Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: Rogan on July 05, 2009, 08:37:34 PM
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Here's a funny little fella in flower in the eaves of my greenhouse: Aristolochia macroura (spelling?). It reminds me of an Arisaema and / or Nepenthes - the 'pipe' is approximately 10 cm deep, and the tassel - approximately 60 - 80 cm long. It has quite a pong :P on close approach! Awfully cute though and well worth growing.
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That is interesting Rogan, probably wouldn't be hardy here, even under the eaves.
Are you looking forward to All Blacks v. Sprinboks? Personally, I don't think the South Africans have much to worry about.
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Impressive, Rogan. Definitely wouldn't survive under the eaves here unfortunately. :'(
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Oops! Posted this in the June thread, so will re-post it here!
"White fever is in full swing here in the Southern Hemisphere! But let's start with a Leuco-jock: Acis tingitana,
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The first galanthus elwesii is finally open; this is the one known as "Green Outer tips" which Marcus thinks is probably "Comet"; sorry for the poor pic - a bit rushed this morning!
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This DBI has been around awhile but I don't have a name for it; usuallythe winter flowers get frosted off but this lot just made it into flower during a frost free week!
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Another correa making a splash is "Firebird"
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cheers
fermi"
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I'm sure I know that little purple iris Fermi, one of the oldest inis around and known for its "remontant" or re-blooming quality, valuable for that reason. It'll come to me at 3am one morning! :D
Those little Correas are super.
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I'm sure I know that little purple iris Fermi, one of the oldest iris around and known for its "remontant" or re-blooming quality, valuable for that reason. It'll come to me at 3am one morning! :D
Well, I'll be here to read it when you remember! ;D
cheers
fermi
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Signs spring isn't too far away, Adonis amurensis and Scoliopus bigelowii.
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Wow, Doug. Very nice. My Scoliopus bigelowei was munched during dormancy by a cockatoo. A full year ago. When it hadn't surface I checked and found the whole crown munched neatly off, leaving the roots around it in place. I am guessing it was a cockatoo as it was so neatly removed. Was just starting to multiply too! ::) Such a tiny little flower, but so adorably cute.... I just loved it. Never grown the Adonis though. Thanks so much for the pictures. Far more mundane things flowering here at the moment..... Galanthus, Helleborus, Dianthus, Camellias, Iris histrio, Crocus varieties and Hoop Petticoat daffs. Nothing anywhere near as exotic as yours. ;D
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I'm sure I know that little purple iris Fermi, one of the oldest inis around and known for its "remontant" or re-blooming quality, valuable for that reason. It'll come to me at 3am one morning! :D
Those little Correas are super.
I would like to know what it is too - when Lesley remembers :)
How tall is it Fermi?
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Doug,
Two brilliant and beautiful plants. Two absolute dotes.
Paddy
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I'm sure I know that little purple iris Fermi, one of the oldest inis around and known for its "remontant" or re-blooming quality, valuable for that reason. It'll come to me at 3am one morning! :D
Those little Correas are super.
I would like to know what it is too - when Lesley remembers :)
How tall is it Fermi?
'Little Gem?' 'Purple Gem?' something like that. I may be quite wrong but I think it was an early hybrid from the late Jean Stevens, a brilliant iris breeder from New Zealand, who among other things, bred the first pink amoena, (white on top, pink underneath) from which all modern pink and white combos are descended. It was called.....wait for it.....keep on waiting.....
It should be about 30cms at flowering time Robin.
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Doug you are much earlier than here, at least for the Scoliopus. Mine is never in flower before September though the Adonis is July/August. No sign yet though. It's been so jolly cold. We had a super day yesterday, warm sun all day and no wind but that has been the only nice day for weeks. Today back to heavy cloud and rain expected.
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Howdy All,
A couple of pics taken in the last few days.....
Camellia quercifolia has it's first flowers out. And don't the wattle birds (and probably other honeyeaters if the WB let them near it) just love it!!
Crocus imperatii ssp suaveolens is looking so beautiful. The original of this picture has just got so much detail in it... strikingly clear. One of those perfect detail type pics which are so hard to come by. ;D
Eranthis hyemalis is a bit early this year, so far just a couple in pots
Galanthus ikariae
Lachenalia pendula always manages to flower outside despite the frosts. I never have quite worked out how. ???
I may post the Crocus in the Crocus area, plus I will post some Narcissus pics in the Narcissus area tomorrow morning (my time). Getting late now. 8)
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Paul, did you take this fabulous photos with your new camera? I've waxed lyrical about your crocus in the thread you mention but the Galanthus ikariae photo is a strong contester for 'great shot' ;)
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Robin,
Thank you. I got the camera in late March. I just love it, although the auto-focus can be a bit of a pain at times. ::)
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Here's a funny little fella in flower in the eaves of my greenhouse: Aristolochia macroura (spelling?). It reminds me of an Arisaema and / or Nepenthes - the 'pipe' is approximately 10 cm deep, and the tassel - approximately 60 - 80 cm long. It has quite a pong :P on close approach! Awfully cute though and well worth growing.
nice Aristolochia--it is reminiscent of nepenthes---that tassle is something else! a ladder for pollinators?
i have seed for a couple of Aris from chile, but presumed lack of room to grow them has made me not plant it!
whats in the background, a hoya?
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That is interesting Rogan, probably wouldn't be hardy here, even under the eaves.
Are you looking forward to All Blacks v. Sprinboks? Personally, I don't think the South Africans have much to worry about.
dont know about that species, lesley, but there are european and north american species that are hardy (to your level at least ;)
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Howdy All,
A couple of pics taken in the last few days.....
great stuff paul--you know between us late northerners, and you early southerners, we really might see spring flowers nearly all year!
do you grow many lachenalia? i am very interested in some of the miniature odd foliage species..had one in my ill fated seed from SAfrica last year, but managed to kill those ones (one of the few species that even germinated!..lol)
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Cohan,
I used to have a lot of Lachenalias, but don't have many now. I have one still remaining that has heavily pustulated leaves... very cool effect. Can't even remember what the flowers are like, as i grow it for the leaves. 8)
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Most of the Aristolochia species I grow are not very frost hardy, and are 'burnt' by our minus 1 or 2 'C winter minimums.
"...whats in the background, a hoya?"
Hoya australis I think, Cohan. It has lovely umbels of white, red-spotted flowers which scent up the whole greenhouse when in full bloom; I have some pictures of the flowers which I will post later. The tri-lobed leaves visible in the photograph are those of the Aristolochia macroura.
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paul--thats the kind that interest me, the pustulate, hairy etc leaves
rogan--i'm sure the hoya is divine in flower :)
i have just a slight knowledge of SA climate types, from studying Haworthia books, and seed lists etc; which sort of zone are you in? winter or summer rainfall?
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The east coast of South Africa is predominantly a summer-rainfall area - warm and humid in summer, cool and dry in winter. Where I live, winter temperatures seldom fall below freezing and the days are warm and sunny - most plants are happy to grow outdoors without any protection at all - in fact we are too warm in winter for many bulbs species to thrive, e.g. tulips, daffodils, frits, etc. However, most Cape bulbs do extremely well if watered adequately.
Here's a fuzzy picture of the Hoya I mentioned in my previous post - it's a beautiful thing:
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Rogan,
Is it one of the ones that produces the large amounts of nectar? A friend up the road from here used to ahve a large one growing on a trellis just outside their front door under the cover of the eaves etc..... each flower had a large drop of nectar in the centre. You just touched your finger to each flower and got a delicious treat. Was lovely and sugary. ;D
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You Hoya is magnificent, Rogan, is it heavily scented too as well as having lots of nectar? One of my favourite plants for scented flower is Frangipani - a wonderful tropical perfume in the evening especially :)
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"...is it heavily scented too as well as having lots of nectar?"
Not too much nectar, but a glorious, room-filling scent. Paul, do you know if this' an Australian Hoya species - H. australis?
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Your Hoya is amazing Rogan !!!
Beautiful !!!
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Is anybody of our Southerners aware what happened to Lesley ??
??? ???
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My money is on a computer problem... knowing she's a specialist.. :-X ;)
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I had wondered if the earthquake might have knocked out her phone connection and pc :-\
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"...is it heavily scented too as well as having lots of nectar?"
Not too much nectar, but a glorious, room-filling scent. Paul, do you know if this' an Australian Hoya species - H. australis?
Rogan,
The "australis" doesn't always mean Australian... there are a few things from elsewhere that seem to have that species name as well, as I think in some cases it just means "southern" or something like that. In this case though, it is an Aussie. Come from northern New South Wales all the way up to the top of Aus apparently. It means I guess that there would also be some variability in hardiness between the various places. There's quite a bit of difference between northern NSW and far north Queensland. Lovely plants, if you've got the climate )or microclimate) and space to grow them. They'll grow here under frost cover, or indoors.
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I had wondered if the earthquake might have knocked out her phone connection and pc :-\
Dear Maggi ,
the earthquake did not have any impact on Duneden , so phone and pc working ok .
But -I just phoned [sunday midmorningour time] Lesley and Roger [Lesley's other half] answered: he had to rush Lesley into Hospital[Duneden] last monday and was operated on a
Hernia and an Ulcer . Lesley is well and should come in about 2or3 days .
thanks to everyone who inquired re her inactivety on the Forum .
Otto.
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Oh my! Please do extend my wishes to Lesley for a speedy recovery!
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I had wondered if the earthquake might have knocked out her phone connection and pc :-\
[Dear Maggi ,
the earthquake did not have any impact on Duneden , so phone and pc working ok .
But -I just phoned [sunday midmorningour time] Lesley and Roger [Lesley's other half] answered: he had to rush Lesley into Hospital[Duneden] last monday and was operated on a
Hernia and an Ulcer . Lesley is well and should come in about 2or3 days .
thanks to everyone who inquired re her inactivety on the Forum .
Otto.
/quote]
Hi Otto,
please pass on my best wishes to her as well.
I didn't think Lesley would let anything as minor as an earthquake keep her from the Forum! ;D
cheers
fermi
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Thanks Otto. Glad to know she should be OK. My wife had a Hernia operation a year or two ago... not fun, but worth it in the long run.
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Best wishes Lesley for a quick recovery - It is not the same without your witty and brain-teasing comments - we miss you on Forum :( but hope you'll be back in form soon :)
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Yes I too hope that Lesley is back on the forum soon as she is a mine of information.
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Here's a couple of pics for Lesley (And everyone else viewing) to enjoy when she gets back.....
Another pic of the Clematis napaulensis showing a selection of flowers on it at the moment.
Crocus korolkowii has opened today.
A couple of pics of Lapierousia oreogena, which has the most amazingly bromeliad-like (but tiny) scape arrangements. Believe it or not when not flowering this plant has tiny thread-like leaves. It only produces these wonderful scapes with the undulating leaves etc when it is flowering. So cool. I can take a pic from above if anyone wants to see the arrangement more clearly. The reason that there are still weeds in the pot with it is that those little grassy stems you see there might possibly be from non-flowering bulbs (that is how fine they are) so I am not game to do any weeding in case I pull those leaves off. I don't think the ones in the picture ARE (I think they're a grass), but without being sure I am not taking a chance. 8)
I'll probably post a couple of these elsewhere as well, but I wanted to put them here in the Southern Hemisphere topic too!!
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Best wishes Lesley, the seed packets and get wells must be piling up at the mailbox, Roger will surely need a wheelbarrow!
Made your Farm Loaf yesterday and wondered all day where you were. Fifty percent of it was wonderful, we'll test the other half today - 8.5" x 8.5" pan. I used fresh cherries and they worked well tossed in a bit of flour first.
We await your return with great anticipation.
johnw
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Spectacular plants, Paul!
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I agree with Lori and love the wrinkle-edged leaves - it looks as if a thread has been pulled in the middle to make it happen :)
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Well, this explains why I got no answer from Lesley's place the other day! Hope she is soon back with us, fit and well.
Robin, I see exactly what you mean about the "pulled thread" look!
Were you out to see Le Tour today?? W'eve been looking for a woman with a weimaraner at the roadside!! ;)
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May I add my very best wishes for Lesley to get well real soon !!! ;)
We miss you Lesley ! :-*
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Dear Maggi ,
the earthquake did not have any impact on Duneden , so phone and pc working ok .
But -I just phoned [sunday midmorningour time] Lesley and Roger [Lesley's other half] answered: he had to rush Lesley into Hospital[Duneden] last monday and was operated on a
Hernia and an Ulcer . Lesley is well and should come in about 2or3 days .
thanks to everyone who inquired re her inactivety on the Forum .
Otto.
good to hear she is ok, hopefully she will be feeling better soon!
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Here's a couple of pics for Lesley (And everyone else viewing) to enjoy when she gets back.....
A couple of pics of Lapierousia oreogena, which has the most amazingly bromeliad-like (but tiny) scape arrangements. Believe it or not when not flowering this plant has tiny thread-like leaves. It only produces these wonderful scapes with the undulating leaves etc when it is flowering. So cool. I can take a pic from above if anyone wants to see the arrangement more clearly. The reason that there are still weeds in the pot with it is that those little grassy stems you see there might possibly be from non-flowering bulbs (that is how fine they are) so I am not game to do any weeding in case I pull those leaves off. I don't think the ones in the picture ARE (I think they're a grass), but without being sure I am not taking a chance. 8)
I'll probably post a couple of these elsewhere as well, but I wanted to put them here in the Southern Hemisphere topic too!!
very cool plant! i dont always like the SA undulate leaves, but i think because this one is so finely crinkled, makes it very interesting...
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Thanks all. Glad you're enjoying. I should have some more pics to post from the last few days soon. 8)
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Spectacular plant Paul - I love the "pollinate here" arrows on the flower! I also enjoy L. silenoides with its amazing magenta flowers.
Lesley, we miss you, come back soon :(
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Rogan,
I've never heard of that one before. Spectacular flowers, aren't they. Hot pink just doesn't seem a strong enough description of them. ;D Must look out for that one.
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June / July is aloe season in South Africa. During a recent trip I chanced upon this natural population of Aloe maculata in a valley not too far from where I live. Notice the subtle variation in the flower colour and also the Erythrina species blooming in the middle distance. These aloes respond to the stimulating effect of veld fires by blooming en masse.
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Spectacular, Rogan.... always had a soft spot for aloes!
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Beautiful, Rogan.
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Rogan interesting pic of the Aloes and to survive a fire, they look very dominate, like the xanthoreas (grass trees) that flower here in Aus after a fire.
Cheers
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Paul, did you tell us the size of the Lapierousia oreogena flower? Sorry if I missed it.... :-\
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Each flower is just over an inch wide, Maggi.
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Thanks, Paul. It was new to me, as was the pink one..... learning new plants every day... I love it!!
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June / July is aloe season in South Africa. During a recent trip I chanced upon this natural population of Aloe maculata in a valley not too far from where I live. Notice the subtle variation in the flower colour and also the Erythrina species blooming in the middle distance. These aloes respond to the stimulating effect of veld fires by blooming en masse.
great view..never tire of these SA landscapes..
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Me too, Cohan, the vast skies and the silhouettes of trees not to mention proteas on the hillside - the aloes are magnificent en masse like that , an African sunset colour, thanks for posting this wonderful view Rogan
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It's always a delight for me to see what (unkown) is flowering in the SH! 8)
Wonderful those Lapierousia and Aloes...
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Just some little winter ones coming up!
Crocus sieberi sub sp sieberi x c sieberi sub sp sublimis var tricolor (what a mouthfull)
Crocus imperati sub sp suaveolans
Crocus tommasianus and Cyclamen coum
Enjoy
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try again
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and some more
Galanthus Beatrix stanley
Galanthus akari
Galanthus caucasicus (large form selection from MerryGarth Mt Wilson) and Cyclamen coum
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Great shots Stephen of your plantings in lovely soft light, showing up the detail of the crocus petals too :)
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Stephen,
your pictures, preferable the crocus ones, are mouth-watering in expectation of the next spring season in the NH. :D
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Today I was excited to find my Adonis amurensis had fully opened. Such a divine plant to warm you up on a cold day! I hope I get seed!
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Thats really nice Doug,it sure is something special, did you raise this one from seed and how do you grow this one?
Armin Im glad you like the Crocus.
Cheers
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It's a cracker, Doug. :o Striking, isn't it.
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Iris unguicularis cretensis in flower
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Pat,
Is this the "dwarf" one that was around a few years back? The only one I can think of that I've seen pics of with such a lovely dark colour. The winter irises are brilliant, aren't they? I have the straight species, 'Walter Butt', 'Snow Queen' and 'Blue Stripe' here in flower sporadically at the moment if the darn snails don't get to the buds first. ;)
Great pics by the way. One of those colours that looks like it could be a pain to get accurately on a digital camera?
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Paul the blue should be darker I think than is shown. Yes it is the dwarf unguicularis.
Just realised that the arils are beginning to flower nearly three weeks earlier than last year. Iris haynei is budding up well - photos in the next day or two when they open.
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Pat,
I remember reading about the dwarf darker unguicularis a few years ago, which is why I asked.
Looking forward to the Iris pics. Already commented on your luscious atropurpurea. ;D
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Stephen , did you crosspollinate the 2 subspecies of Crocus sieberi ? I have some selfsown
seedlings appearing in my garden that are almost identical .
Your very healthy clump of Galanthus ikariae [ you labelled it akara ] is about 10 days
earlier than mine - still in bud here .
The Gal. caucasicus from 'Cherry Garth' is now called G. elwesii var. monostictus ,it is one
of the most prolific ones inmy garden , must be more than a thousand in flower at the
moment.
Mat has'nt commented on his beloved Crocus for a while .
Otto.
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A couple of things flowering here at the moment.....
Daphne bholua - just recently purchased when I found one at a nursery. The perfume is so much like Viburnum carlesii, or at least my memory of that species anyway. I just love it. So very un-daphne-like. :D I bought it for that as much as the lovely flowers.
Gladiolus maculatus is perfumed in the evenings, no sign at all during the day.
Crocus ancyrensis is a lovely little ball of gold right now. I've posted a couple of other Crocus pics down in the crocus section too.
Iris histrio along with histrioides ssp sophensis is flowering now, with more coming along. I've posted pics down in the Iris section, and I'm shortly going to post a bunch of pics in the Narcissus section.
Enjoy.
Don't forget to click on the pic for a larger version!
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Hi Otto
Good to hear from you,
Those Crocus are Mat's, he took the picks and he loves them alright, allways brushing their stamens ;D Those Galantus elwesii var. monostictus (thanks for the correction) are sure large in every way, would be nice to see them in the thousands, you must be planting them next door!! :)
Cheers
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Wow, wondrous things from everyone! This thread is really twisting my head around - it seems like it's scarcely summer here, yet we are back to spring again! Fantastic! :D
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Wow, wondrous things from everyone! This thread is really twisting my head around - it seems like it's scarcely summer here, yet we are back to spring again! Fantastic! :D
thats what i said--between us late northerners and early southerners, and then the gamut of central and southern europeans and islanders, almost a full year of spring!
espcially love the adonis, iris histrio, and everything else!
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Paul: That's a wonderful I. histrioides. How fun to see the spring flowers at this time of year :)
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Paul i second that, That I histrioides looks amazing, nice colours. You must have a good camera..whats the camera?
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Thanks everyone.
The pedant in me for starters has to point out.... it is Iris histrio, not Iris histrioides. They're two different species. I am just mentioning that in case anyone is thinking that my histrio is a misspelling.
Stephen,
My camera is a recent Panasonic Lumix, and I just love it. You can get the lens up to less than an inch from a flower and still focus it. I'm so glad I stuck with the lumix when I bought my new camera in March. My old one was great, and I knew the macro was good. This one has a 12x optical zoom instead of a 3x optical zoom, which makes it much more useful. I'd recommend it to anyone. It also still neatly fits in a pocket if you want to carry it around with you. 8)
I'm glad everyone is enjoying the pics.
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My warm thanks to everyone here for their best wishes and thoughts while I was deep in the arms of the NZ health system. Everyone condemns it out of hand and sure, there are problems but I was wonderfully cared for both in the surgical and then in the cardio wards. The nurses, doctors and support staff were truly superb at every occasion.
What I'm especially happy about now, is to be home with some decent weather and little bulby things opening every day: crocuses, narcissus, galanthus, cyclamen, the first I. 'Katharine Hodgkin' yesterday, adonis etc. So pleased it was THEN I was away, not now. Many seeds are coming through too so it's time to get a lot more sown that have been waiting a few weeks. Love the Iris ung. cretensis Pat. My own hasn't flowered for a couple of years. I think recent summers haven't been hot enough. 'Starker's Pink' is also "in waiting."
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Paul , your new Panasonic Lumix camera produces superb sharp photos -I'm considering
buying one too .
With me Iris histrio is always the first to start the reticulata flowering season in late
may. Did your stock of the featured histrio and histrioides var. sophenensis come from
Marcus ? If so , then they came from my garden : the histrio came from Dr. Maurice
Boussard in 1974 , was col. near Sofa , Lebanon, it is really one of the nicest clones I
have seen and multyplies well .
I. histrioides v. sophenensis is old stock from the garden of the late Christabel Beck ,of
Fritillaries Book fame , so rather 'ancient' .- nice to keep it going .
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Otto,
Does your histrio REALLY start in May! :o :o So early! Actually, the histrio in my picture came from a generous parcel from yourself 18 months ago, not from Marcus. The ssp sophensis did indeed come from Marcus quite a few years back now (at least 10 years, perhaps a few more?). Lovely to read the histories of these plants. I did have to laugh when the two flowered together though, as they are the largest and smallest of my retic types. They're on opposite sides of the crocus garden though, so no direct comparison. ::)
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the late Christabel Beck ,of Fritillaries Book fame , so rather 'ancient' .- nice to keep it going .
Otto - What a lovely old book that is and with such wonderful line drawings. I happened upon it at the local library and looked for it for years. Finally found a copy in the UK. It would be interesting to know more about her life.
Good grief I just googled Christabel Beck and see one book is available at $201 US at Amazon .com and £293.75 at amazon.uk. Glad I got it when I did.
johnw
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Beck's book is certainly a great treasure even though very out of date nowadays with many new species since it was published. But what it IS and Pratt and Jefferson-Brown ISN'T, is authoritative.
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John , I too treasure my copy of 'Fitillaries ', bought way back for 30 shillings !
I corresponded with Christabel B.in the 1950's [ kept a few letters] , she was very kind
sending Fritillaria seeds to a teenager [moi] .She mentioned as she was living not too far away from E.A. Bowles ,that she visited him frequently there at Middleton House .
The Good Old Days .
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Every year, when this little beauty blooms, I just cannot help myself and end up waxing lyrically ::) Androcymbium latifolium in a pot far from home: the barren Roggeveld plateau of the Great Karoo.
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Wow! Double Wow! And even Triple Wow!! :o :o :o Amazing. :o Those are just large bracts surrounding the flowers I presume? Very different, isn't it (but VERY nice!!).
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Mike in Madeira brought up the subject of this plant in another thread some time ago.... and Alberto Castillo replied to him.... I think those posts are of interest here so I copy them below.....
From: February 23, 2009,
Quote from: Ezeiza re planting depth .......
" 27 cm deep is a great pot for growing most bulb goodies. Babianas, Sparaxis, Androcymbium, Phycella, Leucocoryne, Ungernia, Rhodophialas, Hyeronimiellas, and a number of others all demand depth. "
Quote from Mike:
"Alberto, I have an Androcymbium latifolium, that I got in December, but it have not sprouted yet. Do you have any ideas to break the dormancy of these corms?
And regarding Leucocoryne, how long do the seeds take to sprout? "
Quote from: Ezeiza (Alberto C.)
" Androcymbium latifolium/pulchrum comes from the semiarid parts of South Africa. When one species skips a season almost always the reason is lack of proper baking during dormancy. Are you growing them too cool? A. latifolium is partial to very gritty, well drained soil.
Leucocoryne seed sprouts readily if fresh, in early autumn, not long after sowing. All species need very well drained soils and do best in low humidity climates (this is so with most Central/Northern Chilean species). Seedlings bulbs need deeper planting every year. It is typical that offset bulbs are found much deeper than mother plants.They move deeper and more sideways from mother plants. If the seed you order is maintained under Seed Bank conditions make sure to reserve them and have them delivered just at sowing time. Otherwise all the time the seed is out of the Bank gets older and older until it can no longer be viable. "
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Every year, when this little beauty blooms, I just cannot help myself and end up waxing lyrically ::) Androcymbium latifolium in a pot far from home: the barren Roggeveld plateau of the Great Karoo.
very nice plant indeed :) and just how little is it? what is the pot size?
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Mike in Madeira brought up the subject of this plant in another thread some time ago.... and Alberto Castillo replied to him.... I think those posts are of interest here so I copy them below.....
From: February 23, 2009,
Quote from: Ezeiza re planting depth .......
" 27 cm deep is a great pot for growing most bulb goodies. Babianas, Sparaxis, Androcymbium, Phycella, Leucocoryne, Ungernia, Rhodophialas, Hyeronimiellas, and a number of others all demand depth. "
Quote from Mike:
"Alberto, I have an Androcymbium latifolium, that I got in December, but it have not sprouted yet. Do you have any ideas to break the dormancy of these corms?
And regarding Leucocoryne, how long do the seeds take to sprout? "
Quote from: Ezeiza (Alberto C.)
" Androcymbium latifolium/pulchrum comes from the semiarid parts of South Africa. When one species skips a season almost always the reason is lack of proper baking during dormancy. Are you growing them too cool? A. latifolium is partial to very gritty, well drained soil.
Leucocoryne seed sprouts readily if fresh, in early autumn, not long after sowing. All species need very well drained soils and do best in low humidity climates (this is so with most Central/Northern Chilean species). Seedlings bulbs need deeper planting every year. It is typical that offset bulbs are found much deeper than mother plants.They move deeper and more sideways from mother plants. If the seed you order is maintained under Seed Bank conditions make sure to reserve them and have them delivered just at sowing time. Otherwise all the time the seed is out of the Bank gets older and older until it can no longer be viable. "
some good info, maggi, thanks..unviable seed is a bit of a touchy point ;)
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Androcymbium latifolium, and indeed all the South African Andros have been sunk, dumped, etc. into the genus Colchicum - so that gives you some idea of its allegiances.
Those are indeed large red bracts surrounding what appears to be a single flower with no, or very reduced "petals" (tepals). The plants pictured here are growing in a 15cm (6") pot, so you can judge the approximate size of the plants from that. The bracts are quite long lived structures, so you'll have colour for quite a number of weeks during the winter months.
From my limited cultivation experiences, this plant is fairly easy to grow on a "Mediterranean" cycle in well-drained media, but is quite slow from seed. Seed is readily available from specialist nurseries and is usually not very expensive.
Generally a very cool plant. 8)
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A few more plants making statements in my collection at the moment are:
Aloe capitata - a Madagascan Aloe that opens its flowers from the top down;
Aloe capitata - a macro shot;
Lachenalia bulbifera from the southern Cape coast;
Cyclamen coum - pale pink picotee, just to prove that I can and do grow "other stuff" ;D
Cyclamen coum - cerise form.
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Androcymbium latifolium, and indeed all the South African Andros have been sunk, dumped, etc. into the genus Colchicum - so that gives you some idea of its allegiances.
That's it, I give up. :P
Been reading on other threads today of Zigadenus being re-classified too..... I cannot keep up with all this stuff...... I'm making a conscious decision to just let all this taxonimical kerfuffle pass me by..... life's too short for these puzzles. :-\
Your Aloes are a great colour to cheer anyone's day, Rogan, thanks!
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Rogan,
Thanks for the info on the Androcymbium. Even slow, I think I might just have to track down some seed of it one of these years. I know I HAD some seedlings of one of the species somewhere out in my back yard, but I don't know whether still there or not now. Might just have to check. ;D
That Aloe flowerhead is amazing!! Such a strong gold to them as well. What does the whole plant look like?
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I look forwaad with eager anticipation to the day when Moraea, Dietes, Sparaxis, Libertia and many others (Gladiolus?) are lumped into Iris. Then those greedy northern hemispherers won't be so smug about having ALL the irises. ;D
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That's it, I give up.
Been reading on other threads today of Zigadenus being re-classified too..... I cannot keep up with all this stuff...... I'm making a conscious decision to just let all this taxonimical kerfuffle pass me by..... lif'es too short for these puzzles.
"Thus Botany, which was a pleasant Study, and attainable by Most Men, is now become by alterations and New Names the Study of a Man's Life."
- Peter Collinson to Linnaeus, 1754.
:)
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I look forwaad with eager anticipation to the day when Moraea, Dietes, Sparaxis, Libertia and many others (Gladiolus?) are lumped into Iris. Then those greedy northern hemispherers won't be so smug about having ALL the irises. ;D
Clearly you are getting better and more your old witty self again every day Lesley ! ;D ;D ;)
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That's it, I give up.
Been reading on other threads today of Zigadenus being re-classified too..... I cannot keep up with all this stuff...... I'm making a conscious decision to just let all this taxonimical kerfuffle pass me by..... lif'es too short for these puzzles.
"Thus Botany, which was a pleasant Study, and attainable by Most Men, is now become by alterations and New Names the Study of a Man's Life."
- Peter Collinson to Linnaeus, 1754.
:)
gee the confusion started already then?? of course, no problem if you were Linnaeus, just call them whatever you like ;)
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That's it, I give up.
Been reading on other threads today of Zigadenus being re-classified too..... I cannot keep up with all this stuff...... I'm making a conscious decision to just let all this taxonimical kerfuffle pass me by..... lif'es too short for these puzzles.
"Thus Botany, which was a pleasant Study, and attainable by Most Men, is now become by alterations and New Names the Study of a Man's Life."
- Peter Collinson to Linnaeus, 1754.
:)
gee the confusion started already then?? of course, no problem if you were Linnaeus, just call them whatever you like ;)
Now there's a bright idea, Cohan, thank you..... I will set in motion all procedures to change my name by deed poll to Margaret Linnaeus ::) 8) ;D
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lol--there's a solution, maggi ;) or just write a book promoting your own schema ...
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Been reading on other threads today of Zigadenus being re-classified too..... I cannot keep up with all this stuff...... I'm making a conscious decision to just let all this taxonimical kerfuffle pass me by..... lif'es too short for these puzzles. :-\
According to Kew, Zigadenus seems to have "almost" gone into the new genera Anticlea and Toxicoscordion, but there are also some family changes afoot here, as Zigadenus, Ypsilandra, Heloniopsis and Veratrum are now in the family Melanthiaceae along with Trillium and Paris (yep!).
Do you remember a while ago that "they" were going to abandon the family Amaryllidaceae and put it all into Alliaceae. Well they clearly changed their minds - or did someone just do a typo ::) ::) - cos they've all gone back again.
It's all becoming a joke, Linnaeus's proposals were to make classification universal and have one common system. We seemed to have turned full circle, where all sorts of proposals are put forward based on various ideas. No one can keep up with all this, perhaps we can just wait for it all to settle down somewhere.
The great author Jorge Luis Borges wrote of a Chinese encyclopedia called the Heavenly Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge. In it is a suggested classification of animals:
(a) those that belong to the emperor
(b) embalmed ones
(c) those that are trained
(d) suckling pigs
(e) mermaids
(f) fabulous ones
(g) stray dogs
(h) those that are included in this classification
(i) those that tremble as if they were mad
(j) innumerable ones
(k) those drawn with a very fine camel's-hair brush
(l) etcetera
(m) those that have just broken the flower vase
(n) those that at a distance resemble flies
Maybe we should invent our own classification of plants
(a) those impossible to grow but we keep on buying them
(b) those thrown away by mistake in the winter because we didn't know they died back in the pot
(c) those that are a complete waste of space but because we grew them from seed and they took 8 years to flower we can't bear to throw them away
(d) those for which visitors comment "you won a prize with that!"
(e) those for which your spouse comments (after walking five miles up the mountain) "is that it?"
etc ......
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I really like this system Diane. Perhaps others will add to yours. So far as the animals go, Teddy seems to belong to at least half of them. Neither my regular landline phone nor my mobile now has an aerial. Roger's charger has also been chewed. Of course if the dog were trained properly.....it's just that I am always fooled by that angelic "butter wouldn't melt in my mouth" look.
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Paul , in case you can't find your seedling Androcymbium bulbs , I can spare you a few
of A. ciliolatum later in the year.
All is well with my camera , the sales person fiddled around a bit and there are no problems
he said the camera was 'confused' , just like I was !!! ???
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Otto,
Thanks goodness for that. I had been intending to ring you this evening to find out how it went. Glad to know it worked out OK. 8)
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The great author Jorge Luis Borges wrote of a Chinese encyclopedia called the Heavenly Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge. In it is a suggested classification of animals:
(a) those that belong to the emperor
(b) embalmed ones
(c) those that are trained
(d) suckling pigs
(e) mermaids
(f) fabulous ones
(g) stray dogs
(h) those that are included in this classification
(i) those that tremble as if they were mad
(j) innumerable ones
(k) those drawn with a very fine camel's-hair brush
(l) etcetera
(m) those that have just broken the flower vase
(n) those that at a distance resemble flies
Maybe we should invent our own classification of plants
(a) those impossible to grow but we keep on buying them
(b) those thrown away by mistake in the winter because we didn't know they died back in the pot
(c) those that are a complete waste of space but because we grew them from seed and they took 8 years to flower we can't bear to throw them away
(d) those for which visitors comment "you won a prize with that!"
(e) those for which your spouse comments (after walking five miles up the mountain) "is that it?"
etc ......
a very good couple of lists..
i might add..
(f)those which don't meet our usual selective criteria but were available locally, at discount
(g)same as above, but were received as gifts
the two above might be considered subspecies of (c)
(h)blue ones
(i)those teased by hybridisers beyond all semblance to anything found in nature
(j)those that tremble as if mad
;)
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Cohan,
Does (j) apply to the plants, or to those of us growing them? Particularly those of us who grow (a)? ;D
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definitely all of the above ;D
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Reminds me of Koko. I've got a little list..... the pestilential nuisances who write for autographs, all people who have flabby hands and irritating laughs......