Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: fermi de Sousa on February 28, 2014, 09:29:42 PM
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It's officially autumn down here and we woke to the sound of rain!
Only 8mm so far but that's the heaviest we've had in this part of the country since the beginning of December. Still some hot weather (30oC) predicted for the next week, but I hope the heat wave conditions we endured earlier are finished for this season.
The first colchicum is out and I'm sure the Cyclamen hederifolium won't be far behind. During the week I was at the Victorian Bulb Group and saw that many "harbingers" of autumn already in flower, but they'd had rain the week before.
We have to hope for much more rain to put an end to the fire danger period,
cheers
fermi
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I was up at 6.30 a.m. to take my daughter and a friend to play a school tennis match (her school's girls' B team) against Pakuranga College. Matches started just before 8.30 and with a southerly wind and an air temperature of 19oC it felt decidedly Baltic!
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You'll be very happy with that rain Fermi. I hope you have some more soon.
Anthony you're getting soft up there in the tropics. :) We'd be grateful for 19 over the last few days. Down to 12 on a couple of days and that was still in the official summer. We didn't really HAVE a summer in the far south this year, only occasional really warm days. (Inland was better). Yesterday, 1st of March, was a bitterly cold southerly which kept the crowds away from the little Milton market I've been selling at, so a miserable day all round really. We've had 40 mm of rain over the last two weeks, mostly in savage downpours which didn't last long but were heavy while they did.
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We're having a drought Lesley. No meaningful rain since Christmas. Not exactly the tropics though. Don't think we've reached 30oC this summer. We keep getting the odd shower, but the pavements are so warm they dry within a few minutes and nothing penetrates the soil. I have Cyclamen africanum flowering, still in the pot they were sowed less than three years ago. Mix of white and pink flowers. It's the only Cyclamen sp. I have flowering though. I have leaves on graecum, cyprium, libanoticum, repandum and persicum. Terry Hatch used to grow all the then known species until a neighbour ripped out his vineyard and all the vineweevils marched over to his nursery and wiped them all out. He still has hederifolium, which was in flower when I visited last week. He was down in Christchurch judging at the Ellerslie Flower Show. I would take a picture of my plants, but camera number one has a smashed screen glass, so is at the repairers and camera number two suffered from being placed on top of my computer and has a purple haze over the display. :'(
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.........at the Ellerslie Flower Show.........
Where I believe the NZAGS won a Silver medal for their display. Congratulations to all involved in that after what seems to have been a tricky season all round. 8)
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On Sunday the first of the cerise form of Amaryllis belladonna came into flower - apart from the 10mm of rain the day before they hadn't received any water since the start of summer which may account for their short stature!
cheers
fermi
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As Fermi wrote autumn has arrived here and it started with Colchicum bivonae in my garden a few days ago . Cyclamen purpurascens are still performing strong and I was amazed how well they stood up a few weeks ago to several days over 40 C shaded by trees and shrubs .
and a couple of natives : Triplardenia cunninghammii growing in rain forests and the very slow growing Tasmanian alpine shrublet Prionetes cerinthoides (Epacridacea ) ,which may after many years start to climb up a tree fern trunk .
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Especially interesting to see these beautiful Australian native plants, Otto.
Triplardenia cunninghammii with the pristine white against the deep green foliage is lovely - are there many native Australian members of the Colchicaceae ?
As you might imagine, the Prionetes cerinthoides is something else that "ticks all the boxes" for my plant likes!
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The Prionotes is especially beautiful. I saw it up tree trunks in the Mt Field National Park a few years ago. Marcus has listed seed of it. Otto, is the Triplardenia the thing from the garden at the Flower Show venue? I've momentarily lost the name of the garden, sorry. I grew just one seedling for about 5 years but it then died out. Didn't flower though.
Anthony poor old Christchurch has had a shocking time this week with flooding, gales and tornadoes, roof taken off and so on. We've had a lot of wind and rain but no damage worth speaking of. A bit of snow on the hills though. Early winter it seems and I've hardly started to sort out my potted bulbs yet. Wanted to get them repotted or planted out but mostly too late now as everything has roots. Daphne petraea is in flower again but still a mass of tiny bud growths for a good spring display I hope. Rabbits are flourishing too.
Cyclamen cilicium has joined hederifolium but C. coum foliage is almost a groundcover under the Magnolia. Very early but due to a wet summer I suppose.
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We paid a quick visit to Lambley Nursery, Ascot, yesterday as we were in the area; here are a few pics from their "Dry Garden"
cheers
fermi
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a few more pics from Lambley Nursery,
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The last few are of
the path up to the perennial border,
a couple of the border
and the last is in the Potager,
cheers
fermi
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Fermi, what is the plant in reply 10, * P1260121, please ?
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Fermi, what is the plant in reply 10, * P1260121, please ?
Hi Maggi,
I think that it's Cotyledon orbiculata, a succulent from South Africa,
cheers
fermi
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Hi Maggi,
I think that it's Cotyledon orbiculata, a succulent from South Africa,
cheers
fermi
Oh! I must have mis-read the scale completely- I thought it was something much bigger.
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Oh! I must have mis-read the scale completely- I thought it was something much bigger.
If I've remembered correctly, they were about 2foot high and the flowers were at least another foot higher,
cheers
fermi
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Crumbs- that's about how I saw them - must have got confused then with thinking that Cotyledon orbiculata is smaller. :-X :-\
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Maggi,
they may grow a bit bigger under these conditions.
More Belladonna Lilies are in bloom!
These are seedlings we raised many years ago and I particularly like the one with an almost Picottee effect,
cheers
fermi
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We had a buying spree yesterday!
This cutie is an Aussie native Mimulus repens - one for the water-pot!
cheers
fermi
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Howdy folks. Great pics... Must get to Lambley one of these years. Worked out how to view the forum on the iPad..... My laptop is having a bit of a coronary, but hopefully I can retrieve data off it.
I made a quick decision last week and headed down to the Ferny Creek plant fair over the weekend. So nice to catch up with Fermi, Will and Otto, amongst others. Bought back about a squillion plants. ;). About half the ute tray. ;D. No idea where I am going to put everything, particularly as contemplating moving house if I can find the right place.
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Addictive isn't it Paul! 8) I've only got my Acis autumnalis (still) and Cyclamen africanum flowering at the moment. I have flower buds on C. hederifolium and C. cyprium, but apart from a white frangipani and a yucca and her indoors' bedding plants, nothing else.
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Lots in bloom here, many perennials including the choc cosmos (over half a cup full of seed so far!) salvias especially patens forms, Crepis incana, penstemons, first gentians including depressa, alpine phloxes doing another round as are pulsatillas and so on.
Large trailer-load of sand for my birthday and I was needing it. But what happened to red roses, diamonds and their like and romantic trips to Paris?
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Been to Paris in
March Feb. Bloody cold! Definitely should have got red roses 8) Took a photo of the weans and got an artist at Montmartre to do a large B&W pastel. Heidi's portrait is now ready, so when it arrives I'll have to get it framed and hide it for Vivienne's birthday in May. I wonder if Heidi'll appear in the pet gallery? http://www.animalartist.biz/html/pet_gallery.html (http://www.animalartist.biz/html/pet_gallery.html)
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Howdy folks. Great pics... Must get to Lambley one of these years. Worked out how to view the forum on the iPad..... My laptop is having a bit of a coronary, but hopefully I can retrieve data off it.
I made a quick decision last week and headed down to the Ferny Creek plant fair over the weekend. So nice to catch up with Fermi, Will and Otto, amongst others. Bought back about a squillion plants. ;). About half the ute tray. ;D. No idea where I am going to put everything, particularly as contemplating moving house if I can find the right place.
Aha! A visit to friends AND some retail therapy - that's good going! :)
Paul, search out the "tapatalk" app. - it works a treat on an i-pad or other such device and makes forum viewing BulbLog and IRG reading a real pleasure .... http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11251.msg290410#msg290410 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=11251.msg290410#msg290410)
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Lots in bloom here, many perennials including the choc cosmos (over half a cup full of seed so far!) salvias especially patens forms, Crepis incana, penstemons, first gentians including depressa, alpine phloxes doing another round as are pulsatillas and so on.
Large trailer-load of sand for my birthday and I was needing it. But what happened to red roses, diamonds and their like and romantic trips to Paris?
Now Lesley, we all know you'd MUCH rather have a load of sand instead of frippery stuff!
Can I put in a plea for a pinch of Chocolate Cosmos seed ? Pretty please?
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Great pressy ;D
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Maggi, I've downloaded tapatalk but not entirely sure what it is supposed to do. Have joined this forum on it.. But where from there? Ok, been back in and discovered there is stuff there now....however it wants me to create a new I'd to post anything, so I am not going to bother. I don't want a different ID on the iPad to the computer.
Happy Birthday, Lesley. Sounds like I have only just missed it?
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I don't think you need a new ID for tapatalk for the forum, Paul - I don't have any of those gadgets myself, just going on what Ian says- he loves the way it shows the forum on the i-pad and he posts from there with his usual log-in, I'm sure. Will ask him about it. It's just a neat way to access the forum etc on an i-pad type thingy, I think!
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I just logged in on my iPhone with my usual details, it shouldn't be necessary to sign up with a new account.
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Hmmmmm... It doesn't like me then. ;D
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Hi Lesley,
I have plenty of Chocolate Cosmos growing in my garden at the moment,when and how do you collect the seed from them.
Cheers John.
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I made a quick decision last week and headed down to the Ferny Creek plant fair over the weekend. So nice to catch up with Fermi, Will and Otto, amongst others. Bought back about a squillion plants. ;). About half the ute tray. ;D. No idea where I am going to put everything, particularly as contemplating moving house if I can find the right place.
Glad you got home safely with all that plant booty, Paul! ;D
We can always organise a visit to Lambley on your next visit!
Another plant i bought at Kuranga Nsy is a "forest lobelia" - Lobelia triconocaulis - one for the shade house,
cheers
fermi
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That looks like a really cute Lobelia Fermi. How tall is it?
Of course Maggi, Cosmos seed on the way tomorrow.
John, I'll take a photo of the seed head as soon as there's another ready to pick, probably tomorrow as there seem to be 1-4 each day, on my 4 separate clones. Just about every flower is setting seed. They're not ready one day and look several days away then suddenly they're ready and need to be picked quite quickly as they lose their grip and fall off.
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Fermi, I deliberately made the choice not to visit Kuranga on Monday. I went and helped out with some watering at the Ferny Creek working bee, then drove straight past the Kuranga turnoff and headed home. ;). As it is, I ended up with more than 60 different things from the weekend. :o
And good news on the computer front..... Got everything safely retrieved from the laptop hard disk and today went in to look at getting a new one. Found out eventually that I'd had the laptop for nearly 3 years, almost a year longer than I had thought. The only reason I know now exactly when I bought it is because we discovered I had purchased an extended warranty when I bought it..... And even more amazingly the warranty runs out in 6 weeks, so it is still covered. Amazing in that usually things break a week after the warranty runs out, rather than 6 weeks before. Will find out tomorrow exactly what that means, whether I'll get a credit or have to send it off for repairs. Either way, it's going to save me some money. Very, very happy to have found that out, and it was only by accident that we did. 8)
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Wow, steely resistance to plant temptation, Paul - very impressive!
Good news about the "pooter" - must be one of the very few instances of one of these guarantee thingies actually being useful!!
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That's a lovely Lobelia Fermi!
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Thanks Maggi. No idea what I'm going to do with what I brought home, so more plants was probably a bad idea anyway. ;)
And yes, not often you hear about the guarantee things being useful. Then again, years ago I bought a second hand car that had a 3 month warranty.... Car was just on the 100 thou km mark and there were a number of things that apparently went wrong around that mark.... During that 3 months a bunch of things went wrong and had to be fixed under warranty. At least a couple of thousand dollars. Nothing else went wrong for the next couple of years, so I was very, very lucky then too.
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Ok, think I have managed to log into tapatalk as me now. And laptop has been sent off for repairs. Fingers crossed.
Plant-wise, not huge amounts going on here at the moment. Haemanthus, rhodophiala, cyclamen, Acis autumnalis, Scilla, dahlias and belladonnas in flower at present.
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Hi There Fellow Forumists,
Few plants stirring down here.
An autumn-flowering Cyclamen persicum
An unfurling Brunsvigia josephinae
A colchicum from Janis, Colchicum laetum. Is this a true species? I have read somewhere that this is now considered a selection of C. byzantium. I give up on the nomenclature of colchicums :(
Happy Birthday for last Sunday Otto!
Cheers, Marcus
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I have plenty of Chocolate Cosmos growing in my garden at the moment,when and how do you collect the seed from them.
Hi John . Been out this morning to take a picture of cosmos atrosanguinea seed that is ready to harvest . The seed can be up to 20mm long . Growing them from seed gives a wide variety of flower colour in the seedlings as shown
Cheers Steve
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An unfurling Brunsvigia josephinae
Would love to have the conditions to grow that!
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John, some pics of the developing seed of Chocolate Cosmos.
The flowers, and as Steve says, they vary from seed, some smaller, darker or whatever. The old flowerhead with stiff, developing seed and then the seed heads themselves. Note the little barbs at the outer ends, which catch thistledown and such stuff, a nuisance when you're cleaning them. I usually put my first two fingers under the seeds, on each side of the stems then just wipe the seeds off with my thumb. The old calyces come too and these are easily blown gently away.
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This very nice Pulsatilla vulgaris form is called 'Pink Denim' and is a seed selection from Hokonui Alpines. It comes fairly true from seed and has had 6 flowers since January, all giving good seed. Other pulsatillas are in flower too.
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Cosmos atrosanguineus seeds - photos as provided by Lesley for the "Seeds to scale" project:
[attachimg=1]
and another seedhead pic - head with 29 seeds :
[attachimg=2]
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Growing them from seed gives a wide variety of flower colour in the seedlings as shown
Cheers Steve
Do all the colour variations still have the chocolate scent, Steve?
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Just had a talk from the lady who runs the Plant Heritage group in Kent and she mentioned how close Cosmos atrosanguineus had come to extinction because only one clone was known and this was sterile. Fantastic to see this is no longer true and good seed is being set 'down under'. Could teach EU lawyers a thing or two perhaps?
'Pink Denim' is a nice thing. I have now read right through Kit Grey-Wilson's book on Pulsatilla (which really is exceptional) and the whole genus is high on my radar at present. We will have to grow more of them.
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Do all the colour variations still have the chocolate scent, Steve?
Hi Maggi . Only a few have the strong chocolate aroma . Sometimes nurseries here stock Cosmos atrosanguinea 'Coco Chanel' which is a good fragrant one . I usually lose 10% of my plants each year so I have a regular supply of seedlings on hand to fill in the gaps
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C. atrosanguineus seed from the exchange has germinated here. It will be interesting to see how they turn out.
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Thank you both Steve and Lesley for your help, I had better get out in the garden and start collecting.
P.S. Lesley Thank's again for the yellow clematis seed that you sent me a couple of years ago they flowered nicely this year.
Cheers John.
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Which yellow Clematis, John?
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Fermi - that Lobelia looks like it has large flowers. Very nice.
Delphinium 'Volkerfrieden' (peace) is marketed as performing well in warm conditions. I've grown it in full sun through the extreme heat of summer and it's performed well. Scilla/ Hyacinthoides lingulata var. ciliolata (from Otto) has started to flower. Many more autumn bulbs are starting to perform in my garden now, right on queue. ;)
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Hi Paul,
the yellow clematis seed that Lesley sent me is Clematis Vernayi, I also have growing Clematis Bill Mackenzie from seed I received from the SRGC seed exchange a couple of years ago and
a very nice yellow one that I bought from a Melbourne mail order nursery called Golden Tiara which has contrasting purple stamens.
Cheers John.
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I dont know vernayi. I have had Golden Tiara myself. I'd hoped your yellow might have been tangutica, which I grew years ago and have never been able to find again. The Bill Mackenzie I think it related to Golden Tiara isn't it? Given they're seedlings they will have variability I am assuming so if your sharing them make sure you don't put that name on them as people will get confused as they aren't the named cultivar.
Thanks for the information.
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Among my own plants of the cosmos, all have the chocolate scent. How much is largely a matter of time of day, weather conditions. It is strongest in bright, warm sunshine, around mid day or soon after. the clone sold here as 'Coco Chanel' is also fertile. especially if hand pollinated from the others but usually had around 10 seeds per head while I've had as many as 45 on the others. We seem to have few honey bees at present but smallish bumble bees by the billion - well, lots anyway.
Paul, the Clematis was originally imported from the UK (1981) as C. orientalis L and S 13342 with the note that because it was fine and distinctive, the Ludlow and Sherriff collectors' number is still, even now, always attached to it. C. orientalis was renamed as vernayi some years ago, not sure when. I found it very difficult to propagate from cutting for many years until, in 2012, every cutting I took, in a desperate attempt to take the plant to our new address, rooted well. Seeds germinate well if hand sown but I never had a self-sown seedling, unlike C. akebioides, a smaller yellow which appeared all over the Saddle Hill garden, in hundreds every year until I dug the original and burned it. Seedlings were pulled as soon as recognisable.
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Talking of bees, we seem to have fewer honey bees each year and not only the honey industry but the horticultural and agricultural industries on which NZ relies so heavily, are deeply worried about the effects of insecticides and other issues which are having a damaging effect on bee populations. So they should be worried.
Having said that, a few orchardists and market gardeners I know through my Farmers' Market life, have begun using bumble bees as their main pollinators and with great success. They are now able to buy small colonies of bumble bees (I believe 2 species are used) in specially built boxes and these are placed in small paddocks, tunnels, glass houses or wherever there is a crop to be pollinated. The bees live in the little boxes and come out in the day to fly and feed, and so pollinate. More boxes can be used in large areas. I was told (a couple of years ago) that a colony in a single box costs about $20NZ. Of course there's no honey by-product.
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Lesley:
We have been dealing with this for a bit longer. The theories are many as to the cause of the Colony Collapse Disorder.
I've read that it's a new generation of insecticides called Neonicotinoids, which has a similarity to nicotine and Genetic Modified Organisms (GMO's).
The pollen from these GMO's s not digested by the bees so they literally starve with a full stomach.
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That sounds really horrible Arnold. Not sure if that's the cause here or not and lots of the local ag scientists are working on it. One thing though, GMOs are prohibited in New Zealand. In theory at least. Our EPO (Environmental Protection Agency) does however, issue permits for trial crops in specified areas so I imagine the concept of "No GMOs" is a bit bent by now.
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Last Saturday our local AGS (Victorian Group) made a visit to "Sunnymeade" in the Strathbogie Ranges 2 hours north of Melbourne.
This amazing garden is the product over 3 decades of a very dynamic and dedicated chap named Craig Irving.
Craig welcomed us and walked around the garden with us answering questions and pointing out many interesting plants which he'd grown from seed - some he'd collected himself overseas.
Here are some pics
cheers
fermi
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More pics from Sunnymeade
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Even more pics!
You can check out the website here
www.sunnymeade.com.au (http://www.sunnymeade.com.au)
cheers
fermi
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Wonderful !
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Fermi, what a beautiful place! Thank you
for showing.
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Thank you, Ralph and Rudi,
here are a few more pics,
cheers
fermi
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When I last saw these birches they were about 10ft tall!
cheers
fermi
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Craig is in the last pic with our friend Margaret;
The mosaic floor was laid out stone by stone one cold winter!
cheers
fermi
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I'd hoped your yellow might have been tangutica, which I grew years ago and have never been able to find again.
I could send you seeds in abundance but I'd be hesitant to do so as it's a noxious weed here!
E. g.: http://www.strathcona.ca/files/files/at-tas-yellowclematis.pdf (http://www.strathcona.ca/files/files/at-tas-yellowclematis.pdf)
It's even invaded into the lower montane zone here.
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More from Sunnymeade.
An interesting tree from South America is this Polylepis australis with exfoliating bark!
cheers
fermi
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A couple of clematis with urn shaped flowers at Sunnymeade.
Can anyone identify them?
cheers
fermi
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I'd suggest texensis & versicolor, but you'd need to look at Grey-Wilson's key to confirm this.
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I love that garden Fermi!
And the mosaics....wonderful!
Thanks
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This amazing garden is the product over 3 decades of a very dynamic and dedicated chap named Craig Irving.
Craig is in the last pic with our friend Margaret;
Three decades? And that's the guy? Mercy, when did he start, as a baby? !!! :o
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Lovely garden Fermi.
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Three decades? And that's the guy? Mercy, when did he start, as a baby? !!! :o
No, I think he was in his teens/early twenties, but is rumoured to have a painting in the attic.... ;D
Some more pics including detail of the post head which he carved himself!
cheers
fermi
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Nice form of Cyclamen hederifolium from Zankynthos (thanks Hans) and my wee bromeliad that has been nailed to this three for nearly three years are flowering now. Also Tulbaghia violacea from seed sown Fed 2013. BTW I hate lollipop bushes and jade plants!
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Finally got a computer again after 3 weeks. Yay!! Some lovely pics in here as always.
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Sunnymeade looks wonderful. I so want a moon gate like that stone one.
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Glad you're back on line, Paul.
Here are some things in bloom in our garden today,
Sprekelia and habranthus
Lycoris aurea
Calostemma purpureum
Rhodophiala bifida- originally from Paul T
Colchicum cultivar (unknown but common locally)
cheers
fermi
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Nice, Fermi. Good to see the Rhodphiala is doing well for you. Do you grow any other varieties?
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This Epidendron has produced a seed pod.
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Fermi all our Calostemmas are in seed now and the Rhodophiala bifida have now gone over but it was a lovely surprise when it flowered. The lilac Colchicum are in flower though as are the Urgineas and some small yellow Colchicums I think.