Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

General Subjects => Alpines => Topic started by: Julia on January 21, 2016, 07:34:25 PM

Title: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Julia on January 21, 2016, 07:34:25 PM: I have been contacted by Elsa Pooley a fantastic field botanist, author of "Mountain Flowers, A field Guide to the Flora of the Drakensberg and Lesotho" plus many other books.
She is requiring help with there new book that she is writing with Geoff Nichols. They are looking for pictures and information of which South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs will grow well in the Northern Hemisphere. Ron McBeath and I have both given her a list but she would like pictures and to see if the amazing SRGC forum community may have more ideas.
So please post your pictures and any other info you may have.
Thank you
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Graeme on January 21, 2016, 07:44:25 PM: hope its got a good section on Rhodohypoxis
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Julia on January 21, 2016, 07:52:41 PM: Do you have a good selection and if you do could you post some pictures?
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Graeme on January 21, 2016, 08:03:55 PM: Quote from: Julia on January 21, 2016, 07:52:41 PM
Do you have a good selection and if you do could you post some pictures?
not as many as I used to have -

[attach=1][attach=2][attach=3]
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Julia on January 21, 2016, 08:12:55 PM: Great thanks very much.
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Graeme on January 21, 2016, 08:17:08 PM: if you want the original jpg's pm me
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Hoy on January 21, 2016, 09:30:04 PM: You may contact Trond Steen of Steen og Wormsen stauder (nursery): trosteen(et)online.no. He grows some very fine South African plants for sale in Northern Norway. Here is one example:

Diascia anastrepa 'Sani':

(http://www.stewo.no/D/Diascia%20anastrepta%20'Sani'%2029%20th.jpg)

The catalogue: http://www.stewo.no/index.htm (http://www.stewo.no/index.htm)
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Julia on January 21, 2016, 10:03:54 PM: fantastic, could you private message me his contact details
thank you very much
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: David Nicholson on January 21, 2016, 11:08:29 PM: Julia, Lorraine and Chris Birchill may be able to help http://www.talevalleynursery.co.uk/ (http://www.talevalleynursery.co.uk/)
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: brianw on January 21, 2016, 11:55:14 PM: Wildside gardens has some fantastic displays of Rhodohypoxis. Must have some photos somewhere.
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Darren on January 22, 2016, 01:22:32 PM: Here is my Moraea alpina picture from back in 2012. It still does well for me and I'm very fond of it. My plants came from Ian Christie who told me it grows well for him too. I still have the higher res picture on the Mac somewhere.

I do grow a lot of other Drakensberg bulbs such as Moraeas huttonii, alticola, spathulata. Albuca humilis, Gladiolus flanaganii and others but for some reason I haven't ever taken photographs of them.
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Julia on January 22, 2016, 04:33:39 PM: Darren great thanks I will pass the information to Elsa
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: ichristie on January 22, 2016, 07:15:52 PM: Hello Julia and Darren I am posting another picture of Moraea alpine full size pic anytime cheers Ian the Christie kind
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Julia on January 22, 2016, 07:43:28 PM: Fantastic do you have any other pic's of SA high altitude Alpines?
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: brianw on January 22, 2016, 08:13:23 PM: Wildside Rhodohypoxis
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Darren on January 23, 2016, 09:42:39 AM: Quote from: Darren on January 22, 2016, 01:22:32 PM
Here is my Moraea alpina picture from back in 2012. It still does well for me and I'm very fond of it. My plants came from Ian Christie who told me it grows well for him too. I still have the higher res picture on the Mac somewhere.

I do grow a lot of other Drakensberg bulbs such as Moraeas huttonii, alticola, spathulata. Albuca humilis, Gladiolus flanaganii and others but for some reason I haven't ever taken photographs of them.

Surprised I forgot to mention Gladiolus pumilio as is is rather invasive here and I dug out a metre wide patch threatening to swamp my Epipactis palustris last spring. It was nearly back to that size again by September. It isn't even very attractive with its very long floppy stems that always seem to bend almost to touch the ground enforce the flowers open.
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Darren on January 23, 2016, 09:45:13 AM: Quote from: ichristie on January 22, 2016, 07:15:52 PM
Hello Julia and Darren I am posting another picture of Moraea alpine full size pic anytime cheers Ian the Christie kind

Lovely to see that Ian. I always worry about it getting swamped if I planted it out so I keep mine in a frame but it produced seed last year and I hope to have enough to experiment with, perhaps in a trough.
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: François Lambert on January 28, 2016, 12:33:06 PM: Depending on what is defined as 'high altitude', I have good experience with Eucomis : Bicolor (in SA grows up to 2.400 m), Comosa (in SA grows up to 2.800 m) & Pallidiflora (in SA highest location I have read about 1.800 m).
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: ArnoldT on January 28, 2016, 01:38:25 PM: I've had Eucomis bicolor outdoors here in Northern New Jersey for ten years.
Title: Re: South African high altitude Alpines and Bulbs growing in Northern Hemisphere
Post by: Tristan_He on January 28, 2016, 07:14:40 PM: Julia, obviously there's a list as long as your arm of South African plants grown in the northern hemisphere, though as Francois pointed out above the definition of 'high altitude' might cut it down a bit. I wonder if it might help if you could share what you have already sent the authors? Also do they have a list of species in cultivation that they are looking for photos of? And are photos of garden hybrids of interest (I'm thinking of genera like Kniphofia, Crocosmia, Agapanthus and Dierama in particular)

Best, Tristan