Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: monocotman on October 06, 2013, 07:39:06 PM
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Hi,
Heptacodium flowering well in a cambridgeshire garden in this indian summer.
This plants is proving to be an easy grower - it is about 7 feet tall after 4 years and has been pruned
each year.
It looks like it will get to be quite big.
A nice bit of late summer colour and scented on a warm still day.
Bone hardy - the winter of 2010/11 was no problem.
David
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Not one I'd heard of before, David.
What else can you tell us about it? How old is your plant?
cheers
fermi
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Hi
Two pictures taken this morning with my phone. Think that this Gentian sino-ornata plant has got a bit large and could do with division in the Spring. Not been moved for a couple of decades.
The Primula capitata is a very recent purchase from the SRGC stall at the Summer show in Dunblane in August. Giving a late out of season flower. (The sino-ornata can be seen in the background.)
Bob
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You've done well to maintain that Gentiana sino-ornata for so long , Bob. We find they run out of steam after only a few years if they are not lifted and replanted in new, rich ground quite often.
They are so lovely, are they not?
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Not one I'd heard of before, David.
What else can you tell us about it? How old is your plant?
cheers
fermi
Hi Fermi, this link tells about this fine ornamental tree Heptacodium miconioides (common name: Seven Son Flower):
http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1986-46-4-seven-son-flower-from-zhejiang-introducing-the-versatile-ornamental-shrub-heptacodium-jasminoides-airy-shaw.pdf (http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1986-46-4-seven-son-flower-from-zhejiang-introducing-the-versatile-ornamental-shrub-heptacodium-jasminoides-airy-shaw.pdf)
Of course, the real show, after the deliciously fragrant white blooms in late summer to autumn, are the enlarged colorful bracts that are pink to red. Mine is in the transitional stage to bract-delight, but still some flowers too.
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Thank you for the info on Heptacodium miconioides. Sounds wonderful. Wish I had a bigger garden!
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It's definitely a quick grower - I bought mine at Beeches nursery when it was about a foot tall, four years ago.
The link is suggesting it might get to 20 feet.
Every branch flowers as it matures and they can make 3 feet of growth a season.
I'm looking forward to seeing it mature,
David
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Thank you, Mark and David, for the information.
Heptacodium is not currently on our "allowed list" for importation, so it might be worth submitting a "WRA" (Weed Risk Assessment) to see if it could be imported at some later stage. It may not be suitable for my garden, of course, but it could be quite good in some of the cooler climate areas in Australia,
cheers
fermi
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Thank you for the wonderful photos!
Add to them my contribution - re-bloom Fiteuma comosa - re-bloom Phyteuma comosum...
[attachimg=1]
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Hi,
Heptacodium flowering well in a cambridgeshire garden in this indian summer.
This plants is proving to be an easy grower - it is about 7 feet tall after 4 years and has been pruned
each year.
Bone hardy - the winter of 2010/11 was no problem.
David
I looked it up in the Plantfinder and the first two nurseries listed in Eastern England, neither of them had it listed on their own websites! Typical of the Plantfinder and very annoying :-X
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Yes, I agree about the plantfinder, when I have tried to look up plants in the past, usually, 60-70% of the nurseries listed as having it dont have it anymore, while 40% of the nurseries dont even exist anymore.
As you say, it is quite annoying, and not really understandable why they do not take time to regularly update such an important reasource. I think it should be done at least twice a year, once at the issue time of spring lists, and once before teh issue of the autumn lists...!
Pontus
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Flowering in our Bury garden this week.
Colchicum Water Lily
Cyclamen hederifolium
Eucryphia lucida
and Kalmia latifolia having a second go.
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Also Satureja spicigera also known as the Winter Savoury which we mentioned in our Rock Garden article in January 2011, and one of my favourite Sedums cauticola.
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Flowering today: Dahlia dissecta, Dahlia sorensenii and Canna warszewiczii
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Crocus kotschyanus which have seeded all around my garden.
Some have the typical yellow markings in the throat but more are starting to have white throats.
Two photos, one taken from the side & one from above looking into the throat show the two forms.
Are they just variations or is one form a ssp?
Any help would be appreciated.
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Mike,
lovely clump 8). The white one is C. kotschyanus (ssp. kotschyanus) var. leucopharynx.
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Thanks for that Armin. Another photo shows how they have covered most areas of my garden.
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Another photo shows how they have covered most areas of my garden.
Oh, my word! What a lovely sight - they really like you, Mike! I do like to see plants feeling so at home.
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Looks like you have the same "problem" with Crocus kotschyanus, Mike as I have with Crocus pulchellus. I'm not sure where to plant any other crocuses as pulchellus seems to come up everywhere.
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It's a lovely problem to have.
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Colchicum speciosum album has been at its best this year, no rain to damage the flowers.
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Splendid! Well deserves its AGM.
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A late flowering unidentified Calandrinia (G&K4698)
My potted plant died but fortunately this seedling popped up in the sand plunge and is much happier there.
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A late flowering unidentified Calandrinia (G&K4698)
My potted plant died but fortunately this seedling popped up in the sand plunge and is much happier there.
Very nice Pete . Can not see the leaves or the whole plant but it looks a bit like the C. caespitosa ssp. skottsbergii we have seen in Patagonie ...
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Colchicum speciosum album has been at its best this year, no rain to damage the flowers.
:o Magnificent Mike !
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Thanks Kris. It has been suggested that it could be C. skottsbergii but the flowers are apparently larger.
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Autumn ....in the garden
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Flowering today:
Tagetes patula Linnaeus (on the allotment), Tricyrtis tojen, Selinum wallichianum, Kniphofia (label buried - sorry)
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Thanks for that Armin. Another photo shows how they have covered most areas of my garden.
Wow! for the crocus and the colchicums :o 8) 8) 8)
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Looks like you have the same "problem" with Crocus kotschyanus, Mike as I have with Crocus pulchellus. I'm not sure where to plant any other crocuses as pulchellus seems to come up everywhere.
Roma,
would be very happy to name your 'problem' my own :D 8)
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Acidanthera bicolor (now renamed to Gladiolus) started flowering a few days ago. Because I stored them too cold last winter they only started to grow sometime in july. The flowers are strongly scented.
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another autumn hero (I must confess it started to flower in September) is Canna iridflora Ehemanii.
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Not sure why my pics yesterday didn't appear. :-\
Will try again
Tagetes patula Linnaeus (on the allotment), Tricyrtis tojen, Selinum wallichianum
I've discovered the problem - I didn't click more attachments. Old age I guess.
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Thank you for the pictures of the beautiful flowers. Autumn came to us. Matured seeds Glaucidium.
Glaucidium palmatum seeds
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Thank you for the pictures of the beautiful flowers. Autumn came to us. Matured seeds glautsidium.
Glaucidium palmatum seeds
Great picture Natalia !
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Re. Heptacodium miconoides
Of course, the real show, after the deliciously fragrant white blooms in late summer to autumn, are the enlarged colorful bracts that are pink to red. Mine is in the transitional stage to bract-delight, but still some flowers too.
In my experience you must have a reasonably warm autumn to get the pinky-red bracts on Heptacodium. I seldom do get a good display of this on my plant (I live in the Netherlands, hardiness zone 7-ish) This year the plant started to flower really late (early September). Its still flowering at the moment but no pinky-red bracts to be seen. And now that Autumn really has arrived I don't think I will. But I value the plant plant for its late flowering and the bees and butterflies love to visit the flowers.
A couple of years ago I got some fertile seeds on my plant and I sowed them in November. They germinated in August of the following year. I was a little bit surprised by this. You can also propagate it by cuttings but I have no experience with this.
I recently saw a Heptacodium in the Von Gimborn Arboretum in the Netherlands that was between 5 and 6 metres ( 17-20 feet) high. I think the ultimate height it can reach in gardens is still unknown. If necessary you can cut Heptacodium back really hard and the plant will regrow.
Heptacodium is indeed bone hardy. Two severe winters (one with temperatures between -15 and -20 degrees Celsius) did not affect my plant.
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Garden Prince - mine usually flowers earlier than this - early September so I do get the pinky bracts most years.
I suspect that the very cold early spring was the culprit and set it back.
I think that this species in time will become much more popular in temperate gardens- there is nothing
else like it.
David
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This year, my Heptacodium tree is really starting to take off, flowering splendidly, and over the past week the bracts have enlarged and making quite a sight, they literally glow in sunlight. Unfortunately it drizzled all day yesterday when I snapped some photos.
I have the same experience regarding hardiness, this is bone hardy, also drought and heat tolerant. I do have experience with cuttings, they strike easily with high percentage of success.
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Heptacodium miconioides today in the sun, the bracts glow hot red-pink in sunlight.
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It looks wonderful Mark.
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Brian, there's nothing like a warm sunny day to make the autumn garden sparkle, we've had a remarkable run of splendid autumn weather (for the most part); the autumn Asters are still buzzing with myriad honey and bumble bees.
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We're hoping for a day like that tomorrow - for once we have had our fair share of rain over the last four days!
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Gentiana melandriifolium
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Autumn Gentians
Gentiana 'Eugen's Allerbester'
Gentiana 'Saltire'
Gentiana Silken Giant'
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Some berries
Sorbus prattii
Rosa moyesii 'Geranium'
Berberis 'Rose Glow'
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Camellia sasanqua 'Maiden's Blush'
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Nice early Camellia there Ralph, maybe a little earlier that some of the Cornish Camellias but I haven't been down to look yet.
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Camellia sasanqua 'Maiden's Blush'
How lovely!
Ralph I'm beginning to think your garden is not simply "in" Kent but must, with the wonderful range of plants you show us, be "all of Kent" !! :D
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How lovely!
Ralph I'm beginning to think your garden is not simply "in" Kent but must, with the wonderful range of plants you show us, be "all of Kent" !! :D
You're so kind! I am lucky to have a south facing garden just south of the Greensand Ridge in one of the sunniest locations in the UK, so kind of Mediterraneanish, apart from the clay soil. And I buy too many plants, my wife will tell you.
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Euonymus alatus putting on a good show.
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Now flowering in garden and alpine house:
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Not the best picture in the world but an extremely good value plant-Tulbaghia 'Purple Eye'
Bought at Cornwall Spring Flower Show on 6 April last (from Julian and Sarah Sutton's Desireable Plants ) in full flower and it has remained in full flower ever since. It's a T cominsii x T. violacea hybrid raised by Devon grower Dick Fulcher. If you see it around give it a go.
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A couple of plants in flower with us at the moment - Zauschneria 'Olbrich Silver', flowering better than it ever has before in a new spot in the garden, and a superb and under-rated form of Potentilla fruticosa, 'Beesii', which has beautiful silvery-silky leaves.
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Rain just starting again here so good to have cheering pix from other gardens!
Zauschneria 'Olbrich Silver' is very showy - overall size? Hardy?
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Flowering today:
Euphorbia Frosted Diamond, Salvia Amistad, Persicaria campanulata alba flat on the ground (does anyone know the name of the yellow flowered, tender grass in the picture?) and meconopsis foliage looking good.
I don't know how to get the plant names under the picture. Can anyone help please?
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does anyone know the name of the yellow flowered, tender grass in the picture?
Looks like Melasphaerula graminea, a cormous perennial in the Iridacaea, not a grass at all.
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Lovely selection, Margaret.
To learn about getting the names under the pictures etc - see here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=65.msg266604#msg266604 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=65.msg266604#msg266604)
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Ralph, that's it. Thank you very much.
Maggi, thank you for the link. I couldn't get it to work and had to ask my husband how to get the name on the picture. After a lot of grumbling from him about the muddled state of my computer he showed me how to locate on disc. Below is a test!
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Happy to help Margaret.
You have got the name in the file title of the photo - but it is better for the search facility to be able to find the photo by having the name in the text of the post .... you can do that and just have a photo file that is a number by typing the name ....
Strobilanthes atropurpureus
**** {attach=1}
then choosing the option of either inline full size or inline thumbnail image from the drop down options and a tag will appear where your curser was - shown above by the ***{attach=1} (except that the tag uses the square brackets [ ) - and that is where you photo will appear.
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It's the second year these flower for me : Hedychium Gardnerianum. As the plants get bigger & stronger each year, so do the flowers, and as an added bonus the plant flowers almost a month earlier than last year. Very fragrant flowers, in particular in the evening where you can smell these from a distance of more than 5 meters - not bad with just one inflorescence blooming right now. These plants seem to have wintergrowing properties because right now I see new shoots popping up. Unfortunately in a month or so they are moved to my cellar for a dark winter storage and all shoots will wither. Not sure I want to take the risk of keeping them in the unheated greenhouse for the winter, at least not as long as I don't have a second one to keep in a safer place over the winter.
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Camellia sasanqua 'Winter's Interlude'
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Some autumn colour (or fall color for our US friends!)
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Dahlias continue to do well in the mild weather.
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Nerines & a salvia putting on a show of colour.
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Maggi, thanks for the help but I'm still confused. Hope that as long as I type the plant name in the text it will be OK for searching purposes.
Lots of flowers have been blown over (or away) in last nights strong winds.
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Names in the text are great for the search engine, Margaret. Sorry you can't get to grips with the knack of posting in the body of the message - the info is all in that other thread if you fancy a bit of study with a cuppa sometime!
Strange weather here, too - not the best for any plants.
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In the polytunnel today: Tradescantia sillamontana, Nepenthes truncata, Nepenthes 'Bill Bailey', and Nepenthes veitchii x maxima.
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It has been a beautiful day here and this beautiful Narcissus cantabricus ssp. cantabricus var foliosus decided to join us for some sunbathing. The Sax. forteunei's have been flowereing for a couple of weeks or more and are, at the back Sax. fortunei Early Ruby, front left Sax. fortunei Fumiko and front right Sax. fortunei Cherry Pie
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Five pictures from October.
Due to the mild weather Gentiana acaulis, maybe a Hybrid makes second flowers.
The Moraea polystachya was not dormant this year, now it is in flower.
The rest (Cyclamen cyprium, Habranthus robustus, Sternbergia lutea) is just in time.
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At the allotment in the sun today:
Hesperantha coccinea
Salvia curviflora
Dalhia Rip City
Butterfly on Zinnia
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Well, British Summer Time has ended, the clocks went back one hour early this morning, the long dark evenings are upon us! So it is nice to still have colour in the garden:
1. Camellia sasanqua 'Winter's Interlude' puts on a nice show.
2. A late flowering hardy Salvia - can anyone identify?
3. I'm not a huge fan of grasses but this Chasmanthium latifolium is nice.
4. A pale pink form of Nerine bowdenii.
5. The tiny white flowers of Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki'.
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One of my 3 Hammamelis is in full flower - is this a record?
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Hamamelis virginiana is autumn flowering, and probably cultivars derived from it.
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Ralph, the salvia might be S ringens. If no one knows here then Robin Middleton will be able to tell you - info@robinssalvias.com
He has a lovely website and sells interesting seed.
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Thanks Margaret
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Autumn colours every where:
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Ralph, the salvia might be S ringens. If no one knows here then Robin Middleton will be able to tell you - info@robinssalvias.com
He has a lovely website and sells interesting seed.
Margaret, I contacted Robin as you suggested and he has identified it as Salvia forrkaolei (although there is some doubt about the spelling!)
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Glad Robin was able to help. Ralph. Your salvia looks great in Robin's picture at Abbotsbury.
http://www.robinssalvias.com/htms/forskaehleimass.htm (http://www.robinssalvias.com/htms/forskaehleimass.htm)
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Interesting that this plant has so many permutations of its name, it seems Kew only lists two possibilities :
Salvia forskohlei L. http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/tro-17600294 (http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/tro-17600294)
Kew Accepted name Salvia forsskaolei L. http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-182670 (http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-182670)
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Perhaps the answer lies here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Forssk%C3%A5l. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Forssk%C3%A5l.) Salvia forsskċlei?