September 2012 in the Southern Hemisphere

[annew]

 a  few plants in flower in my garden at the moment:   
 Anigozanthos gabrielae ,the smallest of the Kangaroo Paws from Western Austalia ,I know of
 Clematis 'Sweet Hart' a New Zealand hybrid trained upwards -there is another plant scramblig over rocks in my rockgarden
and a beautyful darkflowered seedling with dark leaves of Trillium rivale . I'm indebted to my dear friend Viv Condon who shared seeds with me

Fabulous trillium, Otto - nothing as good as that over here (unless someone's keeping quiet!).

[Otto Fauser]

Jon , do not give up growing Fritillarias in Glen Waverley . I'm certain you will have success with most of the mediterranean and turkish  etc , species . When I gardened in Bentleigh some 40 years ago I grew and flowered many species , only F. meleagris ( it thrivesup here in the Dandenong Ranges ) did not like the hot summers , also imperialis languished .
I suggest you construct bulbframes/ raised beds and mix in plenty of grit and coarse sand into the potting mix and some dolomite . I was also successful with a lot of other more difficult bulbs : Cyclamen rohlfsianum , graecum etc. , Tulipa . Crocus , reticulata Iris , oncocyclus Iris , Juno Iris - I remember I . palaestina and rosenbachiana for example flowered in their third year from seed .

       So do give it another try ,
                                                    Otto.

[Anthony Darby]

Lovely sunny day today with 22^oCelsius.

[arillady]

Iris paradoxa and just to compare differences here is Iris paradoxa ssp paradoxa x Iris kirkwoodii  and a closeup.
Iris bicapitata ex BIS ex Tony Willis.
Iris lutescens ex SIGNA seed
tag was wrong so what is it?
One of the first Iris lactea clumps beginning to flower

[Mini bulb lover]

Jon , do not give up growing Fritillarias in Glen Waverley . I'm certain you will have success with most of the mediterranean and turkish  etc , species .

Okay Otto. I'll try some of the mediterranean and turkish species and see how they go.

[Lesley Cox]

Marcus,

Clematis 'Sweet Hart' is - I think - either a seedling selection or possibly another hybrid of the same parents (paniculata x marmoraria or vice versa) as x Cartmanii 'Joe', which has not been distributed in NZ so far as I'm aware. Maybe the Cartmans have it' 'Sweet Hart is not a mis-spelleing but was named for a South Canterbury gardener Jenny Hart. It may have come from her garden. The general opinion among the local sources is that it is better than x Cartmanii 'Joe' and is great either as a moderate climber or to fall over the edge of a wall or tub.

Having said that, if you could see C. paniculata in the bush along the northern motorway out of Dunedin at present, or in the wooded area next to the southern entrance to the city or in the gorse at the end of my street, you'd find it hard to  say that any derivative of the original could be better. They are fabulous this year.

[Mini bulb lover]

This is the first (and probably the last, judging by the yellow leaves at the base) flower on my Gentiana acaulis. I've now placed the pot in a polystyrene box where it only gets morning sun. They say we are now experiencing El Niño again so it looks like it's going to be a warm and dry spring and summer here (28 degrees forecast here for Thursday). 

[Anthony Darby]

Must get some Iris paradoxa. Those flowers are lovely.

[Paul T]

Just catching up with this topic finally.  Haven't had a chance to comment for a while....

The Iris paradoxa is breathtaking.  Wow!!  WOW!! 

I also love Otto's Trillium, as he well knows from when I was there  .  Good to see that you got the Anigozanthos as well.... I found one at a nursery here yesterday myself, which is now planted happily in my garden (pretty much a record to get it planted the same day, it happens so very rarely!!  )

Anthony, that is a rather spectacular Mesembryanthemum (which I have a vague feeling is now called something else entirely, isn't it?).  Such an unfortunate nickname of Pigface (the plant, not Anthony! ). 

Marcus, great Frits and Iris too.

[fermi de Sousa]

I wasn't able to post these pics last month - but they belong in this thread.
Tulipa batalini Honky Tonk x2
Tulipa. aff sprengeri
Tulipa saxatilis
Paeonia cambessedesii x2
DBI Slang
DBI Pause
Moraea spathulata x2

cheers
fermi

[Anthony Darby]

Someone called it Delosperma cooperi Paul.