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Author Topic: March in the Northern Hemisphere  (Read 1549 times)

Herman Mylemans

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #30 on: March 22, 2024, 03:32:23 PM »
(Attachment Link)
The early-spring flowering Cypripedium formosanum from Taiwan can form wonderful clumps when it is happy, as it seems to be here. The flowers are frost sensitive and in some years they have turned brown early as a result. Other enemies are slugs and caterpillars that can reduce the flowers to shreds overnight. Fortunately, they don't seem to find the leaves very tasty, just the flowers. This plant grows in very gritty soil mulched with some leaf litter between two deciduous shubs (Rhododendron Crosswater Red and Vaccinium corymbosum 'Chandler') that provide shade during the summer, while allowing plenty of light in the spring.
Great clump Andre! Congratulations!
Belgium

Robert

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #31 on: March 22, 2024, 04:09:17 PM »
I'm sorry, there is no way of knowing the origin of seed from seed ex, unless the donator happens to read this. ;)
I knew that they might not be hardy enough to grow here, unless the seed is from higher mountains, but we'll see.

Hi Leena,

Thank you for answering my question. There is only so much I can determine about some of the species I enjoy growing here in Sacramento. I am completely dependent on feedback from gardeners in other regions to share their experiences with these plants. So thank you.  8)  :)  And thank you to the other Forumist that share their gardening experiences on the Forum. The learning experience is something that I enjoy greatly.
Robert Barnard
Sacramento & Placerville, Northern California, U.S.A.
All text and photos © Robert Barnard

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him stepto the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau

Robert

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #32 on: March 23, 2024, 04:46:11 PM »


Each year the composition of our front border strip improves.



In this photograph Tulipa clusiana ‘Peppermint Stick’ is combining well with dark hybrid tulips and a variety of California native annuals.



This is another view of the border from a different perspective.



I do the best I can to develop plants for practical application in our Sacramento, California garden. Our third generation Phacelia campanularia line is performing extremely well in the open garden. Plants in this line are being selected for strong performance in an open garden setting, a prolonged blooming cycle, with abundant flowers. We are well on our way to obtaining this goal.
« Last Edit: March 23, 2024, 11:44:03 PM by Robert »
Robert Barnard
Sacramento & Placerville, Northern California, U.S.A.
All text and photos © Robert Barnard

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him stepto the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau

Robert

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #33 on: March 23, 2024, 04:49:06 PM »


In our back yard Erythronium oregonum is coming into bloom.



I am generally not satisfied growing a single specimen or a single generation of plants of any given species. I seek to bring out the best qualities in a species by growing multiple generations of plants from genetically diverse populations in our garden. I am always on the lookout for appealing recombinations of genes as well as noteworthy mutations that may have horticultural value. With perennial species the process takes longer than with annual species, however once the process is started each season brings something new to watch and evaluate. Eventually, each morning throughout the year brings something new to see in the garden. For me this is also a gardening success and a very satisfying creative process.



Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii is coming into bloom. I also work with this species. The process is slow as it takes seedlings many years to develop. Patience is required, but I enjoy all the incremental steps in the process.



Our Napa County form of Triteleia laxa is always the first to start blooming in our Sacramento garden.



Viburnum bitchiuense is now blooming. The fragrance of this species is divine.
Robert Barnard
Sacramento & Placerville, Northern California, U.S.A.
All text and photos © Robert Barnard

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him stepto the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau

ruweiss

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #34 on: March 24, 2024, 09:19:47 PM »
Robert, many thanks for your pictures and reports of the plants in
your climatic zone, we can learn a lot about the cultivation of US plants.
Here are 2 pictures of Asiatic plants: Amana edulis and Bergenia ciliata
« Last Edit: March 27, 2024, 05:30:07 PM by Maggi Young »
Rudi Weiss,Waiblingen,southern Germany,
climate zone 8a,elevation 250 m

Leena

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #35 on: March 25, 2024, 10:43:05 AM »
however once the process is started each season brings something new to watch and evaluate. Eventually, each morning throughout the year brings something new to see in the garden. For me this is also a gardening success and a very satisfying creative process.

You are so right about that! Sowing seeds every year and then there is always something to look forward.

Very nice front border with tulips, so natural looking. :)
Leena from south of Finland

Robert

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #36 on: March 25, 2024, 05:22:09 PM »
Hi Leena,


Very nice front border with tulips, so natural looking. :)

Thank you for the comment about our front border.  :)  It is a work in progress (most likely never ending, ever evolving). I do not like a garden full of individual specimens, one each of every species. A single specimen here and there as an accent works for me, but in general I like drifts of the same species scattered around randomly – like what I see in nature. Working with a large variety of plants works for me too as long as I do not end up with one of each. Slowly I am attempting to orchestrate a naturalistic garden with and an expanded palette of plants. I just kind of do things with “no mind” (Zen a concept) and see what happens. If nature takes over, in a way I like, so much the better, but then nature generally has its way anyway. There is so much to enjoy about gardening.

Hi Rudi,

Robert, many thanks for your pictures and reports of the plants in
your climatic zone, we can learn a lot about the cultivation of US plants.

Thank you.

I certainly enjoy the range of plants you show in your garden and alpine house. Many are species that I am not at all familiar with. Being exposed to them certainly gets me thinking about our garden in unexpected ways. So thank you for sharing so much.

BTW – I enjoyed your photograph of Lewisia tweedyi immensely. Isn’t that how it turns out sometimes, the plants that seeds out in an unexpected location turns out to be the finest specimen.



I thought that readers would like this photograph. The photograph was taken over 10 years ago, in the Deer Valley region of El Dorado County, California. It is the colony of Erythronium multiscapideum from which our Deer Valley line was derived. They are such beautiful plants and I am so happy that they have grown well in our Sacramento garden. They are also the parents of a number of hybrids that are progressing along. I am looking forward to the time when they start blooming. There are so many plants to look forward to as they develop.  8)
« Last Edit: March 25, 2024, 05:25:23 PM by Robert »
Robert Barnard
Sacramento & Placerville, Northern California, U.S.A.
All text and photos © Robert Barnard

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him stepto the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau

Mariette

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #37 on: March 25, 2024, 07:58:33 PM »
Andre, Your Cypripedium formosanum looks like a fairy- tale-plant!

Rudi, Your two asiatics are very interesting - what is the one in the second pic?

Robert, last year I got a bag of seed of Phacelia campanularia. The blue is of almost incredible intensity, it´s a gorgeous annual. Comparing what I grew with Your plants, one can well see the difference. Mine were of ungainly, spindly growth, whereas Yours form nice clumps. Obviously, You are very successful in improving the plant´s habit. Congratulations!

Your erythroniums are always a delight! Today I was surprised that Erythronium californicum is about to flower - I expected it to be lost to the slugs.
You mention the mottling of the leaves - once I read that erythroniums growing in dappled shade tend to have mottled leaves, whereas those growing more exposed usually have green leaves. Would You affirm that from Your observations?

Since many years, Camellia japonica ´Imbricata Alba´ grows in my garden. Often the white flowers show pink stripes, but this year it sported a completely pink flower.



A shrub I like is Ribes ´White Icicle´ with its almost weeping habit.





This shrub sets comparatively few seeds, some of them were sown several years ago. To my surprise, all seedlings show an upright growth and glowing pink colour of the flowers.



Scilla lilio-hyacinthus is doing well in my garden.

« Last Edit: March 25, 2024, 08:07:16 PM by Mariette »

Mariette

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #38 on: March 25, 2024, 08:14:12 PM »
Primulas self-seed in my garden.



An old variety of narcissus, perhaps somebody can tell if it´s ´Mrs. Langtry´? I like the flowers of the grass by its side, too - Luzula sylvatica ´Aurea´.



I grew Arum creticum potted for 8 years, where it clumped excessively but never flowered. Now, in the border, it´s obviously happier.


ruweiss

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Re: March in the Northern Hemisphere
« Reply #39 on: March 26, 2024, 09:10:11 PM »
Robert, thank you for your kind comment.
Mariette, sorry that I didn't add the name to this plant. It is Bergenia ciliata, the flowers start very easy and get
usually destroyed by frost. The leaves start later and grow really big until early frosts in autumn kills them.
Rudi Weiss,Waiblingen,southern Germany,
climate zone 8a,elevation 250 m

 


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