Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Hannelore on December 03, 2016, 11:13:58 AM
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The last colour in the garden for this year . . .
Greetings
Hannelore
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The perfect picture to start the holidays season! :)
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Snow melted in November, but ground is frozen, and the temperature has been between -5 to -10C (one night last week was -13C). Pictures are taken today when there was so pretty frost in Helleborus leaves :). Spruce branches are there to protect Hellebores from hungry wild hares who like to eat them.
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First flower on Canarina canariensis................
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5500/31201676540_e688c4796e_z.jpg)
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Very nice Meanie 8). Do you grow it outdoors in summer or always under glass?
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Snow melted in November, but ground is frozen, and the temperature has been between -5 to -10C (one night last week was -13C). Pictures are taken today when there was so pretty frost in Helleborus leaves :). Spruce branches are there to protect Hellebores from hungry wild hares who like to eat them.
I've never heard of 'someone' willing to eat the Helleborus Leena; or may be that just the rabbits don't like them?
Temp. are the same here but things are starting to drown in the snow, and there is more to come! Pictures of yesterday and today with the last ones standing - Allium the Scabiosa.
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Very nice Meanie 8). Do you grow it outdoors in summer or always under glass?
The only time that I move it undercover whilst it is in growth is when there is a threat of frost. I usually put it in the greenhouse over the summer (when it is dormant) for a "summer bake" but this year it was so late dying back that I didn't bother. As a result it is very late for the first bloom to open.
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Found this Gentiana Hybrid yesterday flowering in the open garden.
The lowest temperature of this winter was -6°C; still too warm for my taste.
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Better to have snow cover for minus 6 though, Rudi! Black frost is not good.
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The only time that I move it undercover whilst it is in growth is when there is a threat of frost. I usually put it in the greenhouse over the summer (when it is dormant) for a "summer bake" but this year it was so late dying back that I didn't bother. As a result it is very late for the first bloom to open.
Meanie,
Beautiful flowers on your Canarina canariensis! 8) Ours have grown fairly large - at least a meter or more across, however no flowers yet. Last year they were getting ready to bloom and then the flower buds all aborted! Maybe we will have better luck this season.
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I've never heard of 'someone' willing to eat the Helleborus Leena; or may be that just the rabbits don't like them?
I know :), Hellebores are supposed to be poisonous, but our local hares (Lepus europaeus) don't know that, and they have eaten both Helleborus leaves as well as flower buds (last year). This year the first snow came so early that I hadn't put any protection to my plants, and so the hares dug the Helleborus leaves from the snow and ate some already. I saw it from the foot prints in the snow that it was hares and not deer which we also have. Of course it doesn't matter that they eat leaves, because I cut them anyway in the spring, but I don't want hares to get into more habit of coming to eat my Hellebores as they already do. In the spring I now always put spruce branches over the plants when they are in small bud to prevent the hares from eating them, and it seems to work. When grass and other green starts to grow then they leave my plants alone, it is only in the winter when they do the damage.
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Here something regularly cuts down almost all emerging flower stems of hellebores in late December/January unless they are protected. Perhaps the young growth tastes better or is less poisonous.
Maybe the same culprit harvests cyclamen seed capsules, but only when ripe (around July) and then very suddenly over a night or two. Very frustrating because it/they are so thorough.
In both cases I suspect bank voles (Myodes glareolus), accidentally introduced to Ireland in the last century >:(
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Bank voles are very plentiful here (in autumn we catch a lot of them when they try to come to my greenhouse or our barn - and also inside sometimes), and also I suspect them eating seedpods of Hellebores. They (or some other vole) also eat Erythronium flowers, but luckily they have left my Hellebore flowers to grow. The amount of them fluctuates, but every year they do some harm in the garden, the only good thing about them is that they are good food for owls. :)
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I've never heard of 'someone' willing to eat the Helleborus Leena; or may be that just the rabbits don't like them?
Temp. are the same here but things are starting to drown in the snow, and there is more to come! Pictures of yesterday and today with the last ones standing - Allium the Scabiosa.
Gabriela,
Nice pictures. I love snow!
But no snow here and probably no snow this year. No frost either.
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Gabriela,
Nice pictures. I love snow!
But no snow here and probably no snow this year. No frost either.
You can always move to Canada Trond :D
It is beautiful right now and more snow this week; I can start sowing.
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Leena and Ashley -
I hope the local rabbits won't get a like on the Helleborus, otherwise I saw them eating almost everything else (except Epimediums too).
Regarding voles, I think you are right Ashley; they are also known to remove other species/seeds with elaiosomes, with the habit of 'stealing' them all overnight. I am sure they are the reason I never get to collect Erythronium seeds from one particular location.
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Nice pictures. I love snow!
But no snow here and probably no snow this year. No frost either.
Gabriela,
I love the snow too... and frosted plants with ice crystals all over them! :)
Trond,
Serious - no snow this year! :o No frost either! ??? When I checked the maps of Arctic sea ice formation this autumn the pattern seemed very odd and unusual. Who knows? Right now here in California we are still under a strong zonal flow with mild temperatures. It does seem like winter will arrive by this weekend with more frosty nights and low snow levels.
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You can always move to Canada Trond :D
It is beautiful right now and more snow this week; I can start sowing.
They have gotten a lot of snow in northern Norway the last days ;D
And thank you very much for the special Christmas card :)
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Trond,
Serious - no snow this year! :o No frost either! ??? When I checked the maps of Arctic sea ice formation this autumn the pattern seemed very odd and unusual. Who knows? Right now here in California we are still under a strong zonal flow with mild temperatures. It does seem like winter will arrive by this weekend with more frosty nights and low snow levels.
Robert,
It is true! But it is not that special either. Usually we don't have snow that lasts more than a day before January. Last year we had one day with snow before January, but January was very cold.
The sea ice has retreated a lot and now it is ice free waters on the west coast of Svalbard almost all winter. This fall they have had more rain than snow and the mean temperature for the whole year has increased by 6C.
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Very nice weather today with sun and calm weather. Max 8oC, min 4oC.
I made a stop at the road only 2km from home, close to a small oak forest.
On the other side of the road is a little tarn with a flock of ducks and usually some swans also as long as it isn't frozen over.
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It is few flowering plants inside the wood and none now! Out of flower but still green, Hypericum pulchrum, among the fallen oak leaves.
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Only Lonicera periclymenum has a few green leaves.
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A rock face with Polypodium vulgare, one of several winter green ferns.
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Another winter green fern, Blechnum spicant, has found a crevice.
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Dryopteris dilatata also stays green.
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Greenclad rocks and an oak.
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It looks like the sun is about to set - on the far side of the fjord, but actually it takes another hour or so.
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The humidity makes it possible for moss to cover the oak stems rather high up from the ground.
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The leaves of a Geum waiting for spring!
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Not native but very common, spreading from gardens. Prunus laurocerasus. This one is more or less prostrate, others are more upright and treelike.
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"Flowering" moss on a fallen log.
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Another rockface, almost covered by Asplenium trichomanes. Also green all winter.
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At home. Just too late to see the sunset. The clouds are vapor trails from aeroplanes on their way to the other side of the world.
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Again, these are beautiful photos that you offer us. Thank you
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The sea ice has retreated a lot and now it is ice free waters on the west coast of Svalbard almost all winter. This fall they have had more rain than snow and the mean temperature for the whole year has increased by 6C.
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Trond,
I will pass this information on to some folks who will be keenly interested! Thank you so much. 8)
It is absolutely amazing how similar your last set of photographs are to scenes on cool, moist, north facing slopes right here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. This time of year the tree trunks are completely blanketed with moss. Dryopteris, Polypodium, Lonicera, and Adiantum are very common plants seen on our northern slopes. Now the south facing slope are completely different....
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Wonderful pictures Trond! In rare occasions this 'ferny' scenery can also be seen here in December, but most often everything gets covered under a blanket of snow (for the best considering the low temp.).
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Greenclad rocks and an oak.
Whole new meaning to "green oak" !! :D
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Trond, I love the pictures of the ferns and mosses. :)
In winter (if you don't have snow) all evergreen plants are so important.
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Thanks for comments, all of you :)
Yesterday afternoon the rain ceased for a couple hours and the sky cleared a bit so we could discern a few blue spots! We went for a walk along Stakkestadvatnet, the lake which is the water reservoir for the area including Haugesund town. Although still early in the afternoon it was very gloomy due to the low sun, clouds and patches of fog.
The area was previously intensively used as pastures for sheep and cattle. Now only deer and a few sheep use it. The vegetation is poor though. Trees like birch (Betula pubescens), spruce (Picea sitchensis) and pine (Pinus sylvaticus + P. mugo) are rapidly spreading. The grass is predominantly purple moor-grass (Molinia caerula).
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In winter even some mosses can give a little colour, like this Polytrichum juniperinum.
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Huge areas were planted just after WWII. They used sitka spruce and many other foreign conifers. It was done to increase timber production but also for providing shelter for the westerly winds.
The sitka spruce thickets are very dense and only mosses (and fungus) grow beneath them. Some of the specimens are getting rather big.
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Stakkestadvatnet.
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The ridge in the background is Valhest 313m. It looks barren and it is but the forest is steadily climbing higher. Spruce plantations at the foot of the mountain contribute to the seeding.
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At the foot of a pine I: Lycopodium annotinum
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At the foot of a pine II: Lycopodium clavatum
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It wasn't much of interest to see and the dull light made it difficult to take pictures, especially inside the forests.
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Trond,
I understand the difficulties of photography when the weather or other conditions create very low light levels. Last week when I went to Ione, California and Peavine Ridge it was gloomy all day. Many photographs did not turn out well at all. :'(
Saying all of that, I still enjoyed your picture journey. Polytrichum juniperinum is very fascinating. I have never seen a moss like that. During this past summer I hiked in some "waste areas" near the town of Placerville, California. Compared to wild areas of California it is not very interesting - lots of invasive species and a trashed ecosystem. Despite such conditions I still found interesting plants and situations.
Here in California there are also mono-cultures of "farmed" forest trees, maybe something like the Sitka Spruce forests in Norway. Nothing else is allowed to grow except mono-cultures of Ponderosa Pine, Pinus ponderosa, or Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii. Such places are not interesting at all. :P
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Robert,
The Polytrichum juniperinum I showed is a little special. Often they grow at very dry sites and are small but her they were growing at a moist site and the colour of both the leaves and the "bud" (this is the male "flower") were different than usual.
The common Polytrichum commune can be very big here.
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The Sitka forests are not kept as monoculture by artificial methods but the low light level prevent anything to grow. As soon as the big trees are removed a lot of other plants start growing, like here where the spruces were removed a year ago and now thousands of fir seedlings are in full growth.
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Very nice Trond, I also like the Polytrichum juniperinum, and growing on dry places too - lots of qualities.
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The last flower for this year . . .
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Trond, nice landscapes in the previous page.
I have been wondering about how to grow Lycopodium from spores. I assume the same way as ferns, but when would be the best time to collect Lycopodium spores? I know a place in the forest where it grows, and where I could go and look for spores.
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Trond, nice landscapes in the previous page.
I have been wondering about how to grow Lycopodium from spores. I assume the same way as ferns, but when would be the best time to collect Lycopodium spores? I know a place in the forest where it grows, and where I could go and look for spores.
Coincidence Leena, somewhere in October I was thinking the same about Lycopodium. I found a nice colony not too far away and was a bit surprised because they are more often seen towards northern parts of Ontario. So, maybe I can also give them a try.
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Sunrise today in the neighbourhood - maybe a sign of tomorrow's winter solstice. Days will get longer 8)
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Wow, Gabriela, a sky like that in the morning, it puts in a good mood for the rest of the day. Not true?
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for sure you grab it! nice colors
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Coincidence Leena, somewhere in October I was thinking the same about Lycopodium. I found a nice colony not too far away and was a bit surprised because they are more often seen towards northern parts of Ontario. So, maybe I can also give them a try.
Gabriela, do you know when would be the best time to try to harvest spores?
Wonderful red sunrise. :)
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My word! So that's what a sunrise looks like? So long since I saw one!!!
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It's not often so spectacular Maggi, but when it happens - wow!, makes up for all the gloomy winter days.
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Leena, re - Lycopodium
I don't really know because that's a new place where I found the colony last October. The strobili were without spores by then. I'll keep an eye on them next year. I've read that most species have runners so maybe taking few small pieces maybe will be faster for propagation.
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Sunrise today in the neighbourhood - maybe a sign of tomorrow's winter solstice. Days will get longer 8)
Very spectacular, Gabriela!
I can rarely see the sunrise where I live (it is a hill between me and the sun).
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Gabriela, do you know when would be the best time to try to harvest spores?
Wonderful red sunrise. :)
Leena, I would collect them now. I tested a strobilus last Sunday and the spores came off, but it might be a little late and only few spores left.
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Has anyone here tried growing clubmosses from spores? They are very pretty and a nice counterpoint to other alpines. Surprising they are not more widely cultivated.
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I have tried L. clavatum from plants from Poyntzfield Herb Nursery. They did not survive. I think it is too dry in this area for clubmosses. The nursery is listed in The Plant Finder. Perhaps I should try again.
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Thanks Trond, I will have to go and see if there are spores left.
I've read that most species have runners so maybe taking few small pieces maybe will be faster for propagation.
I have tried once from runners, which I got from a friend in middle of Finland where they are more abundant than here, but couldn't get them to root. They stayed green for a couple of months but in the end started to wilt. Perhaps they were too big, and smaller piece would root better.
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Canarina canariensis - After a period of frosty weather I removed the row cover on some tender plants. It was a pleasant surprise to find Canarina canariensis in bloom.
Now we are back to rainy weather. For us good news. :)
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A nice Christmas bell, Robert!
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Christmas in the garden today December 24.
Viburnum farreri and Hamamelis 'Jelena'.
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Quite a lot flowering on Christmas Day here, possibly helped by the 14oC temperature. Jasminum nudiflorum, Cyclamen coum, several Camellias, Clematis cirrhosa, Galanthus 'Three Ships', Viola odora, and, pictured, Iris unguicularis. Also in the polytunnel, Crassula ovata.
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Not much flowering here on Christmas day.
Gentiana acaulis first flowering from seed. Neglected in a small pot for years but planted out this year and decided to flower now. I did not think it would open with -7C three times earlier in the month but it opened and has been looking good for a while now.
Galanthus corcyrensis
Dark flowered Hellebore
Viola seedling
and in the greenhouse
Narcissus cantabricus hybrid
Also a few lingering flowers on Cyclamen purpurascens with the first flowers on Cyclamen alpinum and coum