Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: ruweiss on July 01, 2011, 08:57:40 PM
-
Some flowering plants from my garden:
-
Too many forums, too little time! Anyway, here are some things in bloom now that I am enjoying...
Minuartia erythrosepala; Dracocephalum heterophyllum; Dianthus sp.; Silene uniflora:
[attachthumb=1] [attachthumb=2] [attachthumb=3] [attachthumb=4]
Gypsophila repens; Hieracium villosum; Anthemis marschalliana:
[attachthumb=5] [attachthumb=6] [attachthumb=7]
Lychnis ajanencis; Penstemon virens (x2):
[attachthumb=8] [attachthumb=9] [attachthumb=10]
Oops, I guess this really belongs in July, doesn't it?
-
A few more...
Saxifraga xlongifolia (x2); Edraianthus serbicus; Scilla verna nestled in Campanula topaliana:
[attachthumb=1] [attachthumb=2] [attachthumb=3] [attachthumb=4]
Asyneuma limonifolium; Sedum pilosum - I'm happy to see that it is hardy here!; Bolanthus cherlerioides:
[attachthumb=5] [attachthumb=6] [attachthumb=7]
I really like this one - Hypericum aviculariifolium ssp. uniflorum - (although the "uniflorum" doesn't seem to fit):
[attachthumb=8] [attachthumb=9] [attachthumb=10]
-
Campanula hawkinsiana, from seed last year, and starting to bloom (seeming to require neither an alpine house in this climate, nor lime-free soil, re. our discussion about this some time ago, Luit); I expect it will likely be short-lived (as it is said to be) but so far, so good:
[attachthumb=1] [attachthumb=2] [attachthumb=3] [attachthumb=4]
Arenaria grandiflora; Silene argaea (x2):
[attachthumb=5] [attachthumb=6] [attachthumb=7]
-
Always a highlight of the year for me - Alstroemeria psittacina.
-
A special tribute to Lesley ;), one of the (very) few plants from NZ in my garden, the delightful, aerial Hebe kirkii.
-
A few pics from my rock garden yesterday:
Castilleja miniata
Centaurea pindicola
Cremanthodium sp
Penstemon fruticosus scouleri albus
Phaypphleps biflora
Rhodiola dumulosa
-
Here is a lot in flower as well at the moment :)
Asclepias tuberosum long flowering and excellent for cutting.
Gypsophila Pink Star a good substitute for the later flowering Gyps. Rosenschleier
Aster radula a very good low and rich flowering Aster for poor places.
Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff Gives the garden at several places some good color for the remaining summer
Echinacea paradoxa
Telekia speciosa a real "alpine"
Amicia zygomeris probably not hardy enough but very interesting
Veronicastrum Fascination gives a better perforance year after year.
Thalictrum Elin
Thalictrum Elin cl.
-
Some lovely things there in the northern summer. Thanj you Zephirine for the very nice Hebe. It's one I don't know but will look for it. I like the way it seems so excited. ;D
I also like very much, the white Dracocephalum, the Cremanthodium and the Thalictrum, as well as the Phaeiophleps which I had from a Watson collection years ago. Lost now but I still remember the lovely perfume.
July is our coldest month and heading that way with harder frosts each morning but still almost no snow in the hills. The skiers are not happy. ???
-
Amicia zygomeris probably not hardy enough but very interesting
Much to my surprise it came through last winter outside Luit so fingers crossed!
-
Just a couple of contrasting plants - first, with tribute to that great grower of alpine campanulas (and much else), Graham Nicholls, a lovely specimen of C. x wockei 'Puck' on the sand bed; and secondly the emerald mat of Azorella trifurcata, a fascinating member of one of my favourite families of plants, the Umbelliferae (which I prefer to Apiaceae). The Azorella is growing in part of the bed with much shallower gritty sand over the normal garden soil and is so much easier than its very choice relative Bolax gummifera, which hopefully I have at last found a spot to suit.
-
That's a very well behaved shape to the Campanula Tim. Mind you, in my garden as soon as I put in a Campanula the slugs get the bunting out and celebrate.
-
Hypericum buckleyii
-
That's a very fine Campanula Tim. And I like your Hypericum too Michael.
-
Three plants in bloom here the last few weeks. First picture is of Allium narcissiflorum, which was very nice this year. The second is Gentiana lutea, only the second time it has bloomed in its twelve years. The last three pictures are all of Centaurea (uniflora) nervosa, one of the plant in bud, one of the bud, and in bloom. More interesting than showy, perhaps.
Knud
-
A few pics. from the garden today.
Penstemon, probably 'Raven'
Geranium pratense 'Plenum Violaceum'
Lewisia carousel hybrid
Lilium regale and a yellow Alstromeria
Lilium regale.
The garden was full of the L. regale scent this evening. It was quite outstanding.
-
Lilium regale and a yellow Alstromeria
Lilium regale.
The garden was full of the L. regale scent this evening. It was quite outstanding.
Graham,
are the L. regale in the second pic the form called "Alba" as it doesn't have the reddish exterior? It looks very attractive.
cheers
fermi
-
Lovely pictures and now that I have visited your garden I can visualise your planting. I see your bank of blue Geraniums are flowering and your Alstromeria also. It must be looking really good at this time.
It's heavy rain here today hope it's missed you.
Angie :)
-
Hi Fermi,
I have three of the pure white form 'Alba' and a dozen of the normal form.
Thanks Angie. Heavy showers today.
-
Some more flowering here:
Lilium White Twinkle
Anthericum ramosum
Hemerocallis Nugget
Lilium Landini
Romneya coulteri
Hosta Heideturm a special Hosta, which flowers reach about two meter!!
Hosta Heideturm cl.
Triosteum himalayanum
Hydrangea Annabelle
Lilium Citronella
-
and another few:
Azorella trifurcata juli
Hypericum frondosum Sunburst
Leucanthemum superbum Sunny Side Up
Berkheya purpurea cl.
Berkheya purpurea
Campanula waldsteiniana
Satureja spinosa
-
Origanum plants enjoy sunshine and warm temperatures. The flowers last for a long
time and are a magnet for many insects.
Self sown seedlings occur at many places and almost all of them are hybrids.
Bought the Orig. spec as O. microphyllum but am not sure about this name and would
be glad about the identification.
O.rotundifolium is from wild collected Turkish seeds.
-
Was the Orig. spec. the one I said I though could be amanum Luit? On second thoughts I think it is a hybdrid maybe including some amanum in it, but compared with the first picture which is DEFINITELY amanum, it does look less like amanum.
-
One or two things in the garden before the rain came!
Lilium wardii lankongense (thanks Arisaema must have muddled the labels in the pots)
One whose name I have forgotten ::)
Lilium Golden Splendour group
Lilium Bright Star
-
That's unfortunately L. lankongense, not wardii, still lovely but quite common and somewhat weedy.
-
Cheers Arisaema I've changed the original, the plant was growing out of the bottom of the pot and I must have either labelled them wrongly or looked at the wrong pot in my haste ::)
-
I thought that I'd posted this already - Salvia discolor.
-
I've always grown quite a number of oddball plants and so a few examples that look good just now. Asclepias speciosa; I find the flowers of this and related genera completely fascinating, and here they complement the foliage so well even if they don't last too long. Morina longifolia; I suppose well known by many gardeners now but when I first saw it I did a double take, and there is still nothing else quite like it. Berkheya multijuga; perhaps a 'thistle' by which all other thistles should be judged against!! (notwithstanding the Scotch Thistle!). This is a Drakensberg species which has steadily made a more and more formidable specimen in the garden over the past few years - though perhaps is let down by its bright yellow flowerheads. And finally the rather extraordinary, beautiful and surprisingly hardy Impatiens tinctoria, which is flowering especially well this year perhaps as a result of the long warm and dry spring we have had.
-
Lovely Morina Tim, we first saw it at Calke Abbey where the gardener told us that the Victorians used it as a bedding plant. We've grown it ever since, I like the way the flowers change colour when they have been fertilized (in embarrassment?), I have been on the lookout for M.persica but I don't think there is much difference between the two.
-
Hi all, some wondeful plant pictures and such a lot that I have never heard about. We have had monsoon rain this week which spoils flowers but here are two pictures Roscoea humeana Alba and Lilium grayi, cheers Ian the Christie kind
-
Ian, those two plants are quite beautiful! I never forget seeing the white Roscoea for the first time at the Edinburgh Conference in Ron McBeath's wonderful talk (where I think he said he would exchange a bit for 'Red Gurkha') - it is so pure; very lovely. I have failed miserably with Lilium grayi but saw a fine example in the Rankin's garden. It is a most distinctive species.
-
Hi Tim, thanks for your kind words, I have grown R. humeana Alba from seed and so far have produced a batch of pure white plants. I have also grown R. humeana from seed quite a few times seed was collected from the yellow form, pale pink and a very dark purple some good seedling and a few rather strange ones with one or two really exciting. Lilium grayi we grow from small bubils which seem to take ages but manage a few worth the effort, I post some Roscoea pictures, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
-
Beautiful roscoeas,Ian. I wish they were hardy here.
The first flowering of Mentha requenii for me. I placed a match to show the size
-
Hi Oleg, we think that our winters are cold here in Scotland with minus 18c all the Roscoe's, Trilliums and lilies we usually plant quite deep to save them from the frost last year it would have been difficult to break the ground with a pickaxe but as all our plants raised from seed survived they must have a degree of hardiness, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
-
Thanks, Ian. I've tried roscoeas several times. They can survive some winters, but then there is one after which they are dead. Yes it can be quite cold in Scotland as well as in the Himalais, but non for 6 months. This can make the difference. No problems here with trilliums with the only danger being returning frosts for early starters like T. kurabayashi. Not all lilies are hardy here. Some don't survive winter at all, others gradually deminish in size and disappear.
-
Some summer impressions from my front garden + some specialities
1. Eschscholzia californica + Oxalis valdiviensis
2. Eschscholzia + Campanula thyrsoides
3. Papaver aculeatum
4. Salvia patens
5. + 6. Sisyrinchium roseum
7. - 9. Anagallis tenella - last pic with closed flowers in the evening
Gerd
-
I really like that paler form of Anagallis tenella. I remember seeing it in the grass on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, years ago but it was the 'Studland' form I was later able to buy.
-
I was out taking a few pictures during a break in the rain last week, and the bees were certainly making the most of the rare sunny moment. In some plants, like the Aquelegia, the nectar is clearly difficult to get at the usual way.
Knud
-
The last picture in my previous post, of the Symphyandra zangezura, brought me on to this post of blues in the garden now. The first is a, by now, somewhat tattered Aquelegia discolor, it has bloomed for a while. The next two are Campanulas, 'Dickson's Gold' and Molly Pinsent. The fourth is a Corydalis, a C. cashmeriana? After I moved it from a place it did not like, it seems very happy growing up through a Fuchsia magellanica, and has bloomed for many weeks now. The last picture is of Mertensia pterocarpa, also known as M. asiatica and M. sibirica? A very nice plant, decorative bluish green leaves and many very blue flowers for a long period. They do well here in sun and shade, those in light/dappled shade stay nicer longer.
Knud
-
I don't know 'Birch Hybrid' except the name, but your picture looks very like C. garganica 'Dickson's Gold.' Is that possible? :) All these blues are very lovely.
-
I really like that paler form of Anagallis tenella. I remember seeing it in the grass on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, years ago but it was the 'Studland' form I was later able to buy.
Thank you, Lesley. Being familiar with the pale form only the darker tinted Studland form seems also very attractive to me. Thanks for the hint!
Gerd
-
I don't know 'Birch Hybrid' except the name, but your picture looks very like C. garganica 'Dickson's Gold.' Is that possible? :) All these blues are very lovely.
Thanks Lesley,
You are absolutely right about the 'Dickson's Gold'. You had me scurrying into the garden this morning, in the rain, plier in hand to pull out the label. I have taken to bury labels quite deep so they won't get lost, but clearly it also keeps me from reading them as often as I should. Thank you again, and my apologies.
Now I have to figure out how to edit my erroneous post. I should have a "Species check" button in addition to the "Spell Check" button. ;D
Knud
-
Knud, I like your 'blues', especially Campanula 'Molly Pinsent' which has very elegant flowers, and the exquisite Mertensia - these have never done well with me but the whole Borage family is particularly fascinating.
-
A couple of taller plants here this week: Sencio jacquemontianus, aka Ligularia j. I don't know which name is the current valid one. And Notholirion bulbiferum, which I suddenly discovered in bloom yesterday morning. Can't even remember having planted it. Probably a small seedling that eventually has grown big enough to bloom.
-
Knud, and other Forumists who are unaware of this facility..... it is simplicity itself to edit your own posts: click on the "Modify" button shown in the menu top right of the post and the text box will open for you to edit at will. You can also add/delete photos as well as edit text.
-
And a little more from the scree this week:
Geranium nanum
Edraiainthus dinaricus
Edraianthus jugoslavicus
Allium insubricum
Phlox diffusa var diffusa
Potentilla nitida
-
Very interesting to see what is flowering in other gardens. We have had more monsoon rain today and over the weekend . I post a picture of Lilium canadensis which has just opened, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
-
Beautiful Lilium Ian !
-
A couple more to show;
The first is Eucomis bicolor, with the second being Zauschneria californica.
-
Sempervivum and Jovibarba flower profusely this year, even at places which are
not so sunny as usual. It is quite interesting to raise seedlings from the resulting
seeds, they grow really quick and you can select many interesting forms and colours.
-
Flowering today:
Corydalis flexuosa 'Blue Panda'
Albuca shawii
Prospero (Scilla) autumnale
Rhodohypoxis bauri
Eucomis bicolor
Poul
-
Campanula incurva
-
Parochetus communis never before flowered as well as it does this summer. Funny enough Seedlist Handbook lists it as half hardy. Still it survives the winters here in North Norway without problems, even the winter of 2010 with hard frost and no snow cover for almost 3 months.
-
Very interesting to see what is flowering in other gardens. We have had more monsoon rain today and over the weekend . I post a picture of Lilium canadensis which has just opened, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
What a wonderful Lily that is. I saw it once in bloom in North Sweden. Have been trying to get hold of it ever since, but bulbs seem hard to come by here.
-
Parochetus communis never before flowered as well as it does this summer. Funny enough Seedlist Handbook lists it as half hardy. Still it survives the winters here in North Norway without problems, even the winter of 2010 with hard frost and no snow cover for almost 3 months.
This is one of our favourite garden plants, Magnar. The blue is bewitching.
I think that the Himalayan "version" of the plant, originally described from Nepal is totally hardy but the African version, usually sold under the same name but, more correctly (I think!) P. africanus, though appearing identical in every way, is the one which can be rather tender.
-
this codonopsis grown from seed was labled Codonopsis convolvulacea. This is the first flovering which suggests it is not C.convolvulacea if nice. Anyone to help with the ID?
-
Parochetus communis never before flowered as well as it does this summer. Funny enough Seedlist Handbook lists it as half hardy. Still it survives the winters here in North Norway without problems, even the winter of 2010 with hard frost and no snow cover for almost 3 months.
This is one of our favourite garden plants, Magnar. The blue is bewitching.
I think that the Himalayan "version" of the plant, originally described from Nepal is totally hardy but the African version, usually sold under the same name but, more correctly (I think!) P. africanus, though appearing identical in every way, is the one which can be rather tender.
Thank you, Maggi. I was not aware of that, guess it explains the whole thing. :)
-
1. Cirsium eriophorum from 63d SRGC seed is not at all an alpine but luxurious
2,3. A Maackia (not sure about the species name) chinensis?
-
Sorry, the second picture was not OK
-
Oleg, the Maackia is looking good... how old is it?
-
Thanks, Maggi. Both for the complement and for the question which made me look through my writings. I'm sure now it's M.chinensis which was given to me 5 years ago as a 2 year old plant grown from seed. A fast grower with silvery leaves when they are unfolding.This is its first flowering. Now smell by day, it smells slightly at night but pollinators like it any way. It would be interesting to see the seedpods.
-
Interesting that it is night scented. That is a surprise.
Yes, the pods will be good to see.... looking forward to those pix in time ;)
-
this codonopsis grown from seed was labled Codonopsis convolvulacea. This is the first flovering which suggests it is not C.convolvulacea if nice. Anyone to help with the ID?
Looks a bit like C clematidea. Take a look at this site:
http://www.kneebone.freeserve.co.uk/codpics.htm (http://www.kneebone.freeserve.co.uk/codpics.htm)
-
Castilleja growing wild just up the road; supposed to be just C miniata here, but there are some really varied colours in this colony, and even more in another nearby I've shown before.. looking into possibility of hybrids...
more here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7415.msg207998#msg207998
and full album of the Castillejas from this walk:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/July102011Castilleja
-
Fabulous range of colours in your Picasa gallery Cohan, we only seem to get the orange-coloured form in cultivation over here, which is quite nice, but...
Here's a few current flowers, not local - I was in Lithuania last week and whilst the wildlife was exremely varied, the only plant of note was the wintergreen Chimaphila umbelllata, which formed quite extensive colonies on the drier mounds in the pine woods of Dzūkija National Park.
-
The Chimaphila (wintergreen) is a bewitching thing, quite lovely. Can anyone clarify for me, whether oil of wintergreen comes from Gaultheria procumbens or not? There's a large patch of it near where I work and if I step through it, as I quite deliberately do, though shouldn't, I get the typical oil of wintergreen scent, remembered from my childhood when my mother rubbed it on sprains and sore patches.
-
Fabulous range of colours in your Picasa gallery Cohan, we only seem to get the orange-coloured form in cultivation over here, which is quite nice, but...
Here's a few current flowers, not local - I was in Lithuania last week and whilst the wildlife was exremely varied, the only plant of note was the wintergreen Chimaphila umbelllata, which formed quite extensive colonies on the drier mounds in the pine woods of Dzūkija National Park.
Thanks, Peter, the other site has these colours plus some interesting bi/mixed colours:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/Castilleja2009
and here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/cactuscactus/July072010ThunderAndPaintbrushes
Chimaphila is a charming plant, once which I have not seen in person-doesn't seem to quite make it this far out of the mountains...
-
Sempervivum and Jovibarba flower profusely this year, even at places which are
not so sunny as usual. It is quite interesting to raise seedlings from the resulting
seeds, they grow really quick and you can select many interesting forms and colours.
I have several also this year for the first time from offsets planted in 2009, mostly (just a few started last year)... the bees are busy already...
Magnar-- I like the small Geranium and the blue pea!
-
Chimaphila is a charming plant, once which I have not seen in person-doesn't seem to quite make it this far out of the mountains...
It was a new one for me. As for mountains, I've just checked the map and the photos were taken at the dizzy height of 100meters. I don't anywhere in Lithuania is much over 250metres.
-
Peter you have been very lucky to see Chimaphila in the wild :D
-
I'm ashamed to say I didn't know what I had seen until I got home and examined the photographs, I thought it was Pyrola minor. :-[
-
Hi Peter, fantastic pictures, we have just come home from our annual trip to Golspie where our Son in law's parents live this is an area of stuning scenery and some rare plants. Our trip took us up as far as Bettyhill and Strathy point so a few pictures fro that, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
-
I like the Moneses pictures Ian, you don't often see it growing where the sun shines on it.
Liz Mills was trying to persuade me on the Dolomite trip that it's difficult to photograph - as you have shown, you just have to be prepared to get your knees dirty! ::) ;D
-
this codonopsis grown from seed was labled Codonopsis convolvulacea. This is the first flovering which suggests it is not C.convolvulacea if nice. Anyone to help with the ID?
Looks a bit like C clematidea. Take a look at this site:
http://www.kneebone.freeserve.co.uk/codpics.htm (http://www.kneebone.freeserve.co.uk/codpics.htm)
Thanks, Diane. I have C.clematidea and they look different. The site is quite useful. Now I think it is C.obtusa
-
Some plants in flower here now:
Anemonopsis macrophylla
Anemonopsis macrophylla 'White form'
Astilbe 'Sprite'
Calandrinia ranunculina
Campanula zoysii
Deinanthe bifida
Geranium wallichianum 'Rise and Shine'
Acis autumnalis var. oporantha
Dianthus haematocalyx subsp pindicola (not really, probably a hybrid)
-
Ian, aren't your first (white) ones Gentianella amarella? G. campestris only ever has 4 petals.
-
Chimaphila is a charming plant, once which I have not seen in person-doesn't seem to quite make it this far out of the mountains...
It was a new one for me. As for mountains, I've just checked the map and the photos were taken at the dizzy height of 100meters. I don't anywhere in Lithuania is much over 250metres.
Close to 1000 m here, but still far from the mountains...lol The location likely has nothing to do with the altitude, but glancing at the distribution map for Alberta, it seems to follow the mts pretty closely; may be one of those plants which survived the ice age in unglaciated corridors in the mountains.. ironic...
-
Hello Anthony, well that is new to me and I can't argue but two years ago I sent pictures to RHS, reply from expert was gentianella campestre will try again great to hear from you, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
-
Good to see everyone getting the results that they work towards.
Seems a strange season this year - my Digitalis lutea is still producing a flower spike, yet the Zauschneria californica is in full bloom already. And my Gloriosa superba has stopped growing already (although the blooms were all concentrated into quite a short period giving a wonderful display).
Anyway, my next offering should make the American members chuckle and holler "weed"!! It's Datura wrightii from seed sown in March. The blooms are huge - this one is 17cm across and 23cm long. Wonderful scent too!
-
Hello Anthony, well that is new to me and I can't argue but two years ago I sent pictures to RHS, reply from expert was gentianella campestre will try again great to hear from you, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
If it is G amarella, then it's ssp septentrionalis which is the subsp in Northern Scotland and Iceland - Flora Europaea says "Corolla creamy white within, reddish-purple outside" that bit seems to fit.
-
The key in Clapham, Tutin and Warburg uses the number of petals (4 or 4/5) to separate campestris (four petals) from the rest (four or five petals). The other key point is that campestris petals are broader and overlap, whereas amarella petals never overlap.
-
Sounds like an impressive firm of Solicitors Antony.
-
Perhaps more reliable than Swindel, Grabbit and Runn? ;D Flora of the British Isles by C, T & W has been the standard work on the subject for nearly 60 years.
-
Sounds like an impressive firm of Solicitors Antony.
And the botanical point in question Shelagh, might take years in court and untold costs, to resolve. ;D ::)
-
...........and no doubt, somewhere, there is the exception that proves the rule, which will be used in evidence? 8)
-
A couple of shots of a splendid, southern hemisphere plant now flowering in our garden in Scotland...
Drosera dichotoma
-
Turn your back on Rhodohypoxis for a moment and they get dry despite being over-potted in this deep trough. As you can see the flowers are going over. A one hour stint dead-heading and a thorough soaking with a bit of fertlizer in the hope they will start flowering again. Is dead-heading really necessary as I have never had a seed pod form? Do you snip the flower head off or gently tug pulling the entire flower stem out?
johnw
-
A couple of shots of a splendid, southern hemisphere plant now flowering in our garden in Scotland...
Drosera dichotoma
A lovely flower on the Drosera Frazer. Thanks for the reminder on Drosera as I must get out to the coast where we once spotted a few non-native Drosera longifolia.
johnw
-
Celmisia splendens which in late February develops an alarming case of the droops. This has happened the past 2-3 years. It has recovered but is it normal behaviour?
johnw
-
I wouldn't have thought it was normal John, but is this an Australian species? In which case, enough said. It looks very fine now. Otherwise I'd be thinking it probably was suffering from dryness, and plunge the pot in a bucket of water overnight.
Rhodohypoxis do set seed but not in pods, just in little cup-like arrangements on top of the stem so don't trim over if you want to find some. I'd never bother dead-heading. I don't think they produce a lot of seed but it is possible to collect a little, small and black. I was able to get 4 seeds from the dead stems of the hybrid, earlier in the year, a dug off piece that a friend gave to me. They haven't germinated yet.
-
Exploring the garden this morning came across a flowering Tofieldia coccinea. This is a charming little plant from Japan for damp shade. It possesses lanceolate leaves and produces celestial flower showers.
Be warned, one has to be careful not to mistake it for a rogue grass.
-
..forgot the pictures!
-
That is delightful Frazer, I nearly missed these two little beauties. Scutellaria orientalis and a Leucojum - is autumn only just round the corner?
-
Brian, I had one flower on Acis autumnale on June 1st then no more till a few days ago. There are a few flowering now and the first flower has opened on Cyclamen hederifolium. It has been a short summer, most of it in April.
-
It has been a short summer, most of it in April.
You're right there Roma :-\
-
My Colchicum bivonae Appollo is flowering since 14th July... ::)
-
Exploring the garden this morning came across a flowering Tofieldia coccinea. This is a charming little plant from Japan for damp shade. It possesses lanceolate leaves and produces celestial flower showers.
Be warned, one has to be careful not to mistake it for a rogue grass.
More on this interesting litle plant inthe NARGS forum: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=616.0
-
My Colchicum bivonae Appollo is flowering since 14th July... ::)
It must simply have felt like celebrating Bastille Day, Nicole.... ;)
-
Exploring the garden this morning came across a flowering Tofieldia coccinea. This is a charming little plant from Japan for damp shade. It possesses lanceolate leaves and produces celestial flower showers.
Be warned, one has to be careful not to mistake it for a rogue grass.
More on this interesting litle plant inthe NARGS forum: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=616.0
Thanks Maggi, interesting that Mark says it takes wet or drought, but it may need the wet to flower...it would have got it today!
-
Very nice well coloured celebration Maggi ;D
-
New plant flowering for the first time in my garden. Pleurospermum brunonis. I grew it from seeds last year. According to Flora of Pakistan it grows in the Himamayas of India and Pakistan.
-
That's a very dainty little plant Magnar, did it take long from seed to flower?
-
That's a very dainty little plant Magnar, did it take long from seed to flower?
It germinated in February 2010 and now flowering.
Here are two closeups of the flowers
-
Looks even better in close-up :D
-
Looks even better in close-up :D
Haha! I was thinking the very same thing! The green and white combination can be very smart, I think.
-
It is very delicate and most attractive.
-
Incarvillea delavayi white form
-
I've always grown quite a number of oddball plants and so a few examples that look good just now. Asclepias speciosa;
Catching up here I saw these Asclepias and my first thought was of a look alike, I saw here in the dunes some years ago, Asclepias syriaca.
Tim, is your plant as much invasive as the one I saw here? I really hope not ?? ;);D
The most interesting about the plants here is the name, which at first sight let believe it is coming fromAsia. But it is a plant from N. America.
Here a few pictures of the weedy plant:
Asclepias syriaca
-
Gentianas in the gravel this week.
Gentiana arethusae
Gentiana hexaphylla dark and pale form
-
Here are some pictures of what has been or what is flowering for me here in Sweden now in July.
To start with four pictures of Michauxia campanuloides, which was collected in Turkey in 2004. It usually takes more than two years to build up a large enough rootstock to support the magnificent branched flowering stalk with many many flowers. It is hardy here as long as it doesn't get wet in the cold season.
Another member from the Campanulaceae family is Campanula versicolor, which was aquired through the SRGC seed exchange has been putting on a better and better display for each year, and the tightly packed flowering stalks are really precious I think.
Asclepias variegata was started from seed in 2008, and has this summer produced flowers for the first time. It doesn't seem to be very invasive. It's also known as red ring milkweed, which is clearly seen when studying the flowers which have a red ring around the inner parts of the flower.
-
....following are:
Hibiscus aculaetus, which is marginally hardy. It's a late starter, so you get a better display if you raise them from seed early in the spring, and plant out in May. The flowers are very beautiful I think.
Gaura longiflora formed rosettes the first year, and the second year it has grown very bushy and 2m tall, and I think I will have to dig it up in the fall after seed harvest. The flowers are not very attractive, and have no scent, which I had read somewhere that they should have.
Ipomoea lindheimerii from central Texas has proved to be very hardy, and it is a quick grower with nice light blue flowers pre noon ( or longer on cloudy cool days )
Last year I tried Caiophora chuquitensis in a rocky exposed site, and it never developed to anything near this year's plants. This year I'm growing them in a container with clay, limestone scree, sand and a little loam, and they have grown magnificently. The leaves and flowers are covered with irritating hairs ( like nettles ), and it needs to be handled with care ( unless you wear gloves ).
Plectritis congesta is an annual from NW USA, in the Valerianaceae family, and it's easily grown in a constantly moist spot.
-
Paul I really like your Michauxia campanuloides and your Hibiscus aculaetus. Thanks for sharing these wonderful flowers with us.
Angie :)
-
and last:
Alophia drummondii which was a bit tricky to germinate, but responded well to GA-3. It flowered in it's second year already, and I must say the flowers are really something else, like a piece of jewelry. I have overwintered the corms at a minimum of -5 C.
Phlox roemeriana from central Texas is an annual, but it grows quickly but needs to be kept on the dry side, and pinched back to form a nice plant.
Gaillardia suavis is also from Texas, and it has proved hardy here and is flowering in its second year. The flowers are just little brown buttons, but the scent really is sweet, and this flower fly is attracted to it as well.
A viper had found a sunny warm spot in one of my flower beds, and I thought it best to catch it, and release it in another location. Would be a bit nervous doing weeding around the bed with a viper having its home there.
-
Some fabulous plants there Paul.
As one who has a liking for the unusual, I would have to say my favourite is Caiophora chuquitensis. I've grown Loasa before and been prepared to suffer the stinging hairs, but the Caiophora is a far more showy plant, worth a little pain. ;)
-
Hi Anthony and Dianne, many thanks for all the info about my Gentianella which we found at Little Ferry in Golspie it is indeed G. amarella such a really lovely wee flower, cheers Ian the Christie kind sorry for delay.
-
Hi Anthony and Dianne, many thanks for all the info about my Gentianella which we found at Little Ferry in Golspie it is indeed G. amarella such a really lovely wee flower, cheers Ian the Christie kind sorry for delay.
Then it must be G amarella ssp septentrionalis which is the form found in N Scotland, with white flowers
-
Beautiful and unusual flowers in the recent posts, especially from Norway and Sweden. I like the viper too but can say so knowing I'm entirely safe from snakes of any kind, in NZ. :D
-
Gosh, some lovely gentians Magnar, and that's quite a dark coloured snake: in fact, a black adder! 8)
-
..... or perhaps, just a cunning plan :P
-
Gosh, some lovely gentians Magnar, and that's quite a dark coloured snake: in fact, a black adder! 8)
That's great! Hope it's a whole new series. ;D
-
I posted a close-up of one of my Sollya heterophylla (Bluebell Creeper) earlier in the year and someone wanted to see a photo of them in full bloom. I can't remember who it was, but finally I've remembered.
This is all three, standing between one and one and a half metres tall.
-
You have a white Sollya, Meanie ! :o
-
You have a white Sollya, Meanie ! :o
It's the reason that I have two blue ones Fleurbleue - I had to mail order it, and when it bloomed it was blue! The suppliers were excellent dispatching the correct one promptly and telling me to keep the wrong one too.
There is a pink one, which strikes me as wrong!
-
But you'd like to have it, all the same? ;D
-
But you'd like to have it, all the same? ;D
Not for me - I have an aversion to most pink flowers!
I don't mind Lilies in pink. I have a Hollyhock which grows to tree like proportions every year with the most delightful pastel pink blooms. I tolerate the short lived pink blooms of Tradescantia purpurea. I think that is it for me really........
The fact is that if there was a red Sollya I think that would probably be "wrong" too.
-
I posted a close-up of one of my Sollya heterophylla (Bluebell Creeper) earlier in the year and someone wanted to see a photo of them in full bloom. I can't remember who it was, but finally I've remembered.
This is all three, standing between one and one and a half metres tall.
quite lovely! I think pink would be a natural ;)
-
A few nice things on the sand bed at the moment - first Eucomis schijffii which I promised to show in flower; what a plant! The second by contrast is not particularly 'special', a good compact form of Gentiana septemfida (subsp. grossheimii), but that blue.... Just lovely. And finally Campanula tommasinianus, about the last to flower on the bed and a very tidy plant. Anyone who would like more on this bed please refer to the AGS website.
-
Crumbs, Tim, it was only on the 8th July you showed us the buds beginning... they shot up at a great rate! http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6462.msg207372;topicseen#msg207372
By the way, Folks, the link to Tim's sand bed notes on the AGS site is this:
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/discussion/inthegarden/Fun+with+a+Sand+Bed/531/
-
Maggi, thanks for the link. I hadn't caught up with Tim's postings on the AGS site because A) I can never remember my login details and B) I just find the SRGC Forum so much more inviting and not only friendly, but user-friendly too. It's a great article though and gives me a couple of ideas which will account for some of our over wide gravel driveway. What better than to dump a truckload of sand on it? Wonder if Roger is planning a trip away somewhere for a couple of days in the spring.? ::)
-
Simply stunning Tim, what a treat.
-
That is one lovely Eucomis!
-
Thanks for your kind comments - and many thanks Maggi for giving the links! I must admit the website is a wonderful way of sharing the garden with others, and quite a stimulus to get on and do some weeding!! We are hoping down here in the far flung South-East to encourage more local gardeners to get inspired by alpines and woodland gems and so are combining with the National Gardens Scheme to open a selection of our gardens next spring. I will try to take some photos of the gardens and let you know how it goes.
Meanwhile a few less alpine pictures taken in our garden and those of friends recently.
Berkheya sp.: this came originally from The Old Vicarage, East Ruston in Norfolk, where it grows in the 'Desert' garden. It hasn't made such a stunning specimen in our richer soil, but is outstanding there.
Digitalis parviflora: certainly my favourite foxglove and here good with Potentilla recta (neither were planted! They have just appeared as seedlings).
Impatiens omeiana: a failure in our garden but has done well in a friend's much heavier and moisture retentive soil. Quite a surprise that this should be hardy!
Indigofera potaninii & clematis: a rather beautiful combination, again not in my garden (!). The indigofera is a particularly graceful species, and has that 'presence' of many legumes.
Veratrum album: generally somewhat of a failure with us for lack of summer rains, but with this year's very dry and warm spring and cooler wetter summer it has done rather well. I suppose this can be called a true alpine and it is a pretty wonderful plant!
-
Both my Hibiscus are in flower. This is considerably earlier than last year and I wondered if anyone else has seen the same.
-
Tim,
I wonder where the details of the sand-bed construction presented by you can be found.
The upper layer seems to be a grit without finer fractions. The bed certainly
doesn't mimic dunes which I imagine if reading about a sand-bed.
-
Josef - the bed has not used sharp sand or builder's ballast as is usually recommended. We had a large supply of fine potting grit left over from the nursery. This is actually a heat shattered flint and the smaller material left over from what is used for rendering house walls makes a good potting grit, very sharp and with a little larger particle sizes than sharp sand. However, it is not very attractive as a surface(!) so I have topdressed the bed with 6mm chippings, and generally redo this every year. The plants do take a while to get established and might well do better in sharp sand which is likely to hold more moisture. But on the whole they have prospered quite well.
The bed was made simply by removing about 30cm of soil and filling in with the fine grit - no membrane was put in to separate the soil from the bed and so worms (and ants!) will have gradually begun to mix in the soil and I am sure quite a few plants will have put roots down to the soil below.
I would like to make a bed with sharp sand or ballast to see how it compares, and also a crevice bed which seems especially good at growing choice plants, but we don't have access to suitable local stone so easily in Kent.
-
Wild flower with another kind of 'flower'.
Poul
-
Here are some new plants which have flowered for the first time for me:
Dianthus libanotis is a very branched, approximately 60cm tall plant in which the leaves and especially the calyces are quite pointy and hard: [attachthumb=1]
Masses of flowers are produced, most being pink spotted[attachthumb=2] and some with brownish markings [attachthumb=3], but all with frilly edges. Very nice indeed. It's blooming so heavily in its second year that I anticipate that it will only be biennial, but it should set seed.
Two other plants from the same region are Delphinium staphisagria [attachthumb=4] which is a quick growing annual, if you can just get it to germinate. I have seeds from 2004 and 2002, which still germinate after one to several soakings in GA-3 solution.
and [attachthumb=5] Paeonia mascula from Turkey comes up in April here, and then flowers about 1 month later, just for a day. The seed pods are splitting open now revealing the pink unripe seeds ( I wonder if they will mature to black good seeds, or if they will just shrivel up and fall off. It makes you think of....hmm, some fruit like a cocoa pod almost.
-
[attachthumb=1] Hypericum bellum from Yunnan was started from seed in 2009, and it formed a woody bush about 1 m tall in the summer of 2009. In 2010 it grew on producing more branches, but never flowered. The last winter was hard on it, and all but one woody shoot died, but it still produced more shoots after being cut back, and so far I have had four flowers on it, and thay are large
[attachthumb=2] ( 4cm ), and have lots of stamens. I hope it will eventually produce lots of flowers.
Another plant collected by the Czech is Adenophora capillaris:
[attachthumb=3] which has nice pendant bells, but the color is a bit bleak: [attachthumb=4]
A not so bleak flower is Impatiens namchabarwensis [attachthumb=5], which I had one plant of last year. I collected lots of seeds from this and stored them outdoors in a plastic bag with peat moss, just barely moistened. I sowed two pots of these seeds in November, leaving them out, and taking them indoors in April. Not a single seed germinated. The seeds that were left in the plastic bag were consequently sowed in a tray of soil outdoors, and left there, and these seeds germinated nearly 100%, so I had plenty of seedlings to plant out, and also to give away to some of my colleagues.
In a clay pot I have some small plants ( raised this year ) of Astragalus coccineus [attachthumb=6] which I will do my utmost to overwinter. I saw it growing in a trough at a lady's garden in Calgary once, so it should be able to cope with the winter temperatures here as well, but it needs to be very dry. I will probably wrap the whole pot in some foam carpet, and leave a small hole at the top.
That's all for now. Thank you very much for all the comments to my previous post.
-
Nice plants as ever Paul :D
-
Thank you Nicole !
-
I do like the delicate form of the Adenophora capillaris
Remember, Readers, that a mouse-click on the small photos will enlarge them 8)
-
Yes Maggi, this Adenophora is very amazing ;)
-
Well done Paul, with the Astragalus seedlings. VERY well done!!! I have seen a larger plant here at my favourite nursery but I don't recall seeing it last time I was there so maybe it is no more. I do hope yours go on, from strength to strength to flowering. Congratulations. :D
-
Josef - the bed has not used sharp sand or builder's ballast as is usually recommended. We had a large supply of fine potting grit left over from the nursery. This is actually a heat shattered flint and the smaller material left over from what is used for rendering house walls makes a good potting grit, very sharp and with a little larger particle sizes than sharp sand. However, it is not very attractive as a surface(!) so I have topdressed the bed with 6mm chippings, and generally redo this every year. The plants do take a while to get established and might well do better in sharp sand which is likely to hold more moisture. But on the whole they have prospered quite well.
The bed was made simply by removing about 30cm of soil and filling in with the fine grit - no membrane was put in to separate the soil from the bed and so worms (and ants!) will have gradually begun to mix in the soil and I am sure quite a few plants will have put roots down to the soil below.
I would like to make a bed with sharp sand or ballast to see how it compares, and also a crevice bed which seems especially good at growing choice plants, but we don't have access to suitable local stone so easily in Kent.
Thanks.
-
Some garden pinks.
-
Hey, Giles, you don't fool me... I can tell that these are just plain pinks that got in the way while you were wielding a six inch brush to do a bit of decorating and splattered them with red paint. ;D ;D
-
Ireally like those stripey forms. I wish they were still being grown in NZ. I haven't seen them for many years. :'(
-
A few sun-lovers from Kent! These are not in my garden (I wish they were) but in the garden belonging to the late Rosemary Powis, who had a fine and artistic eye for plants and planting.
-
First up is my Eucomis comosa.
The second is not strictly in bloom, but it will be and I'm excited about it! Tacca chantrieri.
-
A certain bulb seller of my aquaintance, who stocks the bat, tells me I ought to grow it, since it was surely named for me..... ::) :-X
Is it tricky, meanie? Does it take a lot of cossetting to get to flower?
-
A certain bulb seller of my aquaintance, who stocks the bat, tells me I ought to grow it, since it was surely named for me..... ::) :-X
Is it tricky, meanie? Does it take a lot of cossetting to get to flower?
Not so far!
Bought the plant out of the bargain bin, gave it a sheltered spot in the conservatory and plenty of humidity.
One tip that I was given was to make sure that the leaf axils fill up with water when misting, which is done two or three times a day with water that has been left in a bucket to evaporate the chemicals for 24hrs. Go through 2litres of this in three to four days.
One thing that I would say is that this plant can get quite big - it spans about a metre and a half now!
-
Now flowering:
Eucomis comosa
Agapanthus Snow Ball
Agapanthus campanulatus from Drakensberge Mts. 2500 m.
Daphne sericea now flowers for the second time this season.
The unusual cool and rainy weather supports the plants from the
asiatic high mountain regions, Codonopsis grey-wilsonii never flowered
so profusely before.
-
Grown in a pot because I don't have enough for winter hardy tests yet, the lovely hairy flower stems of Tricyrtis ravenii from Taiwan.
-
Delphinium drepanocentrum, more odd than beautiful. Probably best not to plant it as a solitary like I did but intermix it with other low growing perennials. Also something seems to be nibbling the flowers.... >:(