Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: fermi de Sousa on October 01, 2014, 07:23:03 AM
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Nice beginning to the month - first flower on this Iris reichenbachii - seed from Marcus Harvey, sown 20-04-2013,
cheers
fermi
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That's pretty quick Fermi. It's a beaut wee iris.
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Hello Lesley,
I wish I could have been at your plant sale, I am pleased you did well though
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That's pretty quick Fermi. It's a beaut wee iris.
Well, I did buy the seed two years ago ;D
Here are a few Aussie native plants in a sand bed:
Senna artemesioides (yellow)
Leschenaultia biloba(blue)
cheers
fermi
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Fermi thanks for showing us Leschenaultia biloba. What a stunning plant, that clear, bright blue is so appealing. I'm off to read about it.
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Well, I did buy the seed two years ago ;D
Here are a few Aussie native plants in a sand bed:
Senna artemesioides (yellow)
Leschenaultia biloba(blue)
cheers
fermi
Fermi,
I like the Leschenaultia biloba!
I found a copy of Field Guide to Australian Wildflowers by Denise Greig at our public library. Mostly woody trees and shrubs, but there are some perennial plants too. Unfortunately Leschenaltis is not listed. There is a good bibliography.
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Leschenaultia are new to me and I'm confess I'm smitten. I'll be asking at our local State Flora Nursery about them, but I suspect I'll have to source seed and be patient.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3rCHvKpkBdE/THpTX9EJGkI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/xlC23TUblno/s1600/wreath-leschenaultia.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3rCHvKpkBdE/THpTX9EJGkI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/xlC23TUblno/s1600/wreath-leschenaultia.jpg)
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Jamus and Robert,
Leschenaultia/Lechenaultia from WA are among the most desirable of the smaller shrubs/sub-shrubs. I saw them years ago in a sandy area near Perth (no, not the one in Scotland,Susan) and understood why they are called "wreath flowers" - the parent plant suckers radially and then usually it dies to leave a circle of new growth to continue outwards. When I was very young most nurseries sold 3" tubes of Leschenaultia formosa (yellows, orange and red shades) and occasionally L. biloba in brilliant "gentian" blues. You rarely see them these days except from "native plant" specialists.
I established this plant (from a tube) about 2 years ago at the edge of a sand-bed and it has come through 2 winters - usually the time we lose them "in the east" - but so far have been unsuccessful in starting it from cuttings. I've not noticed any seed but will be foraging around it this year in case it sets any,
cheers
fermi
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Fermi I was going to say that Leschenaultia biloba is gentian-ish in its colour. I definitely want to grow this genus and I don't grow many Australian natives at all here in the garden, so that's saying something. I have this ongoing argument (well debate I suppose) with my Dad,
Dad: "you should be growing Australian flora, our flora is fantastic and diverse and well adapted and beautiful".
Me: "yes Dad but I enjoy growing plants from all over the World because they have stories to tell about where they are from, far away places, it's like astral travel whenever I look at them".
Dad: "your garden is full of all these introduced weeds. Why don't you put in some grevilleas to attract the birds?"
Me: "the honeyeaters prefer my Tecoma and salvias to the neighbours grevilleas. Seems they aren't fussy Dad"
Dad: "are you watering your garden AGAIN? If you put in the indigenous species they'd grow on the natural rainfall"
Me: "yes dad, but when I went outside with my morning coffee I'd be stung by biting ants and scorpions and snakes, just like in the bush."
And so on.....
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Robert you might find this website useful. Not exhaustive by any means but some practical information on soil types and climatic requirements.
http://anpsa.org.au/l-macr.html (http://anpsa.org.au/l-macr.html)
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Jamus,
Thanks for the lead! Sometime I feel overwhelmed trying to learn about our local native flora. The book I have right now on the Australian flora has good photographs but no detailed information. Soil types and climatic information is very useful. Thanks! Something to build on.
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Jamus,
sounds ;like conversations I used to have with my dad - with the opinions reversed!
Here are a few more:
Calytrix tetragona,
Leucochrysum albicans
and a closer look at the Leschenaultia biloba
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
The Calytrix and Leucochysum remind me of plants I see on the east side of the Sierras. How cold hardy might they be?
Off to the farmers' market.
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Absolutely stunning Fermi, that blue is so clear and bright, very attractive. I love the little Leucochrysum too.
Here's a picture of the woodland garden showing off my Cliveas. When we moved here they were all in a big clump in a sunny dry spot and struggling. I moved them all down under the trees and spread them out and they are now thanking me for it.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3917/15214124617_a2951ecd02_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pbqncp)
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Fermi , we missed you yesterday at the Rockgarden Meeting at Ferny Creek . Hope you are feeling better today .Amongst many well grown plants I specially liked Rex Shield's Lachenalia angelica . I brought my pan of Cypripedium formosanum and a nicely striped seedling of Trillium rivale . South African bulbs were in abundance , a bit too bright for me and as many are too invasive not many find a place in my garden .
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and a few more from the meeting
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Fermi , we missed you yesterday at the Rockgarden Meeting at Ferny Creek . Hope you are feeling better today .Amongst many well grown pants I specially liked Rex Shield's Lachenalia angelica . I brought my pan of Cypripedium formosanum and a nicely striped seedling of Trillium rivale . South African bulbs were in abundance , a bit too bright for me and as many are too invasive not many find a place in my garden .
Very nice Otto. That Trillium is stunning ! :o
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Hi Otto, I love the Lachenalia angelica you photographed, what a beautiful thing. I love this forum, I'm learning so much hanging around here with you lovely people. :)
Your Cypripedium formosanum is absolutely gorgeous. I hope I can grow it half as well as you do. I would love to move to a cooler climate some day, but we are so settled here with work and friends and family, I can't see it happening... I just have to be satisfied with the things which survive and grow.
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Otto,
thanks for showing pics from the meeting - I was hoping someone had taken pics for the newsletter!
That Lachenalia is beautiful - hardly a "soldier boy" is it! (The common name for Lachenalia aloides in Australia from the 50s and 60s, I think, when they would be grown in straight rows like troops lined up!)
Here's another Aussie - Eremophila glauca which makes a sizeable "ground cover" after a few years unpruned!
This genus is huge and the name means "desert loving" -very drought hardy, so another one for you, Jamus ;D
Robert,
we get down to -7oC so they can take that at least. The daisy can be grown as an annual or short lived perennial,
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Thanks! The Eremophila glauca looks great - love the gray foliage. The flora of Australia is a little overwhelming - a huge area with a diverse flora. There is still much field work to be done just within 50 miles of the farm - many places where few people go, even to this day, and then there is all the development where the flora needs to be saved before it is gone!
I can hardly wait until spring here. Now is the time to be planting seed of our native annual and perennials - planting a few South African annuals too, and hopefully some of your Australian flora. I have a number of new areas I've been planting - so hoping for a good show this spring (ours).
With the 32c heat, still, the garden is looking good around here - Epilobiums, Mimulus, Cyclamen, as well as many annuals. The annuals are not too interesting - with the drought I was uncertain what I was going to be able to plant this season.
Cheers
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Fermi I'm very familiar with Eremophila, thanks anyway! I agree they are nice plants but no room for them here. Where I work the grounds staff have done a beautiful job landscaping the whole campus with native shrubs, trees, ground covers, grasses etc. I really enjoy it, so no need to plant them at home ;)
My Arum dioscoridis is flowering! I love it! The kids are afraid of it because of the smell.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5601/15267981179_7985fa9389_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pgboSP)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3936/15454741915_2d1711bcbd_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pxFAkv)
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Androsace sempervivoides, from Otto this year and already flowering!
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/15451589691_7f6591f187.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15451589691/)
Saxifraga arendsii
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3935/15267980129_85d437a499.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15267980129/)
Hellebores 'Anna's Red'
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2941/15431662616_23862f2d9f.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15431662616/)
Primula auricula, a freebie from a nursery I placed an order with and unspecified colour.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5598/15237345960_ee5bf87a55.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15237345960/)
A tiny little division of Achillea umbellata (I think) and the dear little thing flowered already.
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5598/15237268409_598b6ac410.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15237268409/)
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I hope your market day was enjoyable Robert. I haven't been up the road to mine recently, not for over a month as every weekend in October/November seems to have a major event of some kind that I'm taking part in. Next weekend is a Dwarf Iris Safari in Timaru (South Canterbury) hosted by the local group of NZIris Soc. There will be masses of those tinies in several gardens and I'll be like our little dog when he's chasing his tail, ultra excited. ;D
Otto your Cypripedium is a beautiful thing. I lost mine a few years ago in my dry (at that time) climate. It's not easily replaceable I'm afraid. Love the stripey Trillium too - or do I? Not sure. :-\
I grew Leschenaultia biloba, or tried to, some years ago when a particular nursery near New Plymouth still existed, and another too, brilliant orangey-red. But both were tender in lower New Zealand, even though we never had hard frosts, only to about -5C or thereabouts. I'd love to try them again but potted and under cover for the winter. Can't remember the name of the nursery (Huthnance? or something like that) but they are long gone as are so many of the little, specialist nurseries.
A small feather in my cap. I have been invited to sell plants at Larnach Castle, their big annual plant/garden day, on Nov 2nd. The castle's lady - I keep thinking of her as the Chataleine - says I'll be the only seller there apart from the castle itself. They have a fantastic collection of rare and special things always much in demand.
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Congratulations leslie, if only there was more 'culture' in Adelaide. It's really dismal, it really is...
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Yes, Leslie congratulations! From the photographs I saw about a month ago, your plants look excellent. I'm sure you will do very well.
It must be very nice having plant oriented events so often during the spring season. We have the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club sale once a year in late March. It is a good event, but the only one in the area.
The farmers' market was excellent. With warm weather (32c +) I still have much produce to sell and I even sold a few plants. I get tired at the end of the farming season - ready for a rest but I still have 5 weeks until market ends - It is year round but December and January are a waste for time for me - better to rest.
Anyway, good luck with everything!
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Won't say Rest in Peace Robert, too early for that, just rest easy maybe and be ready for the Californian spring. :)
Jamus I thought Adelaide was one of the Australian cultural centres, along with Melbourne. Certainly the tourism advertising on our TV suggests that. Maybe lots of other stuff like food, wine, the landscape and history etc?
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Lesley,
He might mean "horti" culture as opposed to "Haughty" culchure ;D
cheers
fermi
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HAHA! Good one Fermi, especially funny because it's spot on. We have plenty of the later! I'm being a bit unfair, we have got SOME horticultural prowess lurking here, and the Adelaide botanic gardens which includes the city and Mount Lofty are the best botanic gardens I've seen in Australia, from the point of view of diversity of species represented, but it's slipping noticeably with funding cuts on top of funding cuts on top of funding cuts just wearing it down...I know two former staff of the botanic gardens now out on their ear and working one in his own nursery and the other in plant science. The botanic gardens are down to a mere skeleton of staff and rely on volunteer working bees to do basic weeding and maintenance. How disgustingly shameful, honestly...
The arts are one thing, but I have to say even the visual arts and the festival and the music, it's all becoming more commercial, more a two dimensional facade presented to the public for show without the depth, the knowledge and the links with history. To me it feels fake. What our government values in the arts is the tourism dollars, not the inherent value in the arts themselves.
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It's great listening to these interchanges! Culture needs a little space to breathe in and we are very crowded down here in the south of England. I have just visited Kew and written about the Rock Garden on the AGS website, and it is as wonderful as I remember it as a student in London in the late 1970's, except much more expensive to visit. I've also just revisited the Czech Republic and gardens from 2013 in a talk to one of out local AGS Groups - an Alpine Cultural experience bar none (the visit to the Czech Republic, not my talk!). Curious how difficult it is to get this out into the wider horticultural world? It might be happening very slowly now with a few younger gardeners expressing the same knowledge and passion for the plants.
This is the recent display in the Alpine House at Kew, plus one particular plant on the rock garden, Ribes cereum, that I would really like to grow! (I've been reading about these Californian natives in a great book by M. Nevin Smith, dedicated to Wayne Roderick).
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Many schools offer horticulture as a Science subject in Secondary schools in New Zealand. Here is an link to what is required for year 13 (final year of school): http://www.tekura.school.nz/subjects-and-courses/search-courses/course-info/course-title-and-description?ccode=AG3000 (http://www.tekura.school.nz/subjects-and-courses/search-courses/course-info/course-title-and-description?ccode=AG3000)
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Otto, that Lachenalia angelica is to die for. I'm not really a Lachenalia fan, but that really is a beauty.
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(Well I hadn't thought of horticulture as "arts" or "culture" but why not? In NZ I'm (almost) happy to say that the Govt keeps as far away from the performing and visual arts as it can with a few exceptions so that "ars gratia artis" is a genuine concept in most cases. I don't think tourism plays much of a part in our arts world thankfully except when, e.g. an exhibition from the Guggenheim or the Tate Modern comes to the Dunedin Art Gallery and we have an influx of culturally starved Australians flying across the ditch (pause here for trans-Tasman indignation at comment). :)
But back to the plants, just 5 for now, but wait till after the weekend and I'll have irises galore!
Primula x Pubescens 'Rufus,' surely the reddest of this race?
Primula auricula 'Rose Window' which is really hard to photograph well. It's a lovely rose pink with a creamy centre in big, symmetrical bunches, sweetly fragrant, a seedling of my own.
Primula 'Hokonui White,' a seedling by Louise Salmond, from the white 'Linda Pope,' much for vigorous.
Androsace sempervivoides, the brighter form but showing typical foliage (the more usual form is a little greyer in the leaves, or rather, just duller leaves and finally
Helleborus vesicarius, the single flower has made a pod much to my surprise. As yet I'm not sure there's anything in it.
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Ah, "Rose Window". One of the treasures I had to leave behind. :'(
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That sounds like a plea from the heart Anthony. I have none propagated at present but will be taking cuttings when the flowers are finished so one will come your way, without a doubt. Don't know how it will do in Auckland but then I didn't expect crocuses and dwarf Narcissus would like it either. Worth a try. :)
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I'm not sure either Lesley. We have primulas in our pot on top of the leaky post box, and they do okay in the winter if I keep them watered.
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A few more pictures. I've had such pleasure from the seed I bought last October from Barnhaven in France. Sown on November 6th, as soon as it arrived, there was good germination of most things with the exception of mixed Prims allionii and marginata, none at all there. But the others have been good and started to flower in late July! At full strength now and showing quite a lot of variation within most varieties. Here are some but I must take more pictures. There's a 'Gilded Ginger all orangey/gold on top but red underneath. It's really lovely, and a wonderful 'Midnight,' deepest navy blue. Then there are other Cowichan shades too and Julianas and.....
The Barnhaven arrived Online a couple of days ago so I'm planning to order more as the plants have sold well at recent markets/ shows.
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I ordered blue P. vulgaris and these have been super from a pale milky shade to deep ultrmarine, all lovley. Then there is 'Osiered Amber' which is a sort of pale apricot yellow, or not quite plain yellow but over reddish leaves, buds and calyces which give it a beautiful colour. These, have sold very well and as well as keeping a group of the "ordinary" one, I've selected out two which have deep apricot flowers.
I'm surprised how good the yellow Cowichans are. Someone said, "just another yellow polyanthus" but they are not that, rather, bowls of pure, deep gold and again, with deep red foliage and buds. I like them a lot.
I've several times lost Sebaea thomasii in a pot but it's doing better in the garden, planted out in a gritty, humusy soil.
I think the Rhodo is 'Unique' flowering 3 weeks earlier than last year, as almost everything seems to be.
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All beautiful Lesley but 'Gilded Ginger' has to be my favourite.
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Last for now (time for potting), a beautiful Pacific Coast hybrid Iris, from N.Island breeder Mary Barrell. Mary generously donates seed from her breeding programme to the NZIS seed exchange each year and I'm expecting some super plants.
The dwarf bearded iris season is well on the way and this one is a favourite, called 'Mist o' Pink.' The rather crumpled leaves are because I've had to put netting over the plants to keep off our chooks and the rabbits, for which, happily we now have a solution (pictures later today).
I've had quite a few frits in bloom but most have been chewed by slugs and not worth pictures. I managed to save this one though, a yellow form of F. rhodokanakis which is a real favourite perhaps because it has been very reliable over a number of years. There are 4 or 5 bulbs, all from seed but no seed set alas in spite of hand pollinating among the different clones.
Iris PC hybrid Barrell
Iris PC hybrid Barrell 1
MDB Iris 'Mist o' Pink'.
MDB Iris 'Mist o' Pink' 1
Fritillaria rhodokanakis, yellow form
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Lesley, I adore your yellow form of Frit .rhodokanakis and would love to have it in my garden .
Went on a shopping spree yesterday at Kuranga Nursery , our premier one for Australian plants and bought 20 dwarf shrubs for the native Rockgarden at the Ferny Creek Hort. Soc. We lost many plants there during last summer's drought and extreme heat .There I saw some beautiful examples of the blue Leschenaultia biloba and L. formosa in yellow , orange and red .
here a few of my purchases
selection
Boronia ledifolia
Boronia muelleri
Boronia safrolifera
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and a few more native dwarf shrubs
Bauera rubioides
Pultenaea villosa
Prostanthera rotundifolia
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I remember that lovely and exciting place Otto, wonderful plants in bloom when I was there with you and others (who? Tim and maybe Paul?)
If I can persuade the frit to seed I'll send some of course. I'm sure, if my memory serves me correctly, the original seed came from John Richards in the UK, maybe in the early 90s. That's where the I. nusairiensis came from too. I have about 85 Iris cycloglossa seedlings now. but getting way too hard to count. They all look the same. ;D
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Waiting up late in order to see a "blood moon," which is on the way in an hour or so. So far there's about a half eclipse and the moon is full so it should be good. The sky is clear after heavy cloud all day but I don't think my camera's up to the task.
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Thanks for reminding me, Lesley,
I don't think my camera's up to it either :-\
cheers
fermi
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I can see the eclipse but there is a lot of mistiness in the air here tonight and it's all fuzzy and hazy. Not even worth getting the camera out. Interesting though and a lot better than the last time when my daughter and I climbed up to the top of the hill in the dark and it was over before the moon even rose above the horizon! ???
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A visitor to our garden over the weekend, not at all frightened by all of us staring at him or her? Its good to see we still have some wild life around.
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Thanks for these pictures Viv (not for yours though Fermi ;D) This is a wonderful animal and it must be a great thrill to have some about even if they do dig a bit. Perhaps I could dress my rabbits in echidna suits and pretend they were something special. ;D
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You can have some of our hedgehogs Lesley. 8)
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This one is for Maggi. :D
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3949/15289953370_be7a1b8a6d.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pi81rG)
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Isn't that gorgeous? The bud scales just holding gently at the very edge of that petal.....they'll drop off any minute. Thanks, Jamus!
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Sometimes I go outside first thing in the morning and there are big fat buds just cracking; I go inside and make myself a coffee and by the time I look out again they are opened! :o When they decide they are ready to burst they don't waste any time.
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That capacity for speed is part of the magic, isn't it? Better than watching paint dry, for sure.
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Those pesky rabbits Lesley
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A few pics from this morning:
a local pimelea (?P. glauca?) with Armeria cv
A colourful patch of mixed ixias
California Poppies with Dichelostemma
Ranunculus gramineus
one of the seedling PCIs from Heidi Blyth (Sunshine & Dirt iris Nursery)
cheers
fermi
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Fermi can you recommend a nursery who sells pacific coast irises mail order? I have only one and it's time I remedied that.
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Fermi can you recommend a nursery who sells pacific coast irises mail order? I have only one and it's time I remedied that.
No, I can't, not since Heidi stopped selling that way.
You'll just have to time a visit for the Mt Macedon Hort Society's Plant Lover's Fair next September :D
Otherwise you could try contacting her to find out where else she sells her potted PCIs! Otherwise I can send you some seed.
The problem with them is that there is a short window of opportunity for transplanting - just when the new roots form in winter - if you try at other times you're likely to lose them from rot setting into the wounds,
cheers
fermi
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Jamus,
I agree with Fermi, you might want to consider growing PCI from seed. They are easy from seed, they hybridize with each other freely, and with time you can have many different colors and forms that do well in your garden. Iris hartwegii, a species, is long lived in our hot dry area. Clumps can live for decades. I. hartwegii will cross with other PCI - the idea of creating stronger plants for hot, dry climates.
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I half expected that answer, seed it will be and I'm happy to do that. I'd better get started! Email coming your way fermi.
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Seed's the way to go Jamus. Consider joining the Society for PCs, an offshoot I think, of American Iris Soc. They have a fantastic seedlist and you can join with an Online sub which is only $7US annually. The pictures in the newsletter Online are thrilling!
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First flower opened on the Agrostemma githago 'Ocean Pearls' today. I've never grown this before and never seen (or heard) of anyone growing it in Australia. I can't wait to see it in full bloom. So many buds.
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Hi Everyone,
I noticed earlier this month Jamus posted a wonderful picture of Arum dioscoridis I think he purchased from me. I thought I'd bookend that with a picture of the variety cyprium. Note the discrete spots and the relatively unstained spathe limb. Not as good a picture as Jamus' but it shows the differences. This variety is not confined to Cyprus and I have seen it growing in Samos and I guess it probably occurs on Rodos.
Otto I have some seed from my "yellow" Fritillaria rhodokanakis if you would like some. Its not as good as Lesley's, which I have thanks to her, but its a nice thing. I have posted a picture.
My third picture isn't from my garden but I couldn't resist. What do you think it is Otto? I bet you won't guess. I took this on Mt Menalon in the Northern Peloponnese a few months ago now. ...... Its a pure yellow Fritillaria graeca or maybe that's F. mutabilis according to Kamari, I can't keep up with all the taxonomic ructions these days. Anyway, its a drool plant. I have NEVER seen one in cultivation and I have seen literally thousands in the wild and this is a first.
Cheers, Marcus
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Marcus that's a nice form, I'm going to move mine into the garden once it has died down. I reckon it should be able to stand up for itself in my sunny front garden. Limey, stony soil? Dry in summer?
I've just had Trevor Nottle, who some of you will know, here for a visit. It's so nice to wander around my garden with someone who recognises all the plants. It sure beats banal comments like, "Oh your garden is so pretty", and "My Mum used to grow these.. "(so and so, misidentified and wildly incorrect identification).
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Marcus wrote :
My third picture isn't from my garden but I couldn't resist. What do you think it is Otto? I bet you won't guess. I took this on Mt Menalon in the Northern Peloponnese a few months ago now. ...... Its a pure yellow Fritillaria graeca or maybe that's F. mutabilis according to Kamari, I can't keep up with all the taxonomic ructions these days. Anyway, its a drool plant. I have NEVER seen one in cultivation and I have seen literally thousands in the wild and this is a first.
Oh, my, that is YELLOW :o - as good a yellow as chitralensis which I always think of as the "best" yellow. A real beauty, Marcus.
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We visited Mount Lofty botanic gardens today and the Pacific Coast Irises were flowering... and Rebecca took photos of me talking photos, because I was clambering through the garden beds and she was supposed to be looking out for gardeners!
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part two
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5606/15326167628_ee750edd27.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pmjBFs)
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Agrostemma githago 'Ocean Pearls' : That's a really pretty plant Jamus, with the spotting along the veins. Reminds me of spider's legs for some reason. :)
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Hi Lesley, yes it's a gorgeous thing. Trouble is the seed I bought isn't pure and two plants so far have flowered with the pink, wild type. It's a weird plant, flops all over the place and refuses to stand up straight. Every time it gets wet it just lies down on the ground! I think it'd be better planted among other plants which can support it, or perhaps it's missing some essential nutrient in my garden causing it to be so languid?
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I don't know about that Jamus. I'm just getting a big selection of plants ready for next Sunday's Rhododendron Day sale at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, and I feel distinctly languid and would like to flop all over the place too, especially lying down. A long way to go though with the pots to be washed down, labels to write, a good watering and many or most of them, about 400 plants I think, also needing to be top-dressed with grit or fine pine bark. Then there are photos to find for some, signage of various kinds to collect up for things not in bloom, and early on the morning of the "do," several flowers from the garden and little vases, so it's just about a week's work. Hopefully it will be worth the effort, financially, and weather obliging of course. :)
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Sounds exhausting Lesley! If I lived within a 100 km of you I'd make the trip and support the cause, plus satisfy my plant addiction cravings.
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Promises, Promises! But thanks for the thought. I love the occasion but it does take a lot of work prior.
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Hi Lesley, yes it's a gorgeous thing. Trouble is the seed I bought isn't pure and two plants so far have flowered with the pink, wild type. It's a weird plant, flops all over the place and refuses to stand up straight. Every time it gets wet it just lies down on the ground! I think it'd be better planted among other plants which can support it, or perhaps it's missing some essential nutrient in my garden causing it to be so languid?
Hi Jamus,
Agrostemma githago is what we would here call 'corncockle'. It's a lovely wildflower that once grew as acommon arable 'weed' and being a rather tall, floppy plant it would have benefited from the support of the cereal plants it would grow amongst. In the garden it might need less fertile soil and/or staking or perhaps try growing it through another plant as in the wild? It has now succumbed to modern farming methods and in the UK you are more likely to see it in gardens than in a field.
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Thanks Matt, you see I suspected it had the habit of growing among other plants. I love it and I will be growing it again next year so I'll need to come up with a planting scheme that works better than this years companions. Do you still see it wild there Matt?
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Jamus,
This plant was considered extinct as a wild plant in the UK :( However, I think that a single plant was spotted in the north of England. Hardly a comeback though.
It is often included as a component in wildflower mixes, i.e. the kind that you can buy in wee packets to make a mini-meadow in a corner of your garden. I don't know that I've ever seen it on a larger scale or in a wilder context than this. I believe that the seeds contain toxins, which I suppose could be problematic if it got back into cereals.
As an ecologist I think this is a sad loss as it's a beautiful plant.
It could be nice to grow it through something grassy to recreate it's natural habitat, although something more supportive might be better?
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hmmm.. something for me to ponder... I have a large purple Erysimum which always tries to take up more space than I allocate to it. I wonder if the corncockle would find its way up through that and flower up above it? Could make a lovely combination using 'Ocean Pearls'.
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Hi Everyone,
I haven't much time to post this spring but these two nice Greek species should get a run.
Lomelosia hymettia is a rare plant and closely related to scabiosa. Makes a lovely mound of silvery-green leaves and bears a never-ending supply of big pinky-lilac flowers.
Cistus salviifolius is an old favourite and another plant that literally smothers itself in flowers. I guess they can look a bit "poached egg" but I still like them. They vary quite a bit in habit and flower size when grown from seed.
Cheers, Marcus
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Lot's happening in the garden now and lots more on the brink of bursting.
Tragopogon porrifolius
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5615/15373876909_42fd25f1cb.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pqx8Zg)
Tellima grandiflora
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3935/14928296263_ae40716fdf.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/oKaqok)
Polygonatum odoratum
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3947/15361842489_1032123ba6.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pptszg)
Hedysarum coronarium
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5607/15361842899_31ae8370c2.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pptsGk)
Allium siculum (among other names)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3944/15548469205_a34684d8b5.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pFXYcg)
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Lovely collection of flowers Jamus and brilliant photographs, cheers, Marcus
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Thanks Marcus, not all rare and special treasures like yours but I find beauty in even everyday weeds like the Tragopogon.
We had a horrific night here last night. Gale force winds thrashed the garden ALL night, literally, and then to top it off a huge branch came down from a neighbours tree, smashed the fence to smithereens and took out the power line and the phone! We all woke up with the crash and surveyed the damage. By some miracle of chance the whole limb missed my new rock garden and missed several precious plants in the garden. We had the SES (state emergency service), CFS (country fire service) and the power company all here at once! Followed by the telephone company putting their wire back up. It was 11am before I got to work, absolutely shattered.
Amazingly most of the garden survived. I lost a couple of Campanula latifolia flower spikes and one of my Geranium maderense was pushed over, but it stood back up and seems no worse for the ordeal...
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This Myosotis sp. hitched a ride in a pot of Metrosideros carnea. It's now seeded itself in a pot of frangipani. I'm hoping to grow the air plant round that branch it's hanging on.
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Albuca spiralis with a flower bud. Seed was sown last December.
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Wonderful photos Jamus 8)
That's a fine clump of Tillandsia bergeri Anthony. Does it flower seasonally or year-round there? For me it performs only sporadically.
Your Albuca is also living up to its name rather well.
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It flowers seasonally Ashley.
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Some flowers seen on my recent trip to Tasmania with a group from the Ferny Creek Horticultural Society.
The Paeonia and Pulsatilla were in the Woodbridge nursery display garden (unfortunately none in stock).
Epacris gunnii is a pretty Tasmanian native - this one growing in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens in Hobart. (Difficult to photograph up close in windy weather - the leaves are quite sharp so hard to hold).
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The Fritillaria meadow at Kaydale Lodge Gardens in North West Tasmania is a stunning sight to see in person. They grown many other frits in their raised rock gardens. The Rhodo was in a park near the Cascade brewery around the corner from Marcus.
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.................The Rhodo was in a park near the Cascade brewery around the corner from Marcus.
Very handy that :P ;D
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A few things flowering in my garden at present
Astelia chathamica The male and female flowers are on separate plants.the first is the female; the second is a close up of the male.
Myosotidium hortensia A bit neglected but putting on a good show not withstanding. The foliage is attractive as well and characterises it as a megaherb
Clematis montana rubens It had a whole sheep buried under it when it was planted.
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Fantastic pictures David, looks like a dead sheep is just the thing when planting clematis! Hard to come by around here but I suppose I could try a road kill kangaroo...? :-X
Myosotidium is gorgeous thing. I've never grown that one myself, but the. Again I've never seen it look as good as yours.
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That clematis is stunning. 8)
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Cliff and Lesley should sit down before looking at the next photos!! ;)
Alejandra ( patagoniawildflowers) has posted this on Twitter
saying "trekking today was full of surprises! Ranunculus semiverticillatus in my backyard mountain. Two weeks ago that place was covered by snow. now, this beauty....."
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
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Adding another of Alejandra's photos to delight us all .....
[attachimg=1]
This is really a top quality plant, isn't it? 8)
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Wow, what a gorgeous little thing Maggi. I've done some looking up of Patagonian flora and I would love to get there some day... who knows if I'll make it...
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A site about the Argentinian flora...Instituto de Botanica Darwinion : http://www2.darwin.edu.ar/ (http://www2.darwin.edu.ar/)
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Adding another of Alejandra's photos to delight us all .....
(Attachment Link)
This is really a top quality plant, isn't it? 8)
Yes, but I think it is very difficult to cultivate in a garden. It grows in deep loose rocky sand in screes. The flowers and leaves it on long thich stems which are hidden in the sand!
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Jamus, it is a truly glorious plant. We grew it from seed for some years - no sign of a flower and eventually it passed away - mourning, I think, for it's mountain home.
Lesley in New Zealand grew hers for wearing on for two decades, if I remember correctly - again , never a flower and she too lost it in the end. She wrote in 2012 : "R. semiverticillatus has died. It became very overgrown last summer, 2011, then died down but has not come through again this year. From germination in, as I remember, 1992, it never flowered even once...."
Such is its beauty that we were prepared to struggle on in hope on that the tight, broccoli-like foliage would one day reward our patience with a flower. Never happened. :'(
I think it is one of those fabulous plants which is never really happy away from the mountains and those, like Trond, who have been fortunate to see it in its habitat are lucky indeed.
See this thread for some more on this lovely plant : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=487.0 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=487.0)
And see this message for a photo of the plant in seed - still glorious! http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11773.msg305610#msg305610 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11773.msg305610#msg305610)
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Thanks for these pictures Maggi. Yes, I was safely sitting down. :) I always intended with mine to lift it and put it in a big pot in the refrigerator over winter as I'm sure my climate was never half cold enough for it. After the initial breakthrough following winter, the tight foliage always became longer and looser quite quickly and if it ever HAD flowered, it would probably have been out of character because of that. But of course if I had lifted it, it would have most likely died due to the disturbance of its long, leathery and elastic root system. I therefore didn't have the trauma - for it and me - of having to relocate it when we moved in February last year. (Gosh, was it so long ago? Seems like last week sometimes!)
Our native R. haastii has the same kind of root system and oddly, because its scree home continually moves downwards with wind, snow and ice melt, the roots which continue to cling to the under material, are frequently higher up the hill than the plant itself.
I remember in one of the SRGC Journals, the Stones, when they were at Askival, had a photo of the plant in flower but even with their skills, though the foliage was still tight, the flower head was somewhat etoliated. Just one of those plants for us to worship but maybe never grow perfectly. (You can get off your knees now Cliff. ;D)
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Fantastic pictures David, looks like a dead sheep is just the thing when planting clematis! Hard to come by around here but I suppose I could try a road kill kangaroo...? :-X
My mother was a great believer in the efficacy of a dead cat planted under a passion vine. Certainly when we lived in Timaru we had magnificent passion fruit.
I have a dead rabbit waiting to become Marley's dinner tonight. Wonder how it would go under the fig tree I'm just about to plant. Probably M would dig it up and the young fig with it. >:(
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I remember.........the Stones, when they were at Askival, .........
Didn't know they'd played there :P ;D I've a feeling that one is going to pass Lesley by ::)
My mother was a great believer in the efficacy of a dead cat planted under a passion vine.
A Lady of great taste if I may say so..................................................................... :-X....................................sorry Maggi, couldn't resist it :-*
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I remember in one of the SRGC Journals, the Stones, when they were at Askival, had a photo of the plant in flower but even with their skills, though the foliage was still tight, the flower head was somewhat etoliated. Just one of those plants for us to worship but maybe never grow perfectly. (You can get off your knees now Cliff. ;D)
In this Journal - http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/94.pdf (http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/94.pdf) - on page ten you can read what the Stones say about their plant and the photo is on page 14.
Photo of the plant from the RBGE on page 292 of this Journal : http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/84.pdf (http://files.srgc.net/journals/vol_1%20to_113/84.pdf)
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Didn't know they'd played there :P ;D I've a feeling that one is going to pass Lesley by ::)
Even I have heard of the Rolling Stones David. Not that I ever would have let their "music" come near my ears. ;D
Yes, my late Ma was a lady of great taste, but I don't recall that the flavour of dead cat ever seeped upwards into the passion fruit.
I complain about our chooks and the local rabbits but today I visited a local bearded iris nursery to have its owner show the marks of a marauding calf and likewise, of a wild boar!. Maybe I'm let off lightly. On the other hand, she is able to see spoonbills and other lovely birds on the swamp and river estuary below her house.
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The bearded irises are in full swing now here, this one is my favourite
Iris cv. Lady friend
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7475/15633997156_c301855f25.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15633997156/)
Iris graminea put on a good show but I didn't think to photograph it until today, almost too late.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7544/15658542542_d0db2f0620.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15658542542/)
Small but beautiful, Dianthus pinnifolius
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3935/15657722075_a1d78223fa_z.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15657722075/)
Dianthus-pinnifolius (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstonor/15657722075/) by J_Stonor (https://www.flickr.com/people/jstonor/), on Flickr
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I complain about our chooks and the local rabbits but today I visited a local bearded iris nursery to have its owner show the marks of a marauding calf and likewise, of a wild boar!. Maybe I'm let off lightly. On the other hand, she is able to see spoonbills and other lovely birds on the swamp and river estuary below her house.
Lesley,
Wild boars! This sounds very dangerous to me! It does sound like you are getting off lightly. I know that I never want to meet up with a wild boar - ever. The spoonbills and other wild birds must be beautiful to watch. The owners of the Iris nursery are very fortunate in this regard.
It is seems that almost everyone has to deal with some sort of roaming pest(s). I like bears but feel fortunate that I do not have to deal with them in the garden or farm.
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We`'re lucky here - only foxes, who crap everywhere.
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I must say it would be something else having bears around! I think I could live with that with the mountains and forests that go with them 8). I have to show these wild boar that I met in February taking the dog for a walk. Certainly wouldn't be happy with them coming into the garden but the mother seemed friendly enough enough even when faced with an inquisitive Jack Russell! Still no clear idea of where they came from as we have no proper woodland anywhere near us, so maybe they are residents of one of the nearby farms?
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Linum grandiflorum 'Bright Eyes'
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5603/15583599656_bb6ec45392_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pK52fG)
Calochortus superbus
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3946/14986538264_8db56afafa.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/oQiVGL)
Aquilegia (unknown sp.)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3948/14987138013_1a116be21f.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/oQmZZg)
Iris cv. 'Chinese Empress'
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3937/15599293865_29b2954baf.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pLssAv)
Heracleum mantegazzianum
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/15454593577_15c4fda1eb.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/pxEQeX)
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Brilliant pictures Jamus
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Beautiful plants & images!!!