Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Seedy Subjects! => Seeds Wanted => Topic started by: maggiepie on March 18, 2009, 08:47:07 PM
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Am hoping someone might know a source for Geranium biuncinatum seed.
I can't find them anywhere. ???
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Well, Helen, if I had ever even heard of the plant I'd try to help! :P :-\
Mark Smyth is fond of Geraniums, he might know?
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Maggi, Mark seems to have disappeared, he must be very busy?
I did get some in the seed exchange, but there weren't any seeds, just empty capsules.
Can't believe something so beautiful is impossible to find. :'( :'( :'(
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I've sent Mark a message, Helen.
Is this the name of the one you just got chaff of? I didn't recognise it, must be going doolally... no surprise there, of course. I don't know it at all.
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I've sent Mark a message, Helen.
Is this the name of the one you just got chaff of? I didn't recognise it, must be going doolally... no surprise there, of course. I don't know it at all.
Yep, that's the one.
Do you like geraniums too?
I bought a couple of geranium books and the picture of this one is really, REALLY lovely.
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I like the tiny Geraniums, G. sanguinuem, lancastrense, farrei, cinereum and so on... we grow those in our d rive. I like little Erodiums too. I like to see drifts of bigger species but I haven't room for those here so I tend not to pay too much attention. :-[
Looking in an old RHS plantfinder I see only three places stocked you missing one. :-\
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Have never seen Farrei, is this what it looks like?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/115256/
That pic is soooooo cute don't recall seeing seeds for those either.
Am hoping to get a variety of erodium seeds shortly.
Wish me luck :)
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Geranium farreri?
If so, I shall try to collect seeds this summer.
(PS. I use the name "altagardener" on that forum.)
According to Yeo, G. biuncinatum is native to Yemen and the southern Red Sea area. Please do report back on hardiness, if you happen to find it!
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Lori, that's too funny, I didn't look closely at the photos and didn't see your name.
Can't believe you have Geranium farreri, I think your garden must be like the tardis. ::)
Do you remember where you got it?
Do you leave it outdoors for winter? :)
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It gets even funnier, Helen.... Todd Boland who took the other photos is/was a member of this Forum, too, though he was more active in the old version..... not sure if he still visits.... He's in Newfoundland! Small world, isn't it? ::)
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Yes, the G. farreri is outdoors and has been for a small # of years... I'm very interested in seeing what is hardy here, and have found it a surprisingly forgiving environment. (Conversely, I have next to no interest in growing anything in pots, or wintering any plant indoors. ;))
Edit: Helen, referring to my records, I got it in 2005 but did not note from where. I strongly suspect it was Beaver Creek, as they sell plants at the Calgary Rock and Alpine Garden Society plant sale in the spring.
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Helen Geranium biuncinatum isnt a reliable flowerer in that it more often than not sets seeds without producing the cerise and black flowers you seek. G. farreri is a beauty but can be short lived. If it's small and beautiful you are looking for go to Robin Parrer's geraniceae.com and but the tiny form of G. sanguineum or go to the local garden centre and buy some seeds of the blue annual G. bohemica
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Edit: Helen, referring to my records, I got it in 2005 but did not note from where. I strongly suspect it was Beaver Creek, as they sell plants at the Calgary Rock and Alpine Garden Society plant sale in the spring.
Lori, I am impressed with your records, everyone should have records, I keep telling myself I will start but never seem to get around to it. ::)
Mark, there's nothing I would like better than to order in a bunch of plants from Robin, but apart from needing a phyto certificate, I am told I would also need a permit ( another 35$) because of some types of nematodes in that area of California.
If Geranium biuncinatum isn't a reliable flowerer, perhaps you could tell me if Geranium Ocellatum is reliable.
Btw, local garden centres here don't sell such exotica as hardy geranium seed.
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G. bohemica is a good colour ... I don't know that one.
Btw, local garden centres here don't sell such exotica as hardy geranium seed.
They don't over here , either. Most do a great line in dishcloths , though....... :P
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G. bohemica is a good colour ... I don't know that one.
Btw, local garden centres here don't sell such exotica as hardy geranium seed.
They don't over here , either. Most do a great line in dishcloths , though....... :P
Was at a nursery yesterday Maggi, didn't see any dishcloths but did find a packet of Canary Creeper, do you know it?
(Tropaeolum peregrinum) am guessing that is prolly a silly question ;) ;) ;)
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Nice plant, Helen.... needs a warm sunny spot . Acts like an annual here though it may persist in warmer gardens. climbs up about 2ms .... pretty flowers.
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Maggi,
You used a word which my wife uses very frequently but which nobody else that I know ever uses - "doolally", as in "going doolally". It originated, I believe, with British troops awaiting transportation from a base, Deolali, in India, the long wait they endured in less than pleasant conditions and the strain it had on their nerves; somewhat similar to "cabin fever", I think.
Paddy
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Doolally is just up the road from Whitworth, Paddy! It's where the wife comes from! :D
We have always used that word in the Booker household. I wonder why? ::) ::) ::)
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Maggi,
You used a word which my wife uses very frequently but which nobody else that I know ever uses - "doolally", as in "going doolally". It originated, I believe, with British troops awaiting transportation from a base, Deolali, in India, the long wait they endured in less than pleasant conditions and the strain it had on their nerves; somewhat similar to "cabin fever", I think.
Paddy
I took it to mean losing the plot, I will have to add this little beauty to my vocabulary. ;D
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Nice plant, Helen.... needs a warm sunny spot . Acts like an annual here though it may persist in warmer gardens. climbs up about 2ms .... pretty flowers.
If it's easy to germinate then I don't mind if it only lasts a season, that is of course if it flowers first year.
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I don't know what your garden centers are like, but they are sometimes sold here as bedding plants. I can't remember if we've started them from seed, but I have this sense we did and that they do bloom first year. (That they are sold as bedding plants supports that too, as most such plants are grown from seed here (rather than cuttings).) Forms a tangled bushy vine covered in very bright flowers.
Edit: I should have mentioned that I'm referring above to the canary creeper.
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Lori, the garden centres around here stick to the old tried and true perennials plus some new introductions.
Last year there weren't even any hellebores around.
The hardy geraniums available last year were millions of Rozanne, Brookside, Jolly Bee and a few sanguineums, oh and Purple Pillow and Ballerina.
That's about it, although to be fair I have probably missed a few.
Thank goodness for seed exchanges!!!
;D ;D ;D
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We have always used that word in the Booker household. I wonder why? ::) ::) ::)
I have said it before and I'll probably say it again................There's often a clue, Cliff! ;D
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I managed to get seed of G biuncinatum from a seed exchange in 1996.
I was overwhelmed, after years of salivating over its gorgeous photo in
Yeo's book. I noted that it is an annual from Yemen, that one should
scratch the seeds, and that it will flower in winter in a greenhouse.
I never got around to sowing the seeds, probably because the timing didn't fit in
with my usual seed-sowing, and I was busy freezing vegetables or
making jam or something when I should have sowed them.
There is an article about someone who was successful at
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3139/biuncinatum.html
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I managed to get seed of G biuncinatum from a seed exchange in 1996.
I was overwhelmed, after years of salivating over its gorgeous photo in
Yeo's book. I noted that it is an annual from Yemen, that one should
scratch the seeds, and that it will flower in winter in a greenhouse.
I never got around to sowing the seeds, probably because the timing didn't fit in
with my usual seed-sowing, and I was busy freezing vegetables or
making jam or something when I should have sowed them.
There is an article about someone who was successful at
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3139/biuncinatum.html
Diane, I too fell in love with the flower after seeing the pic in Yeo's book, I am going to turn my attention to some G. Ocellatum seeds.
I still have a long list of wants, they are way too addictive ;)
I was lucky enough to get some geranium seeds in swaps, and the seed exchange and have a bunch of babies, I can't wait to see how they turn out.
Thanks for the link.
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According to Robin Parer it seeds freely. To me that means invasive
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According to Robin Parer it seeds freely. To me that means invasive
Mark, G biuncinatum or G. Ocellatum?
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G. ocellatum
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G. ocellatum
Then maybe I had better think twice.
Did she say if it was invasive in both warm and cold climates?
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"G. ocellatum
geraniums (annuals)
(Saudi Arabia) Small, deep pink flowers with a black center on a sprawling plant; seeds freely."
Coming from Saudi Arabia it's very unlikey to be hardy
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Then it's unlikely to be invasive here. ;D
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I found my two packets of 1996 biuncinatum seed and sowed them
a few days ago. They have germinated. I like seeds with a will to
live. I have found before that desert seeds don't mind being dry and
old and will germinate as soon as they are moistened.
I hope that they will turn out to be the black-eyed beauty. The seeds
are from two different exchanges. One package had small seeds and
the other had seed cases with two curled appendages at one end. I
did not note which packet came from which exchange, but sowed all
the seeds in one pot as I didn't expect them to grow. Both kinds
have germinated.
One lot was from the AGS, which didn't list the names of donors of
garden seeds. The other was from NARGS, and the seeds were
donated by three people, none of whose names are familiar to me.
One from Calgary Alberta in Canada, one from Devon in England,
and the third from New South Wales in Australia.
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I've been waiting and waiting for the buds to open on my super fast
growing biuncinatums.
I finally decided to take a closer look, and what Mark predicted has
happened: mine are setting seeds without ever producing petals.
These plants are from two different seed exchanges, and one exchange
had seed from three donors.
Shall I save the seeds, or will they carry on with their non-petal ways?
Meanwhile, someone has posted a picture in the Plant ID thread asking
the identity of a Geranium. Guess which? And theirs has the cerise flower
with the black centre, just like the picture in the book.
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Sorry Diane. I didn't mean to upset you by showing the actual flowers. I didn't know that they usually just set seed without flowering. The friend's garden that I saw them in had a few flowers on his, so it IS possible for them to flower. ::) I guess it just has to be the right climate, praying in the right direction, and holding your tongue in exactly the correct position in your mouth while humming the tune of your countries national anthem before the plant actually produces flowers? ;) I'm guessing I'll never see flowers on the plant I brought home. :o
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Diane, I wouldn't give up until I saw a flower :)
Someone in the forum mentioned a violet that took 7 years before it finally flowered. Maybe the next generation might flower?
Paul, keep us up to date on your plant.
Where your friend has his planted, is it full sun or shade, wet or dry etc?
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His is in dappled shade, and they had had 7+ inches of rain in the week or so before we visited (we haven't had 7+inches of rain in the total for our last 6 months! ::)). I don't know whether he gets flowers on them all the time or whether the rain stimulated a flush or not? Either way, his climate is a bit warmer night temps and far moister than mine here in Canberra. He's near the Waragamba Dam (which probably also increases the humidity) which is up in the hills to the west of Sydney.
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ah, just like I said
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Well, at least it took only a month to show its true nature. One month
from seed to seedpods.
Violets have pretty flowers and then later, just to make sure of producing
seeds, they have cleistogamous flowers. I'm not sure whether they
always do this, or whether it is done only when their noticeable flowers
have failed to attract a pollinator.
Maybe there aren't many insects in Yemen, so biuncinatum usually
dispenses with petals.
OK. I will try a second generation, with lots of watering, and as much
heat as I can muster, though that might be difficult.
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Diane,
My friend's garden gets down to just below freezing, although I would doubt it gets that cold in the area that he has these Geraniums as there is some tree cover that gives the shading etc. He has far better soil than me, and lots more water. What part of that combination got flowers for him I don't know. :o Next time I talk to him I'll ask him what temp that area of garden gets down to, and whether or not they die each year and return from seed.
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From what I've read, they are annuals.
We probably match Yemen for cold in winter - the coldest
we have ever had is about -9 C. In my whole life, the
ground froze only once. (That was so odd - walking in the
garden felt like walking on pavement, and it took me a while
to figure out how that could be.)
It is the summer heat we won't be able to match. Our usual
summer temperature is the low 20s, and I am prostrate from
the heat if we get to 28. This is in the hottest part of the day,
of course. The temperature drops a lot at night.
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Diane, I spent the first 50 years of my life in Australia , the heat of summer here kills me, mostly the humidity.
When I complain about the heat people ask me how on earth it can bother me when I lived in Australia for so long.
Sounds like Victoria is about the best place in Canada as far as temps go.( It is also one of the best places in Oz to live ;D)
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Diane,
I know that my friend's place had a week where they had multiple in the low 40s ('C) this summer. I was surprised that he was hotter than we were, but the temps were so strange this year here. ::)
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I just checked in Peter Yeo's second edition, and he wrote that
the several species in the same section of Geranium as biuncinatum
are all practitioners of cleistogamy.
I think they are all desert dwellers, so they probably don't have
many insects to entice with gorgeous flowers, so why waste the effort?