March 2021 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

It's officially autumn here! The weather has turned cooler and some autumn blooms have appeared:
1) Colchicum cilicium
2) Brunsvigia marginata
3) Colchicum cv - raised from seed as a larger species but now self seeding and hybridising!
4) a dwarf Colchicum species
5) Rhodophiala bifida
cheers
fermi

[Hoy]

Fermi,

Very nice autumn blooms!

How cool is cooler weather at your place?

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Trond,
at the moment we haven't dropped down to single digit ^oC but in July we can get to -7^oC so not extreme by your standards!
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Temperatures dropping rapidly here too but no rain which is a worry. The rhododendrons have drooping leaves, curling in at the edges. First flower out yesterday on Cyclamen cilicium but so dry it has no stem, just the flower resting on the top of the pot!

[Lesley Cox]

On Friday I have the cataracts removed from both eyes and also some scar tissue from the back of the right one. No idea where that came from. My knee replacement in October has made me totally mobile again, it will be great also to see, especially as in the meantime I may not drive! A new lease of life is on the horizon.

[ashley]

That's fantastic news Lesley.  All the very best.

[David Nicholson]

......and a Happy Birthday for tomorrow too Lesley

[Maggi Young]

You'll have to take  things easy  for  a while, Lesley, but   getting your  eyes  fixed will be  a terrific birthday present! xxx

[fermi de Sousa]

Best wishes, Lesley!
And hope you have a great day and relax while your eyesight settles down!
Good news about the knee replacement, too
cheers
fermi

[t00lie]

Lovely bit of colour Fermi.
I haven't posted on the Forum for quite awhile as the resizing tool often rejects my cropped images however it seems to be working for me today  .. so

A pleasant surprize this morning when I noticed Richea scoparia currently 1 metre in height ,received as a young seedling from Lesley maybe 5 years ago ?, coming into bloom. Hopefully there will be seed to share around.

[Lesley Cox]

Thankyou Everyone for your good wishes and kind words. In the event just the one eye was done, and just as well or I'd be virtually blind to all intents and purposes. I can see reasonably through the other in the meantime and expect to have the operated one much improved in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I'm dropping drops into it 4 times daily and there's no pain. I had expected a really scary operation knowing what what to happen and me only sedated, not anaesthetised but it was not only totally painless but very interesting because the consultant on one side of my head was tutoring a well qualified but not so experienced surgeon on the other (Dunedin is a teaching hospital). Their conversation was fascinating.
so the other will probably be done later or may not even need it now and I'll have no qualms about it at all.
a lazy few days ahead (no housework I'm told) and I can take the time watch America's Cup sailing with a clear conscientious.

I'm really thrilled to see Dave's photos of his Richea scoparia. (I lost all my other seedlings thinking it needed a really warm place). The seed was very fresh, collected by the late and much missed Marcus Harvey.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
I always remember hearing that after Monet had his cataracts done he realised that he had been painting things too blue and re-painted much of his work!
Here are a few more things in flower at our place:
1) a dwarf pink gladdie I got at our Buy-Swap-Sell last month
2) Ennealophus euryandrus, from Garry Reid last year
3) Cyclamen rohlfsianum, originally from Otto because it wouldn't flower in his cool Dandenongs garden
4) white Lewisia cotyledon - also from last month's plant swap
5) the first of the Sternbergia sicula
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

A few more in flower:
Haemanthus barkerae
Colchicum Cv - one that has been passed around as C. bornmuelleri but I have my doubts!
A recent purchase - Huernia zebrina v. zebrina
Cyclamen mirabile in the shade-house
Colchicum autumnale
cheers
fermi

[shelagh]

Great pics Fermi. We've seen horrendous pictures of flooding in Oz are you OK?

[fermi de Sousa]

Great pics Fermi. We've seen horrendous pictures of flooding in Oz are you OK?

Hi Shelagh,
sorry for the delay in replying - our area wasn't affected by the floods, it was mainly in NSW and Queensland.
Here are some more pics from the garden:
1) Sternbergia sicula making more of an impact
2) Hyacinthoides lingulata
3) Habranthus gracilifolius
4) Habranthus brachyandrus
5) Cyclamen graecum 'Album'
cheers
fermi