Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Gerdk on September 02, 2018, 03:12:26 PM
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Here are some 'red ones'
1. Eccremocarpus scaber
2.+3. Fire beans
4. Cherry tomatoes (sorry - no flowers but a good color)
Gerd
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Here are some 'red ones'
1. Eccremocarpus scaber
2.+3. Fire beans
4. Cherry tomatoes (sorry - no flowers but a good color)
Gerd
Nice colour to start the month!
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Thank you Cohan!
I forgot to mention that flowers (and fruits) started some time earlier than September!
Gerd
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Gerd,
Do your tomatoes have good favor?
Years ago I bred tomatoes on our farm. I kept all the seed lines. One variety, "Freya's Tears" is an open pollinated orange cherry tomato. Folks would line up before we opened on Sunday mornings and we would sell out before 7:00 a.m. From the reaction, it must have been a good tomato. Would you like to try growing this variety next year?
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Yes certainly some lovely bright colour. We haven't got a lot left after the heat this year, but I found a few.
This Campanula is usually the last to flower but not this late before.
The Colchicums have surprised us a drop of rain and up they came. The Cyclamen border in the front is mainly due to the ants.
A dainty Cyclamen graecum and a late Erodium.
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Nerine masoniorum has been on the bench at Ponteland but much too early this year. And our good old faithful Sedum.
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Gerd,
Do your tomatoes have good favor?
Years ago I bred tomatoes on our farm. I kept all the seed lines. One variety, "Freya's Tears" is an open pollinated orange cherry tomato. Folks would line up before we opened on Sunday mornings and we would sell out before 7:00 a.m. From the reaction, it must have been a good tomato. Would you like to try growing this variety next year?
Robert,
My tomatoes were planted for my youngest grandson who appreciate them a lot - he likes especially
to pick the fruits. It is the cherry tomato 'Delicacy', a F1 hybrid. This means it will not come true from
its own seeds. The flavor is fine but the variety is somewhat hard-shelled.
Of course it will be fine to try your variety which is better suited for a propagation for own use.
Thank you for your kind offer!
Gerd
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A kind gift from Gerd, Ranunculus bullatus. I have one bulb in the garden and two pots in the greenhouse.
[attachimg=1]
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Pictures taken today.
Gentiana 'Silken Seas'
Gypsophila repens 'Dubia'
Hypericum Inodorum 'Magical Grace'
Pyracantha coccinea 'Orange Glow'
The Gypsophila put on a decent show of flowers in early June and I gave it a good clip after the show was over. . . . Its put on a second flush now. ;D
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Very colourful John.
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David did you try to grow it in the garden?
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Yes certainly some lovely bright colour. We haven't got a lot left after the heat this year, but I found a few.
This Campanula is usually the last to flower but not this late before.
The Colchicums have surprised us a drop of rain and up they came. The Cyclamen border in the front is mainly due to the ants.
A dainty Cyclamen graecum and a late Erodium.
Very cute Erodium. I have to confess that I rather lose interest in the garden at this time of year-- there are still some things in flower, but I am more occupied thinking about getting ready for winter-- doing the last planting out of seedlings, and/or giving up on planting for the year and getting pots sunk and protected, etc. I am behind on planting this year, so I think I will need to prepare some more plunge area (small pots left on top of the soil are not a safe bet for overwintering most things!).. and I need to start cutting firewood!
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Nerine masoniorum has been on the bench at Ponteland but much too early this year. And our good old faithful Sedum.
The Sedum is very spectabile! Somehow I don't have any of the big ones.. I planted a number of small (Hylotelephium sorts) cultivars, but not sure they are all that happy.. will have to think about siting if they don't look more enthusiastic next year...
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Very colourful John.
I'll second that :) and cute Ranunculus, David!
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Very colourful John.
I have one bulb in the garden Yann but nothing showing yet.
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A few images from our Sacramento garden yesterday, 4 September.
Late in the summer there is a full variety of vegetables to harvest from our vegetable garden. The heirloom tomato Cosmonaut Volkov has great flavor and is a favorite with our family.
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The peppers are sweet and delicious when they turn red. I generally grow Marconi Peppers from my own seed stock. They have fantastic flavor. Pictured are Gypsy hybrid Peppers. They are okay, however we prefer the Marconi variety and a few other heirloom varieties.
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This Rhodophiliala species is just one of many ornamental species blooming in our garden at this time.
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Gladiolus oppostitifolius is a very reliable species in our garden. We grow them from seed. The seedlings exhibit a degree of variation in the shade of their pink flowers when grown from seed.
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Eriogonum wrightii var. subscaposum is just one of a number of Eriogonum species that thrive in our garden. These too are grown from seed and the best plants are selected. This selection blooms with masses of small white flowers in the late summer. It is a xeric species and thrives in our garden with no, or very little, summer irrigation.
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Cyclamen hederifolium is almost weedy in our garden. This batch is blooming next to a Lilium pardalinum hydrid that is going dormant for the season.
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Pink is the dominant color, however we get some whites as well as darker colors with any effort on our part.
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Of coarse, all the Cyclamen flowers are appreciated this time of year. We do have other Cyclamen species blooming. Unfortunately I did not have a lot of time to photograph them on this day.
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Tithinia rotundifolia is a very common summer annual that we maintain by seed. This species and Zinna elegans are magnets for butterflies when they bloom. We would not think of excluding these common annuals from our garden. The flowers are pretty and the butterflies are divine. This year we have enjoyed Mournful Duskywings, Erynnis tristis, Fiery skippers, Hylephila phyleus, Monarchs, Danaus plexippus, and many other species.
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Lately, most of my time has been spent expanding our vegetable garden. The new vegetable beds are 30 inches (76 cm) wide. Eliot Coleman promotes the relatively narrow beds and it is a great idea that works well for us. Harvesting and maintaining the beds is easy and one can easily straddle a bed with one foot on each side.
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Here you can see the homemade compost that I just applied to the beds. In the background is another gardening project. The cider blocks will be leveled and filled with gritty soil for California native buds, annuals, and a few other favorite California native species such as selected forms of Salvia sonomensis.
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The last step before planting is adding rock powders, Greensand, Phosphate Rock, Gypsum, and Kelp Meal. This is all worked lightly into the top few cm of the soil. A nice assortment of winter greens, roots, and other vegetables will be planted. Additions tubs will be planted with herbs of various sorts.
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(Attachment Link)
Lately, most of my time has been spent expanding our vegetable garden. The new vegetable beds are 30 inches (76 cm) wide. Eliot Coleman promotes the relatively narrow beds and it is a great idea that works well for us. Harvesting and maintaining the beds is easy and one can easily straddle a bed with one foot on each side.
I think narrow is a good idea-- I have some beds I built to access from various sides, measuring my reach to the middle from the side, but it is not always convenient.. my rock and woodland gardens etc, are mostly narrow ridges, berms, etc..
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Robert, I love the bright colour of the Tithonia!
- By the way: which violet species grows around your Cyclamen hederifolium?
Gerd
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Tithinia rotundifolia is a very common summer annual that we maintain by seed. This species and Zinna elegans are magnets for butterflies when they bloom. We would not think of excluding these common annuals from our garden. The flowers are pretty and the butterflies are divine. This year we have enjoyed Mournful Duskywings, Erynnis tristis, Fiery skippers, Hylephila phyleus, Monarchs, Danaus plexippus, and many other species.
Indeed, I planted a border of annuals this year - after about 20 years without, and I must say it really is a top restaurant for bees and bumblebees. In particular the Rudbeckia Hirta and the Cerinthe major are constantly visited by polinators. One of the things we had in mind when planning our annuals border was to use only plants that are as well very decorative for us as good feeding plants for the bees. And our experience this year exceeds by far our expectations. Planting my left-over stock of marigolds in the greenhouse also attracted lots of pollinators into teh greenhouse (leaving the door open and the can also exit by the top of the roof) so that I did not even need to hand pollinate the bell peppers in the greenhouse this year.
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I think narrow is a good idea-- I have some beds I built to access from various sides, measuring my reach to the middle from the side, but it is not always convenient.. my rock and woodland gardens etc, are mostly narrow ridges, berms, etc..
When I farmed I used 4 foot wide beds, as per John Jeavons. This certainly increased production, but could be difficult on the back. In our home garden I am looking for something much easier. :)
Robert, I love the bright colour of the Tithonia!
- By the way: which violet species grows around your Cyclamen hederifolium?
Gerd
Gerd,
The Violas pictured are Viola sororia, Common Blue Violet. They are very weedy in our garden, so you can see that our garden needs some attention. :-[ Viola riviniana Purpurea Group is also very weedy in our garden. I generally weed both species very hard and some always remain, bloom (which is very nice to see in the spring), and continue on. They will always be with us, which is quite fine with me. :)
Tithonia is extremely easy to grow in our climate. I like the flowers, however the main goal is to provide habitat and food for our native Butterfly species. The environment for many species is deteriorating rapidly in California. I have been doing counts of the various species for a number of years at our Sacramento home (and elsewhere).
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Francois,
Very pleased to hear your report. 8)
Growing other species beyond alpines has its place (at least in our garden). My wife and I love the butterflies, bees, and many other insect species in our garden. Many of our California native species, such as Eriogonums, attract butterflies, etc. , however in our area these beings need as much help as possible. In addition, the native species often have a limited blooming period. In our garden growing annuals it is one tiny example how we can coexist happily with many different species in our garden.
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Robert:
Your veggie garden looks like mine.
I found a commercial product comprised of all the materials you applied.
Here's a link to a blurb on it. http://www.growgreatvegetables.com/fertilizers/a-great-organic-fertilizer-mix/ (http://www.growgreatvegetables.com/fertilizers/a-great-organic-fertilizer-mix/)
Hard to find here on the east coast
I've read Steve Solomon's book and growing vegetables and following many of his recommendations.
He calls it Complete Organic Fertilizer. (COF)
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Thank you Robert!
Both of your (very welcome) weedy violets are distributet in my garden too.
Gerd
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Robert:
Your veggie garden looks like mine.
8)
Arnold,
Good to hear from you. :)
Jasmin and I are doing fine. We do not like being apart when I am out-of-town. It feels a bit like what Seretse and Ruth Khama went through. Well not that awful. But the separation seems to go on and on. Some day something better will turn up. :)
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Francois,
Very pleased to hear your report. 8)
Growing other species beyond alpines has its place (at least in our garden). My wife and I love the butterflies, bees, and many other insect species in our garden. Many of our California native species, such as Eriogonums, attract butterflies, etc. , however in our area these beings need as much help as possible. In addition, the native species often have a limited blooming period. In our garden growing annuals it is one tiny example how we can coexist happily with many different species in our garden.
Hello Robert,
Where I live the governement is making efforts to increase biodiversity of (flowering) plants by replicating old farming techniques in the management of the roadsides. Untill perhaps the late 30-ies of the previous century it was common that sheep would graze on the roadsides. Since this had been done for decades or even centuries it had resulted in strongly depleted soils, but such soils are a heaven for all kinds of flowering plants that can't otherwise compete with stronger and faster growing grasses. Since then there are less and less sheep and shepherds, modern agriculture not only fertilizes the fields, but in the end the entire environment got overfertilized.
Since a couple of years, when the roadsides are mown the clippings are evacuated so that the soil finally can get rid of some of its excessive nutrients. But the first results are really encouraging. Where a few year ago roadsides were only covered by grass & nettles and at best some dandelions or ranunculus flowering in spring, we now see more & flowers in summer & fall. One of the fastest summer flowering species to have reapeared massively is tancy (Tanacetum vulgare), which is a fantastic bee feeder. But still more is showing up.
Lot's of botanically rich biotopes here in Europe have been man-created by sheep or other cattle grazing, while the meat, milk, wool, manure we get from the animals in the end resulted in those soils getting poorer & poorer. But since this kind of extensive agriculture is no longer economically sustainable the former pastures slowly change into forests mostly - in particular because there are no animals eating the seedlings of the trees neither humans cutting down the trees to leave more room for the lower palatable vegetation and the soils slowly regaining their original nutrient level. There are a few tests with using grazing animals to maintain interesting biotopes, mostly we use some Scottish highland cattle because these animals can take care of themselves.
Anyway ... a bit a long text just to say in our country we are making efforts to have flowers until late fall available to nature.
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Monsierur Lambert,
I can not thank you enough for your last posting!
I found the information extremely fascinating. I will try to looking into this in more detail.
Your efforts to write such a long posting are greatly appreciated.
P.S.
After a bit of thought... is there an easy method to email a copy of your last posting to me or for me to copy and paste it? I do want to follow up on the information.
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I am sorry I cannot grow annuals! (Or I couldn't - it seems the slug population has decreased considerably this year.) Maybe I should try some next spring!
In the meantime I enjoy the colours of nature. Here are some photographs from the mountains this week.
View at Haukeliseter, Telemark, Norway.
Rubus saxatilis
Potentilla erecta
Potentilla palusreis
Exobasidium vaccinii-uliginosi
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Lycopodium clavatum
Geranium sylvaticum - despite the epithet 'sylvaticum' this plant is common in above timberline.
Vaccinium myrtillus and Empetrum hermafroditum
Eriophorum foliage
Athyrium dissentifolium
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Cornus suecica
Eriophorum scheuchzeri
Oxyris digyna
Rhodiola rosea
Athyrium dissentifolium
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No snow yet. The first picture shows morning dew in the woolen seeds of Salix herbacea.
The second shows a fungus, Exobasidium vaccinii-uliginosi on Vaccinium uliginosum.
Potentilla palustris
Salix glauca
Salix lanata
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Fantastic pictures... Hoy. The landscape impresses me very much. All plants are colossal. Especially Rhodiola rosea... beautiful even at this stage.
I (beginner) did not know Oxyris digyna yet. Absolutely brilliant.
I like the late summer and the autumn very much.
Thanks
Thomas
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Fantastic pictures... Hoy. The landscape impresses me very much. All plants are colossal. Especially Rhodiola rosea... beautiful even at this stage.
I (beginner) did not know Oxyris digyna yet. Absolutely brilliant.
I like the late summer and the autumn very much.
Thanks
Thomas
Thank you Thomas!
Here are some pictures of the landscape up there.
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Wow! The colours of autumn in these fantastic photos, Trond!
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Hi Trond,
Some very fine autumn colors. 8)
It is still far too warm for autumn color here in California. It was 91 F (32.8 C) at the farm today - 8 September and only 45 F (7.2 C) at Loon Lake this morning. It does look like some cold air is going to dig into our area. This might trigger some color changes at the higher elevations. I saw some Aspen today and they were still green (and or brown, as dry weather seems to be getting to them first). :P
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Wow! The colours of autumn in these fantastic photos, Trond!
Thank you, Maggi!
Hi Trond,
Some very fine autumn colors. 8)
It is still far too warm for autumn color here in California. It was 91 F (32.8 C) at the farm today - 8 September and only 45 F (7.2 C) at Loon Lake this morning. It does look like some cold air is going to dig into our area. This might trigger some color changes at the higher elevations. I saw some Aspen today and they were still green (and or brown, as dry weather seems to be getting to them first). :P
Thank you, Robert.
The autumn colours are only in the mountains so far. Sun and a few cold nights in September and then it starts. At home we still have above 10C/50F during the nights.
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Trond these landscapes are sumptuous :o
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Hello Robert,
Where I live the governement is making efforts to increase biodiversity of (flowering) plants by replicating old farming techniques in the management of the roadsides. Untill perhaps the late 30-ies of the previous century it was common that sheep would graze on the roadsides. Since this had been done for decades or even centuries it had resulted in strongly depleted soils, but such soils are a heaven for all kinds of flowering plants that can't otherwise compete with stronger and faster growing grasses. Since then there are less and less sheep and shepherds, modern agriculture not only fertilizes the fields, but in the end the entire environment got overfertilized.
Since a couple of years, when the roadsides are mown the clippings are evacuated so that the soil finally can get rid of some of its excessive nutrients. But the first results are really encouraging. Where a few year ago roadsides were only covered by grass & nettles and at best some dandelions or ranunculus flowering in spring, we now see more & flowers in summer & fall. One of the fastest summer flowering species to have reapeared massively is tancy (Tanacetum vulgare), which is a fantastic bee feeder. But still more is showing up.
Lot's of botanically rich biotopes here in Europe have been man-created by sheep or other cattle grazing, while the meat, milk, wool, manure we get from the animals in the end resulted in those soils getting poorer & poorer. But since this kind of extensive agriculture is no longer economically sustainable the former pastures slowly change into forests mostly - in particular because there are no animals eating the seedlings of the trees neither humans cutting down the trees to leave more room for the lower palatable vegetation and the soils slowly regaining their original nutrient level. There are a few tests with using grazing animals to maintain interesting biotopes, mostly we use some Scottish highland cattle because these animals can take care of themselves.
Anyway ... a bit a long text just to say in our country we are making efforts to have flowers until late fall available to nature.
Interesting! Always good to remember that there is more than one answer to biodiversity...
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Cornus suecica
Eriophorum scheuchzeri
Oxyris digyna
Rhodiola rosea
Athyrium dissentifolium
Lots of nice colour! Coming along here, too.. Oxyria seems to colour very early in the garden, lots of bright shades, and also a second round of flowering.. R
hodiola had not coloured, last I looked ( a few days ago).
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Some wild fall colour, on the acreage and around
1-Cornus canadensis/ Bunchberry with leaves of Maianthemum canadense/ Wild Lily of the Valley
2-Maianthemum canadense/ Wild Lily of the Valley, not fully ripe berries
3- Viburnum edule/ High/Low Bush Cranberry with Symphoricarpos albus/ Snowberry, Epilobium angustifolium/ Fireweed etc
And one from the garden
4-Sorbus cf S wilsoniana young plant
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David did you try to grow it in the garden?
Here's the one in the garden.
[attachimg=1]
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Here's the one in the garden.
Congratulations! It seems this species is not as sensitive as I guessed.
Gerd
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Some threatening and dramatic skies, occasional rain in recent days, though less than forecast as is almost always the case... today it is even overcast, with snow/rain mix forecast-- already a few flakes have come...
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1-first mountain view in weeks (we've had smoke from distant fires)
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2-some thundery clouds passing to the north as they are wont to do..
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-the slough begins to turn, though tamarack (Larix) still solidly green
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Unusual (second) flowers in the pear tree ;-) (Clematis tangutica)
Bernd
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Recycling is good, and when you recycle the potting soil including the dead plant you can get nice surprises.
I noticed something growing in pot of ornamental ginger and just let it grow because it looked like an interesting plant. At first I thought it was a banana tree for the shape of the leaves and the incredibly fast growth, but now that it flowers I see it's a canna.
I had a similar canna seedling a number of years ago, but that one died, apparently these seedlings don't need a winter rest and will in fact die if they can't continue to grow during winter. I do remember however that I got some seeds from that previous one ... So I may just have some kind of annual canna from seed here.
[attachimg=1]
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cohan,
I enjoyed our landscape and sky scenes posted on the 12th.
Very 8) and incredibly beautiful countryside.
We finally had some overcast skies yesterday. The cold air has yet to move in.
I just looked at the latest satellite image. I looks like the leading edge of the cold air mass will finally arrive later today. It has been very sluggish and slow to arrive. I am wondering how much it has been modified by its slow journey southward.
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Some whiteness this morning.. snow in September is completely normal here, and it wont last ;) Could be damp and or wet and chilly until Mon-Tuesday, slowly warming. Having an unforecast sunny moment just now, but the snow is still coming down..... just above freezing now, so it is melting on the steps, and the shovelled path, but still accumulating where there is already snow.. probably around 10cm now, these photos were a few hours ago..(and a couple from last night).
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cohan,
The scenes of the wet snow are beautiful. Has the weather warmed? Or is more stormy weather moving through the area? Right now it does not look like any below average cold weather will arrive anytime soon.
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Unusual (second) flowers in the pear tree ;-) (Clematis tangutica)
Bernd
They are just a big mass of fluff here..
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Recycling is good, and when you recycle the potting soil including the dead plant you can get nice surprises.
I noticed something growing in pot of ornamental ginger and just let it grow because it looked like an interesting plant. At first I thought it was a banana tree for the shape of the leaves and the incredibly fast growth, but now that it flowers I see it's a canna.
I had a similar canna seedling a number of years ago, but that one died, apparently these seedlings don't need a winter rest and will in fact die if they can't continue to grow during winter. I do remember however that I got some seeds from that previous one ... So I may just have some kind of annual canna from seed here.
Happy surprise :)
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Robert-- the weather has warmed just a couple of degrees, here, and is set to keep slowly increasing, though nothing as high as average in the next week's forecast... More snow and/or rain for the next few days..
A few shots from a trip to town yesterday...
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I found a white form of the common Knautia arvensis in a nearby forest. A cutting has rooted nicely and is now flowering in my garden along with the normal bluish ones. Knautia is a great plant, totally uncomplicated, drought resistant and always with a lot of butterflies.
Anders
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Robert-- the weather has warmed just a couple of degrees, here, and is set to keep slowly increasing, though nothing as high as average in the next week's forecast... More snow and/or rain for the next few days..
A few shots from a trip to town yesterday...
Beautiful scenes! 8) It looks like cattle ranching country. Back in the 1980's "Uncle Elwin" had a cattle ranch next to the school house I lived in at the time. The ranch had been around since the 1800's including the school house I lived in. I enjoyed living in farm and ranch country. It was very peaceful and quiet. Yes, the cattle could be noisy at times, and my flock of chickens could be fussy, but in general it was extremely quiet. I even lived next to the main road! Needless to say, there was not much traffic.
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Ranunculus bullatus - later than it's British relative
;)
Gerd
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This is Erigeron karvinskiansus with never ending flowers - a most beautiful ' weed '
Gerd
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Beautiful scenes! 8) It looks like cattle ranching country. Back in the 1980's "Uncle Elwin" had a cattle ranch next to the school house I lived in at the time. The ranch had been around since the 1800's including the school house I lived in. I enjoyed living in farm and ranch country. It was very peaceful and quiet. Yes, the cattle could be noisy at times, and my flock of chickens could be fussy, but in general it was extremely quiet. I even lived next to the main road! Needless to say, there was not much traffic.
yes, cattle, some dairy, field crops such as barley and canola.. Also very much oil country. A lot more people than when I was growing up, so more traffic than there used to be.. still quiet compared to the city! The highway is 4 miles away, and that is pretty busy a lot of the time...
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This is Erigeron karvinskiansus with never ending flowers - a most beautiful ' weed '
Gerd
A good weed to have! Erik F in Victoria has mentioned this one..
I found a white form of the common Knautia arvensis in a nearby forest. A cutting has rooted nicely and is now flowering in my garden along with the normal bluish ones. Knautia is a great plant, totally uncomplicated, drought resistant and always with a lot of butterflies.
Anders
Nice to have natives that are good in the garden!
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yes, cattle, some dairy, field crops such as barley and canola.. Also very much oil country. A lot more people than when I was growing up, so more traffic than there used to be.. still quiet compared to the city! The highway is 4 miles away, and that is pretty busy a lot of the time...
Oil?
Does the oil industry impact your area? Does it impact the ground water? Tar sands? or are they far away from your location. My understanding of the tar sands is that the production into a useful product can be very messy and that there is an extremely low net energy gain from there production.
Anyway, your countryside is still very beautiful. I will be very curious about your garden when spring comes. I also hope that you will be able to share photographs of the countryside as late autumn and winter arrive. Snow is beautiful. :) At least at home. Around here it is no fun to drive in, especially with the careless drivers, the flatlanders. They no nothing about driving in the snow
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We can say fall arrived: Heptacodium miconioides is in flower providing to a myriad of pollinators, the first Colchicums showed up and in the woods Anemone virginiana foliage is turning red.
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Heptacodium miconioides looks beautiful Gabriela, and a welcome nectar source for insects toward the end of the season.
Does it manage to set seed for you?
Found a local supplier: Future Forests (https://futureforests.ie/collections/shrubs-h-o/products/heptacodium-miconioides) :)
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I was admiring the heptacodium too, I haven't come across it before. Anyone know if it will grow (and flower) in Scotland?
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Heptacodium miconioides has an RHS Award of Garden Merit, so it should be hardy in all UK. Grows okay in Wales I think.
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The most beautiful shrub in my garden is Heptacodium, i like the bark which wrap around the branches each summer and now it's also produce clouds of white and perfumed flowers. A must have for a small garden.
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I was admiring the heptacodium too, I haven't come across it before. Anyone know if it will grow (and flower) in Scotland?
Carolyn - It's perfectly hardy here in Nova Scotia. For outstanding bark don't miss Clethra barbinervis!
johnw
sunny & 17c
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Thanks, John and Maggi. Now I just need to find a space for one!
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Heptacodium miconioides looks beautiful Gabriela, and a welcome nectar source for insects toward the end of the season.
Does it manage to set seed for you?
Found a local supplier: Future Forests (https://futureforests.ie/collections/shrubs-h-o/products/heptacodium-miconioides) :)
No Ashley, I've seen bigger specimens in our regions and as well they don't have enough time to set seeds here. But the calyces will expand and turn red when weather is favorable. From the distance it looks like a second flowering :)
Like Yann said, the exfoliating bark is also very beautiful.
Following a discussion on FB with a lady from ORGS - I did cuttings today!! She has done cuttings in Sept. a few years ago and now has one young plant flowering.
I am very curious to see how this goes; we'll see in the spring.
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Here's the whole little tree today :) Myriads of bumblebees (various species), solitary bees and the Monarch was back in the morning :)
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Thanks Gabriela, yes I'm going to try this.
Another great nectar plant at this time of year is Ageratina ligustrina, but it might be too tender there in Ontario.
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If you want to attract bees in the late summer, Evodia is the tree to get.
Has been renamed Tetradium.
Small tree to 25-30 feet.
Flower profusely in mid to late August.
Nicked named the Bee-Bee tree.
I'll have seed soon in anyone wants to give it a try.
PM me.
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Arnold - I'd to try a few Evodia seeds again. The last batch you gave us grew like wildfire. I gave alot away and forgot to hang on to a couple for us. Let us know if there's anything you want from here.
john
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John:
Got it. Note fully ripe yet.
PM me an address.
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Pictures from Ian Christie of his hybrid Meconopsis x cookei 'Satin' flowering now - great colour and the foliage is very different from other M. x cookei
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Meconopsis x cookei 'Satin' leaves are more silvery and a different shape
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I was admiring the heptacodium too, I haven't come across it before. Anyone know if it will grow (and flower) in Scotland?
There is (or was) a Heptacodium in the Cruickshank Botanic Garden in Aberdeen. It was a bit crowded among other shrubs and small trees on the slope above the rock garden. I didn't see it flowering but remember seeing the bracts. I must look for it when I deliver plants for the sale at the end of October.
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Thanks, Roma, if it survives in Aberdeen it should flourish here in the south west. It's on my list of wants!
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First snow on mountains. Autumn is officially started.
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From the 2014 seedex; Clematis recta and unknown Aster
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Thanks Gabriela, yes I'm going to try this.
Another great nectar plant at this time of year is Ageratina ligustrina, but it might be too tender there in Ontario.
Thanks Ashley, Ageratina seems to be a very nice shrub, some call it Eupatorium I see, the flowers are very similar.
If you want to attract bees in the late summer, Evodia is the tree to get.
Has been renamed Tetradium.
Small tree to 25-30 feet.
Thanks Arnold for bringing this to the attention. I don't have space for another tree but it is good to know about the bee bee tree.
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There are a few nice things in our Sacramento garden. Epilobium ‘Wayne’s Silver’ has been blooming for > 2 months now.
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This Gilia capitata germinated during mid-summer. This is very unusual. The plant also appears to be a hybrid. I am hoping that this plant will set seed. Even if it does not, this will be a good learning experience.
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Tomorrow I will be leaving to be at the farm for a few days. The prime directive while I was in Sacramento was to get a few of the new vegetable beds planted. Even though it is hot now, > 32 C today, the weather is forecast to swing back to much below average temperatures in a day or two. This will be perfect germination weather for the cool season vegetables that have been planted. The row crop is to keep the cats and squirrels out of the seedbeds until they are very well established. It will be nice to have a steady supply of real food to eat! :)
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he pics were taken end of September - although in previous years we should have waited wait one more month before seeing the Ivy in flower. In normal years about the last plant to flower massively and provide all pollinators & other hungry insects a last meal before winter comes.
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It is often well into December before I notice the ivy flowers here, François - it has been an odd season!
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Begonia grandis brightens the days in the
autumn until the first frosts are coming.
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beautifull Begonia's Ruweiss.
I have begonia Sinensis flowering now, but the plants don't look good. I placed ij full sun and this seems not be the best place for them. Next year I try them on a shady spot.
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Francois, many thanks for the friendly comment. I cultivate my begonias in a semi-shaded peat bed
with other woodland plants with good results all over the years.
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Cobaea pringlei - quite late this year
Gerd
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Cobaea pringlei is interesting. I'll try one day .. no problem of hardiness at home, Gerd?
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Cobaea pringlei is interesting. I'll try one day .. no problem of hardiness at home, Gerd?
A plant in a container with only little protection died last winter. The seller from Düsseldorf told me that
he planted the species outside (in a garden bed near a tree) and it is hardy there with some covering.
Gerd
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A plant in a container with only little protection died last winter. The seller from Düsseldorf told me that
he planted the species outside (in a garden bed near a tree) and it is hardy there with some covering.
Gerd
Plants in container get the cold from all direction on their roots, which makes one colder night often fatal.