Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Brian Ellis on December 08, 2017, 09:45:11 AM
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Flowering now is Clematis napaulensis, the seedling was a present from Anne Wright quite a few years ago and it now fills a holly tree - thanks Anne!
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We are also enjoying the scent and flowers of Coronilla valentina subsp glauca and Coronilla valentina subsp glauca 'Citrina' before the frosts get to them and set them back! The flowers of the second seemingly bigger than the darker yellow ones.
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Now that's a nice way to celebrate December, Brian - hope the frost keeps away from those beauties for a while yet.
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I do like those.
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Out of season flowers on Ipheion 'Charlotte Bishop'
Early flowers on Chaenomeles 'Nicoline'
No flowers but handsome leaves on Bergenia
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The first flowers are opening on Narcissus romieuxii aff. Actually, they have been out for awhile and this was my first opportunity to photograph them. The slugs got there first! :'(
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There are plenty of flower buds still, so there is plenty to look forward to.
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Some California native species in our garden.
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Eschscholzia caespitosa is seeding out all over the place in our Sacramento garden. The ones in the open ground are much smaller than the ones in containers. I don't mind letting them seed out in the containers. Eschscholzia lobbii does this too. I don't bother with E. californica as they are common in wildflower mixes sold in California. Out in the garden there are little seedlings of Gilla, Collonsia, ect. If all goes well it will be beautiful!
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There are a number of Lathyrus species native to California. These are seedlings of Lathyrus sulphureus coming along well. In our garden, I focus on growing our California native species.
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Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons - I finally have a great place to grow some of our California native Lupinus species, including the annual species. Lupinus nanus, bicolor and benthamii are just starting to come up now. Lupinus benthamii is spectacular.
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Scutellaria tuberosa is one of a number of California native Scutellaria species that I grow. I am extremely pleased to see these returning this autumn. S. tuberosa has very pretty flowers and will be a great addition to our garden.
I have much to look forward to this spring. 8)
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Hello, Robert.
You show us very nice seedlings. The foliage of Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons is especially nice of course. Indeed, this kind is a little bit too largely for my Alpinum.
I also am just with the sowing of various alpine. Some are also present from California. 😎
Thomas
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Scutellaria is one of my favourite genera, having first met it as S. orientalis in gravel on the roadsides in Greece way back in 1993, on an AGS tour with John Richards. The little yellow flowers which take on a brownish spot as they age, look very like a family of tiny meerkats and who doesn't love those? :) I had it from seed for a few years then lost it somewhere along the line but last year's SRGC seedlist provided seed which has grown well and some of the sdlgs are in bud now. I also have S. alpina x orientalis from the same source and though doing nicely it is much slower and the foliage does not suggest any orientalis in it at all. Time will tell. Then there is S. pontica a deep pick which I was given at our OAGG show in October and this is a deep pink and has rooted well from cuttings since. The three I would love to have are S. suffrutescens 'Texas Rose', also listed in the seedex these last weeks but not on our "permitted" list so no use applying for it, and two from the Tien Shan shown recently on Facebook, by Alexander Naumenko, from Morice in the Czech Republic. I wrote their names down and now can't find where I wrote them. I'll have to ask Alexander what they were but again they are not on our permitted list so couldn't have them even if a source could be found. I once had a super dark royal blue-flowered species but don't remember its name.
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Where is your loyalty Thomas? I thought you were strictly a lover/grower of New Zealand's alpine plants. ;D ;D ;D
Robert, do you grow or have you come across the stunning Lathyrus splendens? I'm not sure of its natural habitat, maybe further south than your place, I have the thought of New Mexico in mind perhaps. I had it here for a while, cutting grown from a friend's garden. She unfortunately died soon after and her garden, like so many, was raided then neglected and destroyed, at least so far as the special things were concerned. I've not seen it recently but certainly there was no sign of the Lathyrus when I last had a chance to look.
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Hi Lesley,
Lathyrus splendens is native to Southern California and Baja California. Unfortunately, their native habitat is a long distance from our Northern California home. Many of our Northern California Lathyrus species are very attractive and well worth growing.
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Scutellaria tuberosa - Perhaps you can understand why I am pleased to have it growing now. :) It is quite small and has wonderful deep bluish flowers. A real gem, at least in my mind. As an added bonus, it is 100% xeric. I do not water them at all during the summer.
I guess this is a good thing as we are back in drought mode. There has not been any meaningful precipitation in December to date. Today the north wind blew 20 mph all day with gusts to 48 mph. There has been some minor damage. The relative humidity was 20% at 3:30 p.m. I thought that it might be drier, but this was bad enough. We are hoping for more precipitation, however the 7 day GFS does not look promising at all. The pattern is the same as with the other recent drought years. We are certainly hoping for something better. :'(
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Where is your loyalty Thomas? I thought you were strictly a lover/grower of New Zealand's alpine plants. ;D ;D ;
;D ;D ;D
Hi Lesley.
Of course my biggest obsession is the alpine flora of New Zealand. 😁
However, my interest is valid for all mountain plants. I would also like to devote myself a little bit more to the flora of North America. There are so many unique Species there. For example... Douglasia arctica var. gormanii. Wonderfully, but inaccessibly.
Or the topical reports from Patagonia... breathtaking.
But my biggest love is and remains the native NZ... i swear. ;D ;D
Thomas
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Hi Thomas
Some photographs of some of our native Lupinus species.
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Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons - perennial with fantastic silvery foliage. 100% xeric and loves growing on hot (i.e. 40 C) south facing slopes in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Most likely an extremely difficult plant for you to grow, however perfect for us here in interior California and similar climates.
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Lupinus benthamii with Eschscholzia ceaspitosa. Both are annual.
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Lupinus nanus with Lupinus stiversii - Photograph from Yosemite National Park. Both are annual and spectacular when well grown. I have never tried Lupinus stiverii. It is not at all rare, I just have not been at the right place at the right time to gather seed. Timing is everything with Lupinus seed. The ripe seed dehisces and spreads quicky and easily; actually this is true for all of our California Lupinus species.
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.... no gardening today at Schwangau /Allgaeu / Bavaria .... have to wait ..... It still lasts here 100 years until the spring :-(
... but there is hope in the greenhouse :-)
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This was garden last week, snow nearly all gone now . Glad I have a greenhouse with a heater . Coffee , cake and plants and I can be happy in there.
Living on the top of the hill is a pain especially when the road that takes me to my house is just sheer ice and has been for the past week. Glad I have my secret stash of chocolate . Roll on spring .
Angie :)
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Nice bit of snow Angie, we hardly ever see it here these days.
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Makes a nice Christmas card Angie!
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It's nearly all away and I can say I am glad to see it go. I love the snow and its pretty but no being able to get out in my car isn't much fun. We have never had ice like this before and since its a private road the council don't grit it :'( Sayingall this what idiot that lives at the top of the hill would buy a Audi TT ::) ::) ::) stop laughing.
Angie :)
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The first days of winter and our Sacramento, California garden is quiet. In the last day or two it finally turned seasonally cold, i.e. frost in the morning. The 7 day GFS weather forecast still looks dry. We are hoping for a change to rainy weather.
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Moraea polystachya is one of the few plants in bloom now. There are a few flowers on Narcissus romieuxii and the late fall, early winter blooming Salvias, such as Salvia semiatrata.
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That's a lovely moraea Robert 8)
Here Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' is starting, perhaps a week or two later than usual.
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That's a lovely moraea Robert 8)
Here Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' is starting, perhaps a week or two later than usual.
Ashley,
'Jelena' will not start blooming for another 4 to 6 weeks up at our El Dorado County, California farm.
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First flower on a Narcissus cantabricus in my crevice garden
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My first Spring Dawn daffodil opened yesterday, and I still have a few autumn crocus and colchicums just about in flower in the garden.
A short winter; maybe ?
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'Jelena' will not start blooming for another 4 to 6 weeks up at our El Dorado County, California farm.
That's interesting Robert. The few witch hazels we grow span the whole winter, which I really appreciate. 'Jelena' starts the show in December, followed by 'Pallida' in January (exquisite scent) then finally 'Diane' in February-March with the main rush of snowdrops. They also give wonderful (if fleeting) autumn colour. Great plants.
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That's interesting Robert. The few witch hazels we grow span the whole winter, which I really appreciate. 'Jelena' starts the show in December, followed by 'Pallida' in January (exquisite scent) then finally 'Diane' in February-March with the main rush of snowdrops. They also give wonderful (if fleeting) autumn colour. Great plants.
Ashley,
'Jelena', 'Diane', and 'Pallida' all bloom, more or less, at the same time at our El Dorado County, California farm. Maybe the climate is more "continental" at the farm. 'Hiltingbury' is planted at our Sacramento, California home. It will blooming in January. The autumn foliage is great, especially at the farm where the autumn weather is much cooler.
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'Jelena' is the earliest of all here and can flower as early as Christmas and as late as the end of February. It may well be my favourite of the lot though everyone raves about 'Aphrodite'. Have never warmed to the reds as haven't seen them posotioned to show them at their best.
johnw
-2 & ice pellets
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Primula "wanda" flowering on Boxing Day.
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Welcome to the Forum IanR. As you see I am one of the most ancient of ancient monuments and it's always good to have new members join, especially at this time of year.
I see on our southern hemisphere news that in the north you are having some dreadful weather with snowfalls to record levels. On the other hand, we in the south are having daytime temperatures between high 20s and low 30s centigrade and are in urgent need of good rain.
In view of your cold, I have to say that Primula 'Wanda' is a brave little plant, but must be so welcome as an
early sign of spring to come. Warm (and very sunny) best wished to all Forumists for a happy, healthy and floral New Year. I hope you will enjoy Weldenia candida.
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Lesley
A very nice plant, these Weldenia candida. I enjoy this perfect appearance. :D
Thomas
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I see on our southern hemisphere news that in the north you are having some dreadful weather with snowfalls to record levels.
Warm (and very sunny) best wished to all Forumists for a happy, healthy and floral New Year. I hope you will enjoy Weldenia candida.
Lesley, Weldenia is new to me. What an exquisite plant! How does it grow for you? I awoke to -14C and snow, an arctic vortex has descended over the center of the continent, and isn't forecast to retreat anytime soon. What concerns me is the lack of an insulating snow layer on the ground before the onset of cold.
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The glowing green buds of Helleborus viridis preparing for the New Year...[attachimg=1]
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Haven't looked for buds yet but the weather was reasonable today.
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Beautiful pics.... ;D
thx
Bernd
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December has been warmer than usually here this year. There was snow in mid December but constant rains melted it away. Temperatures have been a little below and little above zero Celsius. Long term weather forecast says that milder than usual weather type continues, but I expect there will be snow soon.
Nothing flowers now, but Helleborus leaves look nice in the garden.
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Leena,
I love the rim of ice on the Helleborus in the first photograph! 8)
Here the dry and record or near record high temperatures continue. It looks like there will be a change with some much needed rain soon. Sadly it will also be rain in the Sierra Nevada, there we desperately need snow.
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I hope you do get some snow soon Leena.
For all missing the 'white stuff', there is plenty here and also very cold to end the year; -27C at 9 am this morning.
Now was here - Pinus strobus 'Excitation;
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and now is not :) Happy New Year everyone!
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Thank you Robert. :)
Gabriela, it is so cold over there! I'm glad you have snow to protect plants. I'm so happy it isn't that cold here now, in many years January is the coldest month and it is usual to have temperatures drop below -20C, but not this year.