July (winter) in the Southern hemisphere, 2008

[fermi de Sousa]

Just a few pics to start the month.
Gladiolus dalenii, not a great shot and the flowers have been ravaged by earth-mites, but a nice blaze of colour in the winter garden.


And a couple of repeats from last month,
Narcissus "Tarlatan"


And Grevillea lanigera tumbling down the rocks!

cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Fermi, thanks for getting a new page started  Hard to grasp that it can be winter and yet you still have Gladiolus flowering!!

[olegKon]

I like this kind of winter, fermi. Keep showing us Australian beauties

[Lesley Cox]

But lots of the South African Gladiolus species are winter-flowering Maggi.

[Maggi Young]

But lots of the South African Gladiolus species are winter-flowering Maggi.

I know, Lesley, but, would you believe it, here in the home of the Bulb despot, we don't grow any Glads!

Well, that's not exactly true, we did get some corms from Susan Band 

[Paul T]

Maggi,

And they're not all big Glads like dalenii..... some are petite little things (I am hoping to post a photo of one if it has opened this morning) and therefore much easier to accommodate in the garden.  I love the dalenii although it does tend to wander a little by stolons, but only a little.  Can't beat those bright flowers in early winter.  It's just finished here.  Usually the flowers get toasted off here by heavy frosts, but the virtual absence of any frosts here so far this winter has meant they completed flowering unscathed for a change.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Maggi,
like Paul said, this glad often gets frosted badly but we've also only had mild frosts so far this winter. G.dalenii is as close as we get to the "Dame Edna" Gladdies here because of the frosts!
Paul,
would love to see some of your winter fowering glads.

Here's another repeat, the red Massonia which has nearly fully opened!

Does anyone recognise what species it is?
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

No idea of the species Fermi (isn't M. echinata pink or reddish?) but it's lovely. Hope you're pushing the pollen around every couple of days.

[Paul T]

Fermi,

I do so hope that red Massonia is self fertile...... I'd like to line up for some seed too.  It'll be nice to be able to chat with Lesley while waiting in line. 

I'll go out and see whether the Gladiolus I was thinking of is already open today or not.  I found out the Crocus I mentioned elsewhere as a sieberi cultivar is actually C. rujanensis, so just goes to show that I should read the label before opening my big mouth!!

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Gladiolus maculatus still isn't open.  Will photograph once it is.

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

A somewhat tardy posting of pics here for the beginning of July.  I've just posted a Crocus rujanensis (I think) pic in the crocus garden thread, and a bunch of Galanthus in the southern hemisphere Galanthus thread, but here's some other stuff.....

The first two are some double hellebores, rather different as you can see.  The third is a seedling form my own crossing, a spotted anemone centred variety that I am rather pleased with.  Unfortunately there won't be many other pics of seedlings this year as some kind bird has gone through and nipped the majority of the developing flower buds off my double seedling pots.  I was NOT pleased when I found the remains this morning, including the butchered remains of the seedling in the pic. 

The last couple of Narcissus 'Galligaskins', the first of the yellow hoop petticoat varieties to flower for me this year.  It is one of those in the crocus garden (see thread in the crocus section) but I figured I'd put it in here instead of that thread.  Or would people like me to put things flowering in that garden together into that thread?  Anyway, this particular variety was given to me as 2 small bulbs last year, and by the end of the season was more than 16 bulbs, so I can already count more than 20 flower buds on the clump this year.  At this rate it will be filling the basket by the end of this season.

Enjoy.

[David Nicholson]

Lovely Paul. By the way, it feels like July (winter) in this part of the Northern hemisphere.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Love the Narcissus Paul - and did I read well, from 2 to 16 bulbs in just one season
 
There must be something magic about your new Crocus garden ! 

[arisaema]

I can only agree, wonderful pictures, and that second hellebore is stunning!

[Paul T]

Thanks all.

Luc,  The multiplication of the Narcissus was in the pot, before the crocus garden was made..... so can't be new garden magic!    Just a brilliant grower I guess!!  I do have a picture somewhere of the resultant clump of bulbs when I unpotted them for planting in the crocus garden.  I can post the pic if you want, just to show what the 2 bulbs looked like at the end of their season?

David,

It finally feels like Winter here too..... we've had frosts all week, we've already had more than the 2 in June, and it's only the 5th of July.    About time though, as June was just freaky.