I have several compost heaps in the woods under full tree canopy, its hot and humid and when it rains very wet. I throw trimmings from gingers out there and in a month can go out and harvest new plants that have sprouted from nodes on the stems. I have tossed old "dead" bromeliads with a little section of root (after the plant has gone through its normal flowering cycle it eventually dies) and gone back to find a new perfect plant has sprouted and grown. Not to mention plants that have sprouted from seeds that were on themwhen I tossed them out there. Its like a big bionursery.

The famous "thumbnail viability test" -- scraping away a bit of bark to see if there is green cambium underneath -- is subject to two common pitfalls:

1.) Yours was the false negative outcome: the trunk was dead at the spot where you tested it, but viable tissue still survived further down near the soil line.
2.) Also common is the false positive reading, which is typically associated with root rot: the thumbnail test shows green cambium higher up on the plant, but checking further down near the soil line shows that there is no continuity of live tissue to nourish the living, but doomed, top of the plant. In many cases, cuttings can still be taken from the top portion.

Gill, I'm glad you checked the tossed plant before trashmen took away..
I almost tossed out a Kalanchoe prolifera this spring..it's a rare species..grows up to 8'..well, last winter it lost everything..which was unusual for this plant. I thought about tossing it, but decided to wait at least a month..Lo and behold, new growth sprouted..Mind you, there wasn't even a trunk to test bark..Now I've got a 10" plant growing.,..I'm sooo happy I didn't discard it.
It's a good idea, when we think plants are goners, to set outside..we never know what's going to pop up..In some cases, the plant is dead, but we just can't predict what will happen. Toni

It looks as though I did get a so called 'False Negative' result then from my test then as it's most definately alive and kicking....I will just have to give it lots of TLC for it to thrive again.

Anyone got any tips for growing Calistemmons....seem to recall reading somewhere they are from 'wetland' areas of Australia such as riverbanks so like copious amounts of water during the growing season?? It spends winter in the g/h which is heated to keep frost free. These plants are increasingly being sold here in the UK as garden plants but I would be very wary of planting the outside permanently.
Gill.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? My neighbour grows it outdoors in less than ideal conditions (heavy clay soil, part shade) and it flowers beautifully every year (but this is in London). I've grown C. rigida and C. violacea from seed and the small plants are left outside all year round.

The blurb on growing them as garden plants in the UK always seems to include something along the lines of "does best with the shelter of a sunny wall".

Well, I have several types...the weeping ones, the standard ones, a pink one (C. paludosis), a sp. called "Mexico" that looks like a long leaf pine seedling, and C. brachyandrus, also called "spiney bottlebrush", and they have all proven to be very drought tolerant for me. I do water them, but if I don't they don't seem to suffer once established. They are frost tolerant, all are planted out in the yard and have taken temps to almost 20F without damage. They are all in full sun, which in FL is intense. I find them very hardy and easy to grow. The standard red ones (I bought them at Home Depot) went from 3 ft seedlings to full blown 12 ft trees in 3-4 years. The weeping ones are only slightly slower. The other more unusual varieties I got mail order and they have been slower but are doing well.

Ornata, Hi there! I live in the Staffordshire Moorlands, about 4 miles across up hill and down dale from Alton Towers. (which I guess you may have heard of?) We are situated high up on a ridge overlooking the Churnet Valley and get lots of cold westerly winds. Heres a pic to give you an idea of our situation, A. Towers is on the skyline about 1/4 of the way in from the left of pic. Realise you can't actually see it in this pic, but it is there, you can see Oblivion/Corkscrew with the naked eye...on a clear day!

I would agree your London climate is a lot less harsh than ours, and from what I've sen on the TV, gardens to many of the houses especially the town houses as us 'country bumpkins' call them are sheltered and have their own microclimate....something I could do with up here!!
The C.C is kept outside mostly, it's in a large tub, and is dragged into the protection of the greenhouse for the winter. Unfortunately, although we have almost half an acre gardens, with every aspect possible, none of it has a wall that faces south that has/could have a border beside it for the C.C. to be planted outside permanently.
I find it a spectacular shrub when in bloom and have had it for several years flowering regularly and as such it is a reminder of our recent holidays in Oz, although it was bought from our local Wilko store!!! No doubt it could be replaced with another relatively easily as they are being seen more and more as are lots of other 'tropicalesque' plants don't you find?
Cheers!
Gill.

What a great place to live. Lots of beautiful countryside nearby. Are you fairly close to the Peak District, or am I getting confused?

Callistemon citrinus can reputedly take temperatures of -12C for short periods (although I'm not speaking from personal experience). I wonder why it struggled in your greenhouse this (last) winter. The previous winter was much colder, wasn't it? Maybe the minimum temperature only applies to plants in the ground?

Ornata, the pic above was taken from the back garden and yes, we are 4 miles from the southern edge of the Peak Dist Nat Park...you are not confused at all!
Not sure what went wrong with my C.C., possibly it was too dry, all the leaves went crisp and dropped off. Come to think of it, it all seemed to happen after our 16x8 super duper 1yr old g/h got flattened in the gales...see what I mean about those westerlies!! It may well have caught a severe chill and dropped the foliage and died back so much in response...it was a very cold wind that did this.
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Anyway that was then, we have now rebuilt like this...hopefully it won't blow away, if it does this one will take the double garage with it too!! It's now finished off and full of plants.
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Regards. Gill.

Nice sunroom!! Kudos!

Tropicalfreak