2008/Log 20

[Gerdk]

Stunning pictures, especially these of the tricky bees.

Concerning Viola pedata: Do you grow it inside the house?
I would be glad to know a little bit about cultivation (resting periode?)
Thank you in advance.

Gerd

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hello Gerd,
The Viola pedata that we have we grew from seed obtained from Jelitto www.jelitto.com (excpet for the bicolor form which we bought as an adult plant). We treat it much like a 'normal' alpine - grown in our usual alpine mix (equal parts of loam, peat, perlite and grit) in pots in the glasshouse. It grows most in spring and flowers then too, though also gives a few flowers right through the summer. It goes dormant for winter so we reduce watering and keep it just moist then. For the dormant period it loses some leaves but sometimes keeps a few too.

I tried planting a few outside in a raised bed this year. They have grown and flowered well, but have yet to face their first winter.

I hope this helps

Paul

[Joakim B]

Paul was a picture of a white C. graecum with a pink nose missing?
I saw a line about it but not the photo. It sounds like a nice one and if the photo exists it would be nice to see it.
Very interesting with the potting mixes and cat sands. The availability is also a point not only the price regarding the cat sand.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hi Joakim,
Thans for pointing this out, I had not noticed the ommission. I have asked our wonderful webmaster if he can sort this out.

Cheers

Paul

[Maggi Young]

Friends, Fred is away for a few days and will thus not be able to correct the Log for a while...... and we have ourselves just returned from the SRGC Discussion Weekend so sorry for the delay in fixing things!........ so here, in the meantime, is the missing photo :

[Joakim B]

Maggi thanks
That was worth waiting for
Kind regards
Joakim

[Maggi Young]

Yes, Joakim! Paul's photos are as good as the plants!!