Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: fermi de Sousa on July 01, 2019, 03:21:15 AM
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It's the depths of winter here but the little Colchicum cupanii is still producing flowers!
cheers
fermi
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Mine isn't flowering this year or if it is it hasn't yet shown a nose about the pot surface. I do have a small pot though with the first of the 'Atlas Gold' form of Narcissus romieuxii, two out today and at least another 20 buds poised to open within days. The scent is very strong as I step out onto the back porch.
I feeling seedy at present having packed today the last of 18 applications for seed of different forms of Eranthis hiemalis for members of the NZ Fritillaria and Small Bulb Group. A very exciting package came two weeks ago from Friends in Belgium and Holland and while we (the Group) paid for some of the seed, most was a gift from those very generous growers. So I've been reassigning the 21 vars into about 180 plus seed envelopes and will post the last few in an hour when I've had yet another cup of coffee. We know from Wim Boens wonderful article in an early edition of "The International Rockgardener" that we've been sent some wonderful forms and most apparently come true or nearly so, from seed. So sowing this week then the quite long wait begins until flowering starts; 3 to 5 years for most vars.
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Hi Lesley,
I was going to wish you better health but then realised that you meant "seedy" in a different context!
Glad you've been having fun,
cheers
fermi
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Thanks for the thought anyway Fermi. :) I volunteered to pack and send all these because our seed team of 6 of whom I'm one, all are off to China or Switzerland or somewhere and I thought it was important to get them away quickly, freshness being a factor with Eranthis. Quite enjoyed it except for complaints from the sideline that there was no room for dinner on the dining table.
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Some flowers from my garden to cheer cold souls on short days;
1. Galanthus plicatus ssp. byzantinus
2. Canarina canariensis
3. Crocus olivieri
4. Crocus minimus
5. Dahlia excelsior
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Part 2
1. Galanthus elwesii "Three Leaves"
2. Eranthis hyemalis
3. Cyclamen coum "Red Robin"
4. Galanthus ikariae
5. Narcissus romieuxii ssp. albidus
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Some of your bulbs are very early compared with mine Jamus. The only crocus I have out is laevigatus I think in the variety fonteneyi. It is soft lavender with some feathering on the outer 3 petals and has been very reliable for many years. No eranthis showing at all yet though they are very much on my mind having just packeted up and sent out to members of NZ Fritillaria and Small Bulb Group, 21 vars of named eranthis hiemalis seeds, from BELGIUM. The only galanthus in flower are the remains of reginae-olgae mixed with elwesii v. hiemalis I think, and tomorrow I will have nivalis 'Wasp' finally open I think. We have a snowdrop event on later this month, a trip south to various large gardens. It was planned for August but everyone reckoned theirs were early so we transferred to late July but mine are not only later but later then usual.
Your Canarina is lovely.
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Hi Lesley, they are right on time for us here in Adelaide. I too have Crocus laevigatus var. fonteneyi flowering, but it is right near the end of flowering having started around the second week of June, 3 weeks ago! I would love to see pictures of your Galanthus 'Wasp', I've only seen it in books. I don't think that one is in Australia, but I might be wrong. As for the Canarina, I have two BIG plants and one little one, and all are different in flower colour. The one in the picture I posted is what I call my yellow form. The others are darker red. Last year I sent seed to George Simmler in Melbourne and he sent me a picture of AMAZING germination; a whole seedling tray packed full of baby Canarina canariensis. I can't take the credit, I think George has magic green fingers.
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It's frosty in Tasmania -this photo from Amarlie and Lesley of Kaydale Lodge Gardens....
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www.kaydalelodge.com.au (http://www.kaydalelodge.com.au)
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Central Otago has looked like that recently but not here nearer the coast. Each year I tell myself I'll travel up there to see and photograph the hoar frost and every year I chicken out. Not the cold so much but the ice on the roads, often not visible.
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We're having a respite from the frost with rain over the last few days - not heavy but steady.
Here are a couple of narcissus flowering well in winter.
The Narcissus tazetta italicus from seed from Betty Clark started flowering last month and is still going.
Narcissus 'Quen Dor' is another of Lawrence Trevanion's "Baby Talk" series
cheers
fermi
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1) First flowers on the winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima.
2) Flowering for the first time a new (?) Acis from Hillview last year. It's supposed to be Acis valentina but it's flowering in winter at the same time as Acis tingitana so I suspect a mix up :(
cheers
fermi
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Very wet here in Adelaide at the moment, which is good for some things, not so good for others... here are a few pics from the weekend.
1. Saxifraga hostii likes me, especially this one in a limestone trough. I hope it flowers!
2. First flowers on Narcissus 'Ben Bler' being weighed down by the rain.
3. First retics to flower, just 'Harmony'
4. Crocus imperati
5. Crocus biflorus ssp. melantherus
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We just returned from a few days away on Kangaroo Island and there were a few surprises waiting for me when I got home.
1. the first N. cyclamineus
2. N. 'Ben'Bler'
3. C. tommasinianus
4. Iris reticulata 'Purple Gem'
5. C. biflorus
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Lots of things going on this month. Jamus I tend to agree with Lesley - you are earlier than us.
Fermi, frost and rain, brrrr.
Marcus had wasp - I think it still grows in Susan's garden
Here are a few after a weekend in the garden.
1. Crocus biflorus alexandrii
2. a slightly tatty Crocus danfordiae - only one bulb
3. Hepatica nobilis
4. Cyclamen coum - could be the red robin
5. Mahonia in full show - not sure there'll be any berries as have noticed the birds nipping the flowers
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6. Galanthus - Lady Beatrix Stanley - Thank you Otto.
7. A creamy double picotee hellebore
8. Galanthus ikarieae - also kindly gifted by Otto
9. I'm not sure which galanthus this is - need to search for the label...
10. This crocus popped up in a pot of crocus chrysanthus but doesn't look right
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Jacqui your snowdrop looks like Brenda Troyle. I'm loving some of the little species at the moment, Galanthus rizehensis and G. woronowii.
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Some more from the winter garden:
1) Hesperantha humilis - a bit too small to release into the garden.
2) We got this as Acis valentina from Hillview last year but it's in flower now rather than autumn.
3) A lost label Narcissus which may be 'Virivest' one of Lawrence Trevanion's hybrids with "Narcissus viridiflorus blood".
4) Narcissus 'Viristar' another one of Lawrence's.
5) Helleborus 'Sophie's Delight' survived last summer!
cheers
fermi
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Narcissus viridiflorus seems to be a very good parent with some lovely and interesting children.
Are you sure the acis is not the winter one, Acis hiemalis?
Our 3 day snowdrop venture starts today at lunchtime at the Dunedin Botanic Garden then we go south to Maple Glen for mass plantings at both these places, then to Dave Toole's place then Hokonui Alpines and end on Thursday at Blue Mountain Nurseries from where I've ordered a number or rather expensive pleiones. The weather is foul, thick fog and drizzle, extremely wet and very cold. Hey ho!
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I've ordered some Pleiones too Lesley, but I went for the value for money pack! Hugo and I went hunting for sphagnum moss to mulch the pots (because I think it looks nice).
We had a few days away visiting my Dad on Kangaroo Island. He has a few old Narcissus varieties on his block...
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Dad's daffodils part 2
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Are you sure the acis is not the winter one, Acis hiemalis?
Hi Lesley,
Apparently that's a synonym for Acis nicaeensis which flowers later and is a bit shorter.
It does look a bit different to the Acis tingitana I originally got from Otto so at the least it's a different clone to that one.
Happy Snowdrop hunting, ;D
cheers
fermi
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I'm thrilled to see my first Alan McMurtrie Iris "in the flesh", this is
"Spot On" "Eye Catcher", flowering in my garden right now (Thank you Tim Drewitt).
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The iris is super Jamus and looks well settled in. I hope it proves to be vigorous. We have N. cyclamineus out too. Saw a lot of them over these few days. Mine are in bud but still not there yet.
Fermi I actually meant nicaeense but couldn't think if it and settled for hiemalis quite without meaning it as a synonym. The snowdroppers talked with Denis Hughes at Blue Mountain Nurseries. He had a really bad stroke in March but is coming through it wonderfully. However he says the word is often in his head but won't come through and I know how he feels because nicaeense was in mine but wouldn't reach the surface. It was great to see him upright and walking well, speaking freely, though he says it gets jumbled, but we could understand everything he said, and he also laughs and jokes a lot. So our few days ended on a good upbeat note.
I collected my pleiones (12 different,) only one ('Apricot Brandy') from my previous forms so it will be an exciting time in a month or 6 weeks when they begin to flower. All have fat buds. :) A few snowdrops too including a double form of plicatus and the old ordinary double nivalis which had passed me by previously.
just won't come through. I know what he means because nicaeense was there but wouldn't
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I had a very productive day in the garden yesterday, weeding mostly. I battle the Oxalis endlessly and it can really get me down, but I am winning the war! The other weed here which is REALLY annoying is Veronica arvensis. They seed like crazy and form a solid mat with a mass of fibrous roots. Does anyone else have trouble with it? It's a magic time of year when spring is just around the corner. I even had time to take some more creative portraits of plants.
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Beautiful jewel-like flowers, Jamus, with super photos, thank you!
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How beautiful, Jamus! Thanks for sharing your spring!
Kelly