Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Anthony Darby on March 01, 2007, 07:17:10 PM
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This little scilla is just sitting on the surface of the gravel. Haven't located its name label yet so haven't a scooby as to what it is.
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It is one beautiful specimen Anthony.
Please let us know the name when you found it.
Thanks
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A little beauty Anthony. A form of S. sibirica perhaps?
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Due to it being fine this morning I took some quick pictures.
Firstly an orchid in my kitchen whose buds I've been waiting for since before Christmas - I've no idea what it is as I buy my orchids when they are going out of flower and are cheap! This is a baby separated from the parent who has many more flowers in it's spikes.
Then Primula moupinensis (wonderful name)
Tecophilaea cyanocrocus - the first time I've flowered these so i'm impressed!
finally a pot of cyclamen that I bought at a DIY store and have been in flower since the second week of September - pretty good value I reckon.
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Sue, that's a fine Primula moupinensis, really looks healthy. You obviously have the knack with the Petiolarids. I have not dared to try one yet as I don't think they would take to glass over winter and I don't really have anywhere wher they might be happy. Having said that I would be very interested to learn more about your cultural methods if you have the time.
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The scilla is Scilla rosenii from Jānis rukšāns.
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So it's only half out Anthony? Have you a pic yet with its toes turned up? Sorry, I mean its ears pinned back, well, you know what I mean.
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Lesley, I think you mean, "trying to be an Erythronium".....Scilla rosenii is well known for this not-so-secret desire !! This is why it is the BD's favourite Squill.
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How is Scilla pronounced please? Is it SKILLA or SHILLA or something else??
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Scilla (I pronounce it as in Cilla Black) rosenii opened its flowers before it was hardly out of the ground with me, so the flowers became deformed through being too close together,
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Thanks Anne I will settle for that. Cilla Black? Never heard of her, must have been before my time!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Maggie you might want to start a new thread gripes. I think we have rather too many short lived gripes so I have put one here.
Here is my gripe. Has anyone in Scotland noticed how many times that interesting TV programmes come to an end prematurely or are not shown at all. There was "Hands on Nature" which Mark was in now, then there was the Kew tree series (can't remeber the full title) which was never even started in Scotland, and now there is the super series "A Year at Kew" which has ceased suddenly. It is still being broadcast down south but not up here.
That feels better having got that off my chest.
Brian Wilson Aberdeen
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If you have "Sky" you can bypass the problem by accessing BBC from another area of the UK. My sister in Essex regularly watches BBC1 Scotland this way. I usually do when I want to watch Film 2007 an there's some hand knitted minority programme shoved in meaning I would otherwise have to wait half an hour (or more importantly, miss half an hour's sleep).
Anyone watching the eslipse of the moon? It's just started.
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Is that bog standard Sky, or expensive Sky, Anthony? I am aware of being able to get stuff in Welsh!!
Here, in Aberdeen skies, the shaow can be seen quite clearly, creeping up the face of the moon. clouds clearing now but a few minutes ago there was light cloud over the moon and lovely angular rainbows showing. Are the children sitting up to watch?
note on Sunday 4th: I have found the alternative BBC area channels on our (cheapest) Sky package.... I hadn't found them before because they come ( in the listings) after all the soft porn channels!!!
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I agree with Anne re the Cilla - as in scientist - though I may have used Cilla Battersby as an example, being charmed out of my boots by that exquisitely brought up specimen of female beauty and sensitivity.
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There was a great potential series too, called `A Journey Through Kew Gardens.' Apparently it was to follow something similar about the V and A museum or somewhere like that, maybe the British Museum. There were supposed to be 4 parts I think and they never would have been seen here unfortunately but I understand that Kew itself pulled the plug after the first episode, which was about the alpine house and its then manager Tony Hall, because Tony, being true to himself was too inclined to say loud and clear, all the things he thought wrong with Kew - and there were plenty of them.
He sent me a copy of it though and I treasure it for the extremely anarchic sentiments therein recorded.
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Hi All
yesterday morning woke up and decided to visit Wisley to try out our new £80 digital camera. Below are some pictures:
Me and Lithodora Zahnii
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Left Side of Wisley Alpine House
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Right Side of Wisley Alpine House
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Group of plants 1
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Group of plants 2
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Group of plants 3
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John
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A few more (sorry about the sizes - I did resize them but seem to have got my maths a bit wrong - hence the scrollbars)
Crocus Ard Schenk
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Dionysia Monika
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Asarum Maximum
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Asarum Hirsutisepalum
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Iris Cantab
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New Glasshouse (due to open June 2007)
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John
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Thanks for the great pictures from Wisley, even an £80 digital camera is capable of excellent results in the right hands.
It is good to be able to see what is on display at Wisley, I hope we can see more from Wisley and the South as the season progresses.
Well done also to the Wisley squad, who I know log in, for the superb display, I just wish I could come down again now to see your bulb house in all its glory.
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John, nice pictures, I hope to get to Wisley in the next few weeks.
Lesley, who is Cilla Battersby please??
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Only just realised this thread was going. I too want to go to Wisley, Kew ...
'Hands on Nature' has just started another re-run. 'Trees that made Britain' was great.
John I see you have hair! Without being rude are you a Rude Boy?
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Glad you like the pictures (Mark - your rude boy comment has made me chuckle - and reminded me I need a hair cut). We are meant to be going to Kew the week after next so I shall try and take some pictures for you.
I am enjoying this new camera so much that we have just popped up the local woods to take some more pictures. There are some shots of daffs (I don't know much about daffs but these three caught my eye). Also a rather nice fungus.
regards
John
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so you're a skin 'ead? Had a hair cut again on Thursday and was very tempted to get a no. 2 all over
I dont like split coronas but that one is lovely. The Galanthus 'boys' are now collection wild daffs.
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Went looking for snowies but most were well past their best - the daffs were just coming into their own. We intend to go there again in a couple of weeks time to see them in their full glory. I would guess 95% of the daffs in Cobham Woods have split coronas - but that one particular star shaped flower was the best of the bunch - I wonder if I can find it again next year?
John
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if you dig it, yes
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John,
Thanks for the great pictures from Wisley; I have also a great reminder of Wisley Gardens .
Alpine House 1967
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thanks for the historical pictures Franz - Wisley doesn't seem to have changed that much since the year I was born!.....
John
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Me and Lithodora Zahnii
John, I don't mean to be harsh, and perhaps this isn't really the place for such personal comments, but I have to say, while there may be some people who suit a bright blue afro, I don't believe it does anything for you!
This new camera is proving very good at its job, isn't it? Lots of good shots. Thanks to you, and to Franz, for the Wisley shots for those of us who "don't get out much" !
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Great pictures John ! It's always a treat to see something from Wisley - too bad somebody jumped in front of that lovely L. zahnii when you took the picture... ;D
Some colour beginning to show outside in my private little Wisley over here in Belgium... ;D We even had no rain today !!! :o
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Forgot this one :
Tulipa pulchella violacea pushing through ! Again outside.
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Luc, like your T. "pulchella". Very early. My ones outside just show the peak of leaves.
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I also quite like it Armin - and it is a lot earlier than normal - but what is normal nowadays ? ::)
I hope there won't be a late cold spell spoiling the fun in the coming weeks - at least this will not be the case next week, as further rain and wind seem to be on the menu for the next four days out here... :(
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my Tulipa humilis are in flower. polychroma is in bud
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Those long blue tresses suit you so well John, PLEASE don't have them shorn off. Maggi has no taste at all, for such things.
David, my Cilla is the apalling partner, now wife, of the lout of Coronation Street, Les Battersby. Don't tell me you're not a fan? Just about the only decent thing on our telly these days. All dreadful "reality" series and the like and more and more American rubbish. (Nearly said a very rude word there.) But leaves more late evening time for gardening of course.
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Lesley, my wife is an avid watcher but I have never seen a single episode! I have heard it from another room, but never watched it.
By the way you managed not to have your photograph taken in the big hat!!
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John, I forgot to say, fab fungus! The bracket fungus are always atractive, but these, from Cobham Wood, are very colourful.
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Spring has arrived in Sweden, at least here in the southern part.
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Of course there are more colour in my frostfree greenhouse. The camelias have been in flower for some time.
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Also some of the primulas are out. First P. cortusoides.
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And then P. allionii, my first plant of this new favourite species of mine.
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Speaking of favourites, I am a Gesneriaceae-fan. Chirita and Petrocosmea are quite easy from seed. This is C. tamiana.
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This time of the year is the best for Asarum. A. splendens is maybe more interesting than beautiful.
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A. capaniforme has a kiwi-like (the fruit) interior.
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A. maximum has very nice velvety flowers.
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A. delavayi is my most floriferous species and also the one with the biggest flowers, a nice combination.
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Ola
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Sue, that's a fine Primula moupinensis, really looks healthy. You obviously have the knack with the Petiolarids. I have not dared to try one yet as I don't think they would take to glass over winter and I don't really have anywhere wher they might be happy. Having said that I would be very interested to learn more about your cultural methods if you have the time.
Hi David - I'm not sure I'd dignify what I do with the phrase 'cultural methods' I have a couple of those cheap plastic covered 4 tier greenhouse things which I've taken the plastic covers off. Well to be honest the first one split! Probably because there were too many plants inside ;D
I was reading about these primulas and decided that as they are covered in the winter by snow to keep them warm and (presumably) dark, they could live on the lower shelves of the greenhouse stands - I don't water them but they do get a bit of blown rain. Plants on the shelves are usually stood in seed trays as that makes it easier to slide them in and out so I can peer at them/gloat and that helps to keep it darker below and protects from rain. So far this seems to suit some of these primulas and I've kept alive/flowered a few. I'll check back when I'm at home and let you know which seems to like this regime of neglect. Once they start into growth I simply keep them in my back yard on the shady side so they don't get full sun.
Sue
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Welcome, Ola! Good to have your begin posting. These are lovely photos, I do like your close-up pix of the Asarums, fascinating flowers.
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Welcome Ola, Thank you for your fascinating pictures. I look forward to see more.
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'Trees that made Britain' is on now - at least on BBC N Ireland
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Ola, I like your A. capaniforme it has a lovely patterned interior and looks less menacing than many of the other species.
Here is a Cyclamen alpinum from exchange seed in its first flowering. Nicely marked leaf.
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Nicely marked leaf.
Not just the leaf, Jof, very pretty transition through the colours on the flower, too.
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I just love the Asarums. Thanks for those pictures Ola. I'm glad you mentioned it was the FRUIT of a kiwi one resembled. I would be worried if I looked like that inside ;)
David, there is a photo of me at the Market on Saturday on the Clematis napaulensis thread. Susan went along with her camera specially, but was disappointed.
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A few more things are popping up in the sunshine.
1 Scilla reverchonii an unassuming but pleasant little squill.
2 Dionysia aretioides grown from a bunch of self sown seedlings. It's the only Dio I grow because it is the easiest to please.
3 Cyclamen pseudibericum This could have been a good show plant if I could turn it more often and generally give it more TLC than I can offer it but it is lovely for all that.
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A nice batch John. I grow D. aretioides outside all the time and it has become quite tough always flowering well but never looking so svelte and pristine as the alpine house ones of course. Likewise with C. pseudibericum.
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Lesley, I've tried both outside but the combination of winter wet and cold sees them off.
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This my first try at posting a photo, if it is OK its down to Mark if not its Me.
The first time of flowering Pleione Alishan Mothers Day.
Not a good photo but a nice pale lavender and fragrant
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Hi, Derek, welcome! You managed that okay then? Good to have a pleione with a scent, so many of them don't seem to have one. Just makes a pretty flower all the nicer, in my opinion.
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Beautiful Pleione Derek - not very common colour either !
Nice to see somebody new posting some Pleione - there's more of them in the Pleione thread in the Bulbs section - Hope to see you there, maybe with more of the same ??? :D
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A bright sunny day again today and a few more things have opened to share.
The first of my Trilliums to open is T.pusillum georgianum
Frit pudica a tiny but lovely thing with twin flowers this year
Ipheion sellowiana which used to be Beauvardia sellowiana
Tecophilea cyanocrocus, this solitary one seems to be way ahead of all the rest
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Probably the last of the Snowdrops now. There is still a nice display at Dawyck Gardens although they are starting to go over. We visited Logan Gardens in the S.W. a few days ago checking up on the huge Magnolia Sprengeri. It will be a couple of weeks before it is in full flower. The Camellias were looking particularly nice and should be at their best in about a week's time. Threave Gardens had a good display of crocus and a few early Narcissus. After one of the wettest winters on record, there are signs that Spring is not too far away.
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Thanks for this little taste of wild Scotland Tom, such beautiful places and what magnificent daffs and snowdrops. A real treat. I guess Dawyck is where the beech of that name comes from?
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And John such a lovely batch of bulby things. Isn't that frit just the cutest thing as my American friend would say.
Good to see the first trilliums of the northern year. At the moment I have a box full of beautifully cleaned trilliums sitting on my dining room table, awaiting transport to Australia. They're for Tim but the poor guy doesn't know I'm going to plant the lot here and have them "disappear" somewhere over the Tasman sea.
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Here is my Cyclamen Pseudibericum which is growing outside and seems to doing well. It is in a raised and sunny part of the scree which seems to suit it. Only problenm is whatever white balance settting I choose I can't seem to get the true colour which is a very bright cyclamen pink. Any hints on capturing this accurately would be appreciated l
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Some nice flowers from a sunny day - mine was Tuesday though (JoF, yours was Wed?)
Dionysia aretioides - tough, it must be if its still alive in my careless hands. I used to grow a lot of Dionysias but that was BC.
Iris suaveloens - purple form, surprised its this early in flower
Tulipa pulchella - great dwarf tulip
And a mystery cyclamen for Mark to decode ... no paintshop tricks used here Mark, just the natural light ;D
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Sneaky, Tony!
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Mmm. Cyclamen mystericum looks like leaves of purpurascens and flowers of coum?
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Yes Lesley,
The Dawyck beech was found locally and planted in the garden in the mid 1800's. It is now over 90 feet high. I find it refreshing to look up at plants instead of having to get down to look at miniature alpines and, worse still, trying to get back up. It's amazing how, as you get older, the ground gets further away from you !
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Not purpurascens, Anthony... think further south, or southeast in distribution than that. I won't say any more... I don't want to spoil it for whom the photo was intended. ;)
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Something especially to amuse Maggi.
I can take no credit for growing this as I purchased it only last night.
Asarum delaveyi
Paddy
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Thanks Tim ;)
I would like to add that Cyclamen mystericum is not a contrived or staged photo - just how it grows!
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Just a few things in flower at the moment.
In a cold greenhouse:
Muscari 'Golden Fragrance'
Tulipa humulis 'Lilliput'
Tulipa iliensis
Paddy
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I wouldnt know one from the other
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my Muscari macrocarpum is finished quite a while now. In the garden the tiny Tulipa sogdiana is flowering.
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Oh Mark - you are no fun!!
It is a C graecum growing in my sand bed, nice large white flowered seedling. Cyclamen coum has seeded into the middle with the (I think) quite convincing new 'hybrid' as a result. Great flower power - a cyclamen with two flowering seasons every year!! Look closely and you'll see one stray leaf which gives the game away.
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Flowering in the garden.
Ipheoin uniflorum
Ipheoin uniflorum 'Charlotte Bishop'
Ribes laurifolium
Saxifraga 'Elizabeth'
Ditto
Tulipa kaufmannia 'Fashion'
Paddy
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On a serious note - I have some foliage I would like advice on.
Sternbergia sicula. 2 clumps about 30 inches apart. One developed brown spots on healthy leaves in autumn 2006. The other remained healthy until recently. Clump 1 is now degenerating to a mushy mess while clump two has 'got the bug'. Whats happening? Is there any hope? The same things in pots under glass are fine. They've been outside for a couple of years and this has not been a hard winter so it is not cold that is the problem.
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Wow, I ADORE that Asarum. A real stunner. And Tulipa iliensis as well. Lovely pics everyone. Paddy a little while ago I was looking for this season's seed of Narcissus cuatrecasassii for you but then remembered I'd sown it a month ago. Went out to retrive some but they are germinating so too late, but if you don't obtain it in the meantime, remind me next (southern spring) and I'll save it for you. It seeds reliably.
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could be bulb/basal rot. I had some snowdrops do the same resently. When I dug them they were a stinking mess.
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Paddy, Margaret Glynn and Brian Duncan grow N. cuatrecasassii
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Or it looks like that awful thing Mark showed a while back on some snowdrops, and which attacks Amaryllidaceae. Cut off affected parts before it spreads further, dig and dip in fungicide, dry bulbs then dip again and then replant somewhere else, preferably in pots to isolate. Or tell me to teach my granny!
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Thanks Mark & Lesley - I'll dig them and see if there is anything to rescue. These problems creep up on you, only noticed how bad it was when the adjacent narcissus bloomed. Wet/damp and mild has been all to common here this winter which cannot have helped.
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Great Asarum, Paddy, I do like them, so wierd and other worldly. Lots of other goodies flowering with you, too, I see. I'm always threatening to get more tulipa species, but it never happens!
Tony, there's a C. graecum loose in your garden! How long has been out there? we have some near the eaves of the house but I worry about them! Maybe the coum is keeping it warm.
Whatever is wrong with the Sternbergia, I hope it doesn't spread. I would think it a rot more to do with damp than cold, anyway. Yuck!
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Maggi there are indeed Cyclamen graecum loose in my garden! They don't seem to have a problem with what passes for a cold winter down here. I am told that they need 'a pane of glass over them' in summer to get them to flower well though. The one in the sand bed makes a few flowers every year, one by the south wall of the house doesn't. I am not going to be leaving panes of glass lying around the garden however - not for a good few years yet!
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Lesley,
I'm heart-broken over that news. I had really looked forward to those seeds. You know the phrase, like hen's teeth - it has been used a lot on this forum, so you will be familiar with it. Well, such it is with N. cuatrecassassi here. There was a whiff of an offer over the past few days and my heart lifted ever so slightly though really I held out no real hope. That hope, small as it was, was then dashed and I fell into the despair of one who longs for plant and cannot find it.
There is only one resolution. I will have to eat cake - and guess who is going to have to bake it! Do you think it will travel well from NZ?
Seriously though, there is in the back of my mind a little thought that I may have it in the glasshouse. I have a useless memory - my wife comments that I must be the only man in Ireland who wakes up each morning, looks at his wife and asks, 'and what's your name?' So, I must go and have a good look. If my mind is failing me again, I will be back to you in spring. Many thanks.
Re the asarum, I am not poking it with all sorts of fluffy things in hopes of it producing seed. Now that would be good.
Maggi, try Tulipa sprengeri. After that you will certainly try others.
Paddy
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We do have a few tulips. Paddy, though we have never got Tulipa sprengeri to naturalise for us for some reason. Our friend, Roma Fiddes,on the other hand, who lives about 20 or so miles away, has them growing like the proverbial weed! You wouldn't beleive the fantastic display she has, just wonderful. This year she has given me a huge packet of sprengeri seed so we're hoping that the seed of these genuine Aberdeenshire residents of Roma's will be happy to live with us!
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This is Saxifraga burseriana Major flowering in the garden.
Would the damage have been caused by slugs or by birds ??? ???
Any idea somebody ?
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looks like slug damage from when they were in bud
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Some tecophilaeas..I've had them for a little while now, all from single bulbs. Last year I had a big seed set so I was able to send some to seed lists and for the first time I've germinated some.
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Hi, Mark G: lovely "Tecos" You're way ahead of us, where do you live?
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Hi, just outside of Oxford. But I would add I try and keep the greenhouse at 5C minimum as I grow Cyclamen rohlfsianum and I want them to flower! One thing about the tecophilea is you can just about see a rogue type plant in with the violet form. It grows faster than the violet so the pan is getting more and more mixed..suggestions other than individually potting them up?
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Luc,
It eats slugs or caterpillars at the blooms of the Saxifraga burseriana.
Mark,
Super plants, I never grow Tecophilaeas in my garden.
Tony,
The Sternbergia grew too long on the place. The soil is too hard and remains too wet to for a long time.
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Tony, sounds like good advice Franz is giving you about your sick Sternbergia.
Mark G, I think the only way to rogue out your interlopers from your pot of T. violaceae is to go into the pot as the flowers are passing over, but you can still see the colours, and fetch them out then. If you do this carefully you will not cause too much damage. Leave it too long and the more vigorous one will have made more offsets which might be more tricky to identify and remove. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, though, certainly nothing like as bad as trying to rogue out a rice-forming frit from a pot!! :P
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Just a few things flowering in the garden today.
First off Mandragora officionalis - more of botanical interest than anything and certainly not as good as the Chinese M caulescens. Has a large red fruit later.
First of my Rhodies - Rhododendron Ptarmigan
Polygala chamaebuxus - has been in flower for weeks, still some way to go
Corydalis malkensis - seeds its littel head off around the garden
Saxifraga juniperifolia
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These are very nice Dave. I've always been interested in the mandrake because of its witchcraft associations (now that's got them worried, with all these cakes I make) and have often thought I'd like to grow it - the leaves are particularly attractive in your pic - but then I remember that if I wanted to dig it, I'd have to sacrifice the dog, poor darling.
The polygala is lovely. It's surprising how difficult it is here to get the lemon and white form rather than the much commoner purple and yellow, P. chamaebuxus `Grandiflora,' a good thing but it can be a bit of a thug.
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here are a few Saxs from my troughs and crevice bed
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They're all looking good, Mark. There's something charming about Saxifragas and they are so happy in a trough that I really don't think there is any excuse for NOT having some! And since they come in easy, tricky and downright difficult varieties, there is something to please every sort of grower. At the risk of appearing to be in the pay of Malcolm McGregor or Beryl Bland, I urge you all, have more Sax ! :o
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No sax please we are British
Here are Bergenia ciliata Pat Furness from Ian of the Christie kind
Iris unguicularis x cretensis not as good as usual this year
and my first (well nearly) Erythronium in flower
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1)Super Bergenia named for a much-missed lady.
2)If I had that Iris flowering likethat I'd be ecstatic, you lucky man!
3) You'll make the BD jealous, only some leaves showing a tiny bud here so far. A few days sun will speed things on a bit. It was bright today, but I was out most of the day and only briefly outside to the glasshouse so maybe there has been a huge leap forward ? We'll see tomorrow!
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Ian, put the iris pic on the Iris page please and see what the opinion is. Are you sure it's unguicularis x cretensis? Maybe ung var. cretensis or even just I. cretensis? Whatever, it's very good. Wish mine flowered so freely. But if it IS a hybrid, that would account for it, unguicularis free flowering with cretensis foliage and stature.
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After another look, the flowers do look to have too much colour and substance to be straight cretensis. As MAaggi says, lucky man!
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Hi all ,
Here is a picture from one of my travels - I suppose it is Iris cretensis .
I saw this plants in flower on the mountains above the Lassithi plateau
( Crete ) on easter 2000 .
Many greetings
Hans
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The more I look at Ian's compared with Hans,' the more I think you're right Ian and it probably is a hybrid, in which case I'll have to do a bit of fiddling with a paint brush in the spring.
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Iris suaveolens on a raised bed and Dionysia aretioides under glass are basking in the warm spring sunshine.
The dionysia is going to have an awayday in Kent this weekend .... anyone else going to the AGS show?
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Tony, there will be Scots going to the Blackpool Show, that's for sure. I'm told the some of the Glaswegians were down at Loughborough, a five and a half hour drive down there! Ah, the lure of the dionysia !!
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Still no pics appearing.
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yeah none for me either nor in the Crocus forum
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Lesley the fact is that I have had the Iris for so long (this is a second generation plant) that I can't really be sure of its pedigree. I had this plant a long time ago from Percy Picton a real plantsman who knew a thing or two about plants and always seemed to have the best forms. Your suggestion that it may be Unguicularis var cretensis may be correct and my memory may just be letting me down.
Maggi I thought the Erythronium a little early and this on quite took me by suprise as I hadn't noticed it above ground before I took the picture. Maggi if you would like a piece of the Iris let me know. lesley I presume that this would be out of the question for you
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Yes, I'm afraid it would Ian, though if you get any seed sometime? I still owe you for some very nice seed of black single and double hellebores. Good little plants by now, thanks.
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That form of unguicularis looks much more floriferous than mine, which flowers every three years. I bought another from John Amand at the EBD and hope it is better?
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Ian, I would be thrilled to have a little piece, if you can spare it. I have not had much success with Iris unguicularis nor Iris japonica, I must admit, so feel free to decide that Aberdeen is not a good enough home for it! Now I have a "vacancy" at the bottom of a south wall, which should suit it, I would hope to do better!
One of my fondest SRGC memories is of James and Calla Cobb arriving here for supper,( before a local Group Meeting where James was to give a Talk), with a superb bunch of Iris unguicularis.... many different forms, each lovelier than the last and with a scent that was heavenly.... so they grow well in Kingsbarns!!
What a difference a day or two makes at this time of year. In the open garden the Erythronium dens canis have sprung up from nowhere, and are opening at speed. Not the white forms, as yet, interestingly.
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I saw this as I was on my way to Morrison's for petrol. It was a pity that the sun had disappeared before I managed to take the pictures. Even then massed plantings are spectacular in any weather.
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Hello,
I am not an iris expert, but I saw Iris cretensis in Greece. Iris cretensis Janka (syn. I. cretica, I. unguicularis ssp. cretensis). An iris with very narrow grassy leaves (1- 3 mm broad).
I. unguicularis Poir. ( syn. I. stylosa) is the most commonly grown winter flowering iris with leaves 6-10 mm broad. Native of North Africa.
Both are variable in the wild as to leaf width, colour, vigour, flower size and overall size!
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Nice Pictures Tom
I notice your signoff doesn't mention where you are. Where is your Morrisons located? Very spectacular show - is it a local park?
thanks for sharing
John
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John,
Sorry, I thought the location would come up with my name. It was taken about 1 mile from my house in Ayr. The park is just a small area near the centre of town and totally underused - thankfully. The crocus have flowered and self seeded until they have covered most of the grassy area. I have included a shot of the area from Google Earth. It might be a good idea if other forum contributors included such information when sending in shots taken on location.
Tom Cameron
Ayr on the Clyde Coast, West of Scotland
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..........I had this plant a long time ago from Percy Picton a real plantsman who knew a thing or two about plants and always seemed to have the best forms...............
Ian, there is a Picton Garden at Colwall, just outside Ledbury, that specialises in Michelmus Daisies and is really a sight to see in late September, would this be connected at all with your Percy Picton?
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Franz, I was unaware that the leaves of Iris cretensis were so very narrow. Thanks for the detail.
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Aha. I'm growing the wide leaved form. I can grow Lesley's for her, if the offer is still on Ian?
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There is I. unguicularis (formerly stylosa) and I. u. ssp cretensis as Franz says but there is also I cretica which in effect is a wider-leaved form of cretensis. The 3 used to be recognised as distinct species but I believe nowadays the botanists have had their wicked way with them and the two cretensis and cretica, are sometimes merged as ssp of unguicularis. But they are recognisably different from unguicularis and from each other.
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Hi Tom
thanks for the further info. If you want your location details to appear automatically go to 'Profile' and then 'Forum Profile Information' - you can key various things in here that will then be attached to all your posts.
regards
John
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..........I had this plant a long time ago from Percy Picton a real plantsman who knew a thing or two about plants and always seemed to have the best forms...............
Ian, there is a Picton Garden at Colwall, just outside Ledbury, that specialises in Michelmus Daisies and is really a sight to see in late September, would this be connected at all with your Percy Picton?
That's Percy Picton's nursery, run now (I believe, unless it's changed hands) by Percy Picton's son. They always specialised in Michaelmas Daisies, although Percy Picton had a bit of a love-hate relationship with them (they were his bread-and-butter but he much preferred his alpines and smaller perennials, especially hellebores - Helen Ballard's famous hellebore garden and nursery was just down the road). He had a wicked sense of humour and time spent talking to him in his nursery potting shed was always both informative and a good laugh. I really used to enjoy visiting him and Helen and Phillip Ballard back in the seventies and eighties (oops! showing my age!)
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Hi I knew Percy also, I was also there as a teenager in the 70s. Oddly my history teacher, John Hill (now does the garden at the AGS centre?) started me off unintentionally down the Alpine path. The school had Rural Science and a greenhouse, I was interested in cacti and then I saw some Pleiones and species Cyclamen there. I didn't know they were John's and i didn't realise he was interested in Alpines. I moved school a year later and met John when I visited my first real alpine nursery, Picton's where John was helping out a bit.
Two comments I rmember from Percy. On Farrer's claims "his sparrows where vultures" On nursery management "sometimes I get people saying, but percy! there are greenfly on that plant !" "I always say ..well pick 'em off then, pick em orf!"
And now the plants, some primula allionii. Cultivars Crystal, Anne, Anna Griffith, and Mary Berry.
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I remember my mother once telling me how when she was buying some hellebores from Percy Picton he invited her to choose them herself from his rows of newly-flowering seedlings. When she'd gone through the lot (hundreds of them) lifting flowers to look for good speckling and colour, etc. and carefully picked out what she thought were the very best two or three, Percy came along, examined them, said "yep, those're really good'ns. I'll keep them for seed." And my mum had to start all over again, looking for the two or three next-best seedlings to buy! Percy had a nack for getting visitors to inadvertently help out. In the potting shed (roll-up always dangling from one side of his mouth) he'd start asking you to pass him pots, labels and stuff, then it'd be "put a bit of compost in those for me" and soon you'd find you were helping pot-up, clean pots, etc. as he chatted. On one visit he shoved a large plastic pot into my hand as I looked through his hellebore seedling patch, asking if I'd mind pulling out a few weeds as I went along 'cos they were getting a bit overgrown.
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Again, a bit delayed compared to many others on the forum, the weather just broke here, went from 30s F one day to 73F the next, which gave the Helleborus a push. I have appreciated all the other Helleborus pics on the forum, as I patiently awaited mine. Here are some buds, waiting for the next burst of warmth.
The pink one is from the "Heritage" strain which I have had for around 8 years, and the other is an unlabelled seedling blooming for the first time.
Jim
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Ah, but Percy always used to give away lots of stuff too! (so did some of the other old timers but he was pretty extreme)
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David you are right to get the link between The Picton Garden and Percy and also the Michaelmas daises where they have the national collection.
Martin, yes as far as I know Paul Picton stills runs the nursery known as Old Court Nursery at Colwall nr Malvern. Percy did I believe purchase the nusery from Ernest Ballard for whom he worked as foreman. Prior to that he had worked his way up from garden boy to head gardener in some well known gardens. Percy was also a keen grower of Hellebores and almost anything so that is probably not suprising there is a connection to Helen Ballard. Although Percy was famous for the Daises it is not a thing which he particularly loved but he always had something desirable for me to spend my pennies on. I might also say many of these plants are still in my garden even they may be many generations down the line.
Mark, John Hill who I also know as a member of our AGS local group did work for Percy at weekends and is still as keen as ever
Maggi I will lift you a piece of the iris in the spring
Lesley if there are any seeds I will send them when ripe
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It is really good to hear all these memories of Percy Picton, they bring him so to life.
Ian, re the Iris, thank you very much indeed.
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Thanks Ian, an offer which, if it comes to pass will be gratefully accepted.
I have a Percy Picton connection too, though more tenuous than that of you Brits. Apparently at one stage PP bred a small race of dwarf verbascums which I understand were known as Alstre or Alstree hybrids. I've sometimes read in AGS or other hort publications that these were beautiful but unfortunately extinct, i.e. no longer in cultivation. Happily I can say that this is incorrect because someone here in NZ imported at least one and it is still around today, though far from common. It seems to be long lived however and I've grown it for around 25 years. I manage to get a very few cuttings going each year but there is so little propagating material available because literally every tiny new growth that emerges from bare stems in spring, has its flowerbuds already developing. I've tried root cuttings without success and it never sets seed, although I've pollinated with other dwarf verbascums. I love it and am so grateful it has always stayed with me.
The height is around 20cms and a little wider when fully grown. Two pics follow.
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What a good colour that Verbascum is, Lesley. Neat growth , too. Great that it is so long-lived, albeit not as obliging at multiplying as one might wish!
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Lesley,
sneak a piece of that verbascum into Tim's order for me!
cheers
fermi
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Lesley, that is a stunning Verbascum :D
This is a genus of plants I really cherish, partly because our grounds are dry and they seem to thrive in our conditions!
Cheers
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Right! It's looking a bit sad now, going into winter mode but when the spring comes round, I'll remember everybody. But Per-Ake, this is one I CAN grow. Probably a cutting would be best rather than rooted cuttings as the roots are very fragile when young. Fermi, Tim's permit has elastic sides but I'm not sure if they'll stretch that far. I should have a plant or two at the summer study weekend. Won't forget you.
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Great looking Verbascum Lesley - too bad you don't live next doors :'(
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a few results in my garden from 'dead' plants.
Remember months ago I pulled a black flowered Pulsatilla out my crevice bed breaking all the roots? Well while weeding yesterday I saw the plant is about to flower where I moved it to. Time will tell if it lives.
Another sucess is my Scoliopus hallii. Something had dug around the tubers - maybe a cut worm. What a surprise yesterday when I saw one remaining plant in flower
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It's amazing how much growth Sax can do in a year. I've just looked back to this time last year initially to see what was flowering when
Sax 'Tuvj Uspech' 2006 and 2007. Look at the horizontal line on the right hand rock for a reference point
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Sax 2006 and 2007
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and lastly in this series of then and now. The last two are four days apart
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Nice Mark.
thanks for the pics - the plants seem very happy in that raised bed.
I take it you have finished work for the week and are spending an afternoon in the sunshine in the garden whilst I am stuck in a stuffy office in central London.... :(
I do hope it is sunny tomorrow.
John
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off today because I have to work on Sunday. The sunny morning has now gone. It's very cold and raining. So much for a days weeding.
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According to the news, we're due to get an Arctic blast this weekend and next week with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures. The wildflife won't know what's hit it after this early Spring.
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Aye, and we'll get before you Martin.
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Martin the forecast didnt show snow down your way just us in the north
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It has started here already we have an icy blast blowing down from the frozen north.
There are so many flowers opening in the garden I hope we do not get too much snow.
Like Mark the saxifrages are in flower.
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Sky's online longrange forecast shows the worst cold and snow for Scotland, but also some coming down across Mark in N. Ireland and Wales to us in Glos. Like Ian, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for just a sprinkling. A deep fall would flatten so much, especially the tuberous corydalis which are juust starting to do their thing. I love 'em and hate it when we get bad weather at corydalis time!
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Funny you should mention the corydalis Martin, they are a big favourite of mine as well and the earlier ones are just starting to flower now. The usually get covered in snow and as long as it is not heavy wet snow that falls they appear unscathed in the thaw.
Corydalis 'Beth Evans'
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Ian I liked your large stone trough I'm planning on copying one here at the front door but on a smaller scale
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Ian, when we do get a bit of white stuff down here it's almost always the nasty slushy wet kind which settles on and flattens flowers, seldom the kind of nice crisp cold snow that settles around flowers and preserves them for after the thaw. All my snowdrops were squished right down onto the soil by the slushy snowfall we had earlier this year. Took them a good ten days to sit back up, some never did, and many flowers were badly soil-marked. Must try to take some pics of the corydalis before the snow comes.
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Ian I would like to get some Corydalis for the garden. What ones do you recommend? No prolific seeders/runners
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Weather turning in time for my open garden on Sunday :( winter drawers on I think!
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Hello! I want to show some pictures from today. Because we had no snow - although I live 460m above sea level - everything is much farther than last year.
Greetings from Austria, Katrin
scopolia_carniolica_var_hladnickiana.jpg
scopolia_carniolica_var_hladnickiana_ganz.jpg
scopolia_carniolica_zwanenburg.jpg
scopolia_carniolica_zwanenburg_ganz.jpg
epimedium_grandilorum_07.jpg
epimedium_black_sea.jpg
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Anne - me being amused by puns as usual:
was the meaning 'Winter draws on" or "Winter drawers on" - or did you know exactly what you were writing?
regards
John
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Here are one or two nice plants that might not be here any time now but the best one is still to come.Watch this space.
Pieris 'Prelude'.jpg
Camellia Cornish Snow.jpg
Corylopsis pauciflora.jpg
Corylopsis chinensis var.chinensis.jpg
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ohhh Cornish Snow. I saw it back on February 3rd in Devon.
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John, I'll leave you guessing! ;D
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One for the southern hemisphere members, a terrestial orchid, Pterostylis ringens.
Paddy
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Just spent an hour talking to Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park at an exhibition of my Dad's early Beano drawings and other cartoon strips down in the town here (and got photographed with the extended Bax family for Country Life) so that was nice.
Anyway, tuberous corydalis...they're all beauties, Mark. None of them run, just slowly form small clumps, and they will seed around but not so much as to ever be a nuisance. Do you not have any at all? If not, get some. They're great to follow on from the snowdrops
Do you have Janis's catalogue? His selection is mouth-watering. Great side-interest for galanthopiles too, as there are dozens of varieties with often quite slight differences! Fascinating!
You must get C. malkensis. It'll seed around and is one of the very best, with big white flowers. Beth Evans is a good pink, but I find the quite similar Dieter Schacht is a stronger grower and increases faster. The terracotta-red-pink George Baker is a strong-coloured must of course and another good increaser. C. solida transsylvanic (from which G.Baker is a selection) is very good pink-red and not as expensive as some of the selected forms (especially from Janis, who has a good consistent strain comes true from seed). Then there are the named varieties. Of Janis's raisings, I like best Sixtus (tall light pink, good increaser) Maxima (v. big lilac spikes) and Cantata (stunning bright dark pink). I'd say those are some of the most distinctive ones for the open garden. Oh, and C. vittae is a cold snow-white beauty, also easy in the garden and later flowering, to continue the season.
I took a few quick pics of some of these in the garden today, before the snow arrives and will post some tomorrow. For now, we're going to round off the evening with a bottle of wine and a DVD rental of the Borat film. ;D :o
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Alright Anne,I'll put you out of your misery.I planted it thirty-seven years ago against all advice in a windswept new garden with no shelter.It was a 2ft.sapling from Hilliers then and you ought to see it now.It is my pride and joy and you ought to see it now.Pictures don't do it justice.Sorry ;D ;D
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So, it is Anne's Open Garden Day on Sunday? This explains a lot... why else would all this ghastly stormy weather be heading our way if not to ruin her day? And Anne a Mother, too! (In the UK this Sunday, 18th March, is Mothering Sunday) Hope the day is still a great success , Anne!
All sorts of great flowers from you all, hope the weather doesn't get them all. At least Paddy's pot of Pterostylis can be carted under cover. Lovely potful, Paddy, has it taken long to get that fat?
Martin, a "real" photo of you, that was nice! Sounds like you had a good time at Baxendale Pa's exhibition....Nick Park (hero!!) AND Country Life.... what next... well, apparently, some wine and the Borat film.... bit of an anticlimax that, don't you think?
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It was still Spring this morning.
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Martin I'll go through Janis' catalogue later
Paddy is the Orchid hardy?
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Paddy is the Orchid hardy?
No, not Hardy.
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Maggi, yes the Borat film was an anticlimax! I thought it might be a bit of a dud after reading various reports of it but thought I'd give it a go out of comedy interest. Really quite exploitative in all kinds of ways and not that funny.
On the bright side, our kids both got Nick Park's autograph and original Grommit sketches drawn for them right in front of their gobsmacked little eyes tonight, which they'll probably remember for the rest of their lives. Nick and my dad are both from Preston, so they're friends, and apparently a guided tour of the Ardman Animation studio may be on the cards, which will totally blow their minds. The new avatar photo is an up-to-date warts-receding-hairline-and-all grumpy old man snap from last summer in Cornwall. Grumpy face due to finding seafood restaurant we'd just walked 3 miles to was closed.
Mark, be warned, the tuberous corydalis are almost as addictive as snowdrops! Half an hour with Janis's catalogue and you'll be wanting them all. For the garden (and even for pots to start with) best to stick to what Janis lists as the Western Woodlanders, which tolerate moist conditions in summer but don't mind a bit of drought either. I've found the Eastern Woodlanders (which really need summer moisture) and the Bulb Belt Species (which need very dry summers - i.e. alpine house) to be much trickier.
To add a little to my earlier suggestions, the old bracteata X solida hybrid C. allenii is nice - not showy, but very attractive in a low-key way, easy and vigorous. C. marshalliana is another one I like, with creamy flowers, quite easy to grow.
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Lucky children indeed, Martin, and something they will remember, though other folks would be just as impressed meeting you and your Dad, after all, you Baxendales are to print what Park is to animation.
It's just that Hollywood and Oscar ceremonies have a special cachet!
Mark, there is also Corydalis buschii, a gentle pink with feathery foliage for later in the year, and Ian's own 'Craigton Blue' as recommended by Henrik Zetterlund!!(C. flexuosa x elata hybrid ... both parents are good, taller, of course than the earlier types) which extend the season a lot. C. cashmiriana is lovely, though sometimes miffy.
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Those porophyllum saxifrages certainly do love a crevice garden.
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John F, winter draws in, winter drawers on. Go figure.
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Yes, I'd forgotten about Corydalis buschii. Maggi's right, it's a nice little one for late in the corydalis season. Quite easy and reliable. And C. Craigton Blue is a stunner amongst the blue-flowered rhizomatous ones. Not too far-spreading and invasive with me and came through last summer's fierce drought fine, plus good foliage virtually all year round (while so many of the blue corydalis play dead at all kinds of odd times of year!). All the C. elata X flexuosa hybrids are brilliant garden plants. And most have inherited the (to my nose) sort of coconut-ish scent of elata, which I really like.
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May I show my true Newbie colours -
Janis's catalogue?
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probably the best catalogue in the world
Janis Ruksans Bulb Nursery
Rozula
LV-4150 Cesu distr.
LATVIA
$5 gets you on the mailing list but too late for 2007
JANIS RUKSANS, Dr Biol HC - Bulb Nursery
The largest selection of the rarest small bulbs of top quality for the cheapest prices. Richly illustrated catalogue for only 5, USD or Euro. Refundable with first order.
J RUKSANS, PO Rozula, LV-4150 Cesis Distr, Latvia
Tel: +371 41 00326, + 371 941 84 40 Fax: +371 41 33 223
E-mail: Janis.bulb@hawk.lv
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Brian, this is the catalogue of Janis Ruksans, the celebrated Latvian grower who was the Speaker at this February's Early Bulb Day in Dunblane. A most experienced grower and explorer in the world of bulbs, not to mention a man who has been honoured for his services to his Country, receiving a prestigious award from the Latvian President. He is also a very, very nice chap, so kind and helpful. His charming wife, Guna, grows perennials... what a family!
Send for a list and prepare to be tempted.... very tempted!
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and try to avoid unnecessary spending prior to it's arrival and the arrival of the goodies. He has a UK bank that money can be transfered to. Well not to sure if UK is the word as it's one of our banks the Ulster Bank. To avoid costs for Scottish Rockers transfering money to the bank you could send cheques/cash to me and I will lodge them
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I've paid by direct transer to Janis's bank in N. Ireland and haven't had any bank charges. I think it must count as a UK bank. I did it quite simply via my online banking, just clicking on 'pay a bill or person'. But with the bank details Janis provides, you could do it in your bank branch.
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Hi ,
If anybody is interestet for the last list of Janis please contact me -I will send it .
Greetings
Hans
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Martin last time I wanted to transfer money to England my bank wanted £24!
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That's a bit steep, Mark. I get direct transfer payments into my bank (Lloyds) from overseas licensees in Euros, dollars, zloty, roubles, and all sorts of other currencies, and the standard charge my bank makes to me for receiving the money and exchanging it is about £7.
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Anne,the very best of luck for to-morrow.The weather appears to be holding up,at least down here.I am still waiting for the optimum time to show you my pride and joy but am taking pictures daily in case the frost wipes it out.
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Thank you all for your answers, particularly Hans for sending me a copy of the list. Sadly ;D I have been to a talk by Ann Borrill this afternoon on small bulbous plants with a list of desirables ...then Hans sends the list. Oh dear I haven't recovered from the Galanthus spending yet ;) Still a bit of what you fancy does you good, what a great list I will have a good read this evening.
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Some pics of Cyclamen libanoticum. I really love this plant, it's easy from seed, flowers quickly and it's just beautiful. The first one is labelled JB..now I was given seed by someone whose initials are JB but I have a feeling he told me it originally came from John Blanchard. The other is derived from an Eliot Hodgkin collection in the 60s. The leaves are different, almost glossy, the flowers have more pointed petals and are darker pink. And it's a lot slower and harder to grow.
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As promised, some tuberous corydalis flowering now in the garden.
First, Corydalis malkensis.
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Ok that worked. I'll try posting multiple pics.
C. solida varieties:
'Sixtus'
'Dieter Schacht'
'Maxima'
'Cantata'
'Firecracker'
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Also, some superb bergenia hybrids bought from Blackthorn Nursery on the South Coast a few years ago. They were seedlings, so I picked out the best I could see and this, I think is the best of them all:
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And a few more from today:
Cardamine quinquefolia is becoming a bit of a weed here. But a lovely one. Most bulbs manage to come up through it.
Then Rhododendron 'Tessa Rosa'.
Magnolia stellata.
Cyclamen pseudibericum in the open garden.
And finally, one of my Helleborus hybridus seedlings. I'm trying to breed good clean pale pinks.
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I've just done some checking back on the bergenia I posted earlier, and they were seedlings raised at Blackthorn Nursery using the not completely hardy white-flowered B. emeiensis (which I also have) which gives them rather more refined flowers than most hybrids, I think. They've been hardy with me in a sheltered bed near the warmth of the street, for a few winters now. But not through a really hard winter (if we ever get one of those again).
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Certainly a good, showy flower on the pink bergenia, Martin. Stands well, too, which can't be said for all of them.
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What a brilliant collection Martin. Thanks a million. But I WISH the Ruksans catalogue hadn't been mentioned and discussed. Thomas in Neustadt sent me an electonic copy (no pics) a while back and I've been having dreams of the contents ever since (and especially following the SRGC January Journal arrived) but then they turn to nightmares as I realize I can't get ANYTHING from it. You in the northern hemisphere and especially in the EU where there seem to be no restrictions on the movement of plant material, or few anyway, have no idea how amazingly fortunate you all are. I truly hope you appreciate it.
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Yes, Maggi, the very upright strong flower stems were one of the features that made me splash out on (I think) four different seedling plants. They stand bolt upright, not leaning over like many bergenias. And the petals have a lovely smooth and perfect texture to them. The leaves look good all year too, nice and glossy, not coarse and rough. All excellent features inherited from B. emeiensis. I should try some back-crosses.
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A few pictures from a wonderful spring day yesterday:
Ipheion
[attachthumb = 1]
Echeveria
[attachthumb = 2]
Hellebore - single dark
[attachthumb = 7]
Hellebore - double pink
[attachthumb = 3]
Hellebore - single pink (plus greenfly! They have been really badbly affected by greenfly this year - worse than I have ever known).
[attachthumb = 8]
Hellebore - double white with spots
[attachthumb = 4]
Greengage
[attachthumb = 5]
Yellow weed (Ranunculus) to be dug out before seeding.
[attachthumb = 6]
Forsythia
[attachthumb = 9]
Fingers crossed for some sunshine today.
John
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Beautiful plants all around the British Isles so it seems - here's some from the continent :
1) Pieris Japonica "Valley Valentine"
2) Magnolia stellata "Kobold" - still undamaged by the weather.
3) Erythronium tuolumnense
4) Muscari azureum
5) Eranthis Cilicia
6) Iris unguicularis "Mary Barnard" - this is an older picture - I'm just posting it because there was a discussion going on a couple of days ago regarding Iris unguicularis.
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Martin, John and Luc,
beautiful plants all of you thanks for the pictures. That's another list of "must haves" I have made.
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The page above was a great photographic treat. Loved seeing all the different plant people grow but was particularly taken by Martin's selection of Corydalis solida cultivars. They are centainly excellent plants.
I can only sympathise with you Lesley re difficulties of obtaining the selection of plants which are available for us here in the northern hemisphere but, then again, you have a wodnerful selection of plants growing in the wild that we would be delighted to have in our gardens.
Paddy
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Thank you all so much for the wonderful plants.
On the subject of obtaining plants etc, I do sympathise. I sigh over the Hepaticas and have to remind myself of the wild Narcissus here!
Chloë
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Now the first Erythronium have started to flower.
An ordinary E. dens-canis, but wonderful, and albidum.
Hans
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Hi All,
Thanks everyone for the beautiful pcs posted on the forum,it is always a pleasure to see such lovely collection of photographs.
Saint Patricks week end is not what you call a nice springtime,more like a bad wintersday here in Ireland.
Have been busy lately but found some time to take some pics from some springplants in the garden and pots.there is a mistery with some of my Hepatica`s, only started with that Genus a few years ago,my first was Hep nob var Jap as shown on my first pict,notice the licht lavender color on the right,this is only apparing for the first time,was this from a seed buried in the pot when I bought it an lie dormant or do the color of Hepatica change sometime ?? [attachthumb=1]next is a Nobilis white first time flowering tanks to Chris V [attachthumb=2] also had a Pink flowering out of the same
seedlings.
Next two of my favored Hepatica so far.Pyrenaica + Harvington Beauty
[attachthumb=3] [attachthumb=4] the mild weather for the last two months brought the Helleborus to flower very early around here.found a most promising color with golden nectaries,the plant is still small but will keep an eye out for next season flowering>again thanks to Chris V[attachthumb=5]
Further a few more I took today in the freezing cold.
Cheers,
Guy.
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Hello
what a weird weather day - one minute was bright sunshine - the next hail and sleet!
Spent the day at my aunts helping to split and replant snowdrops. The snowdrops were past it for photographing but one or two of her Hellebores were still up for the odd picture:
regards
John
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John dividing now is too early. Remember the bulb has to produce a good bulb for next year. I dont touch any of my bulbs until late April
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Hi Mark
due to circumstances, it was either now or next year - and some of them like Blewbury Tart and Augustus haven't been touched for the last 10 years so really wanted it. We both thought it was better to do it while we could.
Thanks for the advice
John
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We both thought it was better to do it while we could.
A good point this: there may well be an optimum time/season to carry out all sorts of tasks in the garden but, in the everyday world, sometimes those times are just not convenient or even possible. We always say, well, x may be the best time to move that tree, but if y is when you have the time and the inclination and can give the aftercare etc, then y is the time to do it!
Thus, it was probably not the best time to move our big bamboo the other week.... for now all its leaves have fallen off and it looks awful, but it was when Ian had time to tackle it, so now we just have to try and revive the poor thing!
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John,your aunt has some lovely hellebores,and I am sure that the snowdrops will come to no harm.I have divided most of my snowdrops immediately after flowering for the last thirty years with no ill effects and they continue to flourish and multiply with vigour.Why are people so catergoric that their way is the best ?Likewise with the comments on the use of bark on an earlier page.
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After today's variable weather and the forecasts for the next three days I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to get any better pictures of my pride and joy,Magnolia campbellii.By common consent the star of the family and worth all of the 20/25yrs that it takes to reach flowering stage.Furthermore if I had followed the advise of the experts I should never have planted it in this part of the world,so the moral is,hear what they have to say and follow your own inclinations.Please enjoy this series of shots of thr magnificent Magnolia campbellii.
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Oh my word, John, what a beautiful tree! Not much wonder it is your pride and joy, it is a astunner. Perfect, from the overall effect to the substance of the soft pink blossoms...any of us would be proud to have such a specimen.
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That reminds me, it'll soon be time for our annual trip to see the magnolias at Westonbirt Arboretum. We're lucky to have such a superb arboretum close by, and the various forms of Magnolia campbellii, all of them huge specimens, are glorious. I'll try to bring some pics back. In fact, maybe some of you would like to see a short virtual walk around the arboretum via pic postings? I could do the different seasons - the main seasons of interest are the spring magnolias, rhodos and camellias, and then the autumn colours (especially the japanese acers).
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Wonderful magnolia John. Wish I'd planted one when I moved into my house nearly 20 years ago. Too late now :(. No room either. Pity I can't afford the house a few doors along the street :'(. It has a huge garden and ginormous study. [Anyone got a spare half million? :D]
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Martin, your offer of virtual Westonbirt tours is irresistible - thank you!
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then again, you have a wodnerful selection of plants growing in the wild that we would be delighted to have in our gardens.
Paddy
Have them Paddy, take them, be my guest. Just let me have some different corydalis, irises, fritillarias and.....Please!
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After today's variable weather and the forecasts for the next three days I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to get any better pictures of my pride and joy,Magnolia campbellii.By common consent the star of the family and worth all of the 20/25yrs that it takes to reach flowering stage.Furthermore if I had followed the advise of the experts I should never have planted it in this part of the world,so the moral is,hear what they have to say and follow your own inclinations.Please enjoy this series of shots of thr magnificent Magnolia campbellii.
For pictures of another Magnolia campbellii see the thread "A visit to Lukesland Garden" in the General Pages.
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Hi John,
Lovely collection of hellebores you posted,the are just so addictif,would like to keep them all.
Cheers Guy
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Here are a few pictures of presently flowers in my bulb frame and meadow.
Anemone coronaria in frame.
Anemone coronaria first seedling in meadow.
Anemone blanda in frame.
Anemone blanda seedlings in meadow.
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very nice A. coronaria. I have tried many times to grow them from bulbs bought in garden centres. They never look good and always have deformed flowers. Eventually they die out
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To Anemone coronaria :
I have bougth in spring 2005 some bulbs of A. coronaria "De Caen" in a gardencenter -after planting in my borders they emerge in fall 2005 and flowering in spring 2006 -since this time they flowers here without a break - also in winter when snow is on a high of 25 cm - all without any protection - it is for me a wonder !
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At last some feeling of spring in my part of Norway as well. Colchicum szovitsii 'Tivi' is one of the earliest plants in my rock garden.
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I should be so lucky Geir.
I have struggled to establish Colchicum szovitsii from bought in bulbs but now I have a few pots of seedlings the oldest are 3years so a few years to go before see a flower.
Glad that spring feelings have arrived in Norway, we have snow today.
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I'm with Ian. My bulbs always die out after a year or two
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We had snow today morning too, but I couldn't resist bloomed Primula allionii and Dionysia.
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Discovered this in the walled garden at Culzean Castle. The gardener said that the three plants had been happily sitting out for the past two years. Twelve miles further up the coastI cannot seem to keep them through the summer. This plant is the size of a small cabbage with plenty more blooms to come out
Primula whitei
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A lovely sunny day after the lousy long week end,found time to take some pictures,first a seedling from Hell X Hyb 2004 with unusual dark folliage,is not going to flower this time round ,a willow with outstanding black catkins,Salix Gracilistyle var Melanostachys ,Anemonella Talictroides,and Coridalis Solida George Baker.
Going to have sleeples nights over Colchium Szovitsii 8) :'(
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Geebo, Your Helleborus is amazing!
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Super foliage on the Hellebore Guy. Does it have a deep plummy coloured flower too?
That's a great willow. I have a low but very wide plant here and when I had my market stall, I took big bunches of stems when the catkins were tight shut and pitch black. They always sold very quickly and I never had enough.
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A great range of flowers at the AGS show in Kent on March 17. I ahve posted some pictures on relevant threads for Fritillaria, Hepatica and Narcissus. Here are some of the 'rest'
Orchids featured prominently
Anacamptis papilionacaea
Himantoglossum robertianum
Ophrys tenthredenofera
Ophrys speculum
Orchis italica
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And ...
Asplenium obtusatum - Best top Dressed in show!
Dionysia aretioides - the biggest one I have ever seen and in perfect condition. Wouldn't fancy having to repot that though!
Dionysia 'Florenze' - a really nice clear coloured hybrid
Dionysia microphylla
Dionysia oreodoxa
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Plus ...
Gladiolus uysiae - new to me. Only 6" (15cm) tall for this exhibitor. Fascinating if slightly grotesque flowers.
Iris graeberiana
Serapias carica
Trillium rivale
Tropaeolum hookerianum ssp austraicum
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And finally ...
Not everyones favourites but I like the miniature gardens. This one was as good as any I have seen although restricted to just one genus. Various dionysias growing in a lump of tufa, I imagine quite similar to their native habitat.
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Hi Tony
thanks very much for the pictures of what I missed. I was gutted that I couldn't get there on Saturday as it was so close to me - next year I shall make sure I keep the day clear. Great orchids.
And you are correct - that is the best top dressed plant I have ever seen (someone must have too much spare time on their hands!...).
Guy - great hellebore (as always).
cheers
John
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Thanks John - Hopefully I'll be back next year. Despite growing far too many crocus my best show plants are Narcissus and this is their time, hope we can meet up next March. (I have a date further North in October when you host the autumn show.)
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That lump of tufa is terrific. Like a miniature Alp without the downhill plankers.
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A wonderful selection Tony. I especially like the Tropaeolum and the monstrous Gladiolus.
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Splendid series of pix Tony - thanks a lot for showing us !
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If the pictures below seems totally irrelevant to this topic at this time, given that I'm in NZ, just ignore them. They're for David N who will know what they're all about.
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Very relevant as I am looking forward to 'Rose Window' flowering again this year.
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I remember when we last had P. 'Rose window ' in the forum... you'd just been to Rheims,or somewhere hadn't you, Anthony, and spoke of the rose window in the cathedral ?
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Crivvens. Was it not Notre-Dame?
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In all probability, yes, Notre-Dame... just remembered you'd been to a French cathedral with fabulous stained glass and Rheims sprang to mind!
Looking forward to Dunblane (Stirling) show on Saturday..... with your Group's poorly members you will be needing all the help you can get?
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I'll be there, although Lucy is 8 on Friday; I am singing in a concert on Sunday (St John Passion), and James has a parents' meeting at 11.15, after his training on Saturday, at the Stirling County Rugby Club [minis section] to hand out info and kit for their 4 day tour of Monmouthshire the following weekend.
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Ach, nothing different to an ordinary Saturday, then Anthony! You'll manage it!
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR FRIDAY, LUCY! Have fun!
[attach=1]
Happy Birthday Lucy !
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Thanks Maggi. Lucy will be tickled pink when I show her this tomorrow ;D
Today we had 11oC and the first of my cypripediums are bursting through the substrate. Here is Cypripedium 'Sabine' which I bought from rareplants in his seedling sale for £3 some years ago [see old Forum Cypripediums May 2006 for the plant in flower].
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Anthony, show Lucy the Baby Panda, too, from the Wildlife thread.
Hope you have a lovely day, Lucy!
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I did and she enjoyed it.
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spring flowering Daphnes are now packed with buds. I happy I took advantage of being at Abercomwy last year to buy a few plants. Here is one but no name as the label was lost while brining it home
Which Muscari is the 'Grape Hyacinth'? I have a very small patch of it that will get thinned this weekend. If only it wasnt so prolific we would all love it
I finally managed a good close up of Scoliopus hallii
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Here are some blooms today:
Narcissus minor X 2
N. asturiensis
N. rupicola watieri
N. tazetta italicus
N. 'Xit'
N. 'alpestris' [Not] X 2 from BB
Chionodoxa alba and
Scilla bifolia
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Finally two special blooms: Pleione forrestii and the birthday girl.
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That's sure some candle Anthony and Lucy. Next stop Sydney Harbour Bridge!
I keep going back to the baby panda. It was wonderful the first time, but each new time is excruciating, waiting for it and knowing what's to come, then getting a fright when it DOES come. Like waiting for an expected explosion. The inevitable laughter becomes more and more hysterical.
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News from my garden.
Hacquetia epipactis – A single species of perennial from central Europe.
Crocus seedlings in my meadow!
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Hellebores amongst scillas or is it scillas amongst hellebores.Taken in my small Winter garden today.
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Can anyone identify this allium ?I thought it was allium abnormis but I can't find it listed as that in any of my reference books.
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Hellebores amongst scillas or is it scillas amongst hellebores.Taken in my small Winter garden today.
John, what a wunderful contrast. I wouldn't say "amoungst" - its together!
How long did it take yout got get this "biotop"?
brgds
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Can anyone identify this allium ?I thought it was allium abnormis but I can't find it listed as that in any of my reference books.
Looks like Allium paradoxum - if it makes bulbils its A paradoxum paradoxum, if no bulbils, then it's A paradoxum var normale
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This area was originally planted with shrub roses and underplanted with scillas 30 yrs. ago.Three years ago I tired of the roses with all of their aphis and decease and decided to make a Winter garden in it's place.I uprooted the roses ignoring the scillas and rotovated the whole plot scillas and all and this is the result three years later.
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Thanks Dianne, you are quite right.I remember the name now that you have told me.
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And very nice too, more interesting than roses.
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John, you did a harsh treatment! But obviously very successful ;D
Scillas seem to be very resistive...opposite to please hybrid roses w/o using regular insecticides & pesticides is almost impossible. This is my personal resumee after 15years uncounted alternative trials.
You remind me - now it is time for the first chemical treatment... >:(
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What is this. It bloom now.
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It looks like it will be Scilla rosenii, it often starts to open its flowers before they are properly through the ground. If it has swept back petals like an Erythronium it will be S. rosenii
susan
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Looks like Scilla roseni to me Ewelina.
Ours are just coming through in the garden now.
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Jeffersonia dubia coming along nicely after the week of harsh weather.
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Ewelina, it is Scilla rosenii but only very small!
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Thank you all for the answer.
Franz, now I see similarity to yours.
Some Fritillarias bloom too.
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Can someone ID this single flowered bulb? Two leaves per bulb and no more than 7-10 cm
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A lovely Adonis vernalis flowering in todays summer like weather.
Question is, shall I risk digging it up and taking it to a show? I know they don't really like it, I have a few others but not one with as big flowers and so many of them.
Tried seed last year, mice first of all took the seed from the plants before they were ready and then those I did save they attacked in the greenhouse >:(
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Question is, shall I risk digging it up and taking it to a show?
Susan, leave that lovely Adonis where it is. Too big a risk for such a fine specimen. And, yes, I know a Show Secretary might not be thought to be allowed to say such things, but one must be sensible !
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John, what are the Hellebores in the bottom 2 pictures. You couldn't get more flowers on them if you tried.
John's pix posted 25th March, labelled pix 24th March 07 no 2. 011 /013
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Can someone ID this single flowered bulb? Two leaves per bulb and no more than 7-10 cm
Looks like Chionodoxa luciliae alba to me?
compare a poor picture from my garden (apologies for quality of scanned slide)
and its close relative Chionodoxa siehei (usually sold under the incorrect name C forbesii)
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Romulea linaresii flower open in the greenhouse yesterday.
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I agree that Mark's bulb is the white Chionodoxa luciliae. One way to tell the difference between Scilla and Chiocodoxa is that the Scillas have blue anthers (always?).
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thanks for the replies. They were seen in a garden I visited on Saturday
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Romulea linaresii flower open in the greenhouse yesterday.
Nice plant Mick, is that your first one?
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One way to tell the difference between Scilla and Chiocodoxa is that the Scillas have blue anthers (always?).
Not sure about the anthers, but this one has BLACK pollen (messy!)
Scilla sibirica Penza
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I have to say that I get very confused between Scilla, Chionodoxa, Puschkinia, and their various forms. The fact that one has to deal with Scilla puschkiniodes, Scilla scilloides,Puschkinia scilloides and the x Chionoscilla is enough to make me give up! I like them well enough, I just get stuck trying to recognise them! Scilla rosenii is easy because its ambition is to be an Erythronium, and that always goes down well chez the BD!
Mick, yourRomulea linaresiiis a sweet thing... when I see a pale, delicate colour like this I think it is my preference, then someone shows one of the bigger, brighter ones and I am swayed! That's why I say when s asked what is my favourite flower I have to answer: "the one that opened today" ! ::)
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One more ID. I ask every year and there is no answer :'(. What is this ?Scilla. Photographed last April 14th and this year it is amost over. Sanguinarias are also 3 weeks early
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One more ID. I ask every year and there is no answer :'(. What is this ?Scilla. Photographed last April 14th and this year it is amost over. Sanguinarias are also 3 weeks early
I'd hedge a bet at Scilla bithynica
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Yes David, I purchased it from Paul Christian last year. I suppose the secret now is to get it back again next year.
Maggi, only just spotted it open. Wasn't open when I started work in greenhouse, and was closed a couple of hours later. Looked again tonight after work and it was closed again.
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You're right Diane, that's horrible, as if soot from a chimney had been spilt.
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Diane's black anthered scilla may be messy, but it is not short of pollen, is it?
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Some more tuberous Corydalis solida forms flowering today:
'Red Riding Hood' from Paul Christian.
'George Baker'
C. solida transylvanica
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Also, a late flower of Crocus kosaniniii.
And the rhododendron buds are starting to move.
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Hi all ,
Today has startet in my garden the flowering season of species peonies , first like every year a P.russoi from the inonic islands .
Greetings
Hans
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Hello Hans
Could you tell me which is the minimum temperature you have in winter? I am curios about he hardiness of this peony. Thanks.
Razvan
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Hello Razvan ,
I live here in zone 7a ,last winter the minimum temperature was -13,8° C ( 25. Jan.) .
P. russoi is really hard -no problem .
I grow it from different locations without any problems - on Sardinia , Sicily and Corsica this plants grows until 1500 m altitude .
Greetings
Hans
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Thanks Hans for the info
This year it has been really mild for us too, lowest I think was -10. But normal winter weather (has anyone seen such, lately? ???) means we have lows of -20/-25 coupled with high winds.
I'll try it anyway. :P
Razvan
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Hi Razvan ,
The cold is not the problem for peonies - the problem is the wet .
You must make excellent drainage for all and maybe a protection for rain -thats all .
I confess I live here in a very mild area -it is the warmest part of Germany -but the problem are always late frosts . I grow a lot of peonies from the mediterranean area and I think it is only possibly here with this mild climate . A other help for this plant is to protect they from strong sun in winter - maybe with some branches of Abies . This plants starts really early with emerge -in this year p.e. my P. clusii in January and if than comes frost I have really a bad feeling and fear that I will lost -but nothing is happens .
P. russoi start with emerging much later .
Greetings
Hans
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Hans, even with the milder winter, and as you say, the Paeonia russoi emerges a little later than some, I cannot believe how beautiful the foliage is! So perfect, no frost or wind damage, no holes from eating insects... a picture of health!
Even with leaves that come later than this I seldom have such good leaves on any paeony!
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Hi Maggi ,
Thank you for you compliments !
The seeds for you from this plant are underway -try it .
I will later show more of my pictures from species peonies -and believe all looks similar well .
With peonies will not have any troubles with insects or slugs and snails - they like it not .
Paeonia is such a very old genus and they have survived millions of year - the only problem are fungus
( botrytis and other ) but if you have a well ventilatet place so it is not a problem .
Many greetings
Hans
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Yes, Paeonia is a great genus. I am trying to get o collection of species, besides the 20 or 30 old clumps of lactiflora and officinalis from my grandmother's garden. This spring germination has been very good and several pots show signs of activity. Other seeds also started early to germinate (of about 300 species I sawed last autumn, about 30% have germinated already). Spring is such a great time. :)
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Spring came suddenly and I can share my first flowers with you. :)
Galanthus 1 & 2
Helleborus abchasicus
Merendera
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Susan,sorry that I am late coming back but outdoor activities are very demanding and now that it is light until 2000hrs it leaves little time for the computer.However to answer, your question,the hellebores are ERICSMITHII and BALLARDIAE.Here they are again to avoid cofusion.
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Here are two plants flowering now that are not what was written on the tin. The first is Orchis collina, the Fan-lipped Orchid, which was advertised as "pink flowered". Nice none the less. The second is (I think?) Romulea bulbocodium which came from the 2002 SRGC seed exchange as "Merendera sp. (catalogue no. 2422 sown 25/1/03) >:(
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Mark, here's the blue tint that I get on the back of my cream Ranunc. ficaria seedlings. I rather like it.
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Knickers! I meant to post the Ranunculus ficaria cream-flowered seedling with the blue back on Mark's Ranunc. ficaria thread. I'll put it there too.
While I'm in this thread, here's an Ipheon seedling I've raised. Flowering for the first time this year. Has anyone seen this sort of colour in Ipheon uniflorum before? I don't think I have. I like it, I think. Hmm. Not quite made up my mind yet. It's certainly strong. All I've seen before is blues and purples and pinks and whites.
For comparison , the second pic is the variety 'Charlotte Bishop'.
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And a nice red Corydalis solida seedling that's appeared in the garden.
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In my crocus lecture I end by saying that as the first Pulsatilla raises its head to the sun the last crocus will be going over. Well here is the first Pulsatilla - you'll have to look elsewhere for the last crocus!
And nearby Degenia velebitica, a distinguished crucifer.
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Great plants and pictures everyone. The deep pink Ipheion is a beauty Martin. Well worth raising them from seed in that case. And the Corydalis of course.
I wish the Degenia were a bit longer lived and didn't get so scruffy, once it has a couple of years on it.
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Martin
that seedling deserves a name! What were its parents? Or was it a chance seedling?
When will you have it available commercially? Will you ship to Australia!
cheers
fermi
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The ipheon was a chance seedling that came up in a pot of snowdrop seedlings. I've no idea how it got there, except that I may have collected some ipheon seed one year and got it mixed up with my snowdrop seeds. I don't recall doing any crosses between my ipheons so am guessing it was open-pollinated. Except that I don't know why I'd have bothered collecting the seed if it wasn't a deliberate cross. I'm assuming it was probably from the paler pink 'Charlotte Bishop'. Perfect example of why I should keep a log-book of crosses made in the garden instead of relying on memory and labels (both of which can easily vanish after a few years - though I can't blame the blackbirds for the lost memories ;D ) In my defence, the ipheon did take about 5 or 6 years to flower from seed, which was a lot longer than I thought it would take.
I like the strong raspberry-pink colour, but the petals aren't as smooth and perfect as I'd like them to be, compared with 'Charlotte Bishop'. Maybe they'll improve as they develop - they only opened yesterday. I should do some back(?) crosses with 'Charlotte Bishop'. That would be interesting.
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Or maybe back cross to `Froyle Mill.' also very richly coloured.
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Hi Martin
while you're thinking of expanding your Ipheion empire, think about crossing your new Raspberry Cross with I. peregrinans "Rolf Feidler". A friend of mine has found a few interesting shades in a batch of sedlings where this is growing in close proximity to other ipheions.
cheers
fermi
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I almost suggested that very thing Fermi. A good clean pink RF would be very attractive. What are we going to call Martin's good pink? Actually `Raspberry Cross' is quite good, or` Blushing Bax?'
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Wonderful seedlings Martin!!!
This plant was received with the label: "Primula ellyptica ?"
Can anybody confirm this ID or give a better one?
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First flower after two years in my garden, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus
Yes, Andrew, it's your's!
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Teco's outside Thomas ???? - any special treatment ?
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No special treatments, Luc. But I've planted it near a tree to
protect it from rain falls!
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Dear Thomas,
Maybe you got the real thing although it can have more than a single flower, but a strikingly yellow eye is noted. Primula elliptica Royle comes from Cashmere (Köhlein: Primeln).
Best wishes
Gerd
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Thanks Gerd - I have some more plants with lots of flowers, but only in buds.
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Looks like Primula elliptica Thomas. I have looked at "Primula" by John Richards who says "......never mealy and with a distinct, long, narrowly winged whitish leaf stalk, an elliptical blade, and a loose, somewhat one sided umbel of 2-7 violet, blue or purple, slightly funnel-shaped exanulate flowers with a golden eye. Flowers May in the garden,July-August in the field." As far as cultivation is concerned he says ""Limited experience suggests that this is one less amenable members of the section in cultivation, as it is short lived, rarely sets seed, and offers little opportunity for vegetative propogation. It probably succeeds best in cool, well drained, but moisture retentive media with winter cover"
Hope this helps.
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Can anyone put a name to this unknown primula please? It was a present without a name or place of origin and the person who gave it to me has no idea! It is slow to increase and is a particular favourite. I look to your erudition!
Thanks, Brian
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Thanks for the effort, David! So far I can say, that my plant seems NOT to require
winter cover! It survived the last wet winter without any protection! Let's wait
and see, what the next years show.
Brian, no idea for your wonderful dark plant - but I'm not the Primula expert here ;)
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Brian, the dark primula looks like a Barnhaven Cowichan type polyanthus/primrose. Try this link to the Barnhaven nursery and take a look at the dark-flowered Cowichan forms there. They're mostly raised from seed as strains, I think, so probably not a named variety. Very nice plant.
http://www.barnhavenprimroses.com
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Brian, I should have said that one of the features of the Barnhaven Cowichans primroses is that they tend to be dark flowered with little or no central pale eye.
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Here is a link to a photo, ( from an article elswhere on this site) of Primula elliptica taken in the wild by Henry Taylor: http://www.srgc.org.uk/journal/taylor/primelip.htm
I'm sure I have seen a really dark primula like yours, David. Just have to remember where! Barry Glick in USA has a similar variety, though a brighter red, called 'Vivid'.
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Martin, thank you for the Barnhaven link, it certainly looks as though it could be one of the dark garnet seedstrain. I am glad to be able to put a possible source to it, I shall ring her up and ask if Barnhaven sounds familiar! Sadly I was unaware of this source of seed ;D I shall have to investigate further. Cheers, Brian
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Re Brian's dark primrose: I remember where I most recently saw a pretty dark form.... right outside my front door!! Photo doesn't get the colour quite right, it is a little darker... not that any of this helps Brian, I have no name for this one , either ! :-[
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Note bronze new foliage, also chewed leaves ! Pink granite blocks on front of house are pretty, though, aren't they!!
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Maggi, your primrose looks like a 'Juliana' type. About 15 years ago I raised loads of interesting seedlings by crossing old juliaeX varieties like Wanda, Blue Riband, etc. But I lost them all to a series of hot drought summers here at the new house on a south facing hillside with little shade.
Wouldn't mind trying it again if I knew of a good source of those old juliae hybrids. Anyone got any suggestions?
I'd also like a good mail order source for P. sibthorpii, which I used a lot in those crosses (either the old garden form or the more recent Turkish introductions) if anyone can suggest a nursery.
Maybe I should also put this in the plants wanted thread.
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Martin, you should have been in Aberdeen on Tuesday evening for our Group meeting: a talk on Northern Turkey by Michael Almond.. wonderful ! In particular there were acres of Primula sibthorpii looking truly delightful!
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Maggi, Primula sibthorpii used to grow really well for me. It's a superb plant. I had drifts of it in the garden until those hot summers and a plague of vine weevils did for them all. I have a lot more shade and more woodlandy soil now, so really would like to find a good source. You used to see it for sale all over the place. :(
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Martin
I think this will take you to the RHS plantfinder entries for Prim vul ssp sibthorpii stockists http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/pfregions.asp?ID=92034 (http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/pfregions.asp?ID=92034)
Sue
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Maggi ,Martin ,
Here are some pics of Primula sibtorpii from a earlier travel in Turkey - I can confirm it -thats wonderful plants .
A friend has send me last year some seeds of it and I have grow some plants from these -they flower now : after one year !
Until now I have only the pink form but my friend has promised me also seeds of the white flowering plants -so I hope .....
I have never sowing any Primula before -so this plants must be really not sensible
Greetings
Hans
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Martin a local small garden centre has/had it. I'll check now
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Brian, picture below of a Dark Cowichan for comparison with your plant. If you would like to see more have a look at http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~viv.pugh/
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David, there is a great similarity between your Dark Cowichan primula and mine, the difference can perhaps be accounted for by the lighting if yours was taken with a flash as I took the picture outside today. Otherwise 'mine' is much darker, although I am sure we are just talking shades of dark.
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Nowadays the lovely Cowichan primulas come not only in light and dark shades of reds and purples/blues but also in bronzy oranges and a gorgeous yellow which is really an old, antique-looking gold. The very dark forms like the one above also often have deep reddish leaves. I think they're all beautiful and worth growing.
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David, there is a great similarity between your Dark Cowichan primula and mine, the difference can perhaps be accounted for by the lighting if yours was taken with a flash as I took the picture outside today. Otherwise 'mine' is much darker, although I am sure we are just talking shades of dark.
Brian, the picture I put in my post was taken from the Web Site I quoted, all of the pictures on that Web Site were taken of plants in Primula shows.
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Nowadays the lovely Cowichan primulas come not only in light and dark shades of reds and purples/blues but also in bronzy oranges and a gorgeous yellow which is really an old, antique-looking gold. The very dark forms like the one above also often have deep reddish leaves. I think they're all beautiful and worth growing.
Me too Lesley, I'm growing some (probably far too many) from Barnhaven seed.
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Where can you get Barnhaven seed nowadays David?
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http://www.barnhavenprimroses.com/ (http://www.barnhavenprimroses.com/)
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Lesley, if you have have any problems in getting some Barnhaven seed let me know and I will get some for you and send it on.
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Thanks lads, for the link and the offer. I don't why why but I thought the Barnhaven company had stopped trading years ago. Obviously not. There shouldn't be any problem getting seed into NZ of those listed. All are on the "permitted" list. Just a problem paying for them at present. It's disgusting how few Aust. dollars one gets when buying them with NZ dollars. ::)
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Isn't "Barnhaven" now based in France? You'll need to be changing your money to euros, Lesley!
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That's even worse Maggi!
Iris seed in transit today.
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Iris seed in transit today.
Thanks, Lesley!