General Subjects > Flowers and Foliage Now
April 2024 in the Northern Hemisphere
Robert:
Currently in our Sacramento garden, the first Calochortus albus flowers are opening. This accession, RMB 149, is from the Mosquito Road area of El Dorado County, California from an elevation of 1,465 feet (447 meters). It is a typical representative of the species. What is exciting is that the next generation of plants is progressing along well. It will not be long until I have new accessions as well as hybrids to evaluate each year.
I obtained seeds of the California Central Coast forms of Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus from a gardening friend. After a number of attempts, I have never been able to get these plants to cross with our local Sierra Nevada forms of this species. Reported chromosomes numbers vary with this species ranging from n=9,18, 27, 36. It is likely some chromosome non-homogeny prevents the two groups from crossing easily with each other. I enjoy experimenting and solving with difficult horticultural problems, so I will keep trying and see what happens.
Various forms of Triteleia ixioides are coming into bloom in our garden.
I especially appreciate this Triteleia ixioides hybrid based on Triteleia ixioides ssp. unifolia. I find the dark markings on the petals especially interesting and attractive. This hybrid selection is also a compact grower. Many more hybrids are in the pipeline. Each year, there will be new accessions and hybrids to evaluate.
Triteleia laxa RMB 694 is from the Deer Creek Hill region of El Dorado County, California. The seeds were gathered at an elevation of 776 feet (237 meters) where the grasslands of the Southern Sacramento Valley end and the Blue Oak savannah of the Sierra Nevada Foothills begin. This species grows abundantly at this site. This form is very typical of this species.
Robert:
Everything in our garden needs to fit into the general gardening scheme. I have no interest in growing or collecting Ixia species. The bright colors fit into our California garden scheme, so they will be worked into the garden where they will best fit in. Plants that do not fit in end up in the compost.
Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons fits into our garden perfectly. This plant puts on a spectacular flower show every year. The silvery leaves look great all year.
There can be a great deal of genetic diversity within each species. I make new accessions each year. Creating hybrids is an intriguing idea for me. Pictured is one of the new plants coming into bloom for the first time. Nothing remarkable with this plant, however there are all sorts of possibilities.
Diplacus kelloggii RMB 1053. I am very excited about working with this species. This accession is from an elevation of 3,385 feet (1,032 meters) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This species was found growing on an open rocky hillside, a natural rock garden, with many other annual and perennials species.
In addition, I have new accessions of very interesting forms of Diplacus viscidus and Diplacus torreyi that will be coming into bloom later this spring. I will post photographs as they come into bloom.
Our orange form of Rhododendron austrinum is coming into bloom.
Robert:
R & D is my primary garden interest. For the most part, everything needs to have a practical garden application. We strive to create a garden ecosystem that looks great. Long ago I attempted to collect plants and create a garden. For me the two were incompatible. The garden was ugly. :P I know many others can pull this off, but it did not work for me at all. In addition, I have always had a passion for R & D. I enjoy growing populations of highly variable plants. R & D and creating a garden I like, works perfectly for me.
Here, in our garden, a new and a potentially nice form of Sisyrinchium bellum is being evaluated with Phacelia campanularia. The garden is looking better each season. I am very pleased. :)
Mariette:
Robert, You´re very fortunate to live in a part of the world where so many beautiful plants are at home as well as may be grown in Your garden! The yellow triteleia with the dark stripe looks really exceptional!
In my area, the natural range of plants is much more limited, and those for the garden have to stand lower temperatures compared with California.
The first of my lilacs which flowered already in March was Syringa pinnatifida.
For the first time I noticed flowers on a Ruscus aculeatus I´m growing since about 20 years - maybe because they are so tiny.
A fritillary seedling flowering in the green-house, once again a lost-label plant.
Andre Schuiteman:
Sown from AGS seed in January 2018, the Japanese Phyllodoce nipponica subsp. tsugifolia took some years to become large enough to handle. Seedlings didn't survive long in the open garden but one is doing well in a trough dedicated to ericaceous mini-shrubs. A plant of Ramonda myconi also grows in there, seen here in the background, and it looks gigantic compared to the Phyllodoce.
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