Max asked >My T. tricolor tubers have arrived well in advance of my plant to >construct a window box for them, and I am considering trying them in >"woolly pockets" instead: >http://www.woollypocket.com/wally/wally-one/ >These are breathable felted polyethylene bags used in vertical >gardening: Height = 15 inches, Length = 24 inches Volume = .40 cubic >feet. > >Does anyone have experience with this type of product or thoughts >about it's suitability to T. tricolor? > >In case you're wondering why I want to windowbox this plant, the >location will provide the best winter sun I can muster. I expect this Tropaeolum would grow at least for a season in almost anything, as long as it is kept moist during its early growing season. One thing to know about it is that different wild populations grow in different conditions; some are much moister during its flowering period than others. It's impossible to know which type one gets from a commercial source. All of them, however, go dormant by early to midsummer, so they might not be the best choice for a prominent position such as Max is suggesting. There's also the question of how warm the soil would get -- the tubers might not do well if heated too much. If Max uses the pocket planter, it would probably be best to store it in a shaded place during dormancy, even though he doesn't live in a terribly hot climate. Another thing I've noticed about this and other small tuberous Tropaeolums is that they flower best when given a vertical support rather than trailing down or along the ground. In my bulb collection they have been given twiggy branches to keep them from strangling nearly flowering stems. T. tricolor is particularly strong in its upward tendency and it would probably try to cling to the outside of the pocket material to go up. In nature they climb up through shrubs. (Some of the bigger ones, such as T. incisum and T. polyphyllum, are trailers that spread out on the soil surface and might be a better choice where a trailing plant is wanted.) This year I bought some small decorative "tuteurs" (pyramidal wire supports) to put over them for next winter's growth. Another possibility was suggested by a photo in the AGS bulletin of a show plant grown by Joy Bishop: she had made a dome of chicken wire and placed it over a pot containing T. brachyceras, training it back and forth over the dome to create a very pretty (if hardly "in character") flower-covered cushion, probably the most sensible way to get one of these fragile climbers to a show. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA