Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Lesley Cox on July 27, 2007, 04:01:02 AM
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It's still July in the Southern Hemisphere (as everywhere) but the back of winter appears to be broken here at least, with a couple of days with mild, north westerly winds. Several new seeds have germinated and there are many crocuses starting, along with more Narcissus, Galanthus, the first Cyclamen coum and Adonis amurensis, Iris reticulata forms, especially `Natascha' and some seedlings from Alan McMurtrie's seed and I. `Sheila Ann Germaney' opened just today. I didn't want to put these crocuses in a winter thread, nor in the Crocus April thread, so here's a new one.
First C. biflorus ssp melantherus
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Then two shots of what I have as C. biflorus ssp. pulchricolor. Thomas thinks it's a form of biflorus ssp alexandri because it has no yellow throat. I haven't looked at the corm tunic yet but the leaves are well advanced at flowering which they shouldn't be, according to Mathew.
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Crocus cvijicii has truly wonderful colouring. The shot is a shocker and I apologise but it shows the glowing orangey yellow well. I went to get another pic just 5 mins later but in that short time a little cold wind had come up and the flowers are closed. The flash went off, so dark had it become. Another not good pic.
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And what this post is all about, 2 further seedlings from the cvijicii x veluchensis batch. Both are lovely, the second one almost bronzy/brown in bud. In both cases the colour is stronger than the pics show. I'm very pleased with these and think I'll try to repeat the cross.
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I really do apologise for the out-of-focus shots but it's raining now and I'm not going out again.
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Lesley, do make up your mind!
These "hoops" really follow on from the ones I posted recently, but I suppose they can be considered "spring flowers"!
Firstly a GBF-raised hybrid "Ianmon";
then some Narc. romieuxii seedlings ex Julia Jane but not as flat as her; very floriferous, though. 2 clumps;
then one I got as N.bulbocodium var. graellsii, but I think that's supposed to be a late flowerer; 2 views.
Lastly another clump of "GB Ta-Julia" in another part of the garden.
cheers
fermi
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Great shots Lesley and Fermi - brings back the Spring feeling in a chilly and wet summer !
I particularly love that Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor - smashing colours.
But do you even realize what you are doing Lesley ??? ::) You might be waking up the Croconuts from their summer snooze ???? God knows what will happen now ? ;D
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Yes I agree,, nice to see the spring flowers again now that we are going towards end of summer here.
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I'm a female Fermi, I'm allowed to change my mind. And don't you feel better already knowing it's (almost) spring? I like the `Julia Jane' seedlings. Are these yours? I have a lot (100s) coming toward flowering size, another year perhaps, so I hope they flower so well. They'll be great for bulb lawn planting.
Luc, that's just I'm hoping to do, re-activate the croconuts. They've been too quiet of late.
Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere Magnar.
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The only problem with an early spring is the thought of yet another summer to follow with yet another drought! But it has been a wetter winter this year so maybe not quite as dry a summer...maybe.
But, Lesley, should the Galanthus pics be posted here or to the previous thread? Hopefully there'll be a lot more Narcissus to show as well.
cheers
fermi
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But if spring's early at this end, it doesn't mean it'll be early at the other end, so perhaps we'll have a long, drawn out spring which would be nice.
If I have any Galanthus worth a pic and any further Narcissus, I'll put them here I think, also Cyclamen trochopteranthum which I just noticed a few minutes ago but I'll have to weed round it first, poor thing.
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I'm so surprised no one picked up on the mistake I made in my posting last Friday - my only excuse can be that it was FRIDAY!
The mistake was I posted a pic of Narc. "Tiffany" and named it "Ianmon"! I know telling "hoops" apart can be like discerning between snowdrops ;) but you can tell in the next set of pics the difference between these two, with "Tiffany" having a wider flaring cup.
Lastly, a pic of some Galanthus elwesii with an early "spring star-flower" Ipheion uniflorum "Froyle Mill"; "Alberto Castillo" is still only in bud.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi, I have never seen N. 'Ianmon' so my only thought was that it was a daft name!
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Glenbrook have a lot of strange and fun names! The detective series include Spoirot (herculeS POIROT), Smarple (misS MARPLE), Kholmes (sherlocK HOLMES) and I presume "Ianmon" is in this series! A private correspondent has told me today that another GBF hybrid "Ben Bler" is from BENson and staBLER, TV detectives in SVU!
cheers
fermi
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Lesley, I agree with Thomas H.[he is back from his holidays in Austria] that your Crocus biflorus ssp. pulchricolor is actually biflorus ssp. alexandri.Your Cr. cvijicii x veluchensis is gorgeous, I only have a patch of cvijicii in flower now, no veluchensis, so if you repeat that cross again this season I would dearly love to get a few seeds. Amongst many other Crocus in flower now is the newish paschei & the old historic korolkowii 'Dytiscus' & tommasinianus 'Pictus' selected by old E.A.Bowles a long time ago, also about 70 different Galanthus species &named cultivars, particularly lovely last week blooming through 8cmof snow! Also the correct name [at the moment] for Cyclamen trochopteranthum is alpinum.
it is almost midnight, so good night, otto.
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Re Ianmon - I thought it would be emanating from your household, Maggi!
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Narcissus 'Ianmon'... well it does smack rather of "Hoots, mon, Jings, Crivvens, Help ma Boab!" and such- like cod scottish sayings!
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Otto, if I can do seed sometime, you shall have it but at present I have about 30 seedlings which have flowered and only three are as distinct as these were. Most are pale yellow and some with the merest hint of pale lilac which fades almost immediately. These are the first flowering of this batch and each corm is in a separate pot so I can keep them apart from the others. As they increase I want to send some to Thomas and to John Lonsdale in the States and to you of course :)
I'll change the name on the C. b. pulchricolor. It's not that I didn't believe Thomas but it is so different from my other ssp alexandri that I was reluctant to lump them together. My C. cvijicii is in full flower but veluchensis isn't even showing yet, although there's an extra cvijicii beside the veluchensis and that's not up either so I still may be able to hand pollinate in a week or so.
After the 4+ inches of rain on Monday and following a fortnight of hard frosts, yesterday I had 15 more pots of frit seed germinated and about 20 other pots as well. And great news is that while not even showing at all on Sunday, by Tuesday (yesterday) there was a fat stem growth on Fritillaria alburyana , 3 cms high and with a bud already formed and poking up at the top of the leaves. That's QUICK!
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Here's the first flower on a Colchicum burtii grown from seed supplied by Marcus Harvey - sown 11-May-2003. Does anyone else grow this?
Next is the wonderfuly named "Mondieu" another GBF Narc. romieuxii selection. The flower is about 5cm (2") across!
cheers
fermi
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Mon Dieu! What a flower! Does it require its companion, like you see donkeys in fields with horses sometimes?
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My God! ;D
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That's a lovely Colchicum Fermi. I've never heard of that name before. The more I look at your `Julia Jane' seedlings, the more I feel that my JJ (bought for a large price) is a seedling FROM JJ as it has the same sort of pleat in the corolla as if too much material was cut out and rather than remove it, the dress maker has make it into an extra tuck at the top, if you know what I mean. In which case, mine are seedlings of a seedling so that will be interesting. I still think `Atlas Gold' is the best of the lot.
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Lesley, this afternoon at our monthly meeting of the Ferny Creek Horticultural Soc. Fermi brought a pot of Narcissus Mon Dieu in flower-it really is outstandingly beautiful & made me exclaim mein Gott! so I added it on my "I want list"
Otto.
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Just had a quick look at the Wisley Alpine Log. What a good idea but it means even more minutes each day spent in front of a screen instead of out in the garden. I must learn some discipline.
Otto I guess you'll have a better chance of persuading Fermi to part with one or two bulbs of `Mon Dieu' than I will. Good luck.
Here is the latest batch of seedlings from the cvijicii/veluchensis cross. First the "father," then the babies. "Mother" is up above in this thread. These are seedlings from a single seed pod. Tremendous variation with several showing the pinkish tone which is so pretty.
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You'll be pleased, I hope, to know that the seed from your Fritillaria imperialis `Rubra Maxima' which Tim sent to me, is germinating now.
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Lovely pics Lesley and Fermi. I'm just catching up after a few days of not visiting.
Lesley,
My ssp alexandrii is rather different to your pics. Nowhere near as round in the petals as yours..... I really like the form of yours much better. I have taken pics of mine in the last coupel of days so will try to upload some.
Fermi,
I too am admiring the 'Mondieu' but am not actually asking you for any of them.... a friend of mine gave me a small one of that earlier this season. Definitely looking forward to it even more now, although I am doubting that mine will flower for me this year. 'Julia Jane' has been fantastic for me this year, giving more uniform flowers than it often does. Mine also has that pleating effect at times Lesley, but I think it is usually due to a warm patch as the flowers are emerging. They then don't unfurl quite as well as they should. We've had cooler last month during the day, so the flowers are emrging a bit better this year than some years.
Otto,
your garden is sounding just wonderful. Many of the Galanthus here aren't yet in flower, although they are mostly in bud. Been a hard summer for a lot of things this year.
Some Crocuses are finally putting in an appearance, after the majority of the autumn species failed to flower. korolkowii, minimus, corsicus (one pot only, very early), imperatii ssp suavoleons, first of the tommies etc are starting to flower. I am particularly pleased with minimus flowering, as I nearly lost it last year for some reason. 2 pots of it nearly completely rotted out, but thankfully the tiny corms have recovered enough to start flowering again.
Although I may not get up here as often as I want to, I am thoroughly enjoying the pics as always. Thanks everyone!!
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OK peoples..... I have finally got some pics together to post. These Crocus are out at the moment in my pots.
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As you can see, my Crocus biflorus ssp alexandrii is somewhat different to Lesley's.
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Crocus corsicus (somewhat earlier than normal, just in one pot)
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Crocus minimus recovering nicely as mentioned. I just love the outside of the flower.
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This is an Iris histrioides hybrid as far as I know. I don't have a name for it for sure, but I think it was identified on a list at one point as 'Angel's Tears' or something along those lines? Anyone care to try for a name? Much more substantial than the Iris reticulata varieties.
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And a few more pics.....
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This is just a few of the Cyclamen coum colour variants out at the moment. Such a cool species, one I wouldn't be without nowadays.
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This is my first ever non-white double seedling hellebore. I've had double whites selfed, but this is the first one I've flowered from a cross that is double. It will be interesting to see what it looks like next year, as the first flowering is by no means a good indicator of their eventual quality (or lack thereof)
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This is a white anemone centred seedling I have flowering now, only the second ever anemone centred seedling I've ever had. The first opened a couple of weeks ago and was what would best be described as a reverse picotee, spotted heavily dark purple throughout with a pale edge and dark nectaries etc. Again, will be interesting to see these all next year to see how the flowers stabilise.
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This is Lapierousia oreogena which is flowering for me for the first time this year from seed. Small flowers, but the colour is spectacular. The photo doesn't do it justice, but it gives you the basic idea. I've been pollinating so hopefully will get some seed set.
I'll also post some Galanthus pics, but I will go down and find a Galanthus thread in the specialist sections to post them.
I hope y'all enjoy the pics now, y' hear!!
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Your pics are just what we need while we're getting used to uncomfortably hot weather again, Paul. 8) It reminds me what's inside these little bundles of fun that I'm repotting just now.
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Lesley if I ever get to NZ you better count those stunning crocus hybrids
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Paul I have that form of C. b. alexandri too, perhaps even darker, almost black, on the outside. It's always a bit later. I really like the purple Lapeirousia. I haven't seen it here.
I don't think it was a warm patch that affected my `Julia Jane.' We had snow, ice and heavy frosts around then. It has ALWAYS flowered like that, about 7 years I think.
I have a pretty lemon flower on a hellebore, quite single and unmarked, from, so the seed was labelled, `Ashwood Apricot.' Will try for a pic later in the day when I've cleaned up the rest of the mess from my ancient washing machine, which spilled its gu.... inards onto the floor last night.
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Well, we've had a reasonably good weekend including our garden club at Ferny Creek in the Dandenongs having a "Buy/Swap/Sell" afternoon where we bought more than we should've!
Otto brought along a couple of iris which he wanted me to post to the Forum.
First is I.rosenbachiana "Varzob" and the second is a white reticulata which has been available as "White winogradowii"; both are introductions by Janis Ruksans, I think.
cheers
fermi
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Here are a few new flowers in the Rock garden at Redesdale.
First the first flower on Aquilegia grahamii which appears true to name, though a bit small.
Next, the Babiana pygmaea which I also posted last year, but I split up the clump in summer, so not as many flowers.
And third a scilla which I got as S.greilhuberi but it may be S.hohenhackeri or something like that!
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Just to be boring, here are some more "hoops".
First, "Mitimoto", another Glenbrook hybrid;
The clump of "Ianmon" opening a few more flowers and the frst one showing the lightening effect;
Another clump of "Mondieu" but growing in the rock garden instead of a pot;
and a final look at the Seedlings of Julia Jane; I've realised on closer inspection that some flowers are a slightly deeper yellow and are a bit flatter, closely approximating their "mum"! I guess I must've planted out the entire pot of seedlings (possibly a whole 2 or 3 originally!) without separating them; I'll try to sort them out next year.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Great pics!! Love those two Iris from Otto. That white in particular I desperately want!! ;D I just love the reticus and histriodes types. The only white I've come across was 'Natascha' which didn't do well at all for me unfortunately. Ottos is far superioir in form, presumably having a fair whack of histrioides in its parentage judging by the size of the petals.
Love that Babiana. I think mine may have finally gone to the Goddess, but I haven't checked for sure. Such a large flower for such a small plant. Always a bonus!!
Lesley,
The seed for the Lapierousia oreogena came from NZ!! Bill Djik I think it was, via the ABA seedlist from memory.
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What's ABA Paul?
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Sorry, the Australian Bulb Association. They have an email list, which you don't have to be a member of the actual society to take part in. Their seedlist is available to members and non-members from memory.
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Well, talk about not separating out seedlings properly!
Today I found a flower open in a pot labelled Narcissus cantabricus var. clusii grown from SRGC seedex seed; I thought I posted a pic last year but I couldn't find it on reviewing the Old Forum. Well, today's flower was not in keeping with the label and looks a lot like a form of N. c. var. petunioides or something similar! I was so impressed I introduced it to N. "Mondieu"!
cheers
fermi
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I'm sure Rod would be proud of the gracious way 'Mondieu' nodded it's head to the newcomer.
The string of pictures reminds me why GBF wins so often at the Hobart show.
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Well those will be beautiful babies Fermi. I especially like that side view. Something I should try to emulate, myself ;D
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Lesley,
only your sharp eyes would have picked up the presence of pollen on the stigma in the last pic! or do you just know me too well to know I wouldn't have have left they uncrossed?
Just to prove I'm not completely daffy-centric here are pics of Potentilla alba (covered in frost) and Crocus "Sunkist" wishing the sun would kiss it so it can open fully!
cheers
fermi
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That's a pretty potentilla Fermi, and grey-leaved too :D
I didn't spot any pollen though, just assumed that you'd made the introduction for purposes which would be advertised in the Personal columns, as "...for dating, maybe more." Sex, in other words.
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Lovely piccies everyone. It's so nice to see spring twice. By the way are you behind or in front of us?
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Ian,
Well we're in front of you guys time-wise, so I imagine that should make us in front of your season-wise shouldn't it?? ;D
Although, I think the fashion industry thinks differently!! ::)
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Lesley,
the potentilla is only silvery because of the frost! It's the normal P.alba with light green foliage and quite long flowering as well. I'll let you know if anything comes of the union of Mon and Pet! Considering that the seed of the Narc. canatbricus was sown in 2001, it may be a bit of a wait! I actually got flowers on its siblings for the last two years, I think, so the first one only took 4 years to flower from seed.
cheers
fermi
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here's a pic I took last year of Narc.cantabricus var. clusii. (at least I hope so! It was "archived" when we changed computer servers at work and I still haven't sorted all the pics!)
cheers
fermi
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Are all these daffys out in the open, Fermi?
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Lesley,
the potentilla is only silvery because of the frost! fermi
Fermi, didn't you notice the cheesy grin?
Shouldn't clusii be whiter than that? Whatever, it's very nice.
I've filled in and returned my Study Weekend form. Have you? I hope the Aussies will do the Mt Hutt field trip. It's a super area and cars can go all the way up to the the veg sheep and higher (I'm thinking of Otto's hips - not that I spend a lot of time thinking of Otto's hips ;D)
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Hi Lesley,
Yes, I'd also wondered about the lemon shade the clusiiblooms open but they fade to white; however the (hopefully) petunioidesopened pure white so maybe there is a problem with naming them starightclusii.
I'm sure Otto is happy that someone is concerned about his hips! We actually went up to Mt Hutt before the last Study Weekend and he was fine with the climb.
Anne,
The daffys are mostly grown in the open Rock garden but a few are kept in pots for taking to meetings (a good chance to exchange pollen!) or because I couldn't decide where to plant them at the end of the planting season! The pot of "Mondieu" had been outdoors but the other had been in the shade house.
Here are a few pics I took this morning:
The first flower for 2007 on Narc.cantab.clusii,
Narc. "Atlas Gold"
and a badly composed shot of N. "Sporoit" (another GBF hoop) with Lachenalia aloides in bud.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
'Atlas Gold' looks rather impressive. Nice strong shade of yellow, stronger than those petunioides types usually are (or at least than I have seen anyway). Excellent!
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Paul that colour for `Atlas Gold' is pretty true, much richer than the other romieuxii forms. It's a great little doer too. I've over 100 buds poking through so far. A week or so behind Fermi's.
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Wow. Both on colour AND number of buds you have. Would love to see a pic of that "patch" when they're in flower. Please?? ;D
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Lesley,
the potentilla is only silvery because of the frost! fermi
Fermi, didn't you notice the cheesy grin?
Shouldn't clusii be whiter than that? Whatever, it's very nice.
I've filled in and returned my Study Weekend form. Have you? I hope the Aussies will do the Mt Hutt field trip. It's a super area and cars can go all the way up to the the veg sheep and higher (I'm thinking of Otto's hips - not that I spend a lot of time thinking of Otto's hips ;D)
Lesley, what's a 'veg sheep' ? I have a vision of a white woolly cabbage!!
Lesley, what's a 'veg sheep'
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Given the time difference, it'll be a while before Lesley is back online, David, so I'll jump in here...
a veg ( vegetable ) sheep is the nickname given to the large plants... probably hundreds of years old, of various Raoulia and even Haastia species growing in the New Zealand mountains... lots of these have a very silvery foliage and the large cushions/mounds of these venerable plants look, from a distance, like sheep on the hillside, hence the soubriquet. Some can be even larger than real sheep, I have seen photos of fabulous plants that were more like white vegetable cows!
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I too am glad you explained it. I had no idea myself. I will carefully refrain from making any comments about New Zealanders and sheep!! ;D They'd after all be very baaaa-d jokes!! ::)
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Tee Hee! ;D
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I too am glad you explained it. I had no idea myself. I will carefully refrain from making any comments about New Zealanders and sheep!! ;D They'd after all be very baaaa-d jokes!! ::)
Paul, it's the Welsh here who have 'strong affinities' to sheep. :D
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Given the time difference, it'll be a while before Lesley is back online, David, so I'll jump in here...
a veg ( vegetable ) sheep is the nickname given to the large plants... probably hundreds of years old, of various Raoulia and even Haastia species growing in the New Zealand mountains... lots of these have a very silvery foliage and the large cushions/mounds of these venerable plants look, from a distance, like sheep on the hillside, hence the soubriquet. Some can be even larger than real sheep, I have seen photos of fabulous plants that were more like white vegetable cows!
Ah! I see, so I was pretty close with my cabbage then?
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I only have digital pics of very small sheep at present (lambs?) but hopefully after the Lincoln weekend will have something worth posting. You all know the story about the late great Harold Esselmont who proudly showed a Raoulia eximia for several years, softly brown and woolly? Until someone pointed out that it was dead (and had been apparently for months if not years). A live vegetable sheep is a beautiful silvery blue shade, no doubt about it's being alive. Surprisingly, Harold's apparently didn't smell bad. Ever smelt a dead sheep? Not easily forgotten !!!
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New Film from NZ now on DVD "Black Sheep" - only for fans of movies like "Shaun of the Dead"!
Here are two pics taken this morning in the rock garden.
A nice dark purple Dwarf Bearded Iris
Bulbinella cauda-felis
cheers
fermi
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On the news just now they were talking about a new movie that is coming out soon..... called "Black Sheep". It is apparently set in New Zealand (or I guess is just applicable to Wales then?) and is about genetic ezperiments that go horribly wrong and sheep rampage, killing everyone. Blood, guts, gore etc. It's been nicknamed already..... Violence of the Lambs. I am not making this up. I could barely believe it when I saw the news item. Given the recent allusions to sheep here I just had to mention it. ::)
Back to plants...... Narcissus cyclmineus opened a first flower yesterday. As did my second ever crocus flowering from sown seed (as opposed to naturally sown in the garden) which was C. olivieri ssp balansae. The first ever to flower for me was C. olivieri ssp olivieri a fortnight ago. Very chuffed, to put it mildly!! The flowers were minuscule, but I am assuming this is just a feature of first flowering, and not the true size of them. Or are the olivieris all teeny tiny little flowers? Both of these were about 1cm across, so I am assuming that isn't their adult specifications?
Added immediately after posting.... HA. Obviously Fermi saw the same news bulletin and posted his comment while I was composing mine!! Great minds think alike? Or is just fools never differing!! I know which one I am, but I don't want to be insulting to Fermi!! ;D
Love the Bulbinella Fermi. Lovely. I just have the nutans which is such a lovely strong yellow. Must find the other colours one of these years as they are such a wonderfully strong plant and flower so prolifically.
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I haven't seen "Black Sheep" nor do I know "Shaun of the Dead" but I understand "Black Sheep" falls into the category of black comedy, not really a horror film, or only in the nicest possible way ??? like when that poor little dog fell from an upstairs window in "A Fish Called Wanda" and went splat on the footpath. It was ghastly but I still laugh like crazy when I think of it.
Crocus olivier ssp balansae is naturally very small Paul. Intense colour but small size. A little stunner.
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That bulbinella is wonderful - any ideas if it will grow outside/under glass here in northern England? I have one of the yellow bulbinellas which will grow seed and sprout in a year but the seedlings don't survive outside in my garden.
Sue
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Lesley,
They were talking about sheep pulling entrails out through a man's chest, so perhaps not in the "nicest" possible way!! :o Hmmmmm... tiny dogs splattering on pavement is uproariously funny to you.... we're getting a whole knew insight to you my dear Lesley. :P
So are all olivieri that small? I was wondering as both ssp were tiny, but it was the first seedlings I'd flowered from seed so I thought it might just have been the conditions. They're really only a cm or so across? They look like someone dwarfed them or something?
Sue,
How cold do you get? They do fine here, where we get to -8 or -9, but I realise you may be somewhat colder than that depending where you are. I really am not sure what temps are where in England, be they north or south. Sorry.
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I think the lowest temperature I've had for the past few years is about -6 as I'm not very far from the coast, but winter is often damp/wet and I'm on a relatively heavy soil. Most penstemons don't make it through the winter, tulips are a disaster - so anything like that has to been grown in a pot or my raised bed.
Sue
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Who is the star Paul....RAM..bo?
Did it get a EWE certificate?
Will people flock to see it and be fleeced at the box office?
Baa.....some of these are just shear silly!
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Hi All,
Otto has asked me to post a question to the Forum. I suspect in part this is driven by his desire to get me back onto the Forum - Apologies for being so slack lately.
Otto would like to know if someone can identify this Corydalis (in the Leonticoides section) that he received as Corydalis ledebouriana. Any opinions on what species it may be or if it could be a hybrid between C. ledebouriana and C. popovii?
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Geez Cliff. I thought MY jokes were bad!! ::)
:P
Tim,
Otto's Corydalis is fascinating. Looks very delicate but is it?
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Tim,
Otto's Corydalis is C. popovii!
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Howdy All,
Some more flowering bits and pieces in my garden. I'll post some more pics down in the Galanthus thread as well like the other day..... although I may not get them posted until tomorrow (my time, not yours. Currently 10:30pm here)
For starters here are some Crocus in flower now. I can put these down in the Crocus threads as well if they're wanted? Or can a copy of this posting be placed there?
Paul,I have posted a link to this post in the Crocus pages.. Maggi
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Crocus 'Cinderella' has virtually done a lazarus and come back from the dead. Nearly died out and is now back into flower in under 18 months. Very nice!! Seems a bit paler this year than I recall in the past..... not quite as blue.
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Crocus 'Skyline' is actually in a friends garden in the next suburb. I took pics to compare with 'Cinderella' after last years discussion we had as to how similar or different they were. The yellow throat is very noticeable once pointed out (by Thomas in an email) but prior to that I hadn't really noticed it! 'Skyline' is also much bluer than 'Cinderella', although I think that is a bit paler for some reason this year.
The following are my two seedlings, flowering for the first time this year. Please lte me know if either or both appear to be incorrect
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Crocus olivieri ssp olivieri was my first ever crocus to flower from sown seed (I'd had others in the garden, but never that I had actually sown in a pot) It was about a fortnight or so ago. This has fine markings predominantly at the outer base of the petals.
12-Aug : I initially had these two pics reversed, I've just fixed them so the two Crocus olivieri are correct!! Thanks Ibrahim!!
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Crocus olivieri ssp balansae is flowering now. Both of them are tiny, with them never even reaching an inch across even after they're a few days old and have fully expanded. I'm glad that Lesley mentioned they're supposed to be so small. This has darker markings than the previous one, extending further up the outside of the outer 3 petals than the previous.
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I have these two witchhazels out at the moment.....
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'Ruby Glow' on the left and 'Diane' on the right.
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A rather delightful picotee type hellebore, striped nicely on the outside. Given that the outside is predominantly what you see I am very happy with this plant, as it is beautiful even without looking into the flower.
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And the inside is pretty striking too!!
And I know it isn't a plant but I thought I'd post a pic of an inhabitant the other morning of our large Photinia. This King parrot and it's mate were sitting there for quite a while during the morning. We don't get the kings into our garden much as we don't put out food. They don't seem to come for the water like the other parrots do. Always a treat to find one of them here.
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Re Otto's Corydalis:
I too would agree that it is a C. popovii... only the fact that the spur is quite pink would make me think there was any other species involved, although I am aware that hybrids of the two species occur, I do not think this is one: it is a popovii form.
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Nice Crocus pics Paul
Here are a couple from this side of the ditch--
Crocus sps.Although it's fairly common can i remember the name for the moment??.--- no i can't.
Crocus gargaricus ssp herbertii
Various Cyclamen coum are starting to come into flower--such a variation in the leaf patterns.
Raised from NZAGS seed 9/2002 as Cyclamen coum ssp caucasicum
Plain leafed C. coum
Cyc. coum cherry red --again raised from NZAGS seed -- sown 9/2004
Close up of Narcissus rom. atlas gold . Surprisingly no one has mentioned it's scented.
Finally a double Helleborus raised from Otago Alpine Garden Group seed 8/2003 as red with yellow spots .
A few years back doubles were going for about $70 NZ.This one success is the result of a rather amateur attempt to raise a multitude of plants and cash in on the market.Smile !!!!!.In any case the prices have dropped to well under half of that previously asked so in any case i wasn't going to end up making a fortune.wink!!.
Cheers Dave.
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Well, if that's Corydalis popovii, I'll look forward all the more, to the first blooming of my seedlings from Franz' seed. They're doing well and the little bit of seed I saved and sowed very late, is coming up, a dozen or so, so at least SOME species germinate well from far from fresh seed. Thanks Franz.
Paul, In saying C. balansae was naturally very small, I was relying on a far from perfect (in the event,) memory, and the illustrations in Patrick M. Synge's book, "Collins' Guide to Bulbs" if you can get hold of it from somewhere. In fact, what I thought was C. balansae was actually C. suterianus. And the other very small one there, is C. korolkowii, though the ACTUAL C. korolkowii (as imported from Marcus Harvery) have quite large flowers, not small at all. So maybe your small ones are just because it is blooming for the first time. But I don't think they'll be VERY large, all the same.
I see that Mathew gives C. suterianus as a synonym for C. olivieri ssp. olivieri. It too, is smallish compared with many but very brilliant orangey colour and one of my favourites. I would have taken its pic today but the gales we had over the last couple of days flattened every crocus that was out and today we're having a light snow fall. At lunchtime the temp was 1 degC here. What did I say at the top of this thread about early spring?
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Dave, re your Hellebore ex red with yellow spots. I have a single seedling from the same donation, as H. ex yellow with red spots. It will flower soon.
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Paul, it's great to see a pic of you at last in your left hand profile but I'm surprised how old you are (all that white hair), and also how much there is of it. Not merely a hairy chest, but back, legs and ears as well. I'd imagined you as clean shaven for some reason.
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Lesley,
Depends whether it's a full moon or not. I am a were-Maltese after all!! ;D
In the introductions thread I actually put a larger version and explained the pics. I figure you've already seen it but wanted to take the mickey anyway!! :o
:P :-*
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Thank you Franz & Maggi for the identification of my Corydalis popovii which flowers about one month earlier than my other plants of C. popovii, also it is a more robust plant.I received it ( one tuber only) in 2001 ,labelled C. ledebouriana from Norman Stevens of Cambridge Bulbs so did not question its name. From experience some species in the Leonticoides section live to a ripe old age: I grew one tuber of C. popovii for 34 years !!( that makes me ancient) before it died. I received it in 1961 from my late friend Wilhelm Schacht ,Munich Botanic Garden, (who in turn received it 2 years earlier from Prof. Dr. Otto Schwarz, Jena Bot. Gard.,(of Cyclamen fame ).In old age the tuber was larger than a tennis ball!
Paul-I just measured a fully open bloom of Crocus olivieri ssp. balansae yes it tiny only 3cm across
ciao Otto.
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Otto,
Thanks. Mine may be up close to that size by now as it has flattened somewhat over the last couple of days. Certainly are tiny little things aren't they? Not quite what I was expecting, but I would imagine that once the rest of the seedlings in the pot start flowering (+ offsets assuming they offset) it should produce a rather delightful display. Thanks for the info.
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"Dave, re your Hellebore ex red with yellow spots. I have a single seedling from the same donation, as H. ex yellow with red spots. It will flower soon."
Lesley you maybe correct.The writing on my label was very very faded and i'm sure not going out in the cold pitch black night right now to check----smile.
When yours flowers it'll be interesting to see if there is any variation.Hope you post pics .
Cheers Dave.
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Hi Paul, please forgive my unbelieving, but your friends Skyline isn't true.
I think it may be a seedling of Skyline. See my photo below of the true plant:
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Dave your unknown Crocus looks like a ssp of sieberi, possibly atticus or
one of the selectet cultivars (Firefly, Violett Queen).
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Otto's lent me his memory card so I promised to post some pics for him.
Here's Crocus biflorus ssp pulchricolor grown from seed collected by Marcus Harvey.
then C.Tommasinianus "Pictus"
and C.sieberi ssp sieberi.
cheers
fermi
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Some more of Otto's pics:
Iris histrio
Iris histrio var. aintabensis MT4501
Iris histrioides
Iris rosenbachiana Varzob
Iris stenophylla ssp stenophylla
cheers
fermi
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Otto,
Fantastic pics!! That Crocus sieberi ssp siberi is to die for.... much better markings than any I've seen in Aus before (have seen some wonderful variations on these forums, but all overseas). Beautiful!! The Iris are wonderful, particularly that rosenbachiana. Great Stuff!! Thanks for putting them up for us to enjoy Fermi. 8)
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Hi Paul, please forgive my unbelieving, but your friends Skyline isn't true.
I think it may be a seedling of Skyline. See my photo below of the true plant:
Thomas,
No need to ask for forgiveness. I'd rather know if something is incorrect. Is it possible that conditions are making the blue stronger? Am I right in that being the main difference between the two, or is my friend's one more of a squatter shape as well? We ARE having very odd winter/spring with warm days at times and plenty of warmer night too..... is it possible that the colour could intensify from year to year? They're only put in this year apparently, so we have no idea what they will settle like in the future. Definitely different to 'Cinderella' but much stronger markings than in your picture, that is for sure.
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Now a few from my garden!
Two views of Iris suavolens, a tiny flower just 7 or 8cm high;
The flowers of Crocus "Sunkist' finally open!
And taken this morning, my first ever Juno to flower! Iris "Sindpers" from Marcus Harvey last year.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Lovely pics, and an indication of how far apart our gardens are in timing - my 'Sindpers' finished about a fortnight ago.
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Many thanks for the fine images Otto and Fermi
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Rob,
is yours in the garden or under glass?
Mine is in a sand bed in the garden and was planted too late last year so the flower aborted. This should be its normal flowering time I suspect as it hasn't been moved since last year.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi how come the millipedes are dead?
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Fermi,
In the ground (rather, in the sand which passes for normal soil in my garden), along with the frits and other small bulbs. This is the second year it's flowered, a little later than last time because it's been cold down here (Hobart recorded a 10 year low of -0.5C this winter). I don't get much (effective) rainfall come summer, but I've planted a correa backhouseana & platylobium obtusangulum in the bed to try and mop-up any excess just in case.
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Mark
Baysol sell a very effective millipede killer marketed as snail and slug killer (note the blue pellets in the pic). The Portuguese millipede is in plague proportions throughout Australia and every little bit helps!
Rob
in the rock garden we use Rain-lilies and DBI to do the mopping up! Seems to work - so far!
cheers
fermi
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Your Iris x Sindpers came from ME!!! I've packed and sent 3 lots I think, to Marcus, the most recent in 2006. They come from a nursery south of here, who can't be bothered packing them himself (100 being too small an order, as he sends tulips and lilies by the container load usually). So I'm pleased to see it growing well for you both. Makes the hassles worth while. Sindpers flowers for me in June and July, really early, I guess a legacy from its aucheri (sindjarensis) parent. Likes a warm, dry summer but is the easiest of all the junos. Makes a good clump in a few years.
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Lesley,
I remembered you saying this some time ago and assumed that they were a single clone - hence the comment about differences in bloom time. I'm certainly grateful - a nice plant for an otherwise dullish time of year.
Mine is offsetting well - three from two flowering sized plants this year. Oops; just checked, make that four offsets. Better (hint, hint, Paul) than a container-grown one I saw recently over at Cradoc.
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Yes Rob, I get the hint you don't like growing in containers. Unfortunately in my conditions it works far better for many things, despite what you may think. I find I can control my watering much better, as I have said before.
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Spring is a very special time of the year and a proverb by Gary Buckley expresses this sentiment well: “The scent of massed leucocoryne fill nostrils, it is good to be alive and gardening”.
My nostrils have been filled lately by the spicy fragrance of Moraea tricolor which produces a succession of exquisite blooms to announce that spring has come at last to KwaZulu-Natal. South Africa is not well known for alpine plants, but some of the winter-growing bulbs from the Western Cape grow naturally at high altitudes and are occasionally covered by a blanket of snow.
Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy this pot of Moraea regardless of whether it is alpine or not ;)
Regards
Rogan.
(http://)
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Hi Lesley,
yes, I knew that all the Sindpers now in cultivation originated from NZ because it died out everywhere else during WW2, but I didn't realise that your part in getting it to Australia!
Anyway, I had time to get a better pic this morning, so here it is again!
Now, two "retics":
Iris "George"
and I. "Harmony"
cheers
fermi
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There are a few Narcissus also in bloom.
First "Bambi" which unfortunately is virused and headed out of the garden (just as well I got another potful at the last plant Sale!);
Next a "lost label" but most likely another Glenbrook "Detective Series" Hoop - "Smarple";
And the cross between the tazetta type and a jonquil: N.x intermedius;
Lastly another look at what I have as Narc. cantabricus var clusii.
cheers
fermi
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Rogan, please try again I would love to see them.
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Fermi, looking out at yet another grey, windy, rainy day in our disastrous Summer it's good to see that Spring will surely come ;D
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Rogan,
Anything that the G'ster says is alright by me.
I only wish that, despite everything, he'd take to posting a little once more.
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Well! Let's blame it on advancing years and fading faculties, here's (hopefully!) the picture of Moraea tricolor that was meant to accompany my earlier posting :-\
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Rogan,
Very nice!! Certainly is a nice Moraea.
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Success, Rogan! I knew you could do it! You had succeeded even before I read your email ! Well done.
You realise we will be expecting many more pix now?
What a super Moraea... I love all Irids.... we cannot really succeed with them outside here and the Bulb Despot is very mean about sharing his glass house space... otherwise I would hope to be growing a range of Iridaceae which would certainly include more Moraeas.... currently, I think , we have two!
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Hey Hey :D Another southern Forumist, and from South Africa. That's great. A warm welcome Rogan to this bunch of crazy people - all good friends and now you're one of us.
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where about in KZN?
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Welcome, Rogan,
Nice to have another contributor from the Southern Hemisphere.
Very nice looking Moraea; I don't think I've seen one that colour before.
Looking forward to seeing more of your pics,
cheers
fermi
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Thank you for all your welcomes, it is great to be here.
I live in Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal where our climate is relatively mild with minimum winter temperatures seldom falling much below 0 deg C for short spells of time. Winter days are sunny, dry and warm - summer days can be hot and humid which spells disaster for most alpine plants :( However, we do have some alpine cushions in South Africa, but you have to climb to nearly the top of the Drakensberg to see them! My main plant interests are bulbs and succulents, but I do try and grow just about everything else - at least once...
The first picture is of a species of Helichrysum growing at an altitude of 10,000 feet, quite close to the Lesotho border. The second photograph of Cypella hauthallii subsp opalina (South America) I have included just to make Maggi jealous! If I had to choose my favorite top ten bulbs, then this would certainly be one of them.
I look forward to talking to you all again soon.
Regards
Rogan.
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A very warm welcome Rogan and thanks for posting such impressive images.
The Cypella is very 'Calochortus' like.....and incredibly beautiful, of course.
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Rogan,
That is a stunning Cypella. I don't think I've seen that one before. Aren't Cypellas just the coolest flowers. Feel free to post pics of them any time you want!! ;D
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Cypella hauthallii subsp opalina (South America) I have included just to make Maggi jealous!
Well, it's working :'(
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That Cypella would encourage envy in anyone - it's wonderful!
Sue
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I live in Pietermaritzburg, the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal where our climate is relatively mild with minimum winter temperatures seldom falling much below 0 deg C for short spells of time. Winter days are sunny, dry and warm - summer days can be hot and humid which spells disaster for most alpine plants.
Rogan,
If you ever feel like importing rain I could export it in spades. Here on the South Western peninsular of England we get first go at all the bad weather our cousins in America send over the Atlantic, and if I don't get it first Mark in Northern Ireland and Paddy in Southern Ireland do.
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Hi Rogan,
Great to have you with us. Your postings from South Africa will certainly bring a fresh range of plants to all who visit the forum. Looking forward to more of your interesting plants. The cypella is an outstandlingly beautiful plant.
Paddy
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A few more iris and daff pics.
First, 2 views of Iris"Clairette", which I've been told is an I. bakeriana hybrid;
Then my favourite, "George";
Iris "Harmony"
Lastly, a narcissus which I got as a triandrus, but which is obviously a joquill, perhaps N. wilkommii, any comments?
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
You're definitely ahead of my garden, that is for sure. I have the very first retic or two out, but that's all. Our Eranthis here are over in some parts and only opening in other parts (of the same pot I might add.... go figure!!??). Lots of different Hellebores of course, Prunus campanulata is opening, plus P. x bleiriana, first daffs etc. Nothing near as advanced as you.
Great to see your pics, although jealous of those large clumps of them. Give mine a few years and they'll be the same! ;)
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A full week with no sun but very cold windy weather or, like today, just cold. The thermometer at mid-day said 3degC. As a result, the crocuses aren't opening nor the snowdrops, and overall, I'm thoroughly sick of it.
A blurry pic to start with, of Nar. cyclamineus
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Then another blurry, Iris reticulata `Pauline'
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I don't know what this dark violet one is. Any suggestions? It is a misfit in a small patch of the light blue `Cantab'
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And `Cantab'
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Then `Harmony.' This is the little goup that were bought last year as I. danfordiae. I was able to replace them this year and according to others who also bought some, they actually ARE danfordiae this time. But not mine, the whole 15 rotted >:(
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Iris `Katharine Hodgkin' can't rival the big patches from the northern hemisphere but she's coming along all right.
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Then, what I really went out to photograph.
Primula clarkei. It's hard to get the right colour in this grey weather. Last year's pic is better.
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And finally, Primula bhutanica.
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Nice dark retic - "Lesley's Misfit" has a ring to it as far as names for new plants go!
When you find out if it's a new'un or not, we'll have dozen!
cheers
fermi
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A nice Spring show Lesley
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I doubt if it's new Fermi, certainly not a seedling. It was one in the packet from a local garden centre last year but didn't flower till this. I wondered about `Violet Beauty' or `Purple Gem' neither of which I know from having grown them, only seen them in northern catalogues.
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Lesley,
Here is a pic of what I have as 'Violet Beauty'. I can dig up a pic probably of 'Purple Gem' too if you want?
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plus....
Ipheion 'Charlotte Bishop'
Muscari Steupii
Prunus mume pendula (looking stunning at the moment)
Hermodactylus tuberosus
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Ah, what the heck.... here's another couple of pics.
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Colchicum luteum, one of the winter flowering members of the genus.
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This is a silver or pewter leafed Cyclamen coum with the most intense colouration to the flower. The combined effect is impressive. It also has far less edge of green as the majority of the silver leaf forms of this species have (well that I have seen anyway). The picture doesn't do the colour of the flowers justice, but they just won't come out properly in pictures (I find that all of the darker pink coums have this problem) no matter how many times and in how many different lights I try it. The colour of these flowers are much brighter than the normal magenta of the species.
Enjoy.
Lesley,
I have checked my pics and what I have under the name of Purple Gem has white signals. 'J.S Djit' has gold signals but it is more of a purple than that bluey colour of your pic of your unknown.
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Super shots everyone....many thanks.
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Great show from down under !!!
Makes us long for Spring in the midst of "Summer"... well, that's what it says on the calendar anyway..
Thanks for keeping our spirits high !
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Paul, if the colour in your pic is about right, I think what you have as `Violet Beauty,' is actually `Pauline.' I think the colour of VB is about the same as what the "old" reticulata is like. What we all grew many years ago before the named forms became available but is rarely seen here now. But VB should be larger.
The colchicum is super. Do you get seed?
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Lesley,
I'll check and see about pics of my 'Pauline' as well, because I don't recall it being the same (but that doesn't mean anything...... mixups can hapen! ;D). The Colch never sets seed as I only have a single bulb and it appears to be self fertile. Now if anyone else here in Aus would like to donate a second bulb to me I can try setting seed then!! :o Believe me, I've tried!! <sigh> It never multiples either unfortunately, so I can't even hope for some possibilities from minor differences in offsets which can occasionally be enough for pollination in some genus that are self infertile.
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Everyone seems to have just one bulb of Col. luteum :'( I had 8 seedlings a couple of years ago but none came up last year. I now have 1 seedling from another (Aust.) source. His sets a little seed but not much and not always.
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Lesley,
I could always lend my bulb (or borrow someone elses) for the purposes of producing seed? It'd need to be in Australia of course.
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Paul that's a very nice pendulous Prunus mume. The scent must be fantastic
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Mark,
Thanks. Yeah the perfume is beautiful. It's only been in a few years, getting thicker each year. I trim it back to the base of the droppers each year, producing the maximum growth and therefore flowers. It is such a strong grower that it drops to the ground again easily each year. If mine was in better soil it would be much more prolific, but it is fairly hard where it is. A friend of mine in southern Canberra got hers the same year and hers is twice as thick (i.e twice as many droppers) as hers is in much better soil. It is always a bit of a "heart in your mouth" moment when you trim it back so hard, but it is well worth it as you just get solid flowers. Initially all the little twigs etc in the main ball come into flower, then the flowers start to open down the droppers. All in all it is the prettiest of any of the weeping Prunus I have come across. Given time it will be breathtaking!!
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The borrowing of a potted bulb for cross-pollinating purposes is not a silly idea and I'm pretty sure is done occasionally by some Forumists, perhaps in Norway or Germany. Ask around who has a mate for yours Paul.
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???
Hi
I am briefly venturing forth as I have a few non-daffodil photos.
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Graham,
Lovely. Nice display of Crocus, particularly that striking seedling at the end. Very nice!!!!
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Those white 'tommies' are a better form than mine, very solid-looking.
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Paul what's the cultivar name of your Prunus mume? I cant find it on the 'net
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Mark,
Bought it as pendula, so no particular name provided as far as I know. The incredible thing with this is that it is actually grafted 6 inches off the ground, rather than up high like usual weepers. I'm assuming they just graft a complete dropper on, then let the tops shoot out to produce the canopy. That way they're at 6 foot tall or whatever you want, but don't need to actually grow a rootstock thick enough to be 6 feet tall and able to support multiple grafts etc. If scion material is allowed to your area I am more than happy to send some of the smaller growths to see whether you can graft it successfully? They're all going to be pruned off within a week or two anyway as soon as it finishes flowering.
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Oh cruel, cruel!
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Lesley,
If you're meaning me offering scion to Mark ..... I'd offer some to you if you could import them OK. I just know that I can't, so I won't! :-[ :-X
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It's been a mild start to "spring" with frosts down to -2C only (so far!)
In the Rock Garden a few things are on the move!
The Bulbinella cauda-felis are in fuller bloom than when I posted a pic earlier.
Then (for comparison) the B. robusta is now in bloom in a "wilder area" (that's my explanation for the weeds and I'm sticking to it!).
And the Oxalis versicolor is in flower but looks better as a furled "Barber's Pole"!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Pretty much everything you post is at least a couple of weeks ahead of me. The Bulbinella robusta (or B. nutans) that I have are in bud but still a little way off. Love that cauda-fellis as it is such a nice colour. Had it years back, lost it, regret it now that I've seen yours in flower!! ;D Well done!!
We've had an extremely mild August so far.... apparently we usually get 19 nights in August with a minimum below 1'C... this year we've had 2 of them. Nothing forecast the next few days either so it is looking like it will be a very very warm august. This will bring the Magnolias etc into flower early too I'd hazard, likely just in time for a solid frost to hit them.
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I really meant that you're going to chop them off in their prime Paul, though I know there's a good reason. But yes, as well, that Mark can receive them but I can't. Boo hoo.
The Bulbinellas are very nice Fermi, especially the creamy white one.
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Lesley,
They only flower on new growth (as with all the mume's) so maximising new growth means more flowers. Harsh, but effective. They grow so quickly that the tree can spread quite a way if it shoots off old droppers etc, taking up a lot of space I don't have. This keeps it compact, producing a solid mas of flowers.
You really shouldn't see what I do to my Prunus 'Elvins' then either...... I trim it back to about 4 foot high straight after flowering each year. It send up long shoots and in spring it looks like huge pipe-cleaners when it is in full flower. Beautiful, and it also controls size and maximises flowers. I'm sure I've posted pics of it before, and I would hazard I'll post pics of it again. Still a couple of weeks off here yet.
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I'll look forward to it Paul.
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We've also had a few more Narcissus open up in the last week.
Of the jonquil-type, the Campernelles are old favourites.
This dwarf Tazetta was labelled "Minnow" but I'm not sure, it may just be N. canaliculatus;
Then a range of the "Div 6 " (N.cyclamenius) hybrids, not mini, but smallish:
Coronet;
Cyclades;
Snowski (raised by a local chap in Kyneton, Doug Bryce);
"Div 6 Seedling"; (from Doug);
"Tatiana x cyclem" (just labelled like that, again from Doug).
cheers
fermi
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Fermi you mentioned recently (must have been about the iris pics) that you had some germination of Iris pseudocaucasica from the AGS 06. Yesterday I noticed that I also had a single seed up (of 5) from the same source and year. I imagine your conditions are not exactly like mine, so it must have been a set number of days/weeks that triggered the sprouting. Here, it follows several snowfalls this winter and some jolly hard frosts and all my seeds are out in it. There are a lot from Otto coming up as well, seeds sent to him from the RBG Kew, from Tony Hall.
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I like the 'Snowski' and Tatania x cyclamineous
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Great show Fermi !
Quite a collection you have there !
Thanks for sharing
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Fermi,
Love Cyclades. I pretty much like any cyclamineus type to be honest. Particularly like the miniatures, which is why I covet so many of Graham's flowers that he posts the pics of in the other thread. I have straight N. cyclamineus out at the moment both in a pot and in the garden (will try to set seed for you as promised Frans) but no others as yet. N. 'Minicycla' isn't going to flower for me this year unfortunately..... it's a delightful medium to small type that is nicely shaped. Has multiplied, but no flowers (so there are positives to it's growth this year.... offsets are good!! ;D
Great pics.
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Graham,
your Crocus biflorus ssp. pulchricolor is a lovely deep blue, is it one of Marcus Harvey' collections in Turkey some years ago ? The single flower you posted of Cyclamen pseudibericum is [ I think] actually C. persicum [ the wild one] a close up photo of a leaf would be of help.
Ciao Otto.
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Hallo Otto ,
Here is a pic from Cyc. pseudibericum
Servus
Hans
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This is not nearly as exciting as Rafa's field of flowers in Spain, but this recently burnt field near to my place of work is a sight to behold with dozens of Cyrtanthus contractus vying with Hypoxis hemerocallidea for the brightest flowers of the month 8)
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Rogan
More fabulous pics! I've not seen that Cyrtanthus before either; keep athat camera handy!
Here are a few more pics, though not the clearest!
First the Triandrus narcisssus that I got as seed of N. x susannae, which someone on the Forum pointed out to me is sterile, so it must've been "just" N. triandrus ssp pallidulus itself! Sorry, I didn't knock off the red-legged earth-mites before I took the shot!
The next is the lovely N. Tracey and finally,
a blurry Moraea tripetala.
cheers
fermi
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Hello Fermi, you're up late!?
Thanks for the favourable comments re. my pictures, your Narcissus are just great too, I just wish I could grow them more successfully in my warm climate - about all I can grow in the garden are from the jonquill complex - the rest have to be in pots.
Hopefully I'll be able to collect seed from these Cyrtanthus contractus in four to six weeks time for distribution.
Bye for now
Rogan.
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Howdy All,
Things are popping open all over the garden at the moment. Unseasonable warmth, particularly at night, is bringing things along early. You can see the Magnolias bursting forth each day now. I'm taking lots of pics of course..... I can't help myself. Many of the things have already been posted before because most on here are ahead of me season-wise. But I don't think anyone has posted a pic of this though.......
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Scoliopus bigelowei is something I wanted for some time after seeing it in a book. Finally got it a couple of years ago. Was concerned our summers might cause it to dwindle and die out but it has actually gotten biger and has an offset this year. Fantastic. The flowers are absolutely tiny (maybe an inch or so across) but I just love them. Not at all what I was expecting from the pics I had seen in the books. The whole plant is only 6 inches high. I had to show this closeup which gives some wonderful detail to the flower. I'd have made it bigger but I thought I'd better limit the size. As you can tell, I'm somewhat taken with this plant!! ;D
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Paul, I admire your taste,this is one of my favourite plants. I love the way the new leaves are so spotty, then fade to plain green. The form of the flowers and their dainty colouring is exquisite... I even quite like the smell... form a slight distance! Perfectly sculpted little plant.
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Fabulous Paul,
I had a catalogue in the post yesterday morning which had scopiolus for sale. Like yourself I have admired it in photographs for years and think I may now be on the way to getting one.
Paddy
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Maggi,
Yeah, it is just SO cool. Must admit I didn't realise it had a smell...... haven't got down to it to find out to be honest. It is beside some stepping stones, so it isn't as easy to get down to as some things. LOL
Paddy,
There is a succession of flowers over a period of time, so despite them being so small, you have them for a little while. The single pair of leaves seems so solid compared to the spidery flowers. All up, something quite unusual.
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what catalogue Paddy? I'd like to get a few more. Mine arent multiplying or setting seeds
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Well, I hope it was actually Scoliopus Paddy's catalogue was offering.... Scopiolus is something quite other!
Haven't been in to ours yet, Mark and Paddy, so I don't know how they've done this year. I'll mail you about them.
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The catalogue was Paul Christian's Rare Plants which arrived in the post the other day.
Paddy
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fingers and tootsies crossed
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Paul,
Maggi's reference to admiring the scent "from a distance" may be because its nick-name is "wet dog"!
Rogan,
Thanks for your comments, so here's a couple more Narcissus!
Mark,
"Snowski" fades to a nice cream as in the first pic following.
"Tracey" had a few more flowers open, so I thought she deserved another pic!
So did the jonquil which I think is N. wilkommii.
and the "Div 6 seedling" from Doug Bryce.
cheers
fermi
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My Scoliopus isn't even through the surface yet. Nor is Scopolius. :) First frit is out, F. pinardii and many more on the verge, but others still not through. Always a worrying time until they break ground.
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Fermi your wilkcommii "maybe" looks a stunning plant doubt if mine will ever do as well in the garden
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Fermi,
The daffs are great. 'Tracey' is a beautiful form isn't it? That is a really nice flower, but those maybe wilkommii are spectacular. :o Wow! 'Snowski' ain't bad either. ;D I'd certainly like them all in my garden. Well done!!
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fermi, your N. maybe wilkommii is a real beauty but not wilkommii... see this pic from Tony Goode of Narcissus wilkommii
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I still have lots of crocuses both out and to come. These were taken yesterday when I was replanting some limestone troughs.
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Crocus candidus, from seed flowering for the first time. I don't remember seeing this before on the Forum.
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Crocus sieberi v. sublimis f. tricolor goes from strength to strength. I can't get enough of it.
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Crocus olivieri must be one of the brightest, a glowing orangey gold. Small flowers but such intense colour.
Having planted 2 troughs I then went in to start dinner. This morning I went to upload the pics but where is the camera? Oh God, I'd left it out all night and we've had rain!! Trotted out, collected it, wiped it down carefully and took a couple of trial pics. EVERYTHING WORKS! I must be more careful in the future though.
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Crocus minimus is still in flower after about 3 weeks but the Bavella form, is still a good week away. It was one I planted in a trough, along with baytopiorum and in the other trough, kosaninii and `Myddleton Cream.' C. minimus therefore, is really good value, the two forms blooming over 2 full months or more.
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Lovely to see all your Spring pictures folks, keep 'em coming.
Lesley, that was a senior moment ie. when you forget to do what you meant to do before you forgot to do it. ???
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I think what you're really saying David, is that I'm already suffering from full blown dementia. Just you wait mate! ;D
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Lesley, have your demented ravings put everyone else off ? No entries to this thread yesterday! What's going on!
Fortunately more daffs are coming into bloom, so I'd better post a few more pics!
Three Div 6 (N. cyclamenius) hybrids:
Glenbrook Belle
Jumblie
Quince
The last two being the lesser known sisters of "Tete a tete"
Finally another attempt at photographing Moraea tripetala!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
I like the look of 'Glenbrook Belle'. Haven't seen that one before, not the third one for that matter. I have 'Jumblie' and last year it nearly died out for me for some reason..... I think it probably got buried too deep by the damn blackbirds. I retrieved the bulbs and put them into a pot so hopefully they'll recovered somewhat this year and return to flowering next year if I'm lucky. I really must get back onto the 'Glenbrook' catalogue...... I haven't ordered in many years due to monetary situation (bad health sucks when it comes to catalogue orders!! ;D) but here's hoping that can change soon.
Great pics by the way.... I jsut want too many of the things you're showing.
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I spent a good deal of yesterday trying to install my new Broadband so a day of total frustration. Fortunately it rained most of the day so I didn't feel it was a garden day wasted.
Today I've finally managed it, with the help of Daniel from Telecom (2 and a half hours on the phone!!!) and he'll be a friend for life. EVERYTHING about my computer had to be changed one way or another. I wouldn't have had the remotest chance on my own.
Turned on the Forum and INSTANTLY, all the pics are downloaded. BRILLIANT. Oh, you poor souls who still work with dial-up. I truly pity and feel for you ;D
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Thanks, Paul,
here are a few more!
Narc. triandrus hybrid "Angel's Whisper"
Narc. bulbocodium "Golden Dragon"
Narc. "Stymie"
and Narc "Tete-a-Tete" to complete the 3 sisters mentioned above!
Also, the first Tulipa greigii to flower!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Great plants, well photographed. Many thanks.
It is a regular comment here that N. triandrus and its hybrids to a lesser extent are inclined to dwindle in the garden; you know, plant 5 bulbs and have 5 flowers, then next years it seems to be only 4 and slowly but surely they die out. However, you seem to have a very healthy clump going.
N. 'Stymie' looks a very nice plant, growing well also. Here I find that T. gregii is a martyr to slugs and admire your clean foliage. Preventative measures?
It caught my eye that the gravel on your bed is perfectly clean. Have you top dressed?
Paddy
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I think that N. triandrus ssp triandrus at least (syn. N t. albus) is more permanent in the south here, than in the north. I have had it in a dryish trough for about 6 or 7 years and not only does it flower well each year but it makes good seed as well, so that I always have some coming on in case they die, but they don't seem to. `Hawera,' `Fairy chimes' and `Mary Plumstead' are also very permanent with me.
We're told that today is the official start of spring. The weather is obliging with a warm nor`west wind, sunshine and 21degC when I came home from the market this morning tho' it's apparently going to turn nasty later in the day. I took the 4 following pics yesterday.
Would someone confirm the name for me please? I have it as Crocus tommasinianus `Whitewell Purple.'
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This beautiful Oxalis I just have as Oxalis species Uli from a most generous contact in the North Island, who I think lurks here from time to time. He has sent me many Oxalis and assorted aroids over the last couple of years. The backs of the petals are lightly washed with crimson and the greyish foliage has a glistening quality.
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This is a favourite snowdrop called Galanthus nivalis `Tiny Tim.' Perhaps a suitable mate for Otto's lovely `Angie.' ;) When I took this pic I sat on a low stone wall to get close enough and when I stood up, to my horror found I'd been sitting on a small patch of Iris winogradowii buds, all bent right over and flattened. This morning they are all out and perfectly upright. Incredible!
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And Ranunculus semiverticillatus, doing its usual non-flowering thing. Some advice please Cliff, as I'm thoroughly tired of this. I'm going to lift it and do something else. So what and where?
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Lesley, Lesley, Lesley....please, please, PLEASE do not be tempted to do anything with your beautiful Ranunculus semiverticillatus other than fall on your knees in front of it and thank it for existing at all...as I have said previously, you may be the only person growing such a mature and healthy plant (unless forum members know something to the contrary), I don't know of any plants surviving in botanical gardens here in the U.K. and I would be amazed to discover a similar plant in any private collection.
I do understand the frustrations inherent in growing these rare and beautiful buttercups (my R. glacialis plants still thrive each year but refuse to bloom to the degree that they would in the wild), but it is still a joy to know that they can be kept alive in cultivation AND a huge challenge to discover just what will induce them to flower. In my case I have several plants to experiment with, but your situation is more precarious.
I would possibly be tempted (but with VERY tremulous hands) to try to remove a thong or two from the outside of the plant thereby attempting to increase your stock but I would be extremely wary of trying to move an established plant. Please do the honorable thing and grow it for your country!!! Let it persist where it is happy (try a VERY occasional feed of half strength to maintain growth) and don't worry about it....they do take many years to build up the strength to bloom...you have proved you can grow it, now let it repay you in a couple of years time with those magnificent blooms. For anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of seeing a photograph of this gorgeous plant then please check out the back page of the South American edition of the AGS Bulletin for September 1994.
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Lesley, I can't give a 100% confirmation for your Crocus -
they might be correct, but to be sure I need
a look at the outer side of the flowers!
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Thanks Thomas. I'll try to get a pic later in the day after going soon to look at a house that's for sale.
Cliff, whatever I decide to do, I won't tell you about it until after I've done it, then you needn't lose any sleep waiting to hear when and how it died. If I wait much longer for it to flower, I might be dead ;D
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Now you HAVE got me worried Lesley!!! ;)
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It was the Flower Show at Kyneton last weekend and these are a few pics, not all minis and nothing like what we'd expect at Canberra!
The first is a section for N. cyclamenius hybrids.
The last shot of three daffs were my entries in the Novice section, which earned me a first (Large cup daff - "Sly Fox") flanked by 2 seconds (a white Daff "Ellen", and a Trumpet Daff "?Marieke").
cheers
fermi
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Just to prove that there are more things than daffs in our Rock garden, here are a few different pics:
Iris schachtii (or is it I. reichenbachii???)
Gladiolus pritzellii x 2
Tulipa cretica (one more flower than last year!)
Tulipa vvedenskyi x greigii x 2 (new this year, from Janis Ruksans, via Marcus Harvey in Tas.)
And just a few daffs to finish off!
Jonquilla hybrids: Buffawn,Treviathan and Hesla.
cheers
fermi
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Nice show Fermi, I particularly like the Gladi.
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Lesley said...
> ... contact in the North Island, who I think lurks here...
I've finally signed up and will hopefully post a few pictures from time to time although mostly I expect to continue lurking.
Thanks must go to Lesley and Dave Toole for sharing their plants and advice over the last couple of years I've been reading this and the old forum.
As a bit of an intro, I live in Palmerston North and grow mostly Oxalis, aroids and asclepiads along with a decent collection of carnivorous plants and assorted orchids/bulbs/whatever appeals.
Andrew.
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Hello, Andrew. A very warm welcome to you. I'd be willing to bet you will not be able to resist a few posts here and there now you have joined in... we look forward to hearing from you and sharing in your plant experiences.
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Great pix Fermi - I agree with David on the Gladi : beautiful !! :o
That T. Vvedenskii hybrid is also a real stunner - I bought some from J. Ruksans as well this year, can't wait to see the results next Spring !
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Thanks for the show pix, Fermi, and congratulations on your prize! It would be worth going to the show for the display of different bottles alone! ;D
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A very warm welcome Andrew, great to have you join in. The Oxalis I posted the other day, now (yesterday) had 11 flowers out. This morning they're firmly closed, very cold here today with some snow overnight and that now frozen till the sun hits it, but only cloudy sky at present. What price spring???
I think your Gladiolus is a lovely thing Fermi. You know the question. Goes it set seed? I don't think I've come across a yellow species before. And much as I adore Dame Edna, I don't want to grow the hybrids.
I have a couple of pots of seedlings (Ruksans, via Gardens North in Canada) of Tulipa vvedenskyi about half have the red striped foliage so I suspect they may have T. greigii blood in them. With all due respect, I really DON'T like yours, so I hope there's something of the true species in there when they flower. This is their 3rd season, counting germination as 1st.
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Welcome, Andrew, another oxalis-fan is always good to have on board!
Last weekend as part of the "Daffodil Festival" in Kyneton (once a world renown area for daffodil breeding) some gardens were open, including "Old Langleyvale" which used to be the home of Mrs Eva Murray, a famous and tireless breeder of daffs.
It's still an interesting garden to wander around and the road verges outside the gate (it's a dead-end road) are planted out with hundreds of daffs.
I took a few pics and though they're not rock garden types, I thought you might appreciate seeing them.
cheers
fermi
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Lesley, YES, it does! (Well, it did last year) Please check your MAF list and let me know if I should bring some over in January (all things being equal and I get to the Study Weekend at Lincoln Uni. The correct spelling should be Gladiolus pritzelii.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi --just had a look--the Gladiolus is on the approved list.
Lesley --another cracking yellow is Glady. aureus.At our previous more sunnier residence i managed once to flower a plant from seed.About 30cm in height--very bright colour and flowered mid spring if i remember correctly.Sorry no pic. and alas no bulb now.
Warm welcome Andrew--look forward to seeing some of your pics here.
Cheers Dave.
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I have the odd Gladiolus hybrid lurking in odd corners of the garden where they flower every year with no attention whatsoever. Am I likely to get away with keeping the species outside here or would I need to over-winter the corms indoors? (my appols for hijacking the thread :-[)
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Not hijacked David. All comers are most welcome. In fact, I wish there were many more of them so we'd know that someone other than Maggi and Paddy took a look at these southern threads.
I'm inclined to think that the species may be a little hardier than the big hybrids David. But many of the species we grow are winter-growing and late winter/spring flowering. The big hybs tend to be summer flowering and still underground in winter. Having said that, I think winter wet rather than cold could be the main enemy. It's why many people here grow the Dame Edna types under the sun-facing eaves of their houses. I have G. (or possibly Homoglossum) priorii out at present.
As Dave says Fermi, IT's THERE, on the list :D
I also had G. aureus once but for such a short time I'd forgotten it was another yellow species. I think it came from the Dutch gentleman in Tauranga and came up weakly once then wasn't seen again.
Just trying to imagine a world without Pavaroti. But I suppose that as in many other instances, when one goes down, a dozen others pop up.
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Not hijacked David. All comers are most welcome. In fact, I wish there were many more of them so we'd know that someone other than Maggi and Paddy took a look at these southern threads.
Lesley, I may not say much but I read every word and find them fascinating-and I learn a lot from all the 'bottom'('top'?) of the world threads
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Stay with us David. ;)
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Welcome Andrew. I've often wondered if you visit up here. You really should post your pics from time to time..... we know they're good from your postings on the oxalis and images list. ;D
Lesley,
I saw G. aureus (I think that was the name) at my friend Lyn E's place in southern Canberra the other day. Nothing to write home about, that is for sure, at least not the form she has. Tall, comparatively thin petals and yellow throughout. My first thought was more like an Ixia, but at a second look it was a Glad. G. pritzelii is a treasure.... something I wish I grew. I saw it last year or the year before at Lyn's place as well and it was just lovely. Yellow with red markings inside, creating a rather intricate little bloom.
Glad you posted David. It is a bit of a tumbleweed and mournful music feeling in here for the couple of regular northerners at times. 8)
And apologies for my recent lack of activity...... trying to get my garden looking reasonable for an small open garden this Saturday for the Hort Society members. I only agreed to do it 3 weeks ago after someone had to drop out after breaking their hand. I'll never agree at such short notice again, that is for sure. Well, not unless the garden was in better shape than it was in this time. Still, it has galvanised me to get all the weeding and mulching in the gardens done, but the back yard full of pots will be closed off to visitors as it is an absolute mess and I don't fancy little old ladies taking a tumble over pots and breaking various bones etc. So nice to have the whole garden mulched now.... if I can only keep the black birds out of it until Sunday that would be wonderful. Then I'm sure their little rotary hoe-ing will start up on the fresh mulch. <sigh>
Fermi,
Congrats on the prizes for your daffs!! I doubt I'll have much still out here by our show on the 14/15th. Many of the other things I would usually enter (such as Prunus 'Elvin's) will be over by then because of our extremely warm August, particularly last week where we were into the 20s pretty much every day. The magnolias are looking lovely right now though, so they'll be enjoyed for our open garden. :)
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Downunderers, take courage! :)See the number of folks who read and enjoy your threads... over two and a half thousand , as I write this, have viewed your efforts :o.... Paddy and I are not THAT busy!! We are simply more chatty, I like to feel it is part of our charm!! :P
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:o
Hi
Fermi, its only meant to be Lesley who has the role of sledging me(Although I am still recovering from Maggie's below the belt comments about breeding!). :(
It was the Flower Show at Kyneton last weekend and these are a few pics, not all minis and nothing like what we'd expect at Canberra!
I will assume you were saying you didn't see any hybrids like ours!! ;D
You are perfectly welcome to display your daffodil photos along with ours. I have noticed a fair smattering of Glenbrook bred daffodils so your collection is fairly modern. 8)
Paul, the cold weather has slowed things up a little. We expect to be able to put on a very reasonable display of miniatures. We should be able to find a few suitable for exhibiting among our thousands of seedlings I suppose. We have a number in the daffodil refrigerator already including some of our new tiny apodanthe hybrids(some people have a beer fridge, we have one for daffodils. You would be surprised how many miniature daffodils you can fit in a 400 litre refrigerator). I will probably only have the big baby to assist Helen and myself as our daughter is in Spain at the moment. Some of the seedlings will be very heady as they are heavily perfumed. ::)
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Graham,
I am definitely looking forward to seeing them. I do so enjoy your miniatures every year. I find that the minis are generally so much nicer than the bigger varieties. And yours tend to be that much better than the rest of the miniatures we usually see!! ;D All good!!
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Graham, isn't breeding all to do with "below the belt" ? :o
I would love to visit one of these big shows to see all these fab little flowers in real life... especially to exprerience their perfume... when is Fred Admin going to invent a scent forum for us, that's what I'd like to know! ???
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::)
Maggie
I have managed to develop reverse bicolours with bands of gold but I have not yet seen a miniature daffodil that only breeds below a belt. :-[ Suppose that is a challenge for us--to develop a belted daffodil. Closest I can think of are apodanthe which have their styles in the tube below the flower.
A lot of the triandus, fernandesii, jonquilla and tazetta hybrids are highly perfumed despite being miniature.
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Graham, think Belted Galloway cattle!! very stylish! ;)
The scent from narcissus is so lovely and especially welcome early in the year to cheer us up after winter... or, in the case of the winter flowering types, to get us THROUGH the winter!
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One thing I always show people who visit my garden at the right time of year is fernandesii, cordubensis and assoanus...... then get them to smell all three of them. Each is entirely distinct from the other, and each has it's own unique "character" to the scent. When I originally bought my assoanus it was a single flower open with a couple of other buds coming. It was put into the bag with everything else I bought and we took it home. I put the bags out in the laundry to be taken through into the back yard later and about an hour later went to do it and the whole room was perfumed. I went through everything trying to work out what it was but dismissed the daff as just a single inch-wide flower that couldn't have produced it. That one flower was responsible for the whole room being scented and it really blew me away. It was quite a few years back now when I was only just discovering smaller daffs and species. It hooked me well and truly.
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For heavens' sake Maggi. You're beginning to speak English! That can't be allowed. I've always known those lovely cattle as Gallawa' belties ::)
And Graham I promise never to say another rude word to you about your lovely mini daffs. Fancy accusing me of sledging :o :o :o The ONLY thing I have in common with Shane Warne presumably.
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Quiz time!
What is flowering through this conifer?
cheers
fermi
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Other things flowering include one of the yellow "spring Star flowers": Nothoscrodum sellowianum or N. dialystemon or N. felipponei or is it still an Ipheion??
There's also the first blooms on the Moroccan daisy, Anacyclus depressus.
And a few jonquilla narcissus:
"Hillstar"
"Sighing" - a Glenbrook Bulb Farm raising with a pink tinge to the cup.
ANd one of GBF's "Breeders" - "Decoy x Swagger".
cheers
fermi
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Quiz Answer: A trick question as the "conifer" itself is flowering - Eutaxia microphylla, a local legume which looks like a prostrate conifer for most of the year then covers itself in spring with typical "eggs & bacon" flowers.
Also doing well is Euphorbia rigida shown to good effect with the brilliant white of Leucathemum hosmariense.
Lastly, not quite in flower but doing its best to look like a purple cauliflower, the double Muscari "Fantasy Creation"!
cheers
fermi
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I'm very pleased that the Tulipa aitchisonii ssp clusioides which I got last year has returned for a second flowering but only 5 petals! I can't remember if this was the same last year.
cheers
fermi
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Very nice tulip Fermi, even if it is a petal short ! Great colours !
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Fermi,
Great pics!! Throughly enjoying them!! Do you know of a source for the yellow Nothoscordum/Ipheion? It's something I've been wanting for quite a while but with Dirk no longer supplying, I have no idea where I can purchase it. I have quite a few Ipheions now (Rolf Feidler, Charlotte Bishop, Alberto Castillo, Froyle Mill, alba and the species) but am still lacking the elusive yellow! Any pointers to sources would be greatly appreciated.
I really must get some pics together. I have heaps in flower at the moment but haven't got pics sorted and named as yet (took 240 pics off the camera today, from the last week or so). Trilliums are just starting here now.
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Great photos, Fermi - and yes, I too am a regular lurker on this thread, particularly enjoying Fermi's daffodils.
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Ipheion sellowianum is available here Paul but I suppose that doesn't help. Better beg nicely, to Fermi :D
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Folks,
Some Arums flowering for me at the moment.
Kind of a test to see if I can drive the software
here. Sorry to those who have seen them
before.
Arum creticum
Arum hygrophilum
Arum purpureospathum
Arum sintenisii
Arum cyrenaicum
Andrew.
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Andrew, please put up the Helico-thing link. everyone here would LOVE it, it's so disgusting :D
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So pleased that my seeds of Gentiana depressa are germinating.
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Lesley,
I'm figuring by your comment that Andrew has Helicodicerus muscivorus flowering at the moment? That is a VERY cool plant. Called the dead horse arum for a number of reasons. Mine aren't flowering this year by the look of it, although Andrew seems to run ahead of me by a few weeks in the majority of the things he posts pics of to the images list.
A pic of it would be great Andrew!!
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So pleased that my seeds of Gentiana depressa are germinating
So you should be, Lesley, great to be able to keep your lovely plant going with seed. I wish I had a plant like yours, that's for sure!
Nice aroids, Andrew.......if you acceed to the requests made, I guess I will be grateful, for once, that the Forum has no scent facility!!
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It was a link to a website Paul, with some really nasty pics and good information.
I've given up trying to replace my camera's USB cable and got myself a card reader instead. So here are a few pics taken in the last fortnight, some out-of-date by now.
First a form of Anemone pavonina. My camera doesn't do reds well. This is purest scarlet and I prefer this form without the yellow band between the red and the black.
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Here is the back of the plant I asked if it was C. t. `Whitewell Purple.' But I later realized I was looking at the next door pot's label (not flowering) so I think this is just a form of C. vernus. The leaves are too wide for tommies.
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Crocus kosaninii is in a newly planted trough. It's in flower now, late by crocus standards, but last year it flowered in mid October!
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And in another trough is C. minimus `Bavella Form.' The inside of this form is magenta compared with the lavender shade of C. minimus. But this year, there is less black on the outside of the petals, the distinguishing feature of the Bavella form.
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This is Gladiolus or Homoglossum priorii or huttonii :D I'd be pleased to have a definitive answer about this.
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I mentioned above somewhere that a Swedish seedling of Corydalis solida had flowered in about one year. from germination. Here it is. My Swedish friend said there could also be a little C. malkensis in the mix so maybe this white is that species or a hybrid.
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I can never resist another pic of Fritillaria michailovskyi. I have several clones now, from different sources, but haven't managed to locate a form with taller stems. These always sit on the ground (a raised bed) at bloom time, just elongating to about 10 cms in seed.
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A much better pic of Primula clarkei, finished now but super while it lasted.
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And this lovely old double primrose has been around for many many years. It is P. vulgaris `Lilacina Plena.'
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Finally, 2 pics of the delicious Olsynium douglasii album. I lost my rosy form a couple of years ago (it became badly overgrown by something else) and 2 plants bought to replace, died immediately. From the seedlists last summer, (winter) the wrong plants were supplied, weedy sisyrinchiums of course :'(.
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Maggi, that picture (of Gent.depressa) I posted back in the summer/autumn(?) of 2004(?) was at its very best. Since then, although bigger, it hasn't flowered quite so well and at present, it has a couple of dead places in it. It probably needs digging up and pulling to pieces. There's a plant grown back from where I moved it last time so I'll pot that and hopefully grow it on to photographic stage again. But the seeds were a definite bonus.
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Lesley said...
> ... please put up the Helico-thing link.
http://www.edb.ups-tlse.fr/equipe3/MG/helico/helico.htm
My plant is too small to flower just yet but it's doing
well and I'm prepared to wait.
Andrew.
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Folks,
Two forms of Oxalis obtusa flowering for me at the moment. They're generally the last to flower for me each year. Beware, you may be flooded with pictures next year. :)
I also have a yellow flowered form but no flowers as yet. The plant Lesley posted as U-11 a wee while back is also likely to be a form of Ox. obtusa but this is yet to be confirmed.
Andrew.
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Lesley, how did you manage to get text between your pictures?
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Nice oxalis Andrew. Mine looks about half way between in colour, but it could be climate or camera.
Anne the process is as follows. Bear with me.
Type initial text then press enter once. Or twice if you want a space between pic and text.
Type attachthumb=1 ( in square brackets)***
Press enter once or twice
Type more text, press enter once or twice
Type [xxxxxxx] or 3, 4 etc to 10 if wished.
Type more text if you wish, then post.
Bob's your uncle!
*** That is [xxxxx] - can't enclose the commands in this example because it starts looking for images that are not there!
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Well, that didn't work because the programme thought I was making mistakes in the attaching process. Damn.
Have a look below the reply/post area where there's the Topic Summary and see what's there because although the instructions on the thread page have come up very wrong, below the post area, they're as I typed them in. Maybe they are on yours too.
see red edit above to clarify
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Of course when you do the [attachthumb= bit you don't get the file name underneath the pics to click on. But clicking on the pic itself enlarges just as well, and quicker, for me anyway. The only disadvantage I can see is that you don't have a record of how many times it has been viewed/enlarged.
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Paul, going back to Veratrum seedlings. The first pic below is of V. nigrum, aged either 4 or 5 years from seed and the next two are of V. album which was sown in May 04 and germinated spring of 05. These, therefore are two full years old.
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Even at 2 years they have 2 and in one case 3 leaves. (There are about 20 in the pot and I've scraped off moss which I'll go and replace with leaf mould in a few minutes. The roots you can see are not the Veratrums they are from a dandelion which I cut out.)
I would suspect that yours are probably coming up for the second time. The cotyledons don't unfurl like, say, a fritillaria or a tulip but come straight up like a slightly widish grass, to about 1 cm high the first year, a bit taller and wider the second. So many bulbous or woodlandy things germinate only in part the first year and a second lot comes though the following year. I'm going to put this potful into a larger pot now and then will pot them individually next year, to grow on to planting out size, which the V. nigrum is now though it will be 3 or maybe 4 years before it flowers. But don't complain about the time. You're half my age! :'( It's also worth remembering that the time until flowering size is reached can often be reduced by a year or even two, by good cultivation including watering and appropriate fertilizing, and even more so, in my opinion, by planting in the garden rather than in pots.)
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Opps, I misnamed one of the pics in an earlier post!
This is the actual GBF "breeder" Decoy x Swagger
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while this one is Staten Island x Swagger
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cheers
fermi
PS I hope this works, Lesley!
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Woo-hoo, Lesley, it worked!
So here are some more!
Firstly, in honour of our neighbours, a NZ raised Triandrus Hybrid, Hawera:
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Then another GBF hybrid, Cindy Lau, a newer version of Beryl:
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Finally a Mitsch Div 6 hybrid, Rapture, with a couple of Glenbrook Belles below!
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cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
All lovely. You haev some very nice daff clumps!!
Lesley,
<sigh> So you're meaning that in my garden it'll likely take 10 years to flower from seed, and I might as well just try to source the plant from elsewhere as an adult. My conditions here are not ideal for woodland plants, although the majority do far better than they have a right to!! :D I do find that in general things take longer for me to flower than for most other people. Hopefully that will change a bit because my health has improved and hopefully I can repot things a little more readily than in the past 10 years.
Thanks for the info.
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Paul, I don't mean anything of the kind. If you CAN source it elsewhere as an older plant, fine, but we can't here so it's seed or nothing. But it just takes some patience and there's always something else to keep the interest alive while you're waiting. If you can grow hostas and trilliums there's no reason why you couldn't grow veratrums perfectly well. Like trilliums, they should be looked on as an investment for future pleasure rather than for immediate gratification. They will grow in pots for a long time provided there's root room and they're kept moist, and fed if you want flowers. Don't give up on them mate.
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Paul,
Since you grow Veratrum mostly for the foliage waiting a little for the flowers is no great hardship.
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Lesley,
I'm definitely not giving up on them, just resigned to having to wait. I have Cardiocrinum growing from seed, so I am used to patience, plus I grow Frits (another that can take a while) etc. I was told early on in the bulbous seed growing venture that the first few years are the hardest, then you always have something coming into flower every year so you never notice what it taking a long time. I was lamenting somewhat the my seedlings haven't been treated as well as they could be due to my health, but my shadehouse (shifted from my sister's place last summer) will help with conditions for a lot of things as well, definitely keeping seedlings moister, that is for sure. A lot easier in summer!! (Whew!)
Rob,
Yeah, you've got a point, but I still think the flowers are cool! ;D I like any dark flowers, particularly into blacks etc so this is heading towards that sort of colour.
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:)
Paul, how long for a cardiocrinum to flower. We have raised quite a few things from seed including camellias and tree peonies but the longest to flowering has been N. dubius at between 9 and 12 years.
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Usually about seven to ten years for a Cardiocrinum to flower from seed: thereafter daughter bulbs are formed which get up to flowering sized in another three or so years, then you should be able to keep them going! ::)
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Thanks, Leslie - And very nice daffs Fermi!
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Thanks, Anne, I'll try to get some more pics on the weekend! We are having visitors over so no chance of "popping up" to Canberra to see Graham and Helen's Daffs!
Paul, drop me a line to remind me about the Ipheion/Nothoscordum when they die down in the summer! They're in a pot so are easier to extract than the ones in the ground. You'd better have a TALL shadehouse if you're expecting to flower a Cardiocrinum in it!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Thanks! I grow my Cardiocrinum outside. I've had them flower 3 years running, then lost that clump to rot. I have a secondary bulb that is still building to full size, plus the seedlings (which were all from seed from my own flowerings). I grow them in a fernery situation and they do really well. Flowered for me between 2 and 3m tall each time.
Graham,
I had heard 8 to 11 years for Cardiocinum to flower. The year before they reach flowering size they start producing offsets. When a bulb flowers it dies, leaving the offsets behind. Sometimes unfortuantely the death of the main bulb spreads rot to the offsets, which is why I lost my clump. My original plant produced offsets for a couple of years before flowering (I am guessing it was old enough but conditions weren't quite right). I took some of these off one year and they did seem to grow on better by themselves. The remaining one I have might actually have been purchased as a seedling, now that I think about it, so who knows when it will achieve maturity. :)
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Paul/Lesley --If i can go back to your earlier postings on Veratrum.
As noted they are very slow to grow away from seed --I have album, viride and hopefully the lovely variegated form of californicum yet to flower and even in our moist conditions i find they dislike pots.I'd suggest Lesley you not wait another year and plant V. nigrum now as a plant of that size may reward you with blooms sooner than you expect---or at least that has been my experience.
As an experiment i took a gamble a couple years ago and pulled off a side growth with root of my only V. nigrum .Both survived and last season i noticed my parent plant was just starting to clump.I'm not sure whether that was a result of my earlier disturbance or just a natural event as i guess they clump up in the wild.The pic below shows the current activity.
It's Trillium season,(fever),down here and i'll post a few pics later on,however a few 'others' showing colour.
I think i've keyed this out ,(correctly?). Erythronium grandiflorum ssp pallidum nicely increasing in a trough .You can just make out the three lobed stigma and white anthers.
Corydalis solida ssp.incisa
Scoliopus bigelovii-- i had another one in flower some 3 weeks ago.That was a young plant having it's first flowering, (NZAGS seed august 2001).Will be interesting to see if they flower that far apart next year.
Cheers Dave
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Damn --still only able to post one pic at a time!.
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Another
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Finally
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:(
Right sized shadehouse but it is full of lots of miniature daffodils, tree peonies, fritillaria, crocus and cyclamen! :'(
How big a pot is required? This years seedlings will use up most of the available space. I might be able to squeeze another pot in!
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I think someone from the UK only recently posted pics of Tropaeoleum tricolor and it's now in full bloom here in the Southern Hemisphere! Tubers that were planted out under a couple of small "hedgelings" a couple of years ago have deigned to flower very nicely this year.
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Close up the flowers remind me of a school of guppies! Hard to believe these are related to the Nasturtium!
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cheers
fermi
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Also in bloom today, a couple of tulips, T. albertii,
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and the Lady tulip, T.clusiana, still asleep at 8:30 this morning, well, she is a lady and entitled to her beauty sleep!
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cheers
fermi
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Last week I posted a pic of the shrubby Dampieria dasyantha, here is one of D. diversifolia a sprawling groundcover.
cheers
fermi
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I can't find where we were discussing a pink felicia which sprawls and climbs.
Here's a pic of one patch of it under a Chinese Elm and attempting to smother all in its path, including Helleborus argutifolius!
cheers
fermi
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Ah, so it is here in Aus as well. I rather admired it when Mark posted it last month in the flowering now thread for the northerners. Smothering Helleborus argutifolius is pretty impressive!!
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How nice to see Tropaeolum tricolorum growing so well outside. It needs a bit of cover here, though it is pretty tough... we have one which grows around the side of the glass house we call the "Gothenburg Annexe"and excapes through some gaps to flower outside... it can get well frozen and survive but I'm not sure just how far before it does get damaged. We really should try one out in a sheltered spot. The flowers are so bright and cheerful and you get SO MANY over quite a long period... very good plant altogether.
And I do like these Dampieria... never heard of 'em before.
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My wife and I went for a walk in the hillsides above my home this past weekend and came across several healthy clumps of Gerbera aurantiaca, the Hilton Daisy, in full bloom. It is a very rare and endangered plant endemic to the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. We have had several light showers of rain recently and this has brought the spring flowers on wonderfully - I'll probably be boring you for weeks to come with photos of non-alpines ;)
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Wow! Does that plant look fresh, new and perfect ? There's something surreal about Gerberas... I think that they represent the archetypal "daisy" that a child would draw... simple yet sublime. If this is the sort of stuff you're going to be bringing us, Rogan, I suggest you and Mrs Roth get your walking shoes on and get photographing!! ;D :D :) ;D
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Maggi,
Even in an 8 inch black plastic pot Tropaeolum tricolor will survive -8'C without any problems at all. I have it here in the ground as well as in pots and it thrives every year. I have an arch near my front stairs where I grow it and Dicentra macrocapnos (I had it as D. macrocarpum but I'm assuming that the other name that you guys have mentioned elsewhere is the correct one.... they're close enough to be a spelling mistake?). They're a good pair as the Dicentra growns and flowers throughout summer and is deciduous in winter, while the Tropaeolum starts up in winter and flowers throughout early spring and dies off as the Dicentra just starts to come into flower. The dicentra at the moment is about 3 feet tall or so. It'll start flowering a few weeks and will then flower until about March or April from memory, although it will enter dormancy early if it dries out too much (something that does happen here some summers when I forget to water it on occasions.
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In the summer I imported 5 bulbs of Fritillaria argolica from Marcus Harvey. They are in the same pot, 2 in flower now, but.......
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I'll send this off to him for an opinion.
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This and the following two are fairly ordinary double primroses, but super at this time of year. The apricot (amost) coloured one is `Sunshine Suzie' and the paler one just comes as "Double Ruffled." It's a "Jack-in-the-Green" form, with a lovely, sweet scent. The lower, cleaner yellow is another double ruffled "Jack-in-the-Green" and the blue (darker than in the pic), is `Miss Indigo.' I think the yellows and blue look great together.
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And I'd like someone to give me a species or cultivar name for this little bergenia. It makes a small, tight mat and grows to only about 7 or 8 cms height, in total. The stems below the flowers are just 4cms. There are some leaves of Nar. cyclamineus to the right, which give an approximate idea of scale. It's a little honey, very slow growing and perfect at the edge of a dampish spot, with good, clear flower colour.
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Hi Lesley,
Nice Bergenia; no idea except, it's not B.ciliata!
The herbaceous peonies have started! Here's Paeonia mascula ssp russii
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and P. cambessedessii in bud.
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Lastly, a last couple of "hoops",
Narcissus "Mitimoto" and N. bulbocodium ssp obesus
cheers
fermi
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As i mentioned earlier the first of the Trilliums are out.
Not sure if this one is T.angustipetalum or T.kurabayashii.
T.Nivale.Looks a lot happier since i added limestone chips into the soil of the trough.
T.albidum.
Will post these now to see if am able to submit multiple pics again.
Cheers dave
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Great ! that worked, so a couple of final pics .
I presume the following are hybrids?. While i'm not too concerned on trying to identify their gene pool make up i can post more pics of them in greater detail ,(scale --leaf margins etc etc), if anyone is interested.
T. sps -- a small plant --pale yellow with just a tinge of a pink throat .
The last two pics are of a larger plant another T.sps --throat shot followed by a side view.
Cheers dave.
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It's cold and wet here, I can't tell you how good it is to enjoy these flowers of yours! Peaonies are so luscious and there is such promise offered by those fat buds .
That little, bright Bergenia is a real corker and I feel better for seeing T00lies Trillium! Thanks, All!
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Smashing to see all your Spring flowering stuff folks, keep 'em coming and remind us what we have in store come Spring 2008.
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Lovely yellow trilliums, and I like the bergenia too.
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- I'll probably be boring you for weeks to come with photos of non-alpines
Rogan,
Your photos from your part of the world are always interesting, alpines or non-alpines. Please continue.
Gerd
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I posted this last year but do so again to accompany the F. argolica on the previous page. It seems that it has a wide variability. What threw me last year was that I had raised this one as F. spetsiotica but it doesn't fit the description. Sent to Pat Craven of the Frit Grp of AGS, he wasn't able to name it but Marcus thinks it's probably argolica.I think this one's really special.
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The inside is quite different from the two new ones. Unfortunately it isn't flowering this year but I've cross-polinated the others.
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As Manager of a Farmers' Market, it's reasonable to expect my life to revolve around fresh, local fruit and vegs. But over recent days I've spent many hours trying to locate and arrange the hire of a cow suit. It has proved very difficult. I want a two person (front and back legs) suit and it is planned to lead it around the Market on Saturday, and perhaps invite the local populace to milk it (not sure yet where the milk's coming from. I'm working on it).
There are several available suits for an upright (one person) cow complete with udder, but the only two person version is in Auckland and will have to come down by air tomorrow. Moreover, this suit doesn't have an udder as occasionally it is used as a bull. You can imagine the hilarious conversation I had with the girl in the costume hire firm about that! But we keep surgical gloves on site for use cleaning up the rubbish bins. They are thin and easily blown up. So what the heck, if the cow has 5 teats?
It's all part of our annual SPRINGTIME celebration and I may (not promising) have a couple of pics early next week.
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I can't wait! Will you be playing a principal role? :o
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Yet another jonquilla type hybrid, the delightful "Cherie", which matures to have a slightly pinky cup and occasionally has multiple heads.
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and another dwarf iris I received as I. attica but we think may actually be a form of I. suavolens.
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there are more DBI which I'll try to post today to the Bearded Iris thread.
Lesley,
cow-suits, bulls disguised as cows...there's a joke in there somewhere but I think I'll leave it alone!
cheers
fermi
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I must try again to get more dwarf bearded iris growing in a trough.
Off to eat lunch, imagining the pix to come of Lesley in cute Milkmaid's outfit. ::)
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I can't wait! Will you be playing a principal role? :o
No chance!
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Now, Lesley, you must get into the spirit of the occasion, here's the look you should be aiming for
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You can always hide a hip-flask in the milkpail ;)
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Good thought Maggi. I'll see what I can do.
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There are yet more daffs out!
One of the more bizarre ones is a double N. poeticus which could be mistaken for a gardenia!
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And the Jonquilla hybrid "Sundial"
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and a close-up
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We also have a tiny freesia species which I have a s "Sp.nova" but no other info. It is a perfect replica of F. refracta but alas, no scent!
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and in close-up
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We also have a nice red form of Anemone pavonina, though I covet Lesley's unbanded red one! here it is in bud and then open this morning!
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I've posted more DBI pics to thr Bearded Iris thread.
cheers
fermi
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If there's some seed on mine Fermi, you can have it in January.
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Folks,
Ipheion sellowianum flowering for the first time for me (I only got the plant this year). The 2nd flower isn't exactly standard is it?
Andrew.
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Folks,
Don't you just love having a day off work on a sunny spring day? :)
Arisaema ovale (possibly, obtained as Aris. jacquemonti)
Babiana sp (anybody have an ID, I got it without a name)
My Helicodiceros, not flowering sized yet but doing well...
Iris japonica (I know it's common but I still like it)
Oxalis brasiliensis (always one of the last to flower for me)
Scilla peruviana (and assorted weeds, I really must tidy up that area)
Tropaeolum pentaphyllum (not T. tricolor but nice. Andy hardy for me).
Andrew, who should be doing things other than taking pictures and annoying others with them. :)
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Thanks, Lesley,
BTW can we bring seed into NZ if it's "legal" and we declare it or is it best to post it?
I don't want to have the iris seed confiscated at the airport by some MAF worker who doesn't know the rules (this happens quite often at Aussie airports, I'm told).
Andrew,
your babiana and the last pic didn't load! Please re-post.
cheers
fermi
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I left out this pic of an imported (not by me!) Dianthus, D."Whatfield Wisp"
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cheers
fermi
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You should be OK to bring Fermi, so long as it's on the Bio Index and so long as you declare it. (On the card you fill in on the plane). THAT IS VITAL!!! Will also help if it's very tightly packaged, as in fresh foil, then a well-sealed paper envelope (new). I assume you'll be coming into Chch? Depends how busy MAF are how long it takes. You might have to wait. They know their job all right, and have a computer in front of them anyway. Get the spelling right too.
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I like the double Ipheion Andrew, unusually, as I'm not a big fan of doubles within a species. It's very attractive. Pleased to see Ar. ovale as mine was wrong.
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I had a spam email today from someone in Russia called Ekaterina, aged 22, extremely sexy - if you like overblown body parts - and offering to marry me! I deleted it, then thought maybe I should have forwarded it to - well, who? Mark? Fermi? Derek? Perhaps not, but if anyone's interested, please tell. I'm sure I could ressurect it. :-\
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I had a spam email today from someone in Russia called Ekaterina, aged 22, extremely sexy - if you like overblown body parts - and offering to marry me! I deleted it, then thought maybe I should have forwarded it to - well, who? Mark? Fermi? Derek? Perhaps not, but if anyone's interested, please tell. I'm sure I could ressurect it.
LESLEY! This is NOT that kind of Forum! :-X :o Behave yourself!
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Well, it seems such a waste, and she was truly gorgeous ::)
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Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Re the cow. I FORGOT TO TAKE MY CAMERA! :-[ :-[ :-[
She was, however, very successful as a crowd puller, with many laughs ringing around. (We had an almost capacity crowd yesterday, about 5000 people through the morning). The front end carried a bag of apples for distribution to children but it surprised me how difficult this proved to be, the local kids apparently well versed in the concept of not accepting goodies from stangers even when the stranger is a cow (well, very strange actually) and even when accompanied by parents. We had to give them to the parents for passing along.
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Although we saw Lily-flowered tulips in Prague which were the size of standard tulips, in our Rock garden they are perfectly in keeping with the other plants and are a bit dwarf, perhaps due to the lean conditions! Here's one of my favourites, T. "Queen of Sheba"
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In the "native section" a prostrate banksia, B. blechnifolia, has it's first cone!
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and a first flowering from AGS Seedex seed 2005 of Cyclamen persicum "ex Israel"!
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Though you can't see it in the close-up, there are 2 in flower, one with mottled foliage and a slightly longer more open flower.
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cheers
fermi
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Very nice Fermi.
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Lovely - and that Banksia is so like a Blechnum!
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Last week I posted a pic of the buds on paeonia cambessedessii,
here's the first flower opening on the weekend.
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And here's the patch of Tulipa saxatilis, just at its peak!
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cheers
fermi
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Great show Fermi ! :D
What a relief to see your sunny spring pictures in the midst of our today's autumn weather with wind and rain.... :(
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:(
Hi
Luc, a bit of rain here in Canberra would be most welcome!
Fermi, your peony is a couple of weeks ahead of ours.
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A couple of weeks ago I posted a pic of Euphorbia rigida in the Rock garden; we also grow E. myrsinites and below is a pic of what I think may be a cross between the two.
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It has growth somewhat sprawling, but not quite upright and the flower heads are much larger than normal for E. myrsinites.
Graham,
our peonies are growing in a raised bed in the open, so that would account for the difference in flowering time.
The dampieria I posted earlier is also doing a good job of pretending to be a chasmophyte!
cheers
fermi
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Lovely little Dampiera Fermi !
Have you grown it for long - is it hardy ?
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Hi Luc,
well the Dampieria is hardy here with temperatures between -7oC to +40oC. I think we've had this plant about 5 years but it spreads by suckering and this bit was moved to its current location about 3 years ago.
Other blooms on the Paeony are opening.
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cheers
fermi
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Your Euphorbia looks pretty like my E. myrsinites Fermi, quite large and it arches out and over. I've had this for at least 30 years. But I also bought a very dwarf form from Ann Cartman 3 or 4 years ago. It must be a variety or subspecies or something. Pics below. I'd like to see yours in the flesh to compare.
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As you see from the Viola dubyana growing in it, this little one is only a couple of inches high and perhaps 7 inches across, after 3 years.
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The top and 3rd pics were taken from the same distance from the plant which gives some idea of relative size. The big one seeds around but the little one has never produced fertile seed, or nothing has germinated anyway. As you can also see, in the large one both flowers and calyces are rich lime green but in the small one, the calyces are the same sea green of the leaves. I love them both.
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Thanks god, finally another violet fan in this Forum!
Lesley, has your Viola dubyana a distinct black marking inside its 'face' ? From the foliage it may be a hybrid. Pansies are very promiscuous.
Gerd
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Thanks god, finally another violet fan in this Forum!
Gerd, take heart... I am a great fan of violets, it is simply that I do not grow many.... you must show us lots to cheer us!
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Thanks god, finally another violet fan in this Forum!
Gerd, take heart... I am a great fan of violets, it is simply that I do not grow many.... you must show us lots to cheer us!
Sorry Maggi, forgot your kind comments about Viola spathulata.
There are only few violets flowering now but I'll do my very best.
Please have a look to ' Flowers and Foliage now '.
Gerd
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Gerd the viola doesn't have a truly black marking, but more very, very dark violet, right in the middle then going out and down as whiskers, surrounding a tiny yellow centre. I have no reason to think it's a hybrid. I've had it for many years and it always comes true from seed.Would you like some later in our summer?
I'll zip out and get a couple of pics.
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Also in flower in the "native section" of the rock garden is an Eriostemon species, it possibly has had a name change recently and may be Philotheca or something but I haven't checked! They are known as Native waxflowers.
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In the shade bed the electric blue Bellevalia dubia has started,
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as has the "Blue" daphne, D. genkwa,
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And in the sunnier Rock garden, a dwarf kniphofia which we got as "Candlelight" is blooming, though it looks a lot like one sold as "Little Treasure"
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A late daff is one I got as "Samba" but it doesn't match the description in the books. It appears to be a type of tazetta, but only has one flower this year which gives it more of an appearance of a poeticus! Any suggestions?
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cheers
fermi
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Yes Fermi ,Eriostemon species are now under Philotheca-we had a workingbee at the Ferny Creek Hort. Soc.Garden today ,about 10 of us getting the native Australian Plants Garden ready for planting out.Amongst many others I planted a few Philotheca species ,they are all very beautyful, When you come to our monthly meeting in 2 week's time ,you will be amazed at the transformation of the old Rockgarden-see Maggi my fractured ribs have almost healed and I am back with my hands in the soil
Ciao Otto.
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Otto, how wonderful to hear your are well enough to be gardening. Excellent news.
I must do some reading to discover why the taxonomists are changing those plant names. super whatever they are called, but the name changes don't make life any easier for us trying to remember, do they?
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Gerd the viola doesn't have a truly black marking, but more very, very dark violet, right in the middle then going out and down as whiskers, surrounding a tiny yellow centre. I have no reason to think it's a hybrid. I've had it for many years and it always comes true from seed.Would you like some later in our summer?
I'll zip out and get a couple of pics.
Lesley,
Please have a look at the following pics (photographed from copies).
V. dubyana has leaves which are orbicular at the base, those above lanceolate to linear. It is a very delicate plant.
Of course I would be glad if you'll post some additional pics later.
But please, tell the plants that they have to look right into the camera. There is a trick here in Germany when we make photos from small children. We tell them: " Look, here is a little bird visible ".
Don't know if it works with violets.
Congratulations for being able to cultivate Viola pedata successfully. I had always very bad results althoug a built a special bed with very poor soil and good drainage.
Gerd
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No, that's NOT mine. Here it is below.
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Needless to say, I'd be very happy to get a positive ID for this lovely plant. I'm sure it's a species, not a hybrid. Seed is available in the coming few months for anyone who would like it.
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Thanks, Otto, Glad you are able to garden again!
Lesley, I think what we grow in Australia is the same as your V. dubyana, so maybe it should just be v. dubius?!
We got some rain overnight and this morning which is a boon, but not enough to break the drought.
Despite the weather conditions, I managed to get a few more pics before work this morning.
Firstly, Narcissus "White owl" a multi-headed white and cream.
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And double triandrus hybrid, "White Marvel".
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I've also posted some new pics on the South African Bulb Thread!
cheers
fermi
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Lesley, I think what we grow in Australia is the same as your V. dubyana, so maybe it should just be v. dubius?!
I'm doubtful about that Fermi :D
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That Viola is a real stunner Lesley ! :o
It does have flower power
If it's not too much trouble - I'd be glad to be on your list for some seed ::)
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No, that's NOT mine. Here it is below.
Needless to say, I'd be very happy to get a positive ID for this lovely plant. I'm sure it's a species, not a hybrid. Seed is available in the coming few months for anyone who would like it.
Sorry, the determination of wild pansies is very difficult. Don't know what it is. Just take it for a wonderful violet.
Gerd
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Well Gerd, I was relying on you and you're no help at all ;)
Does anyone have a pic of V. grisebachiana?
I'll make a note Luc. You're very welcome. I must also email to Ole Persson as I sent him seed last summer as V. dubyana.
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Just did a quick Google and there are plenty references to V. grisebachiana but precious few pictures. One small batch showed a lot of variation and the first at least had the shape and general colouring right for mine.
I asked because somewhere in the dim, dark depths of my memory, I have a vague idea that I bought this viola or maybe had it from a seedlist, as V. grisebachiana, and then someone said "oh no, that's V. dubyana." It must have been someone whose opinion I respected or I wouldn't have changed it, - usually no-one's opinion is better regarded than my own :D - so how about it? Anyone for V. grisebachiana?
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Well Gerd, I was relying on you and you're no help at all ;)
Does anyone have a pic of V. grisebachiana?
I'll make a note Luc. You're very welcome. I must also email to Ole Persson as I sent him seed last summer as V. dubyana.
Lesley, sorry for being better again in telling you what it is not - but it will never be Viola grisebachiana. V. grisebachiana is a tiny alpine type of pansy, even smaller than V. dubyana (not the flowers).
I believe your plant is (or very near to) Viola corsica, syn. V. bertolonii.
I hope this will be at least a little bit helpful. :)
Gerd
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The first of the Tulipa hageri flowers opened on the weekend,
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And the T. clusiana "Cynthia" have just started.
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And probably the last decent pic of Paeonia cambessedessii, as the first flower has fallen!
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cheers
fermi
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Sorry Gerd, I didn't mean to hassle you. :) Looks like I'm back to square one. I think you're right, I'd better forget about a name and just enjoy it. I'm doing that all right. It goes against the grain though as having a small nursery and trying always to be meticulous about names, not to know is bothering me though I've not lost sleep so far. :D
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I took some pics yesterday in between weeding spells but there was a good nor'west wind so not everything's as clear as it should be.
First up, an interesting pic of some wandering roots from a Phormium seedling, one I rescued from our gravel driveway a year ago as it was bright red coloured and seemed to be very dwarf. A year later it is still red and dwarf so I'll plant it somewhere soon. In the meantime it's in a pot in a polystyrene tray and it was these trays of pots that I was weeding. The roots had gone through the tray's base and along the weedmat underneath. I like the tartan effect and wonder could roots be trained to make a new fabric.
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A few yellows in flower now. The first, Anemone ranunculoides `Semi plena' will go under a little maple later today and replace the snowdrops which are finished now. I hope that next year they may mingle at least in part.
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Muscari macrocarpum was imported from Marcus Harvey in the late summer. It has a delicious perfume. I've had this previously, even growing to a big clump but never had a flower on it.
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This too, from Marcus, as Narcissus triandrus `Angel's Whisper.' It seems very like `Hawera,' 'Fairy Chimes,' `Mary Plumstead' and others. Very pretty though.
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Another little one is Narcissus cuatrecasasii. James S. Wells ("Modern Miniature Daffodils") doesn't think highly of it but mine is very good, flowering well and up to a month earlier than the similar N. rupicola. It also sets good seed.
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My Scoliopus bigelovii is fully out at last but quite a lot later than Paul's in Australia, maybe a month. Not quite yellow but yellowish :)
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Degenia velebitica I find is short-lived but it sets enough seed to keep in going. This one is about to go into a gritty trough which helps to keep it going.
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And two drabas, the first, D. bryoides imbricata is suffering from too much shade from a nearby tree and the second, D. longisiliqua is recovering from having leaves over it last winter (06), the resulting dead patch just filling out well, now.
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Dianthus freynii is cute in a trough, just a little pad really.
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Morisia monanthos is in the same trough. Past its best now. Cabbage white caterpillars like this one.
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Three primulas. The first is my total crop of flowers on Primula minima. Last year I has 3 on the white form, none this year. I wish they'd flower as well as the two following.
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Primula x juliana `Snow White'
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And another of the closeup flowers on P. vulgaris `Lilacina Plena.' Because it's sterile, it flowers and looks good for a very long time, and again in the autumn if the summer hasn't dessicated it.
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Although it's common and very easy, I love this arabis which is so generous, flowering for several months and then all over again if it's cut back. It is Arabis alpina `Flore Pleno.'
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Here are the first noses, though today, on my favourite white.
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Lesley,
Great pics. I have to ask though..... your favourite white what?
The Anemone ranunculoides `Semi plena' is a little gem isn't it? Never grown that species myself, but I love the anemones and little Rununcs. That little Narcissus cuatrecasasii is a cutie as well.... another species I've never come across before. Love all your other pics too!!
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Weldenia candida of course :D
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Some fritillarias out now.
The first is F. affinis. I've grown several batches from seed and there is heaps of variation both in colour and form. I love them all.
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This little species is (I think) F. bithynica, another which varies from plain greeny yellow to this form with pink stripes. It has somehow got itself into a pot of F. acmopetala.
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F. mutabilis has always grown and flowered well for me as well as giving good seed each year. It's lovely outside but superb inside.
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I like F. whittallii for its understated elegance and quiet colour.
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and the last but FAR from least, this huge flowered species is F. grandiflora, sent by Marcus Harvey from a Rix collection. The flower is 4cms wide and 6 long. For now, the stem is very short, the 2 flowers resting on the pot surface but I expect it will lengthen with age. It seems quite vigorous, last year's single bulb having made 3 or 4 young ones by now, judging from the extra leaves.
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Lovely frits, Lesley.
I can't grow many erythroniums but this E. helenae has been grown from seed and has flowered consistently the last couple of years though only about 6" (15cm) high. In a shade bed of course!
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Next is one of the last daffs to flower, and a bit of a mystery. I got it from a local grower as "Sydling" but can't find any reference to it anywhere.
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Serapias lingua has been in flower for a couple weeks in the Shadehouse, so I took it out for a photo op this morning.
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and then thought I'd try Paddy's trick of a blue sky background!
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Tulipa clusiana "Cynthia" was open this morning
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as was another T.hageri
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Finally, one of our Aussie natives favoured for rock hugging groundcover! Pultanea pedunculata in it's pure yellow form "Pyalong Gold".
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cheers
fermi
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Now what?
A couple of small rhodies and a few more bulbs.
I'm sorry my little plants Of Rhododendron camtschaticum haven't flowered yet but they are certainly growing well. There are 3 in a little group in a cool raised bed and they are putting out quite long (20cm) underground runners from the central 12cm plants. Maybe flowers next year. An added bonus is that because they are deciduous they have lovely orangey autumn colour.
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One of my favourites is R. megeratum and it's flowering well this year (which it doesn't always) but most flowers are facing away from the path where I sit to take the pics because it's facing towards the sun.
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I think this must be Iris magnifica alba of which I have several different batches, all raised from seed as other species. This one came labelled I. rosenbachiana!
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My favourite grape hyacinth may possibly be Muscari mcbeathii but I'm not sure.
Although the pic looks out-of-focus, it isn't really, but the flowers seem to have an almost fluffy look to them. Did yours survive Mark?
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This pic from last year.
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Well, now I look at last year's muscari, the new one, above, IS out of focus. Sorry.
A couple of erythroniums here are E. revolutum in a form with superb dark bronze foliage only lightly marbled with green, and it has a deep pink flower to boot.
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and E. `Ruapuna Dawn,' a revolutum hybrid with softer pink flowers. It too has wonderful foliage, with even bronze and green marbelling. The other parent is almost certainly `White Beauty' as seedlings from `R D' flower identical to that one.
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Just 2 more for today, Trillium hibbersonii. Judging from last year's pics, I gave away the wrong one ;)
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and T. chloropetalum. I bought this plant just this last weekend. The parent which I saw, was almost black-flowered but I'm very happy with this seedling which has superb foliage in blotches of red, dark red, dark green and black.
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Lesley,
Love those dark leaved Erythroniums. Superb is definitely a good description of them. Closest I have in markings to them would be the E. dens canis 'Snowflake' I got this year. Your revolutum leaves just look amazing!! I'd be pretty impressed with the Trillium leaves too.... way darker than anything I've ever seen, by many degrees. Fantastic!! The Muscari flowers remind me a bit of 'Vallerie Finnis', but the leaves look to be straight instead of having undulations along them. I love the colour of VF so that one must be pretty speccy as well.
Great pics from both you and Fermi today. Excellent stuff!! 8)
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Super thread as usual....many thanks Lesley, Fermi and Paul.
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I planted them Lesley when I got them as roots had started. So far nothing but I'll look this morning
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Great pictures Lesley, you got time on your hands?? ;D
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Fermi, Sydling can be found on the Daffseek page, http://daffseek.org/query
Lesley, it's great to see all your flowers, and if you ever have spare seed of your Narcissus cuatrecasasii, would you think of me, please? :D
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Loads of great pictures have been added to this thread. I particularly like the dark leaved Erythroniums.
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Well, early spring in the shouthern hemisphere looks to be very much worthwhile ;D
Great pix from superb plants.
Thanks a lot everyone - your pix and comments really brighten up our dull, grey autumn days...
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Many thanks everyone. We down here love to spread a little sunshine among our northern friends (actually, as I sit here typing, it's SNOWING!)
Anne I'll certainly send some if there is any this year. Too soon to tell yet as they're just starting but I had seed last year and the year before, which I sowed and the first buds are on the first batch already, just 18 months from germination.
Yes, the Erythronium leaves are brilliant, even if there were no flowers at all. Paul, the `Ruapuna Dawn' went to Australia in the early autumn. It is probably still in quarantine, but no doubt will be spread about in time.
No time on my hands really David, just a built-in reluctance to do the dishes, make the beds, put the washing on etc. But I'll go and look at my seeds now.
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I've had a look at my seedlings of N. cuatrecasasii and the newly budded ones are from 2004 seeds, so 2 and a half years from seed, not 1 and a half. (Actually about 2 and a quarter from germination.)I thought that was not quite believable :)
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Lesley,
Exactly.... even when out of flower they look great. I guess I'll start looking around for that variety in about 4 or 5 years then. To be honest, I think that your other revolutum is better in leaf and definitely the flower colour. I love the strong pink Erythroniums, and so hard to find good ones. Well done if that is one of your own seedlings, or else well done to whoever selected it. ;D Beautiful!!
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Here's the first bloom on Oenothera acaulis (syn. O.taraxifolia) - missed it last night but it was still open this morning.
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The Moraeas are doing well this year. I posted this one to the South African Bulb thread and Paul has pointed out that it's most likely a hybrid between M. villosa and M. aristata.
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Lesley,
those erythroniums are beautifyl!
Paul,
stop skiting about getting something that isn't even on his list yet!
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Who's skiting? I was lamenting that it would be at least 4 or 5 years before he'd list it. Definitely no skiting involved unfortunately..... wish I could be skiting in that manner!! ;D All this depends on it settling in and multiplying enough for him to list it of course..... I'll be waiting just the same as everyone else. Oh to have a quarantine setup or access to one. So many things, so little money!! ::)
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Oooh I like that Moraea. 8)
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Oooh I like that Moraea. 8)
Me too.
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Actually lads, the erythronium didn't go to Marcus this time, but to that dear man who lives close to Otto. I'll be seeing him at the Trillium weekend in Methven, weekend after this coming one.
Paul you're welcome to whatever seed they produce this year. The paler one doesn't come true though, with almost white flowers and fairly green leaves, almost exactly like 'White Beauty' in fact, which I'm sure is the other parent. But as I'm sure the BD would agree, any erythronium's a good erythronium.
The deeper pink is from seed of Stewart Preston's deep pinks which probably started out as E. revolutum johnsonii but Stewart has always had a good eye for something special and has distributed many such things to lucky people like me. I have a single bulb who's flowers are almost crimson! He lives just about 15 kms from me. This form (page 21) also sets seed and does come reasonably true, some variation of course but all worth growing and at least a few will be outstanding. If there's some this season I'll send it along.
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Lesley,
Hmmmm... that gives better chances of me hassling for some in a few years then!! ;D Thanks for seed offers.... always well wroth trying stuff from Erythronium hybrids as you just never know. That dark pink one with the dark leaves is of particular interest as it just has so many wonderful qualities (but to be honest there aren't that many Erythronium with BAD qualities!! ;)) With our conditions I am cutting down on seed sowing for the next couple of years, but that one is worth making the exception for, just for the chance of getting leaves like those.
Main exciting thing for me at the moment is Jeffersonia dubia, flowering for the first time ever from me from seed sown a few years ago. Very excited about this as something I have wanted to see for many years but this is the first time. Very cute little thing, and a delightful blue. Probably fairly mundane to a lot of you, as so many unsual things in Australia tend to be!! ;)
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Hi Lesley - I'm spending a few days here with Otto in Olinda. Absolutely jam-packed with garden visits and meeting lots of people, some whom I have met before on earlier visits to the Dandenongs. Saw my first double Trillium rivale in Viv Condon's garden yesterday and have just returned from Cloudhill Nursery brimming with admiration at Jeremy Frances' imaginative design and his ability to surprise and delight. Have included here 2 pics of Otto's Trillium rivale seedlings and another of Viv's double. Hope they delight. The Erythronium "Ruapuna Dawn" is still alive and kicking (or growing) in quarantine in AQIS' Hobart Quarantine Station. Your photo of it on the forum looks very similar to a hybrid between revolutum and oregonum that has been growing for at least 20 years - see pic. Also revolutum is self sown abundantly here at Otto's, almost to the point of becoming one of the "beautiful weeds". Nearby at Tonkin's old nursery there are tens of thousands of E. revolutum naturalised throughout the gardens - a breathtaking sight and one we hope AQIS doesn't see!!! Joke only. Otto thinks the most intensively mottled leaves, in shades of brown, are on dens canis ssp caucasicum and ssp japonicum. Cheers and best wishes from Otto and me (Marcus)
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Sorry - still got L plates on - here are the rest thanks Maggie love Otto
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Marcus and Otto,
Wow!! Double and triple wow!! That double rivale is something else, that is for sure, and the beautifully round pink is to die for!!!!! Fantastic!! 8)
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Marcus and Otto,
Wow!! Double and triple wow!! That double rivale is something else, that is for sure, and the beautifully round pink is to die for!!!!! Fantastic!! 8)
Couldn't have put it better myself a double flower which looks so good!
Sue
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Hi Marcus, Great to have you on the Forum and I hope you hang around and continue to post when you get home again. Give my love to Otto and to Susan.
The double rivale is a little stunner isn't it? I didn't know there was one except that I occasionally get 6 petals on a single flower on a clump but it's back to 3 again the following year. I hope Viv's is stable. She'll be able to retire on it. :)
I was wondering about the quarantine plants and if they were still IN quarantine. I guess AQIS will want to see them at this full growth stage. Do you have any idea how the Narc. rom. `Atlas Gold' came through the methyl bromide? They're for Don, though on Tim's permit.
I got the seeds all right from the red-berried Pernettya tasmanica but Don's damned bower bird ate the yellow, same as the blue berries on the coprosma. Poked its neck through the bird netting apparently. I'm sending him a recipe for cooking the bower bird!
I absolutely agree about Cloudhill, a super place. I've been there in both spring and autumn and was enchanted both times. Hopefully next early spring.
This is sounding more like a personal email instaed of a post to the Forum, but wanted to say welcome. Wish I was with you there. And who care's about the rugby anyway? :'( :'( :'(
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Lesley,
The Rugby is a bit of a shocker isn't it!! First time that the series final won't have either Aus or NZ in it!! Go Argentina!!! ;D
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The Portuguese team (points difference -171, only Namibia were worse) were given a hero's welcome in Portugal - hey ho ::)
Chloë
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Chloe, I loved the Portugese team. They had such a great spirit and were intent on enjoying themselves and having a great time regardless of the results. The men we saw and heard who were interviewed by NZ commentators, were such nice guys and truly loved their sport, not taking it all too seriously as we tend to do. I hope that for future World Cups the less accomplished teams are not rejected as has been suggested by some of the administrators. We'd miss them.
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Now, Paul, I was going to chastise you for not getting behind Scotland, and, if you had, we might have played a bit better and beaten those pesky Pumas...now we're ALL out!
edit: OOPS! well, I forgot that Rogan's team and the English were still involved!! Just as well we haven't too many French forumists or I'd have insulted them, too1
Sorry!
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Well Maggi, presumably the best final would have been Scotland v. the All Blacks. I wonder who would have won that one. :-X
The Portugese and the Fijians were welcomed home as heros and great good fortune to them. It will still be north v. south, just not the right teams. Our guys are due home tomorrow (in the air as I write) and I suspect will be for a right good lynching, judging by the newspaper and TV reactions. One has to say in regard to that, "get a life."
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Well Maggi, presumably the best final would have been Scotland v. the All Blacks. I wonder who would have won that one.
That's very easy to answer, Lesley.... the Bookmakers, of course! 8)
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edit: OOPS! well, I forgot that Rogan's team and the English were still involved!! Just as well we haven't too many French forumists or I'd have insulted them, too1
Sorry!
Yah, nah, ne, nah! Do I detect sour grapes from our Scot, Aus and NZ supporters? ;) I loved the Fiji vs SA game, which the Fijians should have won - SA woke up just in time!
Just to make you all feel a little better - an image of the 'Graskop' form of Agapanthus inapertus:
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The Aus team are straggling back home to enjoy their favourite w(h)ine: "We were really unlucky against the Poms"(best said with very nasal twang!).
I'll stick to gardening! (says the Physio who considers all sports injuries as "self inflicted"!)
cheers
fermi
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Just to make you all feel a little better
That stunning Agapanthus certainly cheered me up, Rogan. Very elegant blue.
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Our lot arrived home yesterday tails between their legs but found themselves greeted uproariously by crowd of thousands at Christchurch airport. Players OK but it seems the management/coaches/selectors may be for the chop. Not sour grapes Rogan, just major disappointment. Good luck for yours against Argentina - I think.