Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Paul T on April 01, 2008, 01:01:34 AM
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Howdy All,
A little burst of sunshine to herald in April.....
and a surprise a couple of weeks early.
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Lesley I have transferred my reply to your last post in March to April as it is April 1 today.
I just hope Roger doesn't read this regularly, Lesley!
The label on one of the 31 plants that I am holding hostage, says Zephyranthes flavissima. Hope this is of some help. They are getting a nice little shower of rain at present. Mine are still enjoying their final days of freedom down at Hokonui but will be delivered up here later in the month.
Susan
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With the southerly coming through we have all got a bit of rain even out here on the Peninsula. I lit the fir tonight as it was getting a bit on the chilly side. Her is sunrise on April 1 - shepherd's warning!
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The first true autumn crocus in our garden has been Crocus "Oxonian". I missed the first flower but a second came into bud on the weekend,
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but I couldn't get enough daylight to get a pic of the open flower without the flash,
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so apologies for the washed out colour!
More rainlilies! First, the hybrid between Habranthus martinezii and H. robustus,
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Then Zephyranthes grandiflora,
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And finally, the first of our nerines, N. fothergilla "Major",
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cheers
fermi
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Susan, I make darned sure Roger doesn't read ANY of the Forum, at all. :D
Very chilly here today too. Nice day but definitely autumnal. We too, are lighting a fire in the evening.
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Howdy All,
A slightly out of kilter flowering here in Canberra, Australia..... Weldenia candida. Has had a couple of flowers this autumn, which I don't mind at all as it reminds me how nice they are!! ;D
Also Crocus pulchellus flowering now, but I'll post that in the Crocus section unless anyone wants it posted here?
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A short lived perennial which is lightly seeding itself around the Rock garden, is Monsonia emarginata.
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A new crocus came into flower yesterday; it was a "stray" in a pot of seed raised Crocus olivieri and must've looked different when I repotted them 2 years ago (so don't ask me what the tunic looked like, Thomas!) so I planted this one in a raised bed and it produced a bloom:
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Is it a small flowered C. speciosus? Any other suggestions?
cheers
fermi
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OK Fermi, I will not ask for the corm tunic, but nevertheless it would be good to know ;D
It could be a form of serotinus ssp salzmanii.
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Thomas,
are there small spidery forms of salzmanii? The only ones I've ever seen are quite a large flowered variety. Just starting to emerge here, but definitely nothing small about them! ;D
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Paul, salzmanii is very variable, I have forms from small to big in all shades of blue, with rounded and pointed tips.
But it's still only a guess as long as we don't know which corm tunic Fermi's plant has.
Surely it's not a speciosus - for which the leaves appear in spring.
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Thomas,
I have a white, mauve and a darker salzmanii (The latter is yet to flower for me to confirm it actually is correctly named) but didn't realise there was lots of variability. I guess that is what comes from buying things as plants, rather the growing them from seed with it's inherent variability. In your flowering season I'd be interested in seeing some of the different forms if you photograph them. Might not be convenient at the time, but if you think of it.
Good to have another of our resident Crocus experts back. It was strange while you were away not having you chime in with IDs for unidentified crocus we had. You were missed!! ;D
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Here's another crocus, C. goulimyi "albus"
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It's very inconvenient when these crocus only flower during the week and I can't be there in daylight hours to take a pic!
cheers
fermi
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Firstly, the long awaited crocus nudiflorus!
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which of course, it isn't! perhaps another C. speciosus or C. pulchellus? And this time I have a pic of the corms! taken in January before I planted them out! I hope you're watching Thomas!
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They were grown from NARGS Seedex 2004, donor from the Czech Republic. I presume just a mix up somewhere along the line!
Another seedex flower for the first time was labelled Colchicum bivonae, but it seems a bit small
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cheers
fermi
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Fermi you have a hard nut to crack. The flower doesn't look like speciosus, more like pulchellus,
but I can't see a yellow throat which pulchellus should have. Perhaps it's another salzmanii?
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Here is my contribution to autumn- flowering bulbs. After listening to Ian Y's talks in Christchurch i was inspired to do a major repot on all my bulbs I found 75 small trilliums in one neglected seed pot as well as assorted bulbocodium daffodils. The upshot of all this was that this particular Colchicum flowered for the first time for me. Coincidence perhaps. The label says Colchicum pusillum so I presume that is what is is.
Continuing on the bulb theme here is Cyclamen hederifolium white form followed by a few random shots.
Borage - an interesting flower from a photographic viewpoint.
Corokia macrocarpa with its orange berries. It is a native of the Chatham Islands and very hardy in coastal situations.
Hebe ' Inverary ' which I think is one of the better small cultivars. At least the flowers are not pink.
Cotinus coggygria purple form.
Carmichealia curta one of the native New Zealand brooms. This is its second flowering this season.
Lastly Cyperus ustulatus which I grew from seed gathered on the West Coast. I am looking at its potential as a garden plant.
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David,
Interesting pics. What does the Carmichealia look like as a plant? Nice flowers!!
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Paul,
The plant is sparsely branched with slender almost rush-like branches. It usually does not have any leaves. However as you can see it is quite floriferous.
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Here are a few from my weedy patch. All are in pots (black plastic bags)awaiting planting out, as they have been, for years. :'( :'(
Oxalis hirta in a mauve/pink form, sent to me by the generous Andrew Broome. The leaves are quite different too, from my "normal" O. hirta, being pubescent and very small, on quite prostrate branchlets.
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This little early form of Narcissus something (foliosus? cantabricus?) is almost white, more so than 'Nylon' but flowering at the same time as 'Nylon.' I find it impossible to be quite sure which is which of all these forms, so have just called this "early white." One flower is too sunny, one too shady and the other can't be seen. Oh well, I never claimed to be a great photographer!
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A favourite crocus is C. vallicola, just one flowering now but some seedlings from a different source are about due to start. I love the texture and colour, like whipped cream. (Why does that appeal to me?)
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A lone speciosus coming up through weeds. It will be joined by many more soon.
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Crocus longiflorus has increased really well in 3 years, from one to about 20. It has also given me good seed. This is the first flower for this year.
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To finish, C. medius, from Marcus H. summer before last. Last year it didn't flower and this year it has me worried. I don't like the look of those darker marks. I have a few other corms as well, out in a few days and I'm sure they were unmarked last year, and they also have a much redder stigma, really scarlet, in fact.
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Lesley,
what's not to like about that Crocus vallicola! It's lovely.
Thomas,
sorry, as I only could take the pic in the morning there wasn't enough light and the camera automatically "flashed" so the pic of the crocus notnudiflorus was a bit washed out. If it's still open this afternoon I may get a pic of it open.
David,
I like that carmichaelia, must check if it's on ICON! ;D
cheers
fermi
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Here's one of our native trailing shrubs Eremophila debilis, which has minute flowers but very attractive berries - my substitute for Gaultheria in our hot climate!
cheers
fermi
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Wonderful fruit on the eremophila Fermi. Do you think.....?
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I've not had a seedling come up in over three years of berrying. I suspect the common name of the genus, "Emu bush" may imply that the seed have to go through the gut of a bird to enable germination! (We have kangaroos but no emus around here - and I hope it stays that way!) Having said that, I should add that I've never actually tried sowing seed to see if it germinates easily!
I'll try to collect a few seed to try before you visit in September.
cheers
fermi
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Thomas,
sorry, as I only could take the pic in the morning there wasn't enough light and the camera automatically "flashed" so the pic of the crocus notnudiflorus was a bit washed out. If it's still open this afternoon I may get a pic of it open.
OK, Fermi I will wait for that.
By the way: Why do you think it isn't nudiflorus?
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Howdy All,
So much happening in the garden now, or maybe it is just that I don't get to look at it multiple times a day any more. Seems like there are new things there that I didn't notice the last time. Lots of fun!
I've attached a pic of one of the early Camellias (one that is a favourite of the birds as it has a pool of nectar at the base of the stamens) that have started here already. Not many yet, but more are getting close. Also flowering are a few different Crocus (I've posted a couple of pics of one of them in the crocus area), Nerines, etc which I've probably mentioned previously so I won't go through again.
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A few weeks ago there was some discussion about spring fertilizing of bulbs, on a thread called - "Bulbs Spring Fertilizing" (Surprize!) It gradually took on some notes about nerines and I said I'd put up some pics of my little ones, when they were in flower.
Well here they are now, though many aren't going to bloom this year, which is why I was interested in spring fertilizing. So here are most that are currently out, a few more to follow maybe. Unfortunately the ones I love most, the best reds and deep crimson shades and the smoky salmons and pinks aren't flowering. I apologise that my hand is in every one. They are growing in pots under some gum trees (they like high, overhead dappled shade) so the stems are reaching outward and they needed propping up to photograph.
I'm starting with a comparison shot, which should be kept in mind when you look at the individuals. Some are taller or thicker stemmed than this little orangey red but still, are much smaller in every may than N. sarniensis (syn. fothergillii major).
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Three different pale pinks. Some are frilly, some are plain, some are small, tight heads, some larger, looser.
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Then a couple of orangey shades,
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and finally a couple of redder shades. I have about 30 different altogether.
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The last pic is the same one as in the comparison at the beginning.
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Leslie - You have some marvellous Nerines! Thanks so much for posting the pictures.
It is incredible the way the bulbs sense the first cool night below about 8c and the flower buds come roaring up. Here that's usually in Sept-October with flowers from late October / November in to early January. So if my computations are correct you are right on schedule. (???)
johnw
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Here are some pics Otto has taken in his garden and asked me to post to the Forum.
Firstly here are the non-crocus ones!
Colchicum cupani,
Cyclamen africanum,
Galanthus peshmenii,
Habranthus estensis with 3 flowers on the one scape!
and Oxalis massoniana.
cheers
fermi
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thanks, Fermi... and Otto!
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And now more of Otto's pics, this time for the Croconuts!
Crocus banaticus,
a pale form of the above, possibly a cross between the type form and the white?
C. cancellatus ssp pamphylicus,
C. caspius,
C. ochroleucus, collected in Israel,
C. serotinus.ssp. clusii, Alan Edward's A.M. form,
C. serotinus.ssp. salzmannii dark form,
a good way to grow "floppy" crocus like C. speciosus!
and finally C. tournefortii.
cheers, fermi, on behalf of Otto!
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Yes John, I think they're about on schedule. I always think of April as Nerine month. The orangey and red ones go so superbly well with the foliage of Fothergilla, Hammamelis, maple etc.
Oxalis massoniana is fully out here too along with O. lobata and some others. Mine never manages to do what what happened every year in the Timaru garden of the late June Keeley (breeder of all the little nerines). Every year she had in flower at the same time and in big, adjacent patches, O. massoniana, the pure yellow luteola and the snowy white purpurea alba. It was always a superb sight but I can't duplicate it as my luteola and p. alba flower late autumn into winter and massoniana is over by then.
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You're welcome, Maggi!
I do have a few of my own pics! Here's one I took in otto's garden! Lilium primulinum ssp primulinum:
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And now, for Thomas especially! The flower of the not crocus nudiflorus:(Now identified as C.kotschyanus, with thanks to Lesley and Thomas)
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And Saturday night at our AGS Vic group meeting, we had a talk from Peter Genat whose nursery we visited last year http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=249.30
here's a small selection of some of the flowers he had
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As we were allowed to take some of the exhibits home, I'll post some more pics when I can get some better shots.
cheers
fermi
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That not nudiflorus looks to me like C. kotschyanus Fermi. Are the anthers white?
I have a bulb of Lilium majoense (syn. primulinum I think) which is from John Humphries' seed 3 years ago. I'm hoping it may flower next summer. Otto's is certainly gorgeous.
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Now it's clear, Fermi - and Lesley is right: This is Crocus kotschyanus!
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Otto (and Fermi),
Thanks for the lovely Crocus photos. Does the C. caspius open white and fade to pink, or are there two colour forms in the one clump? I don't know the species other than from pictures I've seen, but the combination of colours in your picture is lovely. That pale banaticus is very speccy too.... I've seen the normal blue, the bicolour (white smaller inner petals and blue outer petals) and the alba (now deceased unfortunately), but I haven't seen a paler blue self like that before. Any chance of a more closeup picture of that flower?
Thanks Fermi for taking the photos for us to enjoy. Some lovely species in there that I don't grow, and some lovely reminders of flowers that might pop up any time now in my crocus garden. ;D Great stuff!!
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Thanks, Thomas and Lesley for the ID.
Paul, you'll have to wait for an answer from Otto about the colour of the Crocus caspius.
cheers
fermi
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Thanks Fermi
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Here are a couple of small bulbs in flower now. Colchicum pusillum here is paler than David's. It will be best in a small trough I think.
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This is my best Cyclamen cilicium. The leaves are not so good as some others but it flowers furiously for 5 months and is a deeper shade of pink than the others, deeper than it appears here. The corm is around 20 years old now and measures over 15cms across, big, for cilicium. I wonder if it may be triploid as it has never set any seed even when hand pollinated from the others. It is never watered, relying on what little rain we get nowadays.
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I have 3 small plants of Rhodo. camtschaticum, from OAGG seed doanated by the Sutherlands of Ardfearn in Scotland. The packet said Red Form. Only one has flowered and it was a pure white. This first pic shows its yellow autumn leaf colour, as it is deciduous. The 2nd plant is also yellow now so may also be white flowered but the 3rd is orangey/red in autumn leaf so I'm hoping it may be pinkish or at least different from the white. This is a tiny plant which I almost lost in the summer of 06/07 due to its being too dry. I'm surprised I was able to rescue it, just 2cms across at the time.
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. Only one has flowered and it was a pure white. This first pic shows its yellow autumn leaf colour, as it is deciduous.
Nasty bit of luck there Leslie. For years I tried the grow the white form and hope I have it going now. It has a reputation for being very miffy. A friend on the coast here grew some type camtschaticum seed from the lady on Kodiak Island who also found the white form. In those days he could never get seed of the white form. One day a friend came to his garden to see his dwarf willows and spied 2-3 white seedlings that appeared as volunteers. He was stunned.
Count yourself very lucky!
johnw
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I do, John, very much so. I love white flowers and had wanted this one since seeing a lovely picture on the Forum a while back, posted by Ian Christie. I was thrilled when my first flower was white. It set a seed pod too. Half went to Otto Fauser in Australia and I sowed the rest. It will be interesting to see how true they come. But I have 8 cuttings in as a precaution.
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But I have 8 cuttings in as a precaution.
Leslie - Do tell us you when and how you rooted them. I rely on self-layering and my supposed-white one has not done that yet.
johnw
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This Gentiana picture is thanks to Yvonne yesterday morning. It's closed whenever I'm home, but more flowers are opening and hopefully some good viewing on the weekend! ;D
I am running on memory as to what this Peterostylis is. if the name is wrong I'll report it here so that it's fixed. It's an autumn flowering species, not a strange occurrence for a spring flowering one.
And lastly a pic from my garden this afternoon... the white fluffy bright bit is one of the grasses 'Sarabande'.
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Imagine the nerve of it? Grabbing Yvonne's copyright without a qualm!! ;D
Wonderful stuff Paul, looks like you have competition for the camera?
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Ah, I forgot this time. If you notice the Crocus asuminae pic I deliberately put a different watermark on it. Forgot this time though. Have taken pics myself this afternoon (home early for a change) of both the Gentiana and the C. asuminae. Won't bore you with them as have already posted Yvonne's. The gentian is the only one I have ever managed to flower a second year. I have an x acaulis that I've had for about 3 or 4 years now without a flower on it, but the 'Sri Krishna' is right near it and obviously is happier in warmer conditions. Will move my acaulis into the shadehouse I think, as the back verandah obviously doesn't quite suit. ;)
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Paul, glad you enjoyed the Crocus in my garden- there was just this one pale blue seedling of Cr. banaticus ,now finnished , so can't take a closeup . I will send you a couple of the white form next week . Cr. banaticus is one of the easiest species in my garden - both the deep purple form and the other with the 3 inner tepals a much paler colour, there are hundreds in the woodland.As to Cr, caspius :it also is so easy here ,all my stock is from P.F.5035 , which Paul Furse sent me in the 19sixties ,and seedlings appear in the most unexpected places, must be ants transporting the seed. They vary from pure white to pinkish-mauve{not on the same flower} ,and last year a deep pink-mauve seedling made its appearance .I will also include some caspius corms in your parcel. I'm surprised you can't keep any Gentians for a number of years. G. acaulis , dinarica , kochii, septemfida, etc. are very permanent here, also paradoxa, and for autumn flowers ternifolia, and sino-ornata and its hybrids .I thought with your cold winters in Canberra, you should succeed to flower them regularly.
Ciao Otto.
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Good morning Otto, nice to have you here again.
A little - very little - snow here overnight. Distinctly chilly!
John I have the cuttings in, but far from rooted as yet. They are in pure gritty sand with a sandy/humusy compost underneath. They were taken too late I think because like their parent, they're now losing their leaves. But the stems are still quite turgid so I hope they may last through the winter and make roots in the spring. There was so much new growth in Feb/March that I couldn't resist a few cuttings, some of top growth and a couple from runners. These came up a good 15cms away from the plant so I can see that if happy, it could cover a big area quite quickly. Fingers crossed. :)
My pot with Crocus asumaniae burst into flower yesterday - AS KOTSCHYANUS, 2 quite widely separated flowers so not the same corm. Don't know how this happened. The other was in there last year, maybe still to come through. But where did kotschyanus come from?
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Wow Otto. Thank You!! I'll email or PM you either later this evening or tomorrow.
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This has just opened it's first flower for the year...... Colchicum cupanii I think was what people said it was last year. I received it as C. psaridis.
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Quote"A little - very little - snow here overnight. Distinctly chilly!'.
No snow here Lesley but as you say rather chilly so before the frosts start thought i'd show a couple non alpines.
A couple of years ago some of you might remember i posted pics of a trip to the top of the West Coast NZ.While up there i dug up a rhizome of a ginger sps that was growing wild a few meters above the high tide mark .
Flowering for the first time ----Hedychium gardnerianum ,strongly scented .A terrible weed further up country so i've grown it in a pot out in the open all year round.Although frosts kill the top growth it is surprisingly hardy down here and reshoots late spring.(I moved the pot temporarily under cover to obtain clearer pics).
Also grown in a pot and hardy here is the Japanese banana --Musa basjoo .It is starting to send up small suckers, (5 so far),so in the spring i'll plant one or two out in the garden proper to try and obtain far larger specimens.
Cheers dave.
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Dave,
The Hedychium can be a problem over here too, being a bit too rampant. Mainly coastal areas rather than up here in the colder areas. I grow H. greenei quite happily here, although in pots a bit protected just to be safe. Lovely orange flowers, although nothing like the great spray of flowers on yours. Congrats on the Musa too..... never tried any Musa here as figure won't survive. Then again I think I've read that some species can survive quite a lot of frost?
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Paul
From what i understand the Musa is grown in far colder winter conditions than our zones ,(i read somewhere that in it's type location it receives frost and snow), and with your summer heat i'm sure you would get impressive plants.
A google' under Musa garden forums gains one an appreciation of how tough it really is.
Cheers
Dave from the banana belt.
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Hi Dave
If global warming continues you might be able to grow real bananas in a couple of years time ( or pineapples). Today I was quite pleased to find a clematis you had given me that I thought I had lost was still surviving.
It was a bit on the wintery side here Friday and yesterday but a nice day today.
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My pot with Crocus asumaniae burst into flower yesterday - AS KOTSCHYANUS, 2 quite widely separated flowers so not the same corm. Don't know how this happened. The other was in there last year, maybe still to come through. But where did kotschyanus come from?
Probably the same place my "Not nudiflorus" one came from!
cheers
fermi
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We have quite a few Oxalis in the garden but these we planted deliberately!
Oxalis flava yellow form.
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And in its mauve/pink form, in bud,
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And open the next day,
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And hiding under an artemesia mat!
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Oxalis hirta "Rosea"
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And finally the rather sweet little yellow Oxalis lobata, which flowers in Autumn and Spring.
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cheers
fermi
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I promised to show some more nerine pics last week and finally have some to show!
These were grown by Peter Genat, a cutflower grower in the Dandenongs, East of Melbourne.
A Pale pink hybrid,
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A pure white hybrid,
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and a pale red with a white centre,
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In the Sandbed one of the Moraea polystachya is already in flower!
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Also in flower for us is the yellow starflower, previously known as Ipheion hirtellum, but now a Nothoscordum, I think!
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cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Does that mean that the bulbs you sent me of the Ipheion/Nothoscordum should already be up? Should I be getting paranoid if they aren't already? Of course they may already be up but I haven't noticed them after work, but I would have thought I'd notice the yellow bud anyway. ??? Hopefully they're just biding their time. ;D
great Nerine pics as well. Lovely!
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Lovely plants Fermi. My own little nerines are a bit frustrating because I can't seem to get any seed from them. They were all raised from seed in the first place of course and their breeder, June Keeley of Timaru, hand-pollinated every year and was able to raise new shades each time. I've been hand-pollinating for the last five years or more and though they SEEM to make seeds, they shrivel and dry up before they're even half matured. I've sown the better ones on the off chance, but nothing.
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Here's a lesson in what NOT to do.
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Yesterday I went looking for a tray of young Cyclamen libanoticum, which I knew were around somewhere but couldn't find for a couple of days. In the summer I had stacked several trays of potted bulbs/corms, all thoroughly dormant, with a mental note to myself to get them properly lined out before the autumn. Frits are OK, they're still well underground; narcissus are OK, the early romieuxii and bulbocodium types were on the tops of the stacks. BUT, the cyclamen is well into growth and desperate for some air and light. They'll be OK in the long run but look a right mess for now. They're in bud already.
A lesson learned - I hope. :'( >:( :-[ ???
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Howdy All,
Assorted bits in flower at the moment, but I wanted to post this pic I took last week or a lovely little Cyclamen coum grown from seed of 'Tilebarn Elisabeth' that came from our own Anne Wright. This one has the silverest leaves of the lot, as most of the rest have the green edge to them, but there is a lot of variability. I really must check up one of these days what the parent actually looked like and therefore which is "true" and which isn't. Please excuse the brown sheen on the leaves as we had a bit of a dust and mud rain a while back (strong winds mixed with light rain meant a brown coating on everything. It still hasn't washed off properly). It's a beauty of a plant I must say. Thanks Anne!!!!
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More Oxalis are in bloom,
the first is a little yellow one whose name I probably have mispelt! Oxalis kaajvoensis:
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The second is flowering for the second year in a row! The rather pale lilac (pink?) bloom of Oxalis palmifrons which is grown more for its foliage than its floral effects!
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The first flower on galanthus peshmenii,
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This Wahlenbergia "Porcelain Stars" has been in flower in dribs and drabs over the summer but looks happier now in the cooler weather.
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cheers
fermi
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Lovely Oxalis Fermi. I don't have the first one (does that look like a seed pod on it near the bottom of the pic?) and O. palmifrons has NEVER had a flower for me. But where are the leaves? Mine are in full leaf now, 2 huge potsful, no sign of any flowers, as usual.
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Here is O. lobata again. It's better than ever this year and has been in flower now for about 6 weeks.
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Another nice little bulb at this time of year is Polyxena longituba. This is a pot of seedlings which hasn't been divided up yet. The flowers are very highly scented and though they seem white here, are actually very pale pink, with a bluish green line from the tip of each lobe, down the tube, on the outside. I sent some seed away recently and will have plenty more next sumer if anyone is interested.
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Hi Lesley,
I think Oxalis palmifrons must flower before the foliage so once you see foliage, forget flowers! I'll check the O. kaajvoegensis for seed!
Another Nerine to flower is a bright pink one I got from Peter Genat last year.
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Here are the last flowers on the white Cyclamen graecum.
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Here's the last colchicum, I'm not sure what sort? Maybe a C. speciosum?
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And lastly some seed on Paeonia mascula ssp russii.
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cheers
fermi
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Nice flowers from down under.
Fermi the lovely reed of the "flesh" of the seed caps is great.
I have a hard time liking oxalis but You make it easier with this lovely ones. 8)
I hate the yellow weed that is almost everywhere in Portugal :'( :'( :'(
Thanks to all who posts pics here :-* :-* :-*
I also like that You show us so lovely South African/South American as well as Your own native things that we should look out for and try to get here in the south of Europe that has similar climate?!.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Howdy All,
Is there enough interest in Australian native plants for me to post here (or perhaps start a separate topic would be better?) pics of some of the stuff I see in flower in the Australian National Botanic Gardens where I am working at the moment? There are lots of things in flower at the moment that I've never seen before including assorted unusual species of Grevillea, Hakea etc and numerous other things in genus I've never even heard of before in many cases. Not sure if this would be of interest or not, which is why I ask. ???
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Paul, I think a new thread forAustralian Native Plants would be a great idea! Thanks for suggesting it....so, over toy you... 8)
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Great idea Paul.
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I agree too. Maybe I don't always say but I love to see pictures of what you in the upside down world grow! ;D
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Coolo. I'll carry a camera around with me one day and photograph some bits and pieces. Since working there I haven't actually had a chance to wander around, so best to take the camera with me while working to take a few snaps. Theres a particular Grevillea and a Hakea that are what made me think of it..... keep meaning to photograph both of them. ::)
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In a friend's garden a couple of days ago, I took these two. Luzula crenulata is the most perfect bun you can imagine. The flowers aren't up to much - I think it's a sedgey kind of thing - but the roundness of the cushion is immaculate.
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Our native Gunnera prorepens is a great groundcover, weed suppressing and vigorous where it's damp. The bonus is these amazing red "candles," which are the seeds. The white thing is a chair leg which I couldn't avoid or move.
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I only dropped in for a quick cuppa but after 3 hours came away with bags of plants including many I'd lost in recent years and haven't seen in any nurseries. They included Aphyllanthes monspeliensis, Potentilla verna nana, Teucrium polium, Origanum microphyllum, the gunnera and another hybrid one and G. hamiltonii, so I had a wonderful morning with a hugely generous friend.
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Paul,
great idea to show more Aussie native Plants!
Lesley,
great pic of that Luzula! Now that you mention Aphyllanthes, how do you grow it? I have a couple of seedlings which I'm concerned about as they will soon outgrow the seedpot! Should I split them up or just pot on into a bigger pot without disturbing the roots? I know you've mentioned growing this before so I hope you have some hints!
cheers
fermi
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What a wonderful Gunnera, Lesley.
G. prorepens never seen here.
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Luzula sylvatica (Woodrush) grows in our woods locally, but that is a lovely plant. Is is easy to grow? Do you have any cuttings Lesley?
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Lesley,
Fabulous gunnera. The nearest to it growing here is Gunnera magellanica which, unfortunately, doesn't have such bright red flowers. On the west coast of Ireland Gunnera manicata (Sp?) has become an invasive weed. An impressive plant but certainly unwelcome in great number.
What are the dimensions of G. prorepens?
Paddy
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Both these plants belong to my friend but I'm sure she'd be happy to supply seed and a few cuttings if anyone is interested. I have the gunnera here as well (from her) and could send some. The dimensions of this particular plant Paddy are (approx) 3cms high (10 in flower/seed) by more than a metre diameter, and putting out runners in all directions. Joan had put fresh woodchips on her paths and it was positively rushing into those. But her garden is very shady and damp all year round. It would be less rampant in a dryer place.
I used to have G. magellanica but it seems lost to everyone now. I've been trying to replace it for several years, with no luck. G. manicata is becoming a problem here too and is on DOC's hit list.
Fermi, when I had the Aphyllanthes growing (it got swamped by grass and I lost it altogether in the grass clumps) it was happy in full sun, ordinarily well drained and grew and flowered very well. It's entirely hardy and I don't think I'd put it in a pot. Some say it's difficult to propagate and I never had any seed but I did dig the clump every 3 years and pulled about half of it into quite small pieces to pot for the nursery. I don't think I ever lost a single one, so it may be a matter of timimg, to be successful. But, of course, I don't remember WHEN I did that, what time of year and it probably wouldn't have been at the same time every time. If I were you I'd certainly put one into the open garden. It should enjoy your conditions.
A silly story here: Several years ago there was a very well known English woman in NZ doing a round of public lectures. She was extremely boring, not speaking about the plants she showed, just putting up the slide and saying the name, nothing about where, how, or anything else about it at all. The one exception was Aphyllanthes monspeliensis. She showed a picture she had taken in Spain I think, of it growing in the wild, and she said that here was a very rare plant no-one in NZ would have ever seen before. Two sister-in-law in the audiense immediately leapt to their feet and said very loudly that yes, they did know it and in fact they had each bought a plant of it that very morning from my nursery, which they had.