Sorry for the delay in responding. The Gunnera is on the north side of the house next to the foundation. When the leaves are killed in fall I cut them off and lay them over the crown. I grow Gunnera just like I do Rhubarb with the exception that I plant it close to the foundation of the house for extra warmth. The Lapagerias also are sending up new shoots this spring but are killed to the ground each winter. I was lucky enough to get one blossom last fall before the frost got it.

Flyleft, that was one day, etched into my memory because my pt Dr Ben Vidgoff died that day and my husband and I got really bad pneumonia and almost died too. There was a lot of ice and snow and ferocious winds. Hasn't been like that since but have had 3 weeks of 11 degrees so we do have hard freezes. I've gotten my Eucalypti from Frank the Eucalyptus Man who lives in McMinneville but is back in Cincinnati for an extended stay helping his mom. Frank supplied Eucs to Pistils and Cistus Nurseries and who knows how many others. You could call Pistils and Cistus and see if they still have Eucs. We were super lucky to meet Frank at Cistus and he very kindly came and saw our crazy yard and has been carefully selecting Eucs from his hardy collection that he thinks will survive our conditions. Lynn wants another Camphora ... Frank come home! We have no inches left to plant anything else. Even the creeklets are stuffed with swamp trees. I wish more and more ppl planted Eucs here that could survive the heat of summer and freezes of winter -- have always loved Eucs, need more broadleaved evergreens around here. A lot of the native plants are starting to die because we no longer get enough rain and the summers are too dry and hot. Plus the developers are willy nilly cutting down anything left standing.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I planted the young honeysuckle serotina in the tub which is actually a half barrel at the end of 2006. There are also a clematis Nelly Moser and a variegated ivy in there. My problem now is that although they have grown tall there are no flower buds on either the clematis or the honeysuckle and they both look a bit pale and unhealthy. I have given them a couple of doses of fertiliser designed for plants in tubs. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Something about it? It would have been better if it had been pruned to avoid that split trunk LOL. Although it's less likely to cause a problem than with some other plants, probably, I imagine this family being very strong wooded. (hence the common name of its cousin Parrotia) I will be planting its 'second cousin' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodoleia in the garden this spring. Like a somewhat showier version of the above. I wanted it to size up to being 3/8" caliper. However I will ground layer a branch cuz even tho I have the supposed hardiest one, it may not be hardy enough.