February, March, April/Autumn in the southern hemisphere

[Lesley Cox]

The above lily, the lower one, is just about 30 cms in height altogether. It is consistent at this though I read in an Archibald seed catalogue a while back that much of the L. f. pricei about has become taller over time, so perhpas it hybridises with the taller form. Mine sets good seed if anyone is interested and Dave, if you don't have this little one, give me a shout as I have about 30 in pots at present.

These two rhodos are flowering at the end of summer. R. forrestii repens does it every year but R. keleticum doesn't usually. And I'm really thrilled by the lovely new growth on this and another Rh. camschaticum, grown from Ardfearn Nursery seed donated to Otago Alpine Garden Group 3 years ago. Not flowered yet though there seem to be some little incipient buds. In any case, they'll have lovely autumn colour soon. Now I'm wanting the white form that Ian C showed on the old Forum.

[Lesley Cox]

A a few more things out at what is quite a tired time of yearin the garden. We need rain and the weather is perking up so it is almost summertime at last.

First, a plant from John Forrest's seed , Silene hookeri Ingramii Group. In a plastic bag now, it will go into a raised bed as soon as we get decent rain again. There are at least two good seed pods so far.



Then Thymus cilicicus which is very long-lived but I find a beast to propagate. The cuttings root well but on potting up, die off in quick succession. I found a couple of sssedlings just one year but haven't been able to collect anything that looked like seed since.



Genista aetnensis is a small tree and past its best now but the perfume is still wonderful, competing with the liliums to scent a large part of the garden.



This "pink" is a seedling from `Whatfield Wisp" and called `Marybank' after the Nelson garden where I found it. The scent is typically clove and very strong.





Campanula time is starting and these two whites are fully out right now. First C. arvatica alba





then C. `Mist Maiden'

[t00lie]

Love the Silene Lesley --although it only lasts a season or two with me.

Maggi-- you are correct about size of the Lilium sps query i had.--A plant about 60 cm in height and looks very like a taller version of L.formosanum pricei ,(which i also have plenty of),so i presume it's L.formosanum.

Suppressing the urge to get away in to the hills i spent last weekend harvesting various Trillium seed pods which despite our cool spring/summer conditions were fat and plentyful and a start on repotting dormant bulbs.

During our winter i commented on the old forum that Narcissus rom. atlas gold was having a poor flowering season and the deep green lush looking foliage made me suspicious i might have 'mucked up' ,(excuse the pun ),my fertiliser application.

The following shots show the end result --Might be 'old hat' to most of you but i've never had such a increase in bulb material --most parent bulbs have produced two/three young ones with many many extremely small ,(half pea sized),bulblets.

Cheers Dave
   

[rob krejzl]

"It is consistent at this though I read in an Archibald seed catalogue a while back that much of the L. f. pricei about has become taller over time, so perhpas it hybridises with the taller form."

Of course the alpine form does hybridise with the lowland one (though the difference in bloom times helps minimise this), but I think the intimation of the Archibald's note was that there had been some unconscious selection for taller forms, in the same way that L. mackliniae is said to have slowly changed since it's original introduction.

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks Rob because while I remembered the Archibald note, I wasn't too sure about the gist of it. Perhaps the little lily has been the victim of the "bigger is better" syndrome that many hybridisers or selectors suffer from. Fr. imperialis seed in the post tomorrow, others still a couple of weeks.

Dave, I'm pleased to see your new avatar pic. More like you I think.

The N. r. `Atlas Gold' bulbs look about right to me. I find it increases hugely and you certainly seems to have quite a number of flowering size ones in there. Mine started off as masses of foliage last year but then all of a sudden there were several dozen buds, about 70 altogether I think. We here in the south seems to get more foliage sooner, if you see what I mean. I.e, the foliage is more mature at flowering time. The late Joan McLachlan in Timaru always reckoned that in the SH or in NZ at least, most species and hybrids grew to 5cms taller that the same ones did in the NH.

[Lesley Cox]

I just looked up "avatar" in my Collins New English Dictionary and find that it means "Divine incarnation; the descent to earth of a god or some exalted being; a manifestation (in Sanscrit, descent). So is that really the word we want in the current context of the Forum?

[Maggi Young]

Re Avatar: Lesley, given my stated desire to become a goddess, it's fine by me! Nice pic of Dave though!
It makes a lot of difference to me to "see" the folks I'm "speaking" to !

Here, Lesley, it is R. forrestii repens that is the one reluctant to flower, while R. keleticum is very reliable. Funny old world!

Lovely things from your supposedly "tired" garden:
We must speak to  Admin about the chances of introducing scent to the forum, these photos of fragrant flowers are driving me crazy... I want to smell 'em!! We can put men on the moon, etc..... why can't we get smellyvision??

[Lesley Cox]

So avatar is appropriate then. It was Dave I was particularly thinking about. I know a couple of men who believe they are God's gift to women, but in fairness, I don't think Dave thinks along those lines. (I'd soon disabuse him of the thought if he were!)


The R. forrestii repens always has a few flowers in summer was what I meant, whereas keleticum doesn't with me. Both flower well in the spring though with f r, the more in summer, the fewer in spring.

[fermi de Sousa]

Here are a few pics of recent flowers in our garden:
Lycoris incarnata from bud to bloom in less than a week!
Then more rain-lilies, Habranthus robustus hybrid seedling, double-header (again!) and Zephyranthes rosea.
And continuing the campanula theme above, the double white Campanula "Warley White" which is known in parts of Australia as "Marshall Mitchell" because he was one of the people who imported it many years ago.
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Sorry, Lesley, I got confused about your meaning with the rhodo flowers, I'm with you now. Our keleticums will put on summer flowers but .f repens doesn't want to flower in spring, let alone summer, in Aberdeen!

You must be more gentle with Dave, you've told us he has two beautiful red-haired daughters and a man with red-haired daughters deserves considerable credit in my book, most goes to Hilda, of course!

Fermi, loving your assorted rain lilies !Especially as I sit here looking out on the snow and my freezing rhododendrons!!

[Lesley Cox]

Do you get seed to spare Fermi on the pink rain lilies? I have masses of what I grow as Habranthus andersonii (I think it is a tubispathus form now?) but can't seem to get the pinks going.

Nice to see Marshall's campanula. I guess he would have taken it back to Oz when I brought it here, in 1981, following the Nottingham conference. Nice man. It tends to have lighter coloured foliage here, a pale lime green which is pretty with the white.

Yes Maggi, I'll be gentle with Dave, poor wee man. Actually he's very large and being gentle would be like beating a rhino with a feather. But he knows I love him madly.

[Lesley Cox]

And just while I think of it Dave, the Iris danfordiae arrived safely and yes thanks, it was 3 packets. Time will tell but if they're wrong this time, I think we should want our money back. I hope I'm not being paranoid about them, but did you notice a few dark grey streaks on yours? Please God, don't let it be ink spot disease. I'm dipping mine in a fungicide before planting.

The cuttings of Asteranthera ovata have at last rooted well. Took a while but they now have new growth and can't be removed from the pot with a good tug. I may leave the whole lot together to grow on rather than trying to separate them, and have a large potful. Potting individually, I may lose the lot.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
I'm sure there'll be some nice ripe seed when you get to this side of the ditch in April!
Maggi,
It's nice to know the summer flowers can brighten your day in the middle of your winter!
We're currently having a "cool" break in the weather with temp's down to the mid 20's (Celsius) but the weekend should see them back to the mid to high 30's again! One minute the plants are been roasted and the next they're being blown out of the ground by wintry blasts!
Only one Cyclamen hederifolium in flower so far and no colchicums, but they have started already in the cooler areas like the Dandenongs ( where Tim lives!)
cheers
fermi

[David Nicholson]

Fermi/Lesley,

I had a look at a pack of Habranthus bulbs in a Garden Centre yesterday but had second thoughts and put them back on the grounds that my Maritime climate would be too wet for them in their resting period (I didn't want to buy bulbs that I had to dig up and store). In your climate do they get a dry rest?

[Maggi Young]

Happy Birthday, David! How about growing the habranthus and their like in decorative pots that you can move to an area under cover, or even under the lea of a hedge, to get a dryer rest, after you have enjoyed them on the terrace ?