Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Bulbs General => Topic started by: David Nicholson on February 12, 2009, 08:50:48 PM
-
Here's one I am quietly proud of Lachenalia aloides quadricolor, and yes you will have seen this type of plant before in Hans J's avatar. I bought the plant in late spring last year and of course, although it was nice and dry under the greenhouse staging for the summer! it didn't get an awful lot of heat. Although they are said to be not frost hardy this one has taken some frost in the grenhouse this year just covered with a sheet of fleece. The crowning point was in Luit's Show report he mentioned that Lachenalia should not be watered from the top- this has been!! because I didn't realise that.
-
Don't push your luck David.
I know of a nursery here in the area which produce 10.000Nd's in pots and after watering
from the top, the staff is looking for plants with water in the rosettes and empty them.
-
Mine are in the garden and always get watered from the top, either hose in the spring or rain all year round. Good drainage is the thing.
-
Here we have to grow them under glass.
Watering plants is totally different from those growing in the garden!
-
I was intrigued to find this single 'peloric' flower on a normal spike of Gladiolus dalenii. This specimen was growing naturally beside the Sani Pass road in the southern Drakensberg.
I've often wondered whether this trait would be carried on from generation to generation, but I suppose the fact that the other flowers on the spike were normal makes this just a chance mutation not to be repeated.
Interesting...
-
What does "peloric" mean Rogan? Upward-facing or something like that? It isn't in my dictionary. That stippling is very pretty.
-
"peloric" refers to a flower that is very regular and symetrical on a plant which usually has asymetrical or irregular flowers
-
Ah... Thank you Maggi. Another one to add to my mental dictionary of "new" words. Currently I like "mundungus." I may find it difficult to use in a Forum post however. :)
-
Currently I like "mundungus." I may find it difficult to use in a Forum post however. :)
There may be a chance in the "Edible and Useful" area, Lesley ??? ::) :P ;D
An aid to puzzled readers.......... http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-mun1.htm
-
I'll work on it Maggi. Did you have to look it up? It's one my late mother threw at my late brother-in-law. They had a silly thing going where they each tried to outwit the other with words. Both were very good at crossword puzzles, which I'm not.
-
Perhaps one of the most famous peloric plant of all is the 'gloxinia' of commerce.
Sinningia speciosa, the parent species of all the beautiful gloxinias we buy to add some Christmas colour to our homes (at least here in the southern hemisphere), has pale blue slipper-shaped (zygomorphic) flowers with only four fertile stamens - the fifth being reduced to a small projection.
Occasionally S. speciosa will produce bell-shaped, radially symmetrical flowers (actinomorphic) with five fertile stamens - hence the origin of all our beautiful florist gloxinias. The true Gloxinia is not closely related to Sinningia at all.
-
Thanks Rogan, now I get the picture. We used to have gloxinias in our flower shops, supermarkets etc at Christmas. Haven't seen one for years now, though. A fashion thing maybe.
-
Hi there,
Wet,sleety and cold here in Bulgaria, off into town for supplies, I look at these Lachenalias to make me feel warmer! Anybody else growing much in the way of species Lachenalia?
-
Several of the Forumists grow some Hristo. They're popular here in NZ and I have maybe a dozen species. A favourite is the yellow L. reflexa and another, the seagreen L. viridiflora.
[attachthumb=1]
-
Hi there Lesley
That's a fine looking viridiflora,I have this growing from Silverhill seed along with haarlamensis and few others.
I love bulbifera but will have to 'cull' thus year as it is simply to 'enthusiastic' and is taking up far too many pots!
Please post any other pics you have, always fascinating to me to see how other folks grow their plants, and always good to hear L.reflexa amongst others is well established in cultivation.
-
In addition to Lachenalia aloides quadricolor I have L. uniflorus and L. reflexa but too small to flower this year.
-
I haven't taken pictures of most of mine as yet. Don't know why. I'll try some in winter and spring. The viridiflora flowers early winter (June here).
-
Lesley, I will look forward to seeing your pics in June.
David, sadly I lost my reflexa to a rot many years ago, it is a super little lachenalia, very orchid like in form, I hopw it performs for you next year!
Have attached pic of Ferraria crispa, flowering today on my windowsill. I am hoping F.undulata may flower this year, 5 years since I sowed the seed so maybe....... :)
-
Who is the C Greenwell we keep seeing on many of the photographs?
-
Arthur, that is Chris (Hristo)
-
Maggi
Thanks He takes some really excellent photographs. Does this mean he is another ex-pat?
-
Yes, Arthur... Chris used to live in this area, with our Group, then he and Simon moved down to Grimsby and a couple of years ago they went out to live in Bulgaria, where they have started a nursery.... see Simon ( Sinchets) post in Let me introduce myself...
-
Thanks - I had not made the connection :)
-
;D Can I join in please? Thanks for the photographic complement Arthur, I think alot of the praise should go to Mister Fujinon and his rather good lenses! In BG I use Hristo as my given name, the BG equivalent of Christopher, as the number of hilarious ways in which my name can be miss-pronounced has become overwhelming, my favourite however is Kritchko!
Maggie I like the idea of the Aberdeen Branch of the SRGC as a group I once lived with, very 1960's / flower power and all that ! ;D :D
-
;D Can I join in please? Thanks for the photographic complement Arthur, I think alot of the praise should go to Mister Fujinon and his rather good lenses! In BG I use Hristo as my given name, the BG equivalent of Christopher, as the number of hilarious ways in which my name can be miss-pronounced has become overwhelming, my favourite however is Kritchko!
Maggie I like the idea of the Aberdeen Branch of the SRGC as a group I once lived with, very 1960's / flower power and all that ! ;D :D
Sorry, Chris, just filling Arthur in...... and I hadn't spotted the hippy commune slant.... ::)
-
Hi Maggi, a final thought on the commune idea, how about an Alpine/Bulb Gardner retirement home?
Buy up a large stately home, convert to flats and everyone pulls together to develop the largest alpine garden they can? Or would this be like herding cats? :D ( P.s. sorry for the miss spell of your name! )
-
In BG I use Hristo as my given name, the BG equivalent of Christopher, as the number of hilarious ways in which my name can be miss-pronounced has become overwhelming, my favourite however is Kritchko!
It could've been Crisco! ;D
Welcome to the Forum, Hristo, and glad to know that South African bulbs are even grown in Bulgaria!
cheers
fermi
-
Alpine/Bulb Gardner retirement home?
everyone pulls together to develop the largest alpine garden they can?
Have you seen the photos by the French gardener (or maybe he's an engineer)
who covers the walls of skyscrapers with plants? Just think of the chasmophytes
that would thrive. I'm not sure the aged gardeners would, though. Might have
to hire some skyscraper window washers to do the weeding.
-
Dianne, maybe aged gardeners who are also ex rock climbers should apply?
In a desperate attempt to steer this thread back to SA bulbs ( this diversion is my fault, sorry! )whilst continuning from Dianne's posting, how about this for the crevices in the skyscraper, Gladiolus flanaganii - The Suicide Gladiolus?
I've got the seedlings, whose got the 'skyscraper? ;D ;D
-
That's be Patrick Blanc, Diane...his book is 'Vertical Gardens'. I'm not sure that he's done a retirement home yet....
-
While I greatly admire the work of Patrick Blanc, I have no wish to spend my old age in a tower block.... I want everything on one floor, huge doors right out to the garden and a climate where the south african plants grow outside ..... arrange all that and I'm in!
-
Maggi, if the SRGC forms a military wing, armed with dibbers, prunning shears et al, could we effect a take over of Kirstenboch Botanic Gardens? Would this meet your criteria?
-
That is a plan that could be considered democratically, Chris, but, for myself, I had in mind somewhere suitable for those plants, but also for many others, so not quite so far south...... I'm looking for a personal Shangri-la, of course .... aren't we all? I wasn't thinking that any kind of militaristic operation would be required.... the world has more than enough of those already...... I'd favour a charm offensive to get what we need.. ;D We can ALL "do charming" .... when necessary, I am sure!
-
Indeed Maggi, and the civil shall inherit the garden of Eden, or, at the very least a pleasent little corner of 'The Granite City' or maybe a few square meters of an eastern hillside! 8)
-
Today was a sunny and a springlike day here (as usual 8)) and many buds started to open.
Romulea sabulosa
Hesperantha vaginata- Rafa:that is your plant!
Sparaxis elegans orange
Gladiolus watermeyeri
Scilla natalensis- dedicated to a very nice forumist from Mallorca ;)
-
Miriam, what a treat to see, thank you!
-
Miriam, wonderful Pict's on these rainy, cloudy day here.
A dream of spring in my bulbheart.
-
I just love the Gladiolus species, such a pretty colour combination and an interesting shape. A stunning patch of Rom. sabulosa Miriam. Much better than the grudging 2 or 3 flowers that I get. Well done!!
-
BEAUTIFUL Miriam!
The Romulea brightens these grey days here, I mean at least your pictures do so.
Thank you.
-
It is not simply the vibrant colours, it is the beauty and intricacy of the markings that make these flowers so captivating.
-
Stunning pictures Miriam !
The Romulea is fabulous !!
-
Fantástics pics Miriam, congratulations for such a good grow of marvellous species
-
...dibbers off "our" Kirstenbosch! ::)
After seeing all the wonderful pictures of South African bulbs on these pages, I wonder how many South Africans actually grow SA plants - I do know of some who do, but I've never seen such beautiful Romuleans before - well done Miriam!
-
"It is not simply the vibrant colours, it is the beauty and intricacy of the markings that make these flowers so captivating."
The many ways these flowers "dress" themselves to attract pollinators are incredible. Many mimic the daisies to cheat the daisy pollinators into pollinating them. Such is the case of those that show concentric circles of stunning colors (Romuleas, Geissorhizas, Ixias, Sparaxis, etc.)
-
Yes, so much for humans thinking they are the clever ones!
-
Miriam, The Romulea is stuning !
What a clump ! I have some seedlings of species with big flowers and this one seems to have enormous ones :o
-
Right now, seed of Rr. monadelpha, sabulosa and unifolia, the three with huge stunning flowers, is available from a well known commercial source in South Africa.
-
Thanks.
Rogan, you have such beautiful plants in SA!
A photo from yesterday before the hailstorm came today morning:
-
Miriam,
Cracking plants, hope the hail wasn't too unknid to them, I have these growing from seed, how long did yours take to reach flowering size?
-
hi all,
i have seed of Massonia jasminiflora, which i started under lights, more or less warm, around 14hrs day; i had meant to move to a shorter day light set up after germination, as i think these should be wintergrowing? BUT havent been able to get those lights set up yet; the seedlings seem fine since dec 31;
my question is, if i get the shorter day lights going now, should i move the seedlings, or leave them where they are? i dont want to trigger dormancy so soon...
any other thoughts on ongoing cultivation?
these plants are going to be indoors full time, at least for the forseeable future, until.unless i get some greenhouses going..
we are still very much in winter here, though days are already getting longer, fast, we are now at almost 11 hours sunshine, from below 8 in midwinter; midsummer will be 16 or more hours..
i also have unnamed rhadamanthus seedlings (from penrock) also healthy though moving very slowly since late fall germination; should i keep these more or less moist for the first year?
-
Hristo,
I have recieved the Daubenya aurea just last autumn as mature bulbs already in flowering size.
I have no experience growing this species from seeds.
-
Hristo, they flower during its third season of growth. Summer dormant. In the wild it receives many slight frosts in winter when the plant is in full growth, at times even some snow.
It seems to like slightly cooler than the temperatures other Cape plants like Geissorhizas, Babiana, etc. enjoy
-
Does anypne know or grow Massonia hererodonta? I've had seedlings for maybe 5 or 6 years and though they are growing ever-so-slightly each year, they still look small enough to be some way from flowering size. The leaves are quite dark green and have small pustules on them, like Lachenlia pustulata. Surprizingly, it seems to be entirely hardy, even quite strong frosts never bothering it.
-
Miriam, Ezeiza many thanks for your replies, I will hope for fowers in 2011 :D
-
Dear Lesley:
Massonia heterandra (Now Massonia pygmaea). It is normally a tiny miniature. Most of these plants like frost free during growth and hot in summer. If they are grown too cool they will take forever to reach flowering size.
Alberto
-
Miriam,
another wonderfull pic and plant !
How do you grow it ? I've this species since 3 years and never seen a flower : always aborted ??? ???
-
Just flowering now Lachenalia liliflora
(http://i64.servimg.com/u/f64/11/84/35/03/lachen10.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=437&u=11843503)
and Lachenalia juncifolia
(http://i64.servimg.com/u/f64/11/84/35/03/lachen11.jpg) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=438&u=11843503)
This is really not my favorite genus, but smell's good !
-
This is botanical photography at the utmost.
Every single detail is visible to identifiy a Lachenalia.
Just wondering if a collection of images of such quality would ever be available
-
Ezeiza,
Yes it does exist, though published in 1988 it is missing some of the newer species.
The book is;
The Lachenalia Handbook by G.D.Duncan which is Volume 17 from the Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, ISBN 0620119535 printed by CTP Book Printers, Cape.
Not sure where you will find it though my copy came from Oakdene Nursery, Barnsley, UK.
-
The latest flowerer in the plant room, Albuca nelsonii, charmingly known as Nelson's Slime Lily! If you ever damage a leaf you soon find out the name is well deserved! South African forumists just wondering if this plant has any medicinal / other practical use?
-
Bonjour Fred,
I grow this species in the ground (sandy loam with a bit of compost) in full sun without any special care...just watering it when there is no rain. No water during summer dormancy.
-
Thanks for that note Alberto. I had the heterodonta name as seed from NZ AGS. Seems I'll have to move it to a warmer place, perhaps frost free.
-
Thank's Miriam,
Mine is in a deep pot, very well drained compost, dry dormant period, but no flower.
May be too warm when the bud comes ? it's in the greenhouse.
-
Hristo:
Images in The Lachenalia Handbook granted the more primitive printing system at that time, do not even exist as compared to your super photos.
Admittedly they are botanical images but yours are surely the best I ever seen (and I have seen many!)
Edit by Maggi : Alberto, I think you mean Fred's pix of the lachenalia.... ::)
-
I don't think it is the problem...
Here, although it's winter now, there are a lot of warm days (20C and even more), but the nights are cold (not under 1C-2C).
Maybe your problem is that you don't have enough sunny days...
-
Hi Miriam:
You name it. One often hear that people grow South Africans in greenhouse with a contant temperature day and night. The drop in temperature at night is essential for most plants to complete their physiological processes.
-
Yes Ezeiza, Fred's pics are fab! you may know this site already but it has some very nice pics of lachenalia and some not so good pics!
Regards
Hristo
http://www.picsearch.com/search.cgi?q=Lachenalia&start=41&t=jbEJO9Ee79MXIH1%2FDF11roKmUz46psILpYX0TW4zJsU%3D&nav3
-
Thanks!
They are stunning. Lachenalias cross easily and these close up images are very useful to identify species in one's collections. It is incredible that more species are discovered in this genus every year.
Regards
-
Miriam,
all my south african bulbs and Pelargonium are under artificial lights so I don't think it's a lack of light, and the Temp is falling every night from 20-25°C to 10-13°.
I really don't understand what's happen;
I also heat the greenhouse with heating cables under the sand and pots....???
-
Cyanella hyacinthoides, first flower opened today!
Fred, how do you achieve that rich featureless black background?
Would love to know if you don't mind sharing.
Cheers
Hristo
-
Hristo,
I use different flashes or annular flashes as well as black backgrounds, that's all, no secret ! ;D
-
Fred, maybe no secret but thanks, I've never really tried to take flower portraits before,
using built in flash has improved effect I think?
Cheers
Hristo
-
Yes, you're right !
The second stage to increase quality is the camera : those with built in flash are not perfect for macro with flash.
-
Hi Fred, that one will have to wait I fear until this camera stops working!
Still always nice to look forward to an upgarde! :D
Thanks again for advice, now is certainly a good time to practice! ;D
-
Moraea aristata, very cute flower.
-
Cute indeed Miriam, growing outdoors?
-
Yes, all my plants are growing outside in the garden.
-
extraordinary elegant plant. This is the opposite, but very bizarre
Freesia viridis
-
What a great image, Rafa!
The first one, in which every feature can be seen, is truly extraordinary.
-
Rafa,
I've been growing this specieis as Anomatheca for several years and was surprised when it was moved to Freesia!
I find this grows to flowering size very quickly from the prodigious seed set it makes, have you found this also?
-
Pretty amazing Rafa! Does it smells like other Fresia too?
Rafa,
I've been growing this specieis as Anomatheca for several years and was surprised when it was moved to Freesia!
I find this grows to flowering size very quickly from the prodigious seed set it makes, have you found this also?
Growing rampantly from seed to maturity is very typical of Anomatheca, as i also got the same experience here. :D
-
Michael, sure is typical, Anomatheca / Freesia laxa will go from seed to flower in one season here.
-
Here too, to the point that they start to be a nuisance! The big drawback is that the flowers do not last. I am hoping to have a nice carpet of A. laxa this year. Do you have the white form?
-
Sadly no, only the red/crimson form, though I have not made a point of collecting any of the other colour forms.
Do you grow other colour forms Michael?
-
Hi Michael:
Freesia laxa is a great plant for deep shade. There the flowers last longer and the plants are very elegant, reaching 50 cm. in height. Besides te white, you have several pinks and rose and again the same colour with a deep red center. Stunning! They come true from seed.
-
Unfortunately not :(
I am searching for the white one but still no luck on finding it.
By the way, I have these south african irids in bloom ATM.
-
Nice irids, I assume they are Dietes? Which species?
-
Hi Alberto.
I didn't knew that. I grow mine in full sun, they look like a lawn, and when they flower its an unforgettable sight, but just for a week or so... Will try some in deep shade then!
-
Nice irids, I assume they are Dietes? Which species?
Hi Hristo
With irids I meant Iridaceous plants (Iridaceae) ;D
Dietes bicolor i suppose, but not 100% sure.
-
Michael,I have the white form and a few others, here are some pics.
Freesia laxa hyb own cross
Anomatheca = Freesia laxa subsp. azurea
freesia laxa 1
Freesia laxa Joan Evans
Freesia laxa white 2
-
I have a few other Hybs, from my own crosses but can't find the pics now. :-[ Alzheimer's ? ;D
-
I have a few other Hybs, from my own crosses but can't find the pics now. :-[ Alzheimer's ? ;D
It happens to the best of us!
I love that hybrid you've made - but I find them all attractive! :D
Speaking of SA Bulbs, the autumn ones are starting with us, amaryllis and crossyne! Hopefully I'll get some pics later this week.
cheers
fermi
-
Michael,I have the white form and a few others, here are some pics.
Freesia laxa hyb own cross
Anomatheca = Freesia laxa subsp. azurea
freesia laxa 1
Freesia laxa Joan Evans
Freesia laxa white 2
Michael,
Those are some super colour forms, if you are ever interested in swapping for other plants please let me know!
Hristo
-
Histrio, F. viridis have the same behaviour to me, exceptional seed production, high percentage of germination and almost blooming first year.
I suppose this could be very interesting for breeders, giving green character
-
Raffa,
Indeed, it would be interesting to see how much of the form as well as colour would appear in any hybrid offspring.
-
Rafa,
I've been growing this specieis as Anomatheca for several years and was surprised when it was moved to Freesia!
I find this grows to flowering size very quickly from the prodigious seed set it makes, have you found this also?
I prefer the old name as it is so unlike our concept of a freesia. But it does have a delicious perfume. :)
-
Hi:
F. viridis has been crossed with F. laxa, producing very good hybrids.
Lesley, it is fascinating that they are all Freesias "deformed" to adapt to their pollinators.
-
Ezeiza,
Could you provide a URL to a site with pics of these hybrids, would love to see them!
-
Lesley, it is fascinating that they are all Freesias "deformed" to adapt to their pollinators.
The more deformations there are, the better! ^^
-
Hi Hristo:
I will request an image, they were all dark red variants. Vigorus and quite large flowered. It would be great to reproduce this cross again and again.
Alberto.
-
Here is Freesia viridis blooming today in my protected cold frame today. This cold frame receives no supplemental heating (it's a cold frame!) but it is placed against the house foundation and no doubt gets heat which seeps from the house. A wide range of plants grows well in this frame - while surrounding air temperatures drop to -16 degrees briefly.
-
Jim,
That's a good demonstration of the fact some of these SA bulbs are tougher than we might expect.
In the open garden here - G.tristis, A/F.laxa, G.papillio, R.tetragona.
-
My Freesia grandiflora from last season - memorable flowers! It has always intrigued me that this species and F. laxa grow naturally in the summer-rainfall (eastern) regions of SA, but seem to be happier treated as winter-growers (...or is it just me? ::)).
-
Rogan , very nice looking Freesia grandiflora,
Flowering here on my bedroom windowsill;
Homeria collina and Gladiolus tristis
-
Chris, seeing your photo of Gladiolus tristis reminds me of my property in the south-western Cape where G. tristis and other closely related species grow and flower in profusion in seasonally damp areas beside the roads. G. liliaceus (below) is also common in the area and has the intriguing habit of changing colour to a bluish-mauve in the evening and becoming scented!
-
G. liliaceus (below) is also common in the area and has the intriguing habit of changing colour to a bluish-mauve in the evening and becoming scented!
No...really??!! What fun!
-
Rogan, WOW! Think that beats my bedroom windowsill! ;D
I would love to see SA when the spring flowers are in full 'flood', from the pics I have seen it looks like God dropped his palette of oils from a great height! Maybe one day......
-
Hi Rogan:
The same happens here in Argentina, it was surprising to find that F. grandiflora changed its growth pattern and remained so for years.
Do you remember which other species grow in the damp pastures with G. tristis? This information is very important when one has to mix species with widely different requirements. I have compiled a small list of South African species that grow under moist/damp conditions but of course any addition to it is great.
As I write this, a small lawn of Cyrtanthus contractus grows happily. Nothing can beat fresh seed!
Best
-
Rogan's seed of the Cyrtanthus is well germinated here too, as is half of what he sent to me, in an Australian garden.
-
As promised , some pics of Crossyne flava, now flowering,
The first pic was taken two days ago and the next few were taken yesterday evening.
cheers
fermi
-
Beautiful plant and picture! This plant and your garden are clearly from the other side of the world. Unlike any of the plants that will start blooming here in the next month. Thank you for showing it to us.
-
Hi Robert,
I presume you meant the Crossyne, unless you were referring to the earlier pics of Gladdies :D I look forward to seeing what flowers in your area too.
I posted a pic of the first ever flower I got from this plant in mid-Feb last year but this year 2 more have come into bloom.
The Belladonna Lilies, Amaryllis belladonna (and hybrids with its close relatives) are also in flower,
The first pic is one of the hybrids I was given a score of years ago and the flowers darken as they age
[attachthumb=1]
The second is a "local" hybrid which opens a dark carmine pink and stays that way,
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
Hi Fermi- have you any idea how large the bulb of the Crossyne needs to be before it will flower? I have had one for a few years, it is in leaf just now, and it is about the size of a plum but hasn't flowered yet.
Simon
-
Amazing Fermi!!! I just googled Crossyne, and i can clearly see the rivalry between the leaves and flowers in means of beauty! Does that plant sets seed?
-
Great plants Fermi!
Another Gladiolus- G. equitans
-
A wonderful flower Miriam !
How tall does the plant grow ??
-
Luc, it's 35 cm tall.
-
The exceptional frosts we have had this winter have killed three pots of bulbils of Babiana nana I had growing on, I have other winter growing South African species yet to check.
-
The most tender are Cyrtanthi. Nerines on the other hand stand several degrees of frost indifferently.
-
Thanks Fermi for showing us Crossyne flowers - haven't seen them before. How fascinating.
-
Amazing Fermi!!! I just googled Crossyne, and i can clearly see the rivalry between the leaves and flowers in means of beauty! Does that plant sets seed?
Hi Mike,
I've posted some pics to the "Autumn in the SH" Thread, to show the three flowerheads all opening at the same time.
[attachthumb=3]
and these helpers might also mean that we get seed this year:
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
Hi Fermi- have you any idea how large the bulb of the Crossyne needs to be before it will flower? I have had one for a few years, it is in leaf just now, and it is about the size of a plum but hasn't flowered yet.
Simon
Hi Simon,
can't be sure as these bulbs languished in a pot for several years before I got a place for them in the garden. They were sown in 1998, so the first one took 10 years to flower from seed. However they might've taken less time if they'd been planted out earlier.
I haven't dug up the bulbs since they were planted about 6 years ago so again I can't say how big a flowering sized bulb will be. I'm tempted to dig them up next summer as they are actually too close together now! The leaves may give you some indication as to how big the bulbs should be as they stayed pretty narrow for a first few years and about 3 years ago they had got to the point where they were about 2.5 inches (~7cm) across, which must be the "adult" size.
Here's a close up of a flower of the "very yellow" one and the "very pink" one without bees!
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
Thank's fermi for this pics !
I haven"t seen them before and your plants looks very healthy and robust !
10 years to get the first flower.... good job fermi !! ;D
-
Thanks for the information Fermi- I bought mine as a small bulb maybe 8 years ago- it's had a hard time moving around with me, but seems much happier here on a windowsill in Bulgaria where we get a better quality of winter sun- it's back up to 2 leaves this year- after some time with only 1- so here's hoping.
Simon
-
Can I confirm whether UK residents require a phytosanitary certificate in order to import bulbs from South Africa? Or are all bulbs out of bounds and we are restricted to seeds?
-
Always best to check with DEFRA, Frazer..... but this is a quick guide...... http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/publicat/ifindoubt.pdf
I think all bulbs from outside the euro-meditterranean zone require phyto certs.
-
Seed is not so bad, in that if you plan to enjoy this hobby for long, you will be obtaining virus free plants. Granted the amaryllids are very slow this way, but on the other hand you can keep them for decades with only a few demands.
If you are going to import material from South Africa, try to find information from reputable growers concerning the sanitary condition of the bulbs. There are a few firms that sell material of great quality. Several South African bulbs are obtained from Dutch sources, ready to plant and without having to change the Hemisphere, which is not easy with adult plants.
Regards
-
Luc, it's 35 cm tall.
Thanks Miriam, it is now on my 'wants' list... ::) ;)
-
Two species of Geissorhiza:
Geissorhiza tulbaghensis
[attach=1]
Geissorhiza radians
[attach=2]
-
Two plants in flower today, Moraea loubseri and Gladiolus usyiae. The latter gives the added pleasure of being very fragrant.
-
Wonderful plants Melvyn.
The Gladiolus is a eyecatcher. Never think of this combination in this genus.
-
Are you the real Melvyn Jope?
-
Certainly never been asked that before,I hope so!! I am intrigued, is there more than one?
-
Gentleman, allow me to make the introductions: Alberto Castillo, this is Melvyn Jope. Melvyn, this is Alberto. 8)
Both of you are the genuine article, I believe ;D We don't encourage imposters ::) :o :D
-
We know Alberto well by now, but could you give a little information about Melvyn please? down here in the Antipodes, his is not a well known name.
-
A clue:
The real Melvyn Jope of Cyclamen Society fame?
You should be guessing by now!
-
I feel ill-equipped to tell you a much about Melvyn, Lesley, save to say that I know him as a grower of excellent Cyclamen. He writes articles.... for Hortus and the Cyclamen Society Journal to name but two..... I hope he will tell a little more about himself.... :)
-
That explains it then, the Cyclamen Society is one of a short list I've been intending to join but..... also includes Saxifraga Soc. It took me years to get around to the Frit Group. I'm the best ever procrastinator.
-
Miriam,
stunning close-up pics of two very nice South AFrican flowers.
Melvyn,
how do you grow that gladdie?
cheers
fermi
-
Myriam, your Geissorhiza tulbaghensis picture is simply stunning :P
Wonderfull flower and perfect pic... I LOVE IT !!
-
This forum is a minefield of different species that are new and oh so stunning. Thanks Miriam for you photos that came out full size - impact is instant!
Melvyn what an amazing gladiolus - and to see a few flowers of Moraea loubseri together. My poor neglected bulb puts up one flower each year.
-
Miriam and Melvyn, many thanks for the pictures. Those plants are really striking!
-
And Moraea loubseri is a case in itself. The more it is being grown the better.
-
Am I the only person who looks at the Moraea loubseri and sees the flowers as having huge furry bugs climbing over the tops? Is this the Moraea's cunning plan to attract polinators, as well as it's scent? ???
-
I think you are right about the furry bugs on the Moraea loubseri Maggi but I cannot detect any scent from the flowers.
By the way thank you for your introduction to Alberto and....
To Alberto, good to make contact with you again, its many years since we have corresponded, I didnt expect it to happen again through this forum!
-
Hi
Not surprising as more and more of the top experts are gathering at this exciting site.
-
Melvyn,
I love your last picture !
The flower is splendid, like a bee !
-
Super shot, Melvyn .... almost alive, isn't it?
The infinite variety of plant forms will never cease to amaze ... and delight... me.... it's what this gardening "thing" is all about, isn't it? 8)
-
Incredible beautiful plants! thank you very much for sharing your pictures.
I think this is Freesia verrucosa, I lost the label (like always >:()
-
Very seldom seen, Rafa!
-
Have not seen that Freesia species before - does it have the scent of the others? Where is it native Rafa?
-
maybe because it was Anomatheca? It is not scented and I think I gow this species from two different supliers, Dawie Human and R.R. Saunders.
-
The Anomatheca section of Freesia has flowers with long tubes that are pollinated by butterfiles or moths.
The "normal" Freesias, with their strong scent, by bees.
-
MYSTERY SOLVED ?
The label on the pot, Srgc seed sown 2007 says Linanthus nuttallii, which is in the family Polemoniaceae, but the leaves were obviously Iridaceae. As the flower buds developed I was thinking Ixia. The first bud looked as if it would open days ago. The temperature in the greenhouse today was 27C so I was surprised it still stayed closed. About 5.30 pm when packing some plants for the Stirling show tomorrow I happened to look along the greenhouse and saw the flower had just opened. A second flower had opened by 6.30. So it is night blooming, scented and I would guess South African. I hope someone out there can help me.
-
The pattern on the outside of the flowers is lovely ..... I have no idea what it is , though! :-[
I can just imagine it smells good :D
Have a good day at Dunblane, travel safe!
-
Moraea tricolour
-
Hesperantha cucullata
( edit by M: Refers to Roma's mystery Irid, from Post 482, above)
-
Thank you, Alberto.
Roma
-
I thought it looked like the hesperantha's I've grown.
-
Face red, Maggie...
Sorry for such telegraphic postings, only that another subject appeared at the same time.
Hesperanthas are fine plants, but drainage must be very good. Some of the species are gorgeous. They also liek it really frost free and warmish.
-
Hello Roma
Hesperantha cucullata grows outside here in the garden without any protection --subject to year round rainfall and frosts up to -3c .
If allowed to seed will pop up everywhere.
Cheers dave.
-
here is flowering in this time my Veltheimia bracteata - grown by me from seed ( ex DKG ) in year 2000
-
Jim,
That's a good demonstration of the fact some of these SA bulbs are tougher than we might expect.
In the open garden here - G.tristis, A/F.laxa, G.papillio, R.tetragona.
I just re-read this post and noticed the temperature range you experience as given in your signature: you are even colder than we are in the winter, although we get hotter here in USDA zone 7 Maryland, USA. Your -26 C is extremely cold: that would put you in USDA zone 5, the sort of winter temperatures experienced in SE Canada!
And you are growing those plants in the open garden? Do they receive special winter protection?
I've been growing Gladiolus tristis in a protected cold frame where real estate is valuable: I now wonder if I should move it to the open garden?
-
Very nice Veltheimia Hans :)
Is it the first flowering?
-
Hans,
Is this velthemia growing outside? We grow several pots of velthemia bracteata here but have never ventured to plant them outdoors.
Paddy
-
Very nice Veltheimia Hans :)
Is it the first flowering?
Michael :
As I have sown this plant I had really no knowledge about the treatment ....before some years I have realized that it is a wintergrowing plant ....
It has last spring also flowering ...
-
Hans,
Is this velthemia growing outside? We grow several pots of velthemia bracteata here but have never ventured to plant them outdoors.
Paddy
Paddy :
No - it is impossibly to grow I outside in my area !
It is in my greenhouse for the whole year - in summer dry in shade - and from fall - spring in sun .
I have it only taken outside for a pic today 8)
-
Velthemias are one of those bulbs here that grow on neglect.I have them in pots outside in the full sun. They dry out but always come back again. They are one of those "grandmother's plants" that can be found in old farmhouse gardens.
This forum keeps illustrating how we all live in such diverse climates.
-
I know Alberto will hate me for saying this ... but ..... Hesperantha falcata/cucullata (I don't know which of the two I have to be honest) thrives for me, almost like a weed. There is no way you can say it is anything but happy here, and yet it has been below -9'C in small black plastic pots that magnify the cold (I've had this plant now for well more than 10 years). I know that so many of these things are supposed to be intolerant of frosts but some of them thrive at a LOT colder than people seem to want to give them credit for. I know that some things I have "survive" the colder temperatures and aren't as happy as they would be in warmer climates, but this particular Hesperantha is most definitely not one of them. It is becoming a bit of a weed for me to be honest, although a welcome weed still at this stage. I love the pristine flowers, the lovely red backing, and the wonderfully offset stamens..... and it has such a strong perfume.
Some wonderful postings here by everyone. Some things I have never seen before, and others I will be seeing in my garden in around 5 or 6 months or so. Thanks for all the wonderful plants, particularly that last formerly Anomatheca. You certainly can see the similarities between it and the (now) Freesia laxa. Great colours of the F. laxa by the way Michael. I grow a few, but have not seen the pinks or mauves before. I grow the white, normal red, the blue, and I used to have 'Joan Evans' but don't any more I think. They are such cute little plants. I didn't know there were other possible colours.
Thanks again everyone.
-
Paul, not at all! I am happy to know that they thrive with you in your immense collection. But I suspect it must be in a protected spot as a winter with a permanent -9 C minimum could not be tolerated by Cape bulbs and corms, except Daubenya aurea, Romulea hantamensis. In California I have seen several collections of Cape bulbs and those that fared the better were those in the south, under frost free conditions.
The suggestion of frost free conditions is based on our conditions too. In winter we have many nights with slight frosts, but the frames have a plastic tunnel cover not so much to protect them from night chilling but from cool winds that evidently damage the plants. Under such sunny, warm conditions they really thrive.
-
Alberto,
The pots I am thinking of are out in the open in the middle of the lower back yard, where the cold pools even more than in the rest of the garden. Frost can last on the pots there until 10 or 11am some days. The -9'C are absolutely minimums, and occasional, but we get regularly -3 or -5'C throughout winter, with assorted below that (the last couple of winters have been milder though). With the magnification effect of small pots and cold, I would expect that the corms themselves must go close to actually freezing at times in the pots, although are days usually are sunny in between which means that they do get a chance to warm up each day (which is why I think some of the things that are supposed to be more tender actually survive here..... they don't remain very cold for days on end, but instead warm up during the day then head back well into frost over night.
-
Gladiolus carneus always gives a wonderful display :)
-
Miriam your Gladiolus carneus are a lot longer than I ever had from my seed grown plants. They are lovely.
-
Another two:
Gladiolus carneus hybrid
[attach=1]
Gladiolus carinatus
[attach=2]
-
Miriam that hybrid is stunning :o
-
They both are. :)
-
Wow, on both counts. Beautiful.
-
Fab Miriam, love the carinatus!
-
Wonderful Gladi's Miriam !!! :D
I've got G. carneus from seed making it's first flowering spike at this moment. It looks as if it's going to be a lot shorter than yours though - your pix make me even more excited and curious !! :D
-
Still the odd SA species going here on my windowsill, this was bought as Tritonia deusta.
-
What a colour !!! :o
Big flower ?
-
Hi Fred,
Medium sized I guess, about 3cm diameter. Comapred to some SA species the flowers are refreshiingly long lived!
-
a native South Africa in flower today
Tulbaghia acutiloba
-
Re: South Africa bulbose plants
Ğ Reply #508 on: April 12, 2009, 10:30:56 AM ğ
Hristo:
Still the odd SA species going here on my windowsill, this was bought as Tritonia deusta.
Chris, it is Tritonia deusta. There are several stunning variants, one called "var. miniata" in which there are almost black spots surrounded by yellow rings.
-
Hi Alberto,
Nice Tulbaghia, always interesting slightly otherworldly flowers on these plants!
-
Some more South African bulbs!
Nerine rosea
[attachthumb=1]
Nerine bowdenii "Meninya Forrest" which is probably what is known as var. wellsii elsewhere.
[attachthumb=2]
I can't take much credit for this one as I bought it in bud last month!
[attachthumb=3]
I showed pics of this Crossyne flava clump awhile back and now look at them!
[attachthumb=4]
[attachthumb=5]
Interested parties can PM me ;D
cheers
fermi
-
Very cool Fermi. That was the 3 different coloured ones wasn't it? Looks like you'll have about a squillion seeds if every one of those flowers has set as many seeds as in that picture! ;D Never had any luck with Crossyne flava here for some reason, although so many other Amaryllids (Boophone, Amaryllis, Haemanthus, Brunsvigias, Nerines etc.) do brilliantly for me. :-\
-
Ixia viridiflora or Turquoise Ixia has striking and unusual color.
I was amazed seeing it flowering in my garden for the first time.
-
You're right Miriam,
very strange colour and gracefull plant.
-
Hi Miriam:
Your collection seems to include many goodies. There are several colors in Ixia viridilfora, some being "duck egg green" to the actual color of turquoises (gems). Also dwarf forms. And of course, washed out inferior forms.
Regards
-
Hi Miriam,
Congratulations for your striking photos. Ixia Viridiflora is really stunning, and quite difficult to grow I suppose ?
Regards
Jean -Patrick
-
Not at all difficult to grow but it needs a good summer ripening to flower well.
-
Which is why it does so well here. Plenty of summer ripening. Have had it for years but it seems to have disappeared in the last 12 months, which is disappointing. No idea why it went, but obviously it was just it's time to go. ;D Must get it again as I love the colour, particularly set off by the wonderfully dark centre.
-
Paul,
if you mean the "Teal" hybrid, remind me next summer to send you some.
Here are some Oxalis,
O.massoniana,
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=6]
O."Ken Aslet" - I don't usually get a flower on this one! But hardly any foliage yet-
[attachthumb=2]
Another one that flowers before the foliage is O. palmifrons,
[attachthumb=3]
A "common" one but a bit deeper than shown: O. hirta "Rosea"
[attachthumb=4]
O. kaajvoegensis,
[attachthumb=5]
O. lobata
[attachthumb=7]
cheers
fermi
-
Super flowers on those Oxalis, Fermi, nice to see 'Ken Aslet' in flower. we have several pots here and I can't remember when or if they have ever flowered!
-
I got some small bulbs of Oxalis 'Ken Aslett' last September, perhaps not large enough to flower. I potted them and they made reasonable leaf but didn't look as though they would flower and I have let them dry out. When should I start to water again please, I do seem to remember a pot full flowering in the Wisley Alpine House when I visited late last August.
-
Isn't 'Ken Aslet' called something else now? O. melanostichta or something like that? I've had it for years, great pots of beautiful furry foliage and never a single flower among the lot. Likewise from O. palmifrons. :'( But I'm hoping to achieve a small goal I've had for many years, this year. To see OO. massoniana, purpurea alba and luteola all out at once and planted close to each other. Usually the white is later but a friend in Timaru (no longer alive) had the three in a large patch, close to each other and overlapping slightly. The white, citron yellow and ornage combo was very beautiful.
-
David, in the old Forum is a page with several postings about Ken Aslet, some I made myself.
Probably worthwile reading (still). I grew them en masse years ago and sold at least 20.000 bulbs yearly.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/9548.html#POST6785 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/9548.html#POST6785)
Lesley you were just faster than I with your posting! ;D ;)
You will read it in the above link.
-
Thanks Luit. I really must try and do better for them.
-
'Ken Aslett' (or whatever it is now called) flowers for me each year, although not lots of them. I probably had about 8 flowers this year. I've never had a flower on palmifrons in all the years I have been growing it. It is one of the few I have planted in the ground as well, and no flowers there either. My others are all in pots in general, for safety! ;D
Fermi,
No, not the 'Teal' (or 'Amethystina') variety, but rather the true viridiflora which is this intense blue-green colour with a large black eye. Much more delicate than the big 'Amethystina'. I just adore the colour green of the species, and had been told it was short lived. I had it for perhaps 6 years or so before it died last year, so it wasn't particularly short lived for me. One of those colours that is amazing, a bit like the Jade Vine if you've ever seen that?
-
After I had to stop my nursery, I distributed much of the soil where Ken Aslet was growing in
before, on my grounds. Now they pop up since some years and there are some small colonies
between other plants. Last year in October and November there were a few flowers.
After this long and cold winter (- 10 C here) they survived and the leaves are still brownish green.
Maybe I try to cover one spot against rain this summer, from the end of this month till Sept./Oct.
See what happens then.
-
Howdy All,
Flowering for me here at the moment are my 5 little Massonia jasminiflora. 3 of them are white, one is mauve shaded, and one is pink shaded. There isn't much difference, but enough to be different. I've included a pic of the pot on the 1st of May, and then again when it is in full flower, plus a couple of closeups of the flowerheads. I know I talked with someone somewhere here in the forums about sending them some seed if it set, but the search engine brings up nothing in that regard for me, so I am hoping that they are reading this and can contact me. I have been out with a paintbrish a couple of times, so hopefully there will be some seedset. I will be taking a couple of them out into a separate pot next dormancy as they are now too big and crowd each other out. They've never been this large before, despite 3 of them having flowered in the past.
Enjoy.
-
Wonderful Paul!
Such delicate color.
-
They really are very delicate. The 3 larger flowerheads in the main pic are the 3 different colours... the top one is white, the top left one is mauve, and the bottom one is pink. It is amazing tothink that all those flowers fit into those little points in the shot from the 1st of May. I am hoping to get some seed this year and sow a few more, just to get more going as they do not offset at all. I really should find my seed from a couple of years ago as I know it lasts for ages and they'll germinate fine. When they set seed they set plenty of it too, so I should have some to share if they're successful. 8)
-
They are absolutely gorgeous. Excellent pictures!
-
Oxalis purpurea Ken Aslet, grown in a pot I let it dry out completely when the foliage dies down. If I remember, I will take about 1" of compost off the top of the pot & replace with fresh gritty compost. Start watering when new growth appears. It also grows fairly well in the garden.
-
Howdy All,
Flowering for me here at the moment are my 5 little Massonia jasminiflora. 3 of them are white, one is mauve shaded, and one is pink shaded. There isn't much difference, but enough to be different. I've included a pic of the pot on the 1st of May, and then again when it is in full flower, plus a couple of closeups of the flowerheads. I know I talked with someone somewhere here in the forums about sending them some seed if it set, but the search engine brings up nothing in that regard for me, so I am hoping that they are reading this and can contact me. I have been out with a paintbrish a couple of times, so hopefully there will be some seedset. I will be taking a couple of them out into a separate pot next dormancy as they are now too big and crowd each other out. They've never been this large before, despite 3 of them having flowered in the past.
Enjoy.
Paul :o wow :o
Many thanks for your pics - your Massonia looks really great !
.....and the best is I have a lot of seedlings from your plants ;D
Thank you again
Hans
-
Love your Massonia jasminiflora - so beautiful and virginal - until you used your paintbrush Paul ;D
....are they scented?
-
Oxalis purpurea Ken Aslet, grown in a pot I let it dry out completely when the foliage dies down. If I remember, I will take about 1" of compost off the top of the pot & replace with fresh gritty compost. Start watering when new growth appears. It also grows fairly well in the garden.
Useful stuff Mike. How often do you re-pot them please?
-
The Massonias are beautiful Paul. Mine are growing and budding well (only have depressa and a little one which doesn't do much) but the flowerheads don't develop. Maybe not warm enough in their raised bed. I'd better try a pot.
Mike, your 'Ken Aslet' is superb.' I really must strive for something like that. Really beautiful.
-
Thanks Leslie.
David, I sometimes just move the whole tangled mass of bulbs and roots into a larger pot without disturbing to much. If the whole lot becomes to large I will gently pull apart and move to a couple of pots. It seems to thrive on a certain amount of neglect.
Mike
-
Robin,
I haven't checked on scent to be honest. Never occured to me. Obviously not strongly, as I would have noticed while pollinating them.
-
Mike,
It just occurred to me.... is your 'Ken Aslett' in flower now? Mine has just had a few flowers here in recent weeks (I always get a few), but I've only ever had it flower in autumn, never spring?
-
Paul
My Ken Aslet is only just starting into growth. Usually in flower September time.
Mike
-
Ah, that is more like it. I just wasn't sure given that you posted pics of it in flower now. 8)
-
Paul, Gorgeous massonia !!! pure jewels !
Mike, I like the purpurea color of this Oxalis ;D ;)
-
I have had some garden centre bought Ixia hybrids in the garden for a few years now and although they come up every year, regardless of the kind of winter we have, they don't seem to multiply. Normally the flowers don't open fully and as I never get round to supporting them properly the wind plays havock with them. This year though a couple of sprays have opened.
-
I have had some garden centre bought Ixia hybrids in the garden for a few years now and although they come up every year, regardless of the kind of winter we have, they don't seem to multiply.
David,
we should be so lucky! ;D Ixias are one of the "garden escapees" that invade open spaces though not as aggressively as some others suh as Watsonia bulbifera. I find them delightful and have been known to do my civic duty by digging up some of these invaders....and replanting them in our garden! ;D
The cerise one you've shown is often seen here but I don't know the name for it.
To get them to multiply you could try planting it shallowly ( 2.5 to 5.0 cm) in a well-drained, gritty soil which is kept dry over summer.
cheers
fermi
-
Thanks for that Fermi, the words 'dry' and 'summer' are not ones I usually use together in the same sentence! ;D
-
A few more Ixia hybrids from a second clump. Having seen the wind damaged first clump in the garden I now find them in a vase in the front window-who could have done that? :P
Ixia yellow
Ixia red
Ixia pink
-
Ixia crateroides is a big, tall cerise but there are so many hybrids nowadays that David's cerise could be anything.
-
Four SA bulbs flowering now;
Ornithogalum dubium ( is this still in Ornithogalum? )
Stenoglottis woodii ( Orchid )
Resonova megaphylla
Ledeboria sp. x Paul Christian 1999
-
Lovely Chris, I have the Ornithogalum? too but mine is a few days away from opening yet. By the way I note you are a 'Fast Show' fan! ;D
-
Chris,
Lovely. I loved the orange O. dubium when I used to grow it, but found I could never get it to break dormancy after the year I bought it in flower. The yellow form on the other hand grows prolifically for me, seeding well and offsetting like mad. I wish I could find an orange form that grew as well as it. ::) And you have that Stenoglottis in flower for you, whereas here S. longifiolia is in flower at the moment out in the garden. ;D
-
Hi David and Paul,
Yes David, I used to love the fast show, not all the sketches, but it was pretty inventive and rarely offensive!
Paul, you have the yellow dubium? Oh my, can we seed swap for something?
I am trying to imagine S.longifolia in the open, mine are indoors and will flower around Spetember to December.
Do you have new Stenoglottis from seed or only from division?
-
Chris,
I can do seed or send you a few bulbs. The yellow O. dubium are pretty much evergreen here. They flower well and set seed quite freely, but I never get around to collecting it (but will try to do so if you or anyone are wanting some). If only the orange would be as accomodating. Apparently I am not alone in having the orange dubium grow for one year and then never break dormancy again..... do your orange ones flower each year?
Stenoglottis longifolia flowers here outside without a problem. I have some in the ground and some in pots. Even sitting for years in a tiny pot I still usually get a flower on them. Mine have no leaf markings, although a friend has a spotty leaf one. Easy and anything here. ;D
-
Great Chris !
My Resnova only gave me leaves :-\
But your's seem's to be quite high in size ??
-
Hi Fred,
I guess from the crown of the bulb to the tip of the flower spike is about 18cm.
For many years it has grown in a community pot, this year it got its own pot and actually looks better for it!
Leaving 3/4 of the bulb above ground seems to have resulted in this 'taller' growth form, in previous years the bulb has been fully buried and the leaves have tended to grow out along the surface of the potting medium.
-
Resnova is such an interesting genus (now sunk into Ledebouria, I believe?), it's a great pity the bulbs are still being sold at ridiculously high prices and available seed just does not germinate - I think it must have a very short viability.
I have one Resnova-like plant in my collection with very attractive (...for a Resnova) pink and white flowers and another with attractive leaves reticulated in purple - both are still needing names and I believe the locality of the second species has been forgotten by the collector and so can't be described! I'll get pictures of both species when they come into leaf again in spring.
-
Great to see the Resonova megaphylla in flower. Mine will only make leaves - although they are very attractive. Chris - you are colder than us in winter so I expect you have protected it - how hardy have you found it?
-
Hi Rogan and Diane,
The Resonovas are rather attractive. This one flowers quite reliably here and grows in an east facing room with glass windows facing east and north.
It never drops below +5c in winter and gets no warmer than +30c in summer.
We have had a germination of unknown seed which appeared in pots growing near to the Resonova and Ledebouria, currently it looks like the Ledebouria species ( I hope!! ). I have attached a picture of the seedlings.
-
this plant obtained from seed, seeds 2007 first flower
Dietes iridioides
-
These are two of the nerines we have still in flower here.
the first is what we think is N. undulata
[attachthumb=2]
The second is what I presume is the pink version of what we've known here as N. flexuosa, but is probably re-classified as N. humilis,
[attachthumb=1]
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
Doesn't the second one just look like a bowdenii, or is it smaller than it looks in the pic. N. humilis is quite a diminutive little thing, with a lovely dark stripe down the petal..... well at least what I grow as that is definitely that description. More than enough of it to share with you if you'd be liking some next dormancy?
-
Alessandro, Fermi those are some very nice looking flowers, I love the N.undulata Fermi, very wrinkly in an elegant manner!
-
Here's my Ornithogalum dubium. Chris asked if this was still Ornithogalum but no-one answered. Is it?
-
Wow 8) the colour is exuberant David
-
Here's my Ornithogalum dubium. Chris asked if this was still Ornithogalum but no-one answered. Is it?
According to Kew monocot database, it is.
http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?accepted_id=283153&repSynonym_id=-9998&name_id=283153&status=true (http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?accepted_id=283153&repSynonym_id=-9998&name_id=283153&status=true)
but do notice that they put it in Asparagaceae ::) ::)
-
Most of my Nerines are finished now except for flexuosa alba which is always last. Here it is today. Brrrrr.
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
-
What a lovely clear white form, Lesley! :D
-
This the rare "fluffy double" form, Lesley!? ;)
-
It is Paul and you could even say it's snowy white. :D
-
;D ;D ;D
-
Brrrrrr! Lesley!
I found this little "tulip" growing in the southern Cape some time ago and assumed it to be a species of Ornithogalum. As I know just about nothing when it comes to ornithogalums, I was wondering if anybody can enlighten me - it is certainly very beautiful and bright?
-
Maybe Ornithogalum maculatum Rogan.
Cheers Dave
-
I've never seen an Ornithogalum with only one flower per stem before. Didn't realise they existed. ???
-
beautiful ornithogalums
This is Gladiolus antholyzoides
-
What a beautiful shade of Yellow Rafa, it's a lovely plant.
-
Both plants are lovely. :)
-
That's a beautifully clear yellow Rafa. Nice form to it too. Thanks for the pic.
-
Very nice Gladi Rafa, how tall does it grow please ??
-
Luc, this is a very big and robust gladiolus, 80cm. In Goldblat monogrph he mentioned it is very close to D. dalenii...
I love this genus, is very beatuiful and interesting to me because they have many species with different adaptations for pollinators.
I would like to grow all of them!! :o :D
-
Rafa,
I'd never have taken it for that big. I love dalenii (was flowering here until our -6'C last week) even if it does tend to wander around the garden somewhat and is getting to the stage of having to start controlling it before it takes over that area. 8) I rather like the idea of a yellow version like in your pic. :D
-
Here are a couple of pics of something that comes as a nice surprise for me since I certainly didn't expect flowers this year. Grown from SRGC Seed Ex. seed from the 2007/8 distribution under Number 100 and described as 'Albuca JCA 15856'. These were sown on 25 February 2008 and have been under glass and have survived the worst winter frosts we have had here for a number of years.
Can anyone have a guess at a likely species please?
-
Maybe Albuca humilis which is very short but under glass could be drawn up somewhat. Does it smell (reputedly) of marzipan? Mine flowers with just a cm of stem, outside all year round. The bulbs become very large for the size of the plant. There's a yellow and green form apparently, called 'Karl King.'
-
Maybe Albuca humilis which is very short but under glass could be drawn up somewhat. Does it smell (reputedly) of marzipan? Mine flowers with just a cm of stem, outside all year round. The bulbs become very large for the size of the plant. There's a yellow and green form apparently, called 'Karl King.'
I'll check the smell tomorrow Lesley. Both kids at home tonight and a meal out, and farrrrrrrrrrr to much red wine to go out to the greenhouse!!!
-
Paul if you have a few to spare sometime of the Gladiolus dalenii I would like to try them here. I do like the species Gladiolus too and many would do well here - some too well.
-
I moved a pot of seedling Albuca shawii today and was surprised by
the smell of its leaves. (It was sown a month ago).
My husband and I have pinched and sniffed various conifers and
concur that the closest match is that of Alberta spruce (Picea glauca).
Has anyone else noticed this?
-
David,
I'd be inclined to agree with Lesley on the ID. Albuca humilis was what immediately sprang to mind for me too, although mine grows with similar proportions to yours outside in sun here, rather than very short like Lesley's.
-
Thanks Lesley and Paul. I couldn't detect a scent from my plants today but I am a bit 'bunged up' with hay fever at the moment. I have found out that a local nurseryman, Julian Sutton of Desireable Plants offers Albuca humilis and I have sent him the pics of my plants to match to his. I will let you know what he thinks.
-
My mother and I both had it at least 40 years ago as Albuca species from Basutoland, I think, then as A. cooperi but more recently as humilis.
-
today in flower
Agapanthus inapertus subsp. pendulus
-
today in flower small Eucomis
Eucomis zambesiaca
-
today in flower
Agapanthus inapertus subsp. pendulus
A gorgeous sight, Alessandro, you must be really pleased it survived the storms in your garden - the deep sea blue is a beautiful colour :)
-
it would have to resist well also to outside, but in order not to risk I prefer to hold in pot
-
I moved a pot of seedling Albuca shawii today and was surprised by
the smell of its leaves. (It was sown a month ago).
My husband and I have pinched and sniffed various conifers and
concur that the closest match is that of Alberta spruce (Picea glauca).
Has anyone else noticed this?
Only seen your post now Diane. I have a few plants of Albuca namaquensis that set copious amounts of seed each year. I find that the seed smells quite strongly of pine/conifer when handled and seed harvested in 2007 still has a discernable odour even now.
-
Love that Eucomis Alessandro, do you over-winter it indoors?
-
Hristo
I hold all my Eucomis in cold greenhouse, but I have seen in my zone also Eucomis comosa to outside
-
Howdy All,
I wanted to post this one in here, despite the fact I have posted it in the Southern Hemisphere topic. More visit here I think than there, and it isn't something you see very often....
I'll include the same information here as I did in the SH topic, to explain why there are weeds and the strange structure of the plant.
These are 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)
Enjoy.
-
Thanks again, Paul. I've seen a pic of the flower before, but not those fantastic leaves- you are right about bromeliad-like. I am just checking that it isn't April Fool's day, or an Australian equivalent!!
-
Paul
the wonderful color , than largeness it has the flower?
-
today in flower :) Dietes grandiflora
-
That's an extraordinary Lapierousia Paul, I love the colours and the wavy leaves. 8)
-
today in flower :) Dietes grandiflora
You grow some some wonderfully exotic plants Alessandro - Dietes grandiflora is another really elegant flower with lovely markings.
-
Simon, Alessandro, Brian,
Thanks. The colour is so strong, you just can't miss it. The whole thing is not particularly big, but over time they produce a lot of flowers. I think each leaf in the structure has a flower at the base of it, or at least it starts out that way anyway. With more than one bulb flowering they should set seed when I hand pollinate them. I know I sent people here some seed a year or two ago, so hopefully some of them have had some germination by now? I'll try setting seed this season as well if people are wanting some?
-
sure someone wants seeds ;D
-
I would love to give it a go Paul, super plant 8)
-
Noted, Brian. Has been added to my white-board in my office. 8)
-
mmmm - Wonderful stuff Paul !
I' d love to have a try as well if it sets seed for you .. :D
-
Paul,you can add me to the list if the seed harvest permits.
cheers
-
Wow Paul :o
Never seen this one before-both flowers and leaves are amazing!
-
my Dietes grandiflora flowering for the first time for me.It was a gift from Alex's father
-
Very nice Tony.
-
Luc and Michael,
I've added you both to my white board as well. ;D Have attempted a couple of hand pollinations but I don't think I have struck plants at the right time. I need to get the flowers the right age apart for the pollen to be produced on the donor and the style to be right on the recipient. The style doesn't push through until the pollen has been shed, I assume to stop self-pollination. Then the style ages fairly quickly I think and starts to shrivel, so I need to get the right point on both flowers. ::) As more flowers come out the chances increase of course, so I would be surprised if I can't get at least SOME seed this year. 8)
Tony,
Aren't Dietes cool. They thrive on absolutely nothing here, just doing their thing each year. Great stuff!! :D
-
Howdy All,
My Gladiolus maculatus is in flower at the moment. Perfumed at night (at least I think it is, I keep forgetting to go out and check), but no sign of it during the day. Very subtle colouration and easily missed in the garden.
Click on the pic for a larger version!
-
Is that the normal colouration or is it due to cold? I have not seen this one before
-
Pat,
That is definitely the normal colour. White and mahogany is probably the easiest description. This species, Lilaceous and tristis all have similarities to my eyes, but I don't know exactly how closely related within Gladiolus they are. Produces plenty of little offsets too, so I can send you some if you'd like to try some at the end of the season?
-
Paul I would love some to grow here.
Many thanks.
Pat
-
Hi Paul,
Another super bulb posting, I am looking forward to the rest of your growing season!
-
Tony how do you keep your Dietes alive? I brought a lot of seed home from SA but although they germinated well they all died over the winter
-
Paul is your plant a bulb?
-
Mark, Dietes should survive outside with you,I have the dwarf form seeding all over the garden. Will check tomorrow if I have some seed I can send you.
-
Tony how do you keep your Dietes alive? I brought a lot of seed home from SA but although they germinated well they all died over the winter
Mark
I only got it in the spring as a plant.I am growing it in a pot and I am going to keep it frost free. I have wanted it a long time and am not going to risk it outside until I can divide it and then try a bit in the garden.
-
Mark,
If you're meaning the Gladiolus, it's a corm (I think all Gladiolus are). If you're asking about the Lapierousa, it too is a corm.
Dietes grandiflora (or what I think is that) is actually almost a bit of a weed for me in it's spot in the garden. Squillions of seedlings coming up all the time. Feels awful to pull them all out, but I just don't have the space. Sets seed very freely. Mine has arching stems, rather than being upright as some talk about it being. There are a couple of different looking Dietes sold here in Aus as grandiflora, and I haven't worked out fully yet whether they are different forms or different species. ::)
-
The giant Eucomis pole-evansii
-
Thanks for the replies
-
Yes I meant the Lapierousia
-
Eucomis vandermerwei just beginning to flower.
-
Eucomis vandermerwei just beginning to flower.
this with the exception of the others seems not appreciate the water
-
this with the exception of the others seems not appreciate the water[/quote]
so it should be under cover away from a UK summer?
-
this with the exception of the others seems not appreciate the water
so it should be under cover away from a UK summer?
[/quote]
Mark
creed can be a hostile atmosphere ;D
-
That's a super Eucomis Brian, really nice foliage as well as flower, but then I like spotty things.
-
Eucomis vandermerwei just beginning to flower.
A real beauty Brian. It might just work in Lesley's dark garden.
johnw
-
I'll be looking for seed of it. I've just received an updated seedlist from Dawie Human, in South Africa.
-
Duly noted Lesley ;D
-
A real beauty Brian. It might just work in Lesley's dark garden.
Another dark Eucomis, but at the other end of the scale size-wise compared to E vandermerwei
Eucomis comosa "Sparkling Burgundy". I won this in a raffle about 3 years ago (big pot of three large bulbs) but this is the first time I have had a flower.
-
Lovely spotty foliage on Eucomis vandermerwei :). I grow a dark Eucomis that looks very similar to yours Diane. If I don't remember wrong I think it was named 'Oakhurst'. This is the second year in my garden but still no flowers :'(.
-
Do not worry Gunilla, they will come, if not this year perhaps next year. ;)
-
here some pics from my Eucomis from today :
Eucomis pole -evansii ( the stem is now 83 cm high )
Eucomis hybrid ( from a nice german nursery ;) )
Eucomis autumnale ( with a wonderful fragrance after coconut )
Enjoy
8)
-
Eucomis hybrid ( from a nice german nursery )
Very nice pastel colour Hans, how tall does it grow?
-
Hi Brian ,
my plant from this hybrid is 30 cm higth !
-
I have a few small bulbs of Moraea aristata, If anyone is interested send me a PM. They grow well outside here but the flowers are much better under cold glass.
Here is a pic.
Moraea aristata
-
yes please
-
Many thanks for the offer David, but I shall decline as I have a pot full of Albuca humilis and even if JCA 15856 is a different species they look the same! I have been thinking of trying to get seed from Silverhills of some of the orange/yellow flowered Ornithogalums!
Thanks again
Chris
-
Gunilla,
Eucomis 'Oakhurst' has slightly paler foliage I think, and the flowers are definitely not as good a pink as 'Sparkling Burgundy'. SB has one of the best pink flowerheads I have come across in the genus.... good, dense head of nice clean pale pink flowers. Superior!! Both do have good foliage though. I have a couple of old purple-foliage varieties that I am not aware of having names. One has pale pink flowers and the other has white. Neither have as strong a foliage colour as Sparkling Burgundy', although the new foliage on my white flowered one is almost black when it first appears out of the ground..... it fades much quicker than SB though, unfortunately.
-
Thanks Paul, I think I'll have to try 'Sparkling Burgundy' as well.
My 'Oakhurst' will not flower this year so I'll just have to wait and see :-\ The foliage has been a nice dark purple all summer but is now beginning to turn more green.
Another Eucomis has started to flower here but I am not sure what it is. I probably buried the label with the bulb ::)
-
Gunilla,
your Eucomis look like E. autumnalis. Get the species from a friend this year and it flowered.
-
Howdy All,
A couple of South Africans that are flowering at the moment.....
The Lapierousia oreogena is the same one that I showed the first flowers on nearly a month ago. This was taken about a week ago and there are even more of them now. Pollinated when I can find pollen on them!! ;D
Moraea macronyx is courtesy of Fermi. An absolute stunner of a flower, positively glowing in white and gold. Thanks Fermi!! 8)
Please click on the pic for a larger version. If pics are too large, please let me know.
-
Paul, The Moraea is STUNNING !!! pure jewel :o
-
It's even better in person. There is something about the purity of the two colours that makes it so much stronger. Small, but perfectly formed. ;D
-
A cracker it is Paul !!!
-
Fabulous and the connection makes it even better ;)
-
A couple more....
Spiloxene linearis is just starting up for the season. Glowing orange!!
Gladiolus watsonius
-
Another fantastic colour paul, and species that we're not used to grow in France :o :P
Do you grow all your bulbs in pots ?
-
Spiloxene linearis is just starting up for the season. Glowing orange!!
Delightful species - what a colour!
Paul, How long does a single flower lasts?
Gerd
-
Fred,
Not all my bulbs, but the majority. Much easier to keep them all identified and separate (and in conditions to their liking) in pots for me. It's a lot of hand watering, but most do much better in my pots than with competition in the ground.
Gerd,
I think each flower on the Spiloxene lasts maybe a week or so, but you get them over a fairly long period of time (I have never noted exactly how long) and get lots of seedset. They're a strange corm in that they produce this strange nest of outer tunics that I assume are for insulation purposes or something like that. Unlike normal tunics they're almost like a tiny birds nest, or one of those constructions that some caterpillars make by picking up bits of stick and debris and sticking it to their bodies? I think I photographed it at some point, if you want me to go looking for the pic. I've never come across a construction like it with any other plant I have grown. The flower colour is so bright, and the flowers open in the sun. They can be kept totally dry inside in summer, as I found out accidentally last summer when I forgot a few in a pot in the garage. Even months in a warm and dry situation don't bother them at all.
-
Hi Paul,
Glad to see the Moraea macronyx has flowered for you - none here yet! But the other one we decided is M. ciliata has flowered.
[attachthumb=1]
Still flowering are the usually easy red lachenalia, L. bulbifera (syn L. pendula) but which I have to grow in the shade-house due to frost!
[attachthumb=2]
This Bulbinella came to me as seed of B. caudafelis, but I'm having my doubts! Any suggestions?? perhaps B. barkerae?
[attachthumb=3]
[attachthumb=4]
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
Is that the Bulbinella you've posted recently? I just LOVE it. 8) No sign of anything on my nutans as yet.
-
Paul,
Thank you for this detailed description of an extraordinary species.
Gerd
-
Gunilla,
your Eucomis look like E. autumnalis. Get the species from a friend this year and it flowered.
Thanks Uli for help with ID, I did plant E. autumnalis, E. pole-evansi and E. montana this spring but only this one flowers.
-
Howdy All,
A couple of South Africans that are flowering at the moment.....
The Lapierousia oreogena is the same one that I showed the first flowers on nearly a month ago. This was taken about a week ago and there are even more of them now. Pollinated when I can find pollen on them!! ;D
Moraea macronyx is courtesy of Fermi. An absolute stunner of a flower, positively glowing in white and gold. Thanks Fermi!! 8)
Please click on the pic for a larger version. If pics are too large, please let me know.
Those are beautiful Paul. If you get seed I'd love to try them?
-
Anthony,
I would hope to get seed on the Lapierousia, but I only have one clone of the Moraea so have no idea whether it sets seed or not. Fermi, do yours set seed?
-
What a nice bulbinella Fermi, I must look into this family and see what else there is that I don't know about - Lots obviously :-\
-
Hi all. Just at this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere Eriospermum start blooming. I think it is a genus that should be deserved to be more in cultivation for a lot of reasons. It is easy to care for them (at least the 4-5 species available), they have a fine foliage, sometimes really strange as in E. dregei (I'll post later), the spikes are rich in very strongly scented flowers....
There is anyone that have this genus in cultivation to share experiences, and maybe seeds!
Alberto
Eriospermum brevipes
-
Anthony,
I would hope to get seed on the Lapierousia, but I only have one clone of the Moraea so have no idea whether it sets seed or not. Fermi, do yours set seed?
Hi Paul,
Mine were raised from seed so I have more than one clone and do get seed if I get to pollinate them. I'm not sure if you got corms form more than one clone but I think they are self fertile but may need to be hand pollinated.
I had to bring a few pots of Romulea into work so that I could photograph them when they opened!
Here's the container:
[attachthumb=1]
The fabulosa R. sabulosa
[attachthumb=2]
R.flava, just open
[attachthumb=3]
and after a bit more time,
[attachthumb=4]
A yellow which came labelled as Lapeirousia! Any guesses as to what it might be? It has cruciform foliage (in cross-section)
[attachthumb=5]
And the fantabulous R. hantamensis
[attachthumb=6]
[attachthumb=7]
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
That last one is a cracker of a Romulea!! :o What striking markings.
-
Fabulosa indeed Fermi, super looking flowers!
-
Beautiful, Fermi ...
-
Beautiful, Fermi ...
I think you're rather striking, too, Cliff....Oh you mean the romuleas ;D
The R. sabulosa is from seed from NZAGS 2004, sown in 2005 and R. flava is from NZAGS 2005 sown in 2005, both flowering for the first time!
The R. hantamensis I showed last year as well and mentioned that it is diminishing at a great rate :'( This is the sole surviving corm from a potful I got in 2002 from Gordon Julian in Tasmania. I've had no luck from seed - when it is set.
cheers
fermi
-
"Phantasmagorical" Romuleas Fermi!
I have managed to germinate seeds of R. hantamensis at last - it took three years! Whether I'll get them to flowering size is yet another matter...
I've yet to germinate R. sabulosa, but this year had success with R. unifolia, R. syringodeoflora and R. amoena - so the Romuleans are on the increase!
-
I have managed to germinate seeds of R. hantamensis at last - it took three years! Whether I'll get them to flowering size is yet another matter...
I've yet to germinate R. sabulosa, but this year had success with R. unifolia, R. syringodeoflora and R. amoena - so the Romuleans are on the increase!
Any clues as to how you germinated the R hantamensis would be appreciated! I got the R. sabulosa from NZAGS in 2004, around September and kept them to sow in autumn (May 15 to be exact) 2005. Kept outdoors they germinated in the spring (I think).
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi, I think your yellow Romulea is R. saldanhensis, a pic of mine is below for comparison.
Lovely R. hantamensis.
-
I find all these Romuleas just gorgeous.
Sad to say when I read so the Romuleans are on the increase
.... I find myself singing about "klingons on the starboard bow...."
-
".... scrape em off, Jim!!" ;)
Should I admit I actually HAVE that single somewhere (or I used to), and that I have been to star trek conventions.... in costume!! ::)
-
"Any clues as to how you germinated the R hantamensis would be appreciated!"
No clues, I just kept them... and kept them... and kept them! The seed pot was dried off in summer and watered in winter - that's all. At some stage I thought I might try some "smoke water" (ala Kirstenbosch) but never got around to it.
-
".... scrape em off, Jim!!" ;)
Should I admit I actually HAVE that single somewhere (or I used to), and that I have been to star trek conventions.... in costume!! ::)
No, Paul.... I'd keep pretty quiet about that, if I were you...... ::) ;D
-
Thanks Maggi. I'll keep that in mind in the future if it comes up. ;)
-
Does Romulea sabulosa normally have variable flowers? This year for the first time I noticed that some of the flowers were different bye Ray
-
Fermi, I think your yellow Romulea is R. saldanhensis, a pic of mine is below for comparison.
Lovely R. hantamensis.
Thanks for the suggestion, David. Your flower is stunning !
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi
I also grow Romulea saldanhensis which is orange yellow as shown in David N's pic.
Your unidentified bulb is pale yellow with a green throat which has similarities to some of the forms of R. hirta ...........
To enable a more definitive answer ---a shot of the back of the petals / close up of the cross sectioned leaves ,(to identify degree of any hairiness), and the number of leaves would help.
Cheers Dave.
-
Mmmmmm, you could be right Dave. I had a look on the PBS Wiki and the yellow form of Romulea hirta shown there has abrowny/green throat with a red/brown edge to it but I don't know how common this is. The Wiki goes on to say (about R. hirta) "the distictive identifying trait are the leaves which have the lateral ribs reduced and medium ribs widened to form 4 longitudinal wings"
I'm not sure I understand that ???
-
Hesperantha latifolia, a rather diminutive plant (maybe 8-10cm tall, but with comparatively large flowers (these would be 2.5cm or more wide). They are satiny in texture, and quite shiny. I thought I had lost them last year until they popped up again. There are even offsets in there, so hopefully they're coming back. 8)
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
-
Very nice Paul. I must admit I like Hesperantha a lot, so very simple flowers and very colourful. I have H. baurii frm seed sown on 7 March 2008 from SRGC Seed Ex. 2007/08 which gave me two flowers this year but never got round to photographing them. According to my records I also have H. huttonii from seed sown on the same date as the above but haven't a clue where it is!
Later edit
Found it, and it has a flower. If it ever stops raining I'll get a picture of it. (I just grow too much stuff!!)
-
David,
I'm glad my pic prompted you to find a flower you hadn't seen. Always good. I've often seen things here that have sent me looking for my own, only to find them growing or flowering madly when I hadn't even realised they were doing so. ::)
-
Fermi
I also grow Romulea saldanhensis which is orange yellow as shown in David N's pic.
Your unidentified bulb is pale yellow with a green throat which has similarities to some of the forms of R. hirta ...........
To enable a more definitive answer ---a shot of the back of the petals / close up of the cross sectioned leaves ,(to identify degree of any hairiness), and the number of leaves would help.
Cheers Dave.
Dave,
I forgot all about taking a pic of the foliage and back of the petals - may be able to do that tonight.
This is another Romulea which I got as R.cruciata but I think may also be a form of R. hirta,
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
Another pic of Moraea tripetala,
[attachthumb=3]
cheers
fermi
-
Here's my Hesperantha huttoni grown from seed sown 7 March 2008
-
Hesperantha latifolia, a rather diminutive plant (maybe 8-10cm tall, but with comparatively large flowers (these would be 2.5cm or more wide). They are satiny in texture, and quite shiny. I thought I had lost them last year until they popped up again. There are even offsets in there, so hopefully they're coming back. 8)
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
nice plant Paul, I possess the usual H.coccinea
-
Nice, David.
Alessandro,
Just the name makes me shudder.... such a weed here. Took me 3 years to finally eradicate it (the normal red one) from my garden after I made the mistake of planting it. When one popped up more than a foot from the parent I started getting worried, and when popped up 1m from the parent I started removing. That was all within the first year or two, and it then took me 3 years to finally have no more coming up. They're lovely plants but need containment here in my garden situation. I'd put them into large self-watering tubs, but all of mine are taken up with Alstroemerias (which are another weed species here if in the ground, but in tubs with good watering they do brilliantly). 8)
-
Nice, David.
Alessandro,
Just the name makes me shudder.... such a weed here. Took me 3 years to finally eradicate it (the normal red one) from my garden after I made the mistake of planting it. When one popped up more than a foot from the parent I started getting worried, and when popped up 1m from the parent I started removing. That was all within the first year or two, and it then took me 3 years to finally have no more coming up. They're lovely plants but need containment here in my garden situation. I'd put them into large self-watering tubs, but all of mine are taken up with Alstroemerias (which are another weed species here if in the ground, but in tubs with good watering they do brilliantly). 8)
Paul
Now I have understood, because they have a low price, in Australia pay who eliminates to them ;D
-
Amaryllis belladona hyb grown from seed.
-
Well done Michael, that's very pretty.
-
How long from seed, Michael?
-
Ten years Mark.
-
A decade of congratulations Michael, you must be over the moon with such a beautiful flower :)
-
I have another twelve bulbs with no flower buds visible yet. it was crossed with Cyrtanthus elatus.
-
I have another twelve bulbs with no flower buds visible yet. it was crossed with Cyrtanthus elatus.
So there could be quite a range of flower in the end, then, Michael?
Ten years (from seed)
Apart from demonstrating your patience, Michael, this does illustrate why some bulbs can be very expensive to obtain, doesn't it.... after all, a nurseryman can't sit and starve under a tree for ten years!! :-X
-
very dedicated!
I was given a Nerine 'Winter Sun' that is supposed to be a bowdenii/sarniensis hybrid. It's flowering now and looks like a delicate bowdenii - delicate as in small and petite. Does anyone know it or grow it?
Many of my sarniensis are now in bud. They are multiplying well and next year I should have enough to produce a swaps list
-
Michael do you think they are all hybrids? The one you show is lovely
-
a nurseryman can't sit and starve under a tree for ten years
I am not so sure about that Maggi. I have done my share of it in the past.
-
They should be Mark, I was very careful when crossing them,but you never can be sure.
-
a nurseryman can't sit and starve under a tree for ten years
I am not so sure about that Maggi. I have done my share of it in the past.
Well, Michael, I have a good many nurseryman friends who would agree with you there.... :-X
I think your new flower is lovely, and worth the wait! Such a delicate shade and elegant shape.
You'll keep them under glass at all times, do you?
-
Maggi,the hybs are all under glass but the Parent Amaryllis has been planted out in a raised bulb bed uncovered for the past five years, and flowers very well every year. I think they do better outside if you have a suitable spot.
-
Maggi,the hybs are all under glass but the Parent Amaryllis has been planted out in a raised bulb bed uncovered for the past five years, and flowers very well every year. I think they do better outside if you have a suitable spot.
My goodness, I didn't expect that!
-
Maggi are you shocked by the fact they can be grown outside in Ireland?
-
It surprised me as well Maggi, but as they say you learn a little every day. I thought that the constant rain would kill them but if they have good drainage they seem to tolerate it without any problems. It is just showing buds now and I will post a pic when if flowers. I posted a pic last year.
-
They survived a lot of sharp frost last winter, the worst we have had for ten years,
-
Mark,another rubbish gardening program on the TV.
-
On my last camping trip to the Cape mountains the 'lawn' we were camped on turned out to be a Romulea species! Honestly, you could not step without stepping on Romulea - the baboons had another use for the bulbs - supper... ::)
-
Isn't it Babiana that's called Baboon flower? Do they do the same to those?
-
"Isn't it Babiana that's called Baboon flower? Do they do the same to those?"
They love them! Even here the vervet monkey's have learnt to depot my bulbs and eat them - I have to grow everything under chicken mesh! ::)
-
On my last camping trip to the Cape mountains the 'lawn' we were camped on turned out to be a Romulea species! Honestly, you could not step without stepping on Romulea - the baboons had another use for the bulbs - supper... ::)
Rogan,
that looks like the species that is rampant through the countryside here in Southern Australia! >:( The native cockatoos have learnt to dig up the corms in the summer even though the ground is like concrete!
Here's a cluster of Babiana pygmaea in our rock garden, fortunately we don't have wild vervet monkeys and the cockies haven't discovered them yet!
[attachthumb=1]
At the Kyneton Spring Flower Show last weekend R & J McConnell won a ribbon for this pot of Lachenalia aloides,
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
Super potful Fermi.
Perhaps the cockatoos help to control the Romulea? Or are there just too many corms?
Personally, I would quite like a vervet monkey resident in the garden, even two :)
-
Massonia are just coming to life again.
M pustulata, M.jasminiflora (pustulate form) and M.jasminiflora Burdach 11282 which will have pink flowers in a few weeks. Ironically the earliest to flower (M.pygmaea) is usually the last to appear here.
-
Fermi, I'll have to beg some pollen off your Babiana pygmaea next season so I can pollinate mine as I only have a single clone that never sets seed. I would love to grow more as this is a most exquisite plant.
Believe me Lesley, when the vervets pinch the fruit from your kitchen; eat all the flowers in your garden; tip up your pots of bulbs looking for grubs; tease the dogs and bound across your roof, you probably won't want them as much! However, I must admit they are very cute little animals and there is no end to their antics while at play.
Darren, massonias are very interesting plants indeed and I never tire of their exquisite leaf forms and colours or of their slightly oddball flowers. The same goes for allied genera such as Daubenya, Polyxena and others.
-
I'm with you on Massonia and its relatives Rogan. I have most of the described Polyxena and some of the closest Lachenalia such as L.pusilla. I'd obviously love to grow Daubenya but a UK nursery is currently offering D.zeyheri at £45 per bulb which just illustrates why I don't yet grow them! I did once bite the bullet and pay £12 each for the two colour forms of D aurea but the bulbs went mouldy shortly after arrival (I think they were out-of-season imports from RSA) and I could not keep them alive.
Happily - I just noticed signs of germination of D. aurea and D. marginata from Gordon Summerfields seed but it is a long haul from germination to flowers in this genus!
-
Believe me Lesley, when the vervets pinch the fruit from your kitchen; eat all the flowers in your garden; tip up your pots of bulbs looking for grubs; tease the dogs and bound across your roof, you probably won't want them as much!
Rogan, you obviously haven't trained your troop to behave well enough then! :)
-
Rogan those recent Romulea you posted are rampant around here. The cockatoos and galahs don't even touch the edges of the numbers that are here. There is one with extra long thin leaves that is a real tripper. Every time I dig I seem to find corms of them which I try to leave exposed for the birds to spy.
-
I'll have a couple of vervets trained by Calvin then. :) (even our (Australian >:() possums don't behave so badly as that. I saw something yesterday ineffably sad. A possum mother had been hit by a car and lay dead on the road. Her baby, about 6 inches long, had either crawled or been knocked from her pouch and it too was dead, a couple of metres away. I have no love for possums; they do so much garden damage and to the native bush, but I hate that many drivers, especially those of the country/farming community, deliberately aim for them on the roads.
-
With spring the number of SA bulbs tend to explode!
Oxalis obtusa is a cutie,
[attachthumb=1]
though only when the sun shines so the flowers expand,
[attachthumb=2]
But if you think the foliage is too small for the size of the flower you can always interplant it with the autumn flowering O. flava!
[attachthumb=3]
A pale but sweet romulea, R.tabularis
[attachthumb=4]
There's nothing demure about this Geissorhiza which I hope is G.splendidissima,
[attachthumb=5]
[attachthumb=6]
My Moraea macronyx is finally flowering!
[attachthumb=7]
This Lachenalia bolusii is flowering a week later its sister bulbs,
[attachthumb=8]
cheers
fermi
-
Super selection Fermi, I see many of these are growing in the open garden, great to see as all our winter SA bulbs are of course indoor post plants!
-
I'll have a couple of vervets trained by Calvin then. :) (even our (Australian >:() possums don't behave so badly as that. I saw something yesterday ineffably sad. A possum mother had been hit by a car and lay dead on the road. Her baby, about 6 inches long, had either crawled or been knocked from her pouch and it too was dead, a couple of metres away. I have no love for possums; they do so much garden damage and to the native bush, but I hate that many drivers, especially those of the country/farming community, deliberately aim for them on the roads.
Just seen this now Lesley. I stay on the opposite side of Pietermaritzburg to Rogan and luckily for me the vervets are still quite wild as I border a large nature reserve. Three labradors,a jack russel terrier and a crazy person throwing sand clods in their direction ( ;)) also keep them in the trees so I never see them on the ground except when raiding the bird feeder or some birds' nests. So with proper training, they can be peaceful garden visitors. :P
-
Perhaps it's just as well I have no monkeys here. Our Teddy, also a Jack Russell is little monkey enough and wild enough for me.
-
Super selection Fermi, I see many of these are growing in the open garden, great to see as all our winter SA bulbs are of course indoor post plants!
Hi Hristo,
I have to grow a few SA bulbs in pots due to other problems such as invasiveness and the opposite problem of being too likely to be overpowered by their neighbours! New plants are often kept in pots till I decide which side of the fence they sit!
This somber flower is the ubiquitous "Sad Glad", Gladiolus tristis, which can be invasive but hasn't been outrageous yet!
[attachthumb=1] [attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
I rather like sparaxis grandiflora ssp. acutiloba and on the weekend, much to my surprise there was what I think is sparaxis grandiflora ssp. grandiflora (?) on the plant stall at the horticultural society, which I gladly bought.I took a poor picture that doesn't show the incredible hue of purple, or brilliant red-magenta that Richard Doutt speaks of.Next year, planted in the garden, it will make a remarkable show.I used to have Sparaxis elegans and thought I had a picture of it stored, but no! Anyway a macro shot will show the beautiful coiled anthers to perfection.Must grow it again.
-
Hi all. Just at this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere Eriospermum start blooming. I think it is a genus that should be deserved to be more in cultivation for a lot of reasons. It is easy to care for them (at least the 4-5 species available), they have a fine foliage, sometimes really strange as in E. dregei (I'll post later), the spikes are rich in very strongly scented flowers....
There is anyone that have this genus in cultivation to share experiences, and maybe seeds!
Alberto
Eriospermum brevipes
hi alberto--just got over here to take a look.... i am trying to have some Erios--- seed of three species from 2 different SA suppliers did nothing at all :( one small E paradoxum from the u.s. i killed with drought, i think :(
i have one E dregei, originally from Eden Nursery in Germany; it has been doing fairly well, still small (no enations yet)-- i just got it last summer, and it made one leaf from late august which survived til july this year; after a short dormancy, it started another leaf in mid-august as it did last year; this time, though, it aborted the leaf... hopefully it will make another soon; i am growing it with the tuber raised, and its very healthy and firm..
-
I came across this charming little Cyrtanthus species last week while hiking on the hillsides near my home - can anybody suggest a name? It resembles C. contractus superficially, but there are some differences in the shape and colour of the flowers. I'll have to get back for some of the seeds in a few weeks time... ;D
-
This somber flower is the ubiquitous "Sad Glad", Gladiolus tristis, which can be invasive but hasn't been outrageous yet!
Hi Fermi,. I understand, G.tristis actualy grows outside here, the top of the leaves get 'frozen' off in the winter, but leaves in the snow are fine! Increases slowly, 1 bulb to 5 in three seasons!
Flowering on a windowsill, Oxalis purpurea 'Kens Aslet', not a relaible flowerer for us but shaping up for a good display this year!
-
I came across this charming little Cyrtanthus species last week while hiking on the hillsides near my home - can anybody suggest a name? It resembles C. contractus superficially, but there are some differences in the shape and colour of the flowers. I'll have to get back for some of the seeds in a few weeks time... ;D
no idea of a name, of course, but it is nice--very aloe-ish flowers... what are leaves like, or do they come at a different time?
-
As it's late spring even more SA bulbs are in flower:
Gladiolus pritzeliae
[attachthumb=1] [attachthumb=2]
Babiana vanzyliae
[attachthumb=3]
A lachenalia which maybe L.pallida,
[attachthumb=4]
Geissorhiza splendidissa again,
[attachthumb=5][attachthumb=6]
Lachenalia mediana
[attachthumb=7]
A purple form of Sparaxis (? grandiflora)
[attachthumb=8]
cheers
fermi
-
This is a lachenalia I grew from NZAGS Seedex 2007 as L. splendida
[attachthumb=1]
Althgough only one grew, I was impressed that it only took 2 years to flower! Sown on 20.04.2008, the first seedling appeared on 31.05.2008, and 1st flower around 20.09-2009!
cheers
fermi
-
Love your shot of Lachenalia mediana rising out of the pea gravel, Fermi - aren't bulbs full of surprises :)
-
Here is one I'm very pleased with although it's quite small and doesn't look a lot to shout about. From a very small bulb obtained last year from Terry Smart-Polyxena longituba
-
David, it's really pretty and delicate with another bud showing, congratulations :)
-
Really pretty miniature !
thank's for posting and well captured.
-
Thank you Robin and Fred.
-
You will have noticed David, that it is very fragrant. :)
-
A pretty wee thing David - not one I had seen before.
Thanks for showing ! :)
-
You will have noticed David, that it is very fragrant. :)
OOooo, what sort of fragrance Lesley?
-
Obviously Lesley's olfactory systems are much better than mine, I can't detect a scent at all.
-
Nice picture of a lovely plant David.
It does have a nice scent Lesley. David - wear gloves when you pick off the dead flower remains though they don't smell so nice then and the smell lingers on your fingers! Not as bad as some forms of the (IMHO) laughably named Massonia jasminiflora which, to my nose, smell like a pair of old socks stored in the belly of a dead goat in a cess pit and, amazingly, get worse as the flowers fade..
If you get chance to grow P. pygmaea, snap it up - it is gorgeous.
-
which, to my nose, smell like a pair of old socks stored in the belly of a dead goat in a cess pit and, amazingly, get worse as the flowers fade..
I'm not going to ask how you are familiar with such a scent, Darren.
Have I spoken before of my admiration for the ( thankfully)fragrant Mrs Susan Sleep and the everyday tribulations of her life with you, siting of shade houses notwithstanding??? ;D ;)
-
Thanks Darren. I haven't got Polyxena pygmaea (yet!) but I have P. paucifolia and P. corymbosa from the same source as P. longituba and I'm trying P. odorata from seed. When it's stopped raining I'll have a stroll to the greenhouse and have another smell although my olufactory system doesn't benefit from the many Benson and Hedges of my youth :(
-
David, You are getting a nice collection together there. I struggled with P.corymbosa and eventually lost it (twice) and I hope you have more luck.
Maggi, you have indeed expressed your admiration for my long-suffering better half and I'm sure she greatly appreciates it and I quite agree with you. She is indeed nicely fragrant and is currently using a lovely coconut shower gel which puts me in the mood for....
.... a Bounty bar.
-
Maggi, you have indeed expressed your admiration for my long-suffering better half and I'm sure she greatly appreciates it and I quite agree with you. She is indeed nicely fragrant and is currently using a lovely coconut shower gel which puts me in the mood for....
.... a Bounty bar.
[attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3]
-
Oh, do you have Bounty bars too? I love them but prefer the dark chocolate kind, to the milk. :D :P
Robin, it's hard to describe the Polyxena scent, perhaps a bit like some cosmetics and can be quite cloying in quantity. Mine grows in a thick clump outside so the scent blows away but if I stick my nose into it, it's almost sickening. Just a very little is enough, like Lilium pyrenaicum.
-
I never detected any scent from my longituba when I grew it, other than a vaguely oniony smell. I've seen some lovely pics of a pot in full flower (mine never did that well for me) but as just a couple of flowers to me it was very disappointing. ::)
I've never stuck my nose into the Massonia jasminiflora to be honest, but I would most definitely grow it for the wonderful flowers on it. The name may be for the bunch of flowers that someone obviously thought looked like Jasmine, rather than smelling like jasmine. I've harvesting seed off mine at the moment, so those who expressed interest a while back should all receive at least some seed from me soon. Quite a good crop this year, thanks to the work of a paintbrush on a few occasions. 8)
-
Here is a selection of flowers from the road reserves near my property in the southern Cape. Despite the very dry conditions, an amazing diversity of flowering plants could be found at this time of the year:
Ixia micrandra and an unidentified Moraea / Homeria (...any suggestions?) species;
two Watsonia laccata forms from seasonally wet areas;
a Bobartia and a Moraea species;
Watsonia aletroides and Wachendorfia paniculata - they both enjoy similar conditions;
and a common Babiana species that grows just about everywhere.
-
Oh, Rogan what a delightful selection... very cheering!
-
Lovely pics Rogan. When (notice "when" not "if"!!) I win the lottery South Africa is high on my round the world tour itinerary ;D
-
I never detected any scent from my longituba when I grew it, other than a vaguely oniony smell. I've seen some lovely pics of a pot in full flower (mine never did that well for me) but as just a couple of flowers to me it was very disappointing. ::)
I've never stuck my nose into the Massonia jasminiflora to be honest, but I would most definitely grow it for the wonderful flowers on it. The name may be for the bunch of flowers that someone obviously thought looked like Jasmine, rather than smelling like jasmine. I've harvesting seed off mine at the moment, so those who expressed interest a while back should all receive at least some seed from me soon. Quite a good crop this year, thanks to the work of a paintbrush on a few occasions. 8)
Here I am getting excited about growing Massonia Jasminiflora and to be told that it doesn't smell nice :o, what a shame I expected it to smell like jasmine, Its a shame that such a lovely flower wouldn't smell nice. I have to learn about plants.
I might not get to the flowering stage but I will remember not to put my nose down to close.
Angie :)
-
Rogan, what a fantastic group of flowers growing wild by you at work - reserves are important and it's amazing what appears if things are left to naturalise 8)
-
The orangey Watsonia looks like what I have as W. aletroides? And I have W. parviflora coming along, bought at the recent NZAGS show. Looks like a soft pink.
-
Rogan,
some smashing stuff there!
Here are some pics, some of which I've also posted to the SH thread:
Moraea villosa
[attachthumb=1]
Moraea aristata
[attachthumb=2]
Lachenalia contaminata
[attachthumb=3][attachthumb=4]
Not actually a bulb, but from the general area! A kniphofia I got as "Candlelight" but which may be a species,
[attachthumb=5][attachthumb=6]
but a nice size for the rock garden!
cheers
fermi
-
Rogan and Fermi,
Great pics!
Rogan,
That first Ixia is a new one to me. Love the veining.
-
A couple of other bulbs,
a gladiolus which might be G. huttonii
[attachthumb=1]
And new in flower, Lapeirousia jacquinii, from NZAGS Seedex 2007,
[attachthumb=2]
A dwarf, scentless freesia, received as "Sp nova" many years ago, so it should have a name by now! Does anyone know it?
[attachthumb=3]
A jumble of sparaxis and ixia in a snadbed,
[attachthumb=4]
This was a patch of sparaxis "naturalised" on a road verge on the way to Bendigo, I was very tempted to dig out some, but resisted! Sorry that the close-ups are mostly out of focus but you can appreciate the colours at least!
[attachthumb=5][attachthumb=6]
[attachthumb=7][attachthumb=8]
[attachthumb=9][attachthumb=10]
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
Does the verge get mown? Could be worth collecting seed at the very least if it doesn't. I would love to grow some of those here, and who knows what the seed would produce. Some very, very nice colours in that lot.
The Gladiolus you started with (possibly huttonii) I think is quadrangularis or a hybrid thereof.
-
These are lovely and colourful Fermi. On the grass verge they must make a welcome change from the usual dandelions. :)
-
It's great that people living in other countries enjoy seeing our plants in the wild too - rest assured, I feel the same way about your natural floral beauty :D
"Does the verge get mown? Could be worth collecting seed at the very least if it doesn't. I would love to grow some of those here, and who knows what the seed would produce. Some very, very nice colours in that lot."
Hey! I wish they'd "naturalize" to the same extent here as well - very beautiful cultivars. Ditto the seed collecting for me too Fermi - if you don't mind...
Paul, the Ixia I included in my last posting grows all over the show in great numbers. It is also very variable ranging in colour from pure white to a deep mauvy-pink - lined or unlined. The flower diameter is quite small at approximately 1 cm, but a cluster of them at the end of a long thin stem is quite attractive, bringing Dierama to mind.
"When (notice "when" not "if"!!) I win the lottery..."
David, your bed is made up... ;)
"Here I am getting excited about growing Massonia Jasminiflora and to be told that it doesn't smell nice..."
Angie, some forms of M. jasminiflora DO smell very nice and then some have an insect-like smell which is not so pleasing. I have noticed that the plain-leaved forms seem to be more pleasing than the pustulated ones - at least in my collection. Maggi, where's that "smell this" button? ::) ;D
-
Two more amazing little plants from the Cape:
Microloma tenuifolium - this ultra-charming little climber twines its way up shrubs and fynbos all along the roadsides of the southern Cape. Its clusters of flowers are tiny but very visible to humans and sunbirds due to their bright colouring - notice the large pods developing from the small flowers;
This dwarf species of Babiana was growing in great numbers right in the middle of the gravel road to the little village of Suurbraak. It looks quite different in habit to the Babiana I pictured in an earlier posting but, this could just be natural variation.
-
Wonderful to see your wild SA jewels growing, Rogan, the colours are so crystal clear.
-
Rogan,
That Microlema is so unusual. is it an arid region plant? It sort of looks like it could be? I love the colour combination on the Babiana.
Do you have much in the way of Massonia? By the sound of it you have a few pustulate and plain leaves jasminiflora at the very least. ;D I think I might need to do some seed negotiations on that regard, as well as Fermi's Sparaxis. ;D As to your Ixias.... aren't they just brilliant plants? I just don't recall seeing veining like that before, which is why I commented. I don't mind the smaller flowered types, and I must admit I grow many different types here, most of which are the coloured hybrids that are seeding about the place and turning up different colours at times. And of course the old flourescent pinky one that appears in old gardens around here at times. I do still have a few other species as well. Do you grow Ixia rouxii? I used to have it, white with a huge black centre, but lost it as it doesn't seem to be as hardy as the others here. It was amazing in that if the flower got wet the black colouration would actually bleed out into the rest of the flower.
If anyone is interested I can photograph some of the Ixias I have here at the moment as they're just starting up.
Thanks for the pics everyone. 8)
-
Yes please Paul, they are so diverse and have a real wow factor although they are small :D
-
Rogan were those multicoloured Babianas once called Synnotia? I had a couple at one stage very similar under that name.
-
Fermi thanks for posting that scentless freesia - I too must have bought that seed back then as I have a similar clump in flower. I had imagined it was the similar scented species so had not put my nose in it. I have it growing with my arils and I thought it must have come up in one of the pots of aril hybrid seeds.
Yes some lovely shades to the sparaxas Fermi - our road verges are bright orange with the regular form. Or white of the germanica iris - but these are nearly finished.
-
The ixias have started, these yellow ones can be seen by the roadside in some places
[attachthumb=1]
These smaller ones in orange might be Ixia maculata,
[attachthumb=2][attachthumb=3]
Paul and Rogan,
do you know how far Mandurang is from Redesdale?! :o I'll try to keep an eye out for the seeds (of the Sparaxis) the next time I'm out that way, but as I'm not there that often I don't know the mowing habits of the land-owners! Maybe you could look out for some seed of those babianas, Rogan ;).
cheers
fermi
-
"Rogan were those multicoloured Babianas once called Synnotia?"
Hello Lesley,
I don't think they are what used to be called Synnotia, I think these are 'true' Babianas - B. ambigua, B. patula, B. sambucina or something like that ? I'm not much of a Babiana 'fundi' (expert) so my identification is tentative at best or just plain wrong at worst ::)
It is quite interesting that, to my nose, they have no scent at all, yet according to the descriptions of the three species I listed above, all are strongly scented - but then the wind was quite fresh at the time...
"...do you know how far Mandurang is from Redesdale?!"
No idea at all Fermi! Sorry, I don't think we meant to send you on an epic cross-country seed-collecting expedition, I'll just have to keep an eye open for similar cultivars in this neck of the woods.
-
"...do you know how far Mandurang is from Redesdale?!"
No idea at all Fermi! Sorry, I don't think we meant to send you on an epic cross-country seed-collecting expedition, I'll just have to keep an eye open for similar cultivars in this neck of the woods.
Just joshing, Rogan! ;D
It's not far away (about 30km) but I don't get up there often - I'll have to watch for seeds here to know when to go collecting.
cheers
fermi
-
"...do you know how far Mandurang is from Redesdale?!"
No idea at all Fermi! Sorry, I don't think we meant to send you on an epic cross-country seed-collecting expedition, I'll just have to keep an eye open for similar cultivars in this neck of the woods.
Speak for yourself Rogan. They were good Sparaxis!! ;) No hassles Fermi. I have no idea how far away it is either, and I live a lot closer than Rogan. :o And noting that the 30km has now been mentioned...... I visit friends within Canberra that are further away than that!! ;)
Lesley,
The Synnotia are now Sparaxis as far as I recall, rather than Babiana. I think my Sparaxis meterlekampiae used to be a Synnotia at one point. ::)
-
Rogan, Fermi, super pics of some great plants, thanks for showing!
-
Bulb offer
.I have quite a few Tritonia tangerine to spare, if anyone is interested send me a PM. They go in the bin on Monday morning 12Th October at 9am if no requests before then
Here is a pic.
-
great stuff, all!
rogan, love both the microloma and that little babiana!
if you should ever happen across seed ;) .....
-
in flower Polyxena odorata
-
pretty flowers !
Does they smell ??
-
These are some of my Polyxena. Just now I can't remember what is on the label. This year is the best they have been since I got them
-
Superb Mark, great miniatures :o
how many bulbs in the pot ???
-
Mark
someone has demanded a bouquet
-
Fred I just went out for a look. There are 44 flowers with many buds coming. It is P. ensifolia with a strange but nice fruit scent
-
Bulb offer
.I have quite a few Tritonia tangerine to spare, if anyone is interested send me a PM. They go in the bin on Monday morning 10Th October at 9am if no requests before then
Here is a pic.
Sorry I can't receive them here! I hope you get some takers, Michael, it would be a shame to bin them. :'(
Some more pics of ixias; we have a few varieties of yellow, from the bright yellow with broad petals
[attachthumb=1]
yellow with reddish exterior,
[attachthumb=2]
A paler yellow with thinner petals,
[attachthumb=3]
And what looks like an even starrier version of the last,
[attachthumb=4]
Another yellow just starting to flower is one of the Moraeas which used to be an Homeria,
[attachthumb=5]
And in mauve we have a lovely Geissorhiza which I think is G. aspera,
[attachthumb=6][attachthumb=7]
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
Nice, broad petalled yellow Ixia. Had cloudy weather here the last few days (but not much rain unfortunately) so the Ixias here have barely been open.
Great pics.
-
"It is P. ensifolia with a strange but nice fruit scent"
Mark, are you sure it's P. ensifolia with those narrow leaves? This is a pic of 'my' P. ensifolia growing in the 'wild' - the lawns of an historic church within its range of distribution. It shares its habitat with Massonia aff. pustulata, a Ledebouria species (L. ovalifolia ?) and several other little bulbs and things.
-
Mark they look like Longituba,is there a little purple/pinkisk stripe down the centre of the petals.?
-
Mark,
They're P. longituba, as Michael suggests. They do look quite good en masse, but I always found them somewhat disappointing. Particularly as I bought them as P. ensifolia and was expecting something somewhat more interesting! ::)
-
Bulb offer
.I have quite a few Tritonia tangerine to spare, if anyone is interested send me a PM. They go in the bin on Monday morning 12Th October at 9am if no requests before then
All requests for the above have now been dispatched.
Many Thanks.
-
Yes, I agree, Mark's Polyxena is longituba. There seems to be quite a lot of confusion about this genus. My own longituba came oridinally as odorata, which it certainly is (odorous) but perhaps they all are. I imagine someone decided it was odorata because it was smelly as someone will call an iris "lutea" because it's yellow.
-
Fermi, unless you'd said otherise, I'd have thought the narrow ixia was a splioxene. :)
-
Thanks everyone. I will relabel them tomorrow. They badly need to be repotted. They are crammed in a 10cm pot and probably ina mix that is not the best
Fermi your first photo of the Ixia fills me with envious lust. If you hear I'm coming to visit change the label! ;D
-
Fermi your first photo of the Ixia fills me with envious lust. If you hear I'm coming to visit change the label! ;D
Mark,
if you want I can send you some corms in the summer and you can try to "turn them 'round"
Fermi, unless you'd said otherise, I'd have thought the narrow ixia was a splioxene. :)
Lesley,
this pic better demonstrates that it is an ixia!
[attachthumb=1]
I was leaning towards thinking that it is a hybrid, but Alberto C has told me that it's most likely another species. These ixias are a bit muddled as I got many of them about 20 years ago (before I started keeping more detailed records) when I used to sow seeds in rows in "communal boxes". When I "rescued" them (from neglect) there was no telling what was what!
cheers
fermi
-
Nice Brunsvigia leaves there too (I think?)
-
Thanks Fermi. Do you know what species it is?
Should I repot my polyxena in to a larger pot? What mix should they be in?
-
Thanks Fermi. Do you know what species it is?
Should I repot my polyxena in to a larger pot? What mix should they be in?
Hi Mark,
The bright yellow one is most likely Ixia maculata, but I don't know what the thin petalled one is.
If the polyxena is in flower now I would wait till they are dormant to re-pot.
Nice Brunsvigia leaves there too (I think?)
Hi Paul,
they're the foliage of the Crossyne flava which I posted in the autumn(?)
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
Ah, I recall them. That was the 3 different coloured ones wasn't it?
-
i have just bought some gladiolus cardinalis and was wondering do i keep dry during its dormancy like the rest of my gladiolus or damp because of the location where it is found in the wild.
-
Thanks Fermi
-
Fermi,
Ah, I recall them. That was the 3 different coloured ones wasn't it?
Yes, Paul,
Here's a reminder! ;D
[attachthumb=1]
cheers
fermi
-
Davey,
Gladiolus cardinalis is virtually evergreen for me here. It isn't "quite", but it basically shoots and soon as it dies off. When I notice the clump is looking really dead and dreadful I usually find that there are new shoots starting to emerge again.
Thanks Fermi.
-
The warm weather has gone now but the 'Windowsill Season' has started here with Moraea polystachya.
I've always started these in October but this year started them earlier and the end result seems to be
faster to flower and more flowers!
-
Hristo stunning,Moraea is a genus that i intend to to collect more of,can i ask everybody at what temp do they find there african corms and bulbs seed germinate best at,i am after fine tuning what i do and would like some advice please.
-
Wow that's gorgeous, Hristo, I love the paler colour and I always thought the flower was much bigger ::)
-
Hi Davey, cheers, the early start has improved their flowering!
Last year we had a mild and wet autumn here and seed sown in pots outside in September had germinated by the middle of October.
This year the hot summer weather extended into autumn, stopped last week and has become wet and cold, no SA germinations yet.
So mild and wet would seem to be a winner, no real surprise as the species we are growing are winter rainfall bulbs.
Other growers will probably have much more specific advice to give, we grow too many species from seed to provide too many
different sowing regimens.
What species do you grow Davey?
Hi RR and thanks. I think these flowers are normally distrubuted in terms of size, the allied genus of Dietes has flowers of a similar structure but are somewhat larger. Some of the opening flowers are darker, there is a range in the pot as these are seed grown rather than being derrived from offsets.
-
Hristo stunning,Moraea is a genus that i intend to to collect more of,can i ask everybody at what temp do they find there african corms and bulbs seed germinate best at,i am after fine tuning what i do and would like some advice please.
Hi Davey,
I'm with Chris on this one. My South African winter growers from seed get no special treatment. I usually sow in September in a gritty/sandy JI2 mix, cover them with grit, and leave them in an open frame until germination. When (if!) they germinate they go into the greenhouse. Some I win,some I loose ;D
-
I collected seed recently of my "dwarf form" (i.e grows to about 18 inches) of M. polystachya. I've promised some of a couple of people, but have plenty to spare for seed exchange etc.
-
Davey,
Like David (& Chris) I sow my winter growers in late august or early september and leave them exposed to the ambient temps outdoors ( moisture, warm days and cool nights are the key!). I'm about to bring in the ungerminated pots now though as there is a possibility of frost . They will be safer under cold glass.
Darren.
-
Some of my pics from this weekend:
Gladiolus carmineus. This autumn flowering gladiolus is great but a good flowering means no flowers next year as it seems to set the corms right back. The Goldblatt & Manning monograph confirms this behaviour is normal for the species.
Then the much less spectacular Ornithogalum osmynellum at all of 8cm in height. Lovely curly leaves though!
-
Massonia in various stages of flowering. Attractive even in bud:
Two forms of M.pygmaea ssp kamiesbergensis in flower
Two forms of M jasminiflora in bud
M.pustulata in bud
-
Thank you everybody for your advice and luckily this is exactly what i am doing but to make sure i asked the question.
Darren love the Gladiolus carmineus mine are one year old corms at the moment and can't wait untill they flower, is it a variable species?,do any other gladiolus stop flowering after they flower in a good year?
-
Hi Davey,
G. carmineus has not really been very variable with me, though some individuals have flowers which face upwards rather than sideways.
I can't really answer your other question. Certainly this is the only one I grow which does this and I think it is because the corms which produce flower stems do not produce proper leaves (except the tiny sheathing leaves on the stem). Incidentally - the autumn flowering Narcissus viridiflorus does this too. With the Gladiolus it seems that the photosynthetic tissue available cannot produce seed and also fuel a flowering size corm. It takes mine 2-3 years to reach flowering again but often they actually just don't produce new 'corms' at all - just the tiny cormlets on the basal plate, the rest having died off. Thankfully it will produce lots of seed so I always have new stock growing on. It is worth persevering with and good luck with yours.
Darren.
-
That would explain why I had no flowers on G. carmineus this year when there were many last. I didn't know about that characteristic. I've only had seed once, perhaps 3 years ago but it as very wet when they flowered last year. Oddly, while they have flowered in April (autumn here) they have also flowered, in different years, in July (mid winter) and September.
-
The Massonias are super Darren. I'm afraid I'll have to invest in a small greenhouse as there is just not enough warmth for these little South African bulbs in our winter. The flowers don't develop fully and the leaves are frosted a bit as well.
-
Darren,
That silvery leaf pustulated form of jasminiflora is stunning!! Never seen anything like it in a jasminiflora before. I love the pustulata and am used to it having those leaves, but not the jasminiflora. The pygaea look like pretty plants as well (another I've not grown). Thanks so much for sharing the pics.
-
This is the first time this babiana has flowered for; it's B. ringens which Lesley mentioned earlier. it has this peculiar perch for the sunbirds which pollinate it!
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
Massonia in various stages of flowering. Attractive even in bud:
Two forms of M.pygmaea ssp kamiesbergensis in flower
Two forms of M jasminiflora in bud
M.pustulata in bud
great stuff, darren--love every one!
-
Gorgeous, Fermi. I still have yet to flower this. I've grown it from seed many years ago but have one remaining large bulb that refuses to flower. I must start more from seed again one of these years as I so want to see it in person and the rate my "mature" one is going that is never going to happen. ::) Thanks for the great pics.
-
Paul - oddly enough this is the first year I've noticed the leaves on this jasminiflora to be so silvery. I grow two clones of this pustulate form, which have been apparently identical until this year. I wonder if the unusually bright weather we have had this autumn has highlighted the difference? As you might predict - this silvery one is solitary whilst the one with a more green background (not illustrated) has bulked up to 5 now. Glad you liked the pictures.
-
Darren
You have made me jealous, love the Massonia pictures
Angie :)
-
What a strange babiana Fermi - strange but stunning.
Great to see the Massonias Darren - I have a few seedlings coming along.
-
Fermi stunning babiana i have seed and awaiting for them to germinate,i love the idea it has evolved a perch for a bird so it can pollinate it,mother nature is incredible.
-
Darren,
Do you mean that your Massonias are actually offseting? I've never had a Massonia do that. I was starting to assume that they just never did. If you end up with seed from the silvery one and can spare a couple I would be interested in trading. 8)
-
Darren,
Love that Ornithogalum, yellow flowers, curious leaves, very different from the many native european species we have here!
Fermi, I shall join in with the general appreciation of your Babiana, have a few species growing from seed here but a few years to go
before there are any flowers, so thhanks for the tease!!
-
Paul,
Very occasionally I get offsets yes. I have one M.echinata which offsets fairly freely. I've had no offsets on pustulata or pygmaea. One pustulate leaf clone of M. jasminiflora and one bulb (the best colour !) of the pink M.jasminiflora have both offsetted once and exhibited the same symptoms:
No apparent growth several weeks after it should have appeared.
Panic stricken excavation on my part.
Notice that new shoots (one primary and several secondary) are emerging through the sides of the bulb rather than from the top.
Crowded potful of several sets of leaves for the rest of the season.
On going dormant it is evident that there are now several separate bulbs.
Potted up - one bulb at full size but all the offsets are also flowering size if a little smaller.
Result: pustulate form now 5 flowering size bulbs. Pink form now 7 flowering size bulbs from one last year.
I can only imagine that the main growing point has been damaged somehow and that this has awoken latent buds. I've never had the guts to try chopping a bulb up but this suggests it might work. I've a load of spares from a M. aff. echinata collection I might try chopping next year!
I hope to get seed from the silvery M.jasminiflora and will send some if successful. Can't guarantee it won't have crossed with the usual form so you might need to do some selection.
-
Paul + Darren ,
One of my M.pustulata has startet in last year with a offset .....in this year are near two same sized bulbs in the pot .
-
Darren,
Do you mean that your Massonias are actually offseting? I've never had a Massonia do that. I was starting to assume that they just never did.
Didn't someone somewhere show a Massonia species which had made a good clump of several bulbs? It could have been Michael Campbell.
-
I am very happy with the large potful of Babiana ringens which arrived in the post on Friday. Maybe I said this on the SH topic? I bought it from someone in Auckland, on TradeMe, the local version of Ebay. Ordered on Wed, arrived Fri. Not bad. When (if) it flowers I'm hoping the local bellbirds might take to the perching thinggy. It may need more warmth than I can supply, to flower. Have to start thinking of that glasshouse. Do I need it more than I need another 50cm of topsoil? Probably not. (That's cubic metres, not centimetres!)
-
today in flower Polyxena ensifolia
-
Darren,
Thanks for all the info on the offsetting process. I wouldn't mind some of mine doing that at times. So how pink is the pink flowered one? I have white, pink and mauve ones, but the non-whites are pale shadings of white (if you know what I mean). They're definitely not white, but they are still very pale pastels. I received a plant recently of Massoia pustulata with good leaves and it supposedly has pink flowers with white tips. I haven't seen it in flower as yet, as I received it with the seedhead just starting to split open with no signs of flower colours obviously enough. It will be interesting to see what it's seedlings will flower like. It had quite a few seeds within the seedhead, but I can't believe how many seeds set on my jasminifloras..... it is an amazing amount for such a small statured plant, and not like they're miniscule seeds either. O just love this genus, as I am sure that many of you are well and truly aware of by now (sorry!) ::).
-
OK, time to bore you all with some pics.....
Here's a selection of some of the Ixias I have flowering here at the moment. The mass of pink one is a species I think, at least it seeds perfectly true unless it outcrosses, and it has been around here forever. ;D The orange is Ixia curta, purchased a few years back as Ixia maculata but apparently slightly different to that one. Is only about 20cm tall and I just love it's smaller stature and gorgeous colour.....
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
-
A couple of little treasures...
Gladiolus alatus is one of the tiny species. I think someone posted pics recently... Bill perhaps?... but I hope no-one minds more? I used to have a few different colours forms but lost them over time. This is a first flowering from seed which is wonderful, as I have missed it dearly.
Geissorhiza monanthos is a striking flower as you can see. The colours are so strong, and the flowers are actually shiny. It looks like it has finally multiplied after having it for a number of years. I never remember to repot it, so it has had no food or care for a few years.... I just remember it when I see the flower. It glows!!
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
-
Tulbaghia comminsii is a good flowerer every year. It is maybe 10 inches tall, and covered in flowers. I don't feed it or repot it or anything and it loves it. Nicely perfumed too.
This is a dwarf Watsonia species, maybe 75cm tall or so. Brilliant plant.
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
-
All these are very attractive Paul. I especially like the pink and yellow ixias and the Tulbaghia. Good that it's scented. Most smell like alliums.
-
Lesley,
This one is most definitely perfumed, not oniony! ;D Sort of a spicey scent, but quite nice to me.
-
One more!
A rather lovely velvety purple Sparaxis, flowering at present...
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
-
Hi all, so good to see all these late spring flowers on the SH, like Moraea, Babiana, Ixia, Geissorhiza etc.
We are glad to see some of these plants here at the Show in Lisse sometimes.
But seeing Paul's pink Watsonia clump in the garden, or Ixia's on the road verge we really miss a lot :( :(
Looking at the Watsonia I think it is having some resemblance with the W. aletroides I showed in the Weekly Lisse Show??
-
Luit,
The Watsonia aletroides I have seen before is more of an orangey colour, with a bit of white and the inner tip. Mine appears to be slightly larger so is either another form, or a hybrid perhaps? I just love it. I'm swapping some of it for the orangey aletroides from a friend. ;D
-
Great pictures Paul. I've tried Gladiolus alatus several times from seed as I loved it when I saw it in the wild. Unfortunately seed seems very reluctant to germinate and the resulting seedlings rather unhappy. Oh well, can't win them all eh?
I grow very few Ixias as our low light seems to make them etiolate badly under glass and they just look untidy.
Lesley - I'd be interested in seeing the clumping Massonia - I wonder if it was M.echinata?
I've promised a picture of the 'pink' Massonia jasminiflora when it opens - should only be a week or two now.
-
Lovely colourful show Paul !!!
The Ixia's are to die for... and I can understand why you missed Gladiolus alatus - it looks awesome !!!
Thanks so much for bringing colour in our grey, dull days. ;)
-
Thanks Darren and Luc. Glad you enjoyed the pics.
-
Mark,would you hazard a guess at a name for this Nerine.
-
Tulbaghia comminsii is a good flowerer every year. It is maybe 10 inches tall, and covered in flowers. I don't feed it or repot it or anything and it loves it. Nicely perfumed too.
Paul,
do you grow the Tulbaghia comminsii outside? A species I never heard before. And a species without onion-smelling :'( :'(
O. k. this is allright ;D ;D
-
Michael is it one of the wee ones? I'm stuck also. I have two small pinks that need names. I'll be showing them when the sun shines again on Thursday
-
No Mark, it is normal size, I bought it as a white.
-
paul that sparaxis is stunning does it a cultivar name?,also your glad alatus is incredible do you simply grow it as your other gladiolus or do you do something else?
-
a white sarniensis? The white veining is new to me
-
Mark,
What are you referring to with the white sarniensis? Am I missing a photo somewhere?
Davey,
I'll check for cultivar name. I don't "think" so, but will check the pot.
Uli,
Yep, the T. comminsii grows outside without a problem. It's in an 8 inch black plastic pot, so it gets nothing at all special in the way of treatment. Where it is it would get very hot in summer. it flowers for months and months!! 8)
-
Paul, Michael bought a white nerine that ended up pink. I asked if it was a sarniensis he bought
-
Thanks Mark. I missed that comment. I thought my computer may have been playing up and hadn't loaded a pic. ::) Instead it was my eyes playing up. :o
-
Another view of my current favorite - Watsonia laccata in a natural setting:
-
Hi Rogan, how tall is Watsonia laccata? thanks bye Ray
-
"...how tall is Watsonia laccata?"
Short, no more than knee height.
-
Another view of my current favorite - Watsonia laccata in a natural setting:
Such an amazing two tone colour - lovely to see in situ, Rogan :)
-
A few weeks ago I recommended Polyxena pygmaea to David N. Here is a picture of it.
Following this is P. ensifolia. Compare the leaves with Rogan's lovely picture of it growing wild a couple of pages ago in this thread. Under my lower light intensity this one tends to look a bit drawn up and the leaves don't really lie flat.
Then there are two pictures of seed raised Lachenalia pusilla. They are not quite in flower yet - they will have a few tiny white highly scented flowers in November, tucked down in the rosette like a little Massonia. They are worth growing for the foliage alone. The first pic is from a collection in the Cedarberg and the second from Piketberg. I know which I prefer. The Cedarberg ones are a bit more floriferous though.
-
Here is a pic of one year seedlings.... with flowers !!
Lachenalia pusilla and Polyxena ensifolia :o
Better than Colchicum or Lilium to get flowers ;D
-
Lovely stuff Darren and Fred. I hope to be able to join in later, I have Polyxena paucifolia (one bulb) in leaf but no flowers yet, and corymbosa, oderata, and more longituba from seed with reasonable germination. I also have one bulb each of Lachenalia barkeriana, lactosa, pallida, pustulata, reflexa and unifolia coming along slowly, but nicely. Hope the frost stays away.
-
Beautiful, Darren. I love the ensifolias, but the spotted foliage on the Lach. pusilla is amazing. And so many leaves for a Lachenalia!! ;D ;D All eminently dersirable, that is for sure. 8)
-
Hi Darren
Never heard of this plant ( polyxena Pygmaea ) but love it 8), thanks for showing it. Its a must have plant.
Angie :)
-
Darren, have you looked at the Octover 2009 in the southern Hemisphere page? Bill Dijk has a pic of Polyxena ensifolia which is quite a deep pink. Does this species vary so much?
-
No, scrub that. Bill's pic was of P. paucifolia not ensifolia. But have a look there all the same as he's shown some stunning South Africans recently.
-
Here is a pic of one year seedlings.... with flowers !!
Lachenalia pusilla and Polyxena ensifolia :o
Better than Colchicum or Lilium to get flowers ;D
Fred
I cannot believe that Lachenalia pusilla it has only a year
-
Not my own plants! This was exhibited by Lois Lucas, one of our members, at the local Ferny Creek Hort Soc Show, a pot of Rhodohypoxis baueri "Stella"
[attachthumb=1]
It was beaten into second place by Lois' pot of Pleione formosanum!
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi,
The Rhodophypoxis are bursting into colour here at the moment too. Just in normal pots though.... nothing as fancy as that. one think I am noticing this year that I haven't before is that most of the flower stems have 2 buds/flowers on them, so I am guessing that they're really happy here at the moment. ;D
-
A great potful that and I can admire the achievement, but I have a confession to make; I find Rhodohypoxis rather unattractive. :-[ Something to do with the flower symetry being disrupted by having no clear 'eye'. This is weird when you consider some of the other strange stuff I grow.
-
Darren,
I know what you mean. I don't find them unattractive, but I understand what you mean by the lack of eye. it does look rather "wrong" as there are the 3 central petals and the 3 outer petals, but they don't all sit where they traditionally should set in a "normal" flower. ;D Still hasn't put me off them. I only have a few, but would love to track down a collection of so many of the named ones. I basically at present have a couple of different whites, a mid pink, and a dark pink. Names for a couple, but escape me right at this moment. Are doing much better for me now that I found out that they prefer lots and lots of water while in growth. I now sit the pots in a tray of water while in growth, and they are flourishing for it. 8)
-
The more they're watered, the longer they'll flower. 8)
You only need a red, Paul, to add to what you already have. White, pink, red, that's about it, though there's a decent white tipped with pink ('Pictus.') So look for 'Albrighton,' 'Knockdolian Red' or 'Great Scott,' as good reds. The last has smaller flowers but they're very intense. There are lots of others including many introduced recently but to remember about Rhododhypoxis is that they're very unstable and "new" varieties are no better than the old tried and true, and are likely to change/lose colour over a couple of years.
The more recent hybrids between Rhodohypoxis and Hypoxis (x Rhodoxis) do have a little yellow eye.
-
Lesley,
OK, my "dark pink" is a red then.... one of them is 'Albrighton'. I just love the colour.
Seems strange to cross Hypoxis and Rhodohypoxis given how different they can be. I think I can recall seeing pics of one of the hybrids somewhere before.
-
Mark in Ireland posted a pink pic sometime in the last year. I have two, a white and a pink called 'Hebron Pink.' I like them but given the choice of only one, I'd go for Rhodohypoxis rather then the hybrid.
-
In 1995 Vera Peck gave me seed of Babiana thunbergii. It has grown in a pot since then, gotten transplanted regularly, comes up far too early, gets spiders mites before it is ready to go outside and has never shown a single flower. The bulbs are healthy enough. Would anyone care to give some cultural advice otherwise it is getting turfed very shortly?
Ditto Watsonia beatricis.
johnw
-
John - the thing with Babiana is they like really deep planting and I don't think they like too much disturbance. Suggest planting well down in a deep pot and just renewing the top part of the compost instead of fully repotting. Good luck!
-
Darren - Thanks for the tip. I'll give them a second chance in a deep pot without too much disruption in the moving process.
johnw
-
Today some pics from my flowering Massonia :D
M.pygmea ssp. Kamiesbergensis
M.pygmea ex Kamiesberg 1
M.pygmea ex Kamiesberg 2
Hans
-
Beautiful Hans.
-
Those are great Hans, I only hope my seedlings of the 'hairy' form look as good as that when they are mature!
-
Very intriguing Hans, the threesome is delightful :)
-
Lesley - thanks for the pointer, I'm off to look at the Southern Hemisphere page! I just can't keep up with all the postings these days and , er, tend to lose the thread...
Actually Lesley, yours is a good question about colour variation in Polyxena ensifolia - the picture Rogan posted looks like the flowers are slightly pink, which is new to me. Perhaps Rogan can comment on this?
-
Thank you for your nice comments ;)
Hans 8)
-
Hans, I assume your lovely Massonias are grown under glass? Even M. depressa is proving marginally hardy here outside.
-
My recently purchased Babiana ringens hasn't flowered and won't this year even though it's quite a big clump so I'm wondering if I should plant it deep too. Any thoughts among the Forumists who grow it? And I'm also wondering if it will be hardy here with winter temps down to maybe -8 if we're unlucky. I really want it to flower to see if the bellbirds and tuis use the perch to sip nectar.
-
Lesley
Yes shure they under glass - we have here in winter to cold and wet for those plants outside.
In my greenhouse is in winter a minimum temperatur of 5° C .
-
Hans, really amazing your Massonia. Nice pictures too.
Alberto
-
Today some pics from my flowering Massonia :D
M.pygmea ssp. Kamiesbergensis
M.pygmea ex Kamiesberg 1
M.pygmea ex Kamiesberg 2
Hans
Hans
beutiful, in particular M. Pygmaea ex Kamiesberg
Alessandro
-
Thank you Alberto and Alessandro :D
-
Hans,
The Massonia pymaea are so cute. Are they as small as they look to be? Love the combination of the furry pustulated leaves. Very, very nice! Thanks for showing us. 8)
-
Darren said: "Actually Lesley, yours is a good question about colour variation in Polyxena ensifolia - the picture Rogan posted looks like the flowers are slightly pink, which is new to me. Perhaps Rogan can comment on this?"
The plants in the habitat I found near Port Beaufort had a wide, but subtle colour variation from pure white and soft pink to a pastel violet.
Hans, your M.pygmea ssp. kamiesbergensis plants are fantastic - are they strongly scented? I do grow M.pygmea, but they aren't nearly as 'hairy' as yours.
Darren, Lachenalia pusilla has to be one of my favorite bulbs and I tend to grow far too many of them - I just love the leaf variations and the coconut-scented flowers. Your pictures really do them justice.
Now that our winter is over I can't wait for the next one to start so I can enjoy all the winter-growing bulbs again - some of us really do have a problem don't we? ::) ;D
-
Rogan,
I hate our British winters and my only compensation for the approach of autumn is the 'second spring' of the bulbs & Conophytum coming to life after the summer! Oh - and the SRGC Discussion Weekend of course!
-
Hans J
Love the Massonia pictures 8), hope one day I will have flowers too that I can admire, thanks for sharing Hans.
Darren I to cant keep up with all these threads, there is so much subjects and links to look at sometimes I get a bit lost.
Thanks everyone
Angie :)
-
Rogan,
I hate our British winters and my only compensation for the approach of autumn is the 'second spring' of the bulbs & Conophytum coming to life after the summer! Oh - and the SRGC Discussion Weekend of course!
Darren - How do you keep the Conophytums true to form at your latitude? We cvouldn't do it here at 44 degrees. They are beauties.
johnw
-
Hans,
The Massonia pymaea are so cute. Are they as small as they look to be? Love the combination of the furry pustulated leaves. Very, very nice! Thanks for showing us. 8)
Paul ,
yes they are really small ;D
M.pygmea ssp. Kamiesbergensis has 2,0 cm from leaf base to leaf point
M.pygmea ex Kamiesberg has 2,5 cm from leaf base to leaf point
-
Thank you Angie and Rogan ;D
Yes -they are stong scentet :)
...and shure I have pollinate this plant ....
In last year I had the first flowers on this plants and I could also produce some seeds ...they are just germinating 8)
Hans
-
John,
Your question about Conophytum is hard to answer. Steve Hammer (world authority on growing Mesembs) acknowledges that there is something about the British climate that really suits Conos provided the dry summer dormancy can be provided. I grow mine with the bulbs and treat them exactly the same way with the watering cycle etc. I don't know how conditions in Nova Scotia compare with the UK. Most of their growth is in late-summer & autumn, though I find that root growth is usually later.
Often nurseries selling Conos advise watering sparsely all year round but I think this is wrong - especially in cooler countries they need to be forced into dormancy by withholding water from April so that they sheath over with dried older leaves in summer (May until late July). Watering then starts again (a little earlier than for bulbs) and coincides with the first flowers in July. This is opposite to the cycle often used for Cacti and Lithops - even though Conos and Lithops sometimes grow together in the wild.
-
John,
Your question about Conophytum is hard to answer. Steve Hammer (world authority on growing Mesembs) acknowledges that there is something about the British climate that really suits Conos provided the dry summer dormancy can be provided. I grow mine with the bulbs and treat them exactly the same way with the watering cycle etc. I don't know how conditions in Nova Scotia compare with the UK. Most of their growth is in late-summer & autumn, though I find that root growth is usually later.
Often nurseries selling Conos advise watering sparsely all year round but I think this is wrong - especially in cooler countries they need to be forced into dormancy by withholding water from April so that they sheath over with dried older leaves in summer (May until late July). Watering then starts again (a little earlier than for bulbs) and coincides with the first flowers in July. This is opposite to the cycle often used for Cacti and Lithops - even though Conos and Lithops sometimes grow together in the wild.
Darren
I guess when I was growing a few Conophytums and alot of Lithops not much information was around on watering. As I kept the Lithops cold and dry in the winter I thought it would be hazardous to water a Conophytum continuously in late autumn and on when the greenhouse was so chilly - rot was the fear. Later they got moved to the house where it was warmer but the light levels lower and so they stretched. Do you water your in such cold?
johnw
johnw
-
Paul ,
yes they are really small ;D
M.pygmea ssp. Kamiesbergensis has 2,0 cm from leaf base to leaf point
M.pygmea ex Kamiesberg has 2,5 cm from leaf base to leaf point
Wow Hans. That is far tinier than I thought, even from the pictures. I didn't realise they were that small. Calling it a pygmy seems like a good name. ;D
-
John,
Watering reduces to around once per month from late October until the end of feb when things warm up again. Humidity keeps the plants happy without adding water at the roots in winter. The best thing to do is to use some species as indicators. Certain of them develop wrinkles when dry and as I keep all mine in similar pots this indicates when water is needed. Overwatering can cause rot yes, but I find that the worst cause of this is botrytis on the old flower remains - especially on the ones that flower late - this infects the bodies very quickly. As with Massonia (and cushion plants too) it is essential to remove the dead flowers as soon as they fade.
-
Apologies if I seem stuck on Massonia and Polyxena folks, it's that time of year!
I posted pics of these two Polyxena a few days back but they have advanced a bit since then. P pygmaea (pink - there is a close-up too) is now at its best with a ball of flowers. The white ensifolia is now looking a bit pinched as the leaves have drawn up in the poor light this week.
-
And an update on the Massonias,
Paul was asking about offsetting and I replied that one clone of M echinata has increased very well, here it is. All this started as one bulb about 7 years ago and I have never split the clump so this is all natural. I'm quite glad it does this as single bulbs do not seem to have prostrate leaves so this is one Massonia that looks better as a group. If you look carefully you can see some very small offset leaves between the bigger flowering rosettes - these offsets are new this year.
-
Hi Darren ,
thats phantastic !!!
Hans
-
Wow, that is an amazing sight, Darren, congratulations 8)
-
I have mentioned my 'pink' Massonia jasminiflora. This came from Burdach 11282 seed. It varies - the first pictured has a faint pink infusion at the tip of the stamens. The second is the better one but is only just starting. The stronger pink infusion will darken as more flowers open and I will post another pic next week.
Then the first flowers on M. pustulata.
Finally the 'silver' leaved clone of M. jasminiflora that Paul liked so much has begun to flower. Note that the silver is turning green as the leaves develop further and possibly as the light gets worse. Some weeks ago I made a disparaging comment about the scent of this; I've had another sniff and, yes, there is a pleasant scent there BUT to my nose it is still underlain with a hint of the pong to come when it goes over....
-
Your Massonias are all beautiful Darren. I especially admire the pot of 7 bulbs, nicely arranged and all flowering at exactly the same time. A real show stopper. :D
-
Darren
I have just gone green with envy 8) thanks for sharing them with us.
Angie :)
-
Magnificent, Darren.
-
Thank you all for your kind comments.
I fantasize that one day they will all be in flower for discussion weekend and I could put out a little non-competitive educational group of them as they are probably my favourite group of plants and I'd like more folk to see them & grow them. I know Paul would agree with me. But - they obstinately miss all the shows every year. At least they can have their moment of glory here on the forum.
-
What a whizz a display like that would be, Darren 8) Of course it would be luck if the season were to oblige.... but what a fab thing it would be and stranger things have happened with flowering times....... I'm sure many are like me and more than a little ignorant of these plants..... you folks are opening my eyesin these pages, thanks!
-
Amazing display, Darren :o
Massonia is also one of my favorite South African plants.
Keep on showing us more photos!
-
Darren,does your Polyxena pygmaea set any seed?
-
Darren, what a display of your beautiful plants!
You are demonstrating such great skill in growing these plants. Thanks for showing!
-
:o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Glorious display, Darren. I still love the "silver leaf" although fading, that pink jasminiflora looks wonderful, and I can't get over the offsetting on the echinata. Makes a spectacular clump, doesn't it? You must just have a clone that does it. Absolutely brilliant. Wow!! :o :o
-
Darren, I've no word to qualify your pics and plants !!!!! (http://smileys.sur-la-toile.com/repository/Surpris/3d-surpris-non.gif)
simply STUNNING !
The display is superb, and the plants so healthy !!!
I love this plants .
Please can you give us some words regarding your cultural tips ???
Thank's again for sharing
-
Darren
I also would be grateful for some of your cultural tips on growing massonia too.
Angie :)
-
Words fail me Darren, I've NEVER seen a collection as good as your's before - fantastic!
This is a picture I've displayed on these pages before - any idea what it may be? To me it looks very Massonia-like (except for the flowers!) and is extremely rare occurring only on the top of the highest Drakensberg mountains:
-
What kind comments, thank you!
I'm a bit stuck for time this morning but will respond with some cultural info this evening.
Michael - The Polyxena pygmaea is one clone and i don't get seed but I do have some newly germinated seedlings from South African seed so I expect to produce my own seed in 2-3 years.
Rogan - I will have a think about your pic. It doesn't look like the only Drakensberg Massonia I know (a rather squinny summer growing form of jasminiflora, which I no longer have).
D.
-
I've been thinking about cultural tips and can't add much to Paul Cumbletons excellent advice on the Wisley log last year. But my regime is basically:
Compost: About half lime-free grit, one quarter John Innes No2 and one quarter John Innes Ericaceous.
Housing: All are kept in my 7m x 2.5 m greenhouse, which is managed as an alpine house and has doors at both ends. Only ever closed up in the event of frost or gales. On frosty nights there is an electric fan heater with a thermostat set at 1C, just enough to stop things freezing through but still cold enough for ice to form on the inside of the glass. All my cape bulbs have survived a night at -3C when the heater failed - the pots didn't freeze but many leaves were 'down' and frozen. All revived in a few hours with no losses or damage. In long cold spells like last winter I apply a thick layer of bubble insulation to keep the heat bill down, the low light is not so important if it is too cold for plants to grow anyway. As soon as the mild weather reappears it is essential to take this off on the sunny side of the greenhouse to admit as much light as possible. Part of the north side of my greenhouse is actually lined with old mirrors to bounce the light back as I reckon this gives more light than having clear glass on this side.
Pots: My bigger and nicer Massonia are potted individually (except that echinata clump) in clay pots big enough to allow the leaf spread without obstruction. These are kept in a sand plunge. Those which demand too much space (M. depressa especially) are in plastics and not plunged. A 12cm plastic pot is quite big enough for a mature bulb but expect the leaves to overhang the sides! Small seedlings are in plastic pots on capillary matting with my other seedlings beneath the bench.
Repotting & watering cycle: I repot these annually in early august at the latest - the roots have often started to grow by then so I don't like leaving it later. First watering for Massonia is therefore a little earlier than for most of my bulbs - on or around august 20th (my birthday so easy to remember). The first sign of life is usually M.pustulata in mid september but the first to flower here is the last to emerge (!) , M.pygmaea which flowers as the leaves first pop up in early-mid October. Watering is applied to keep the compost moist through the winter months. Around the end of April I withhold water and force the Massonia to go dormant (some will try to be tatty evergreens unless I get assertive!). With the plunged plants in clays it helps to break the capillary connection with the sand by lifting the pot and putting a pebble under it to hold it away from the sand - the plunge will stay damp for a few more weeks to keep some other occupants happy and this moisture is undesirable for the Massonia. Once the plunge is dry I remove the pebble and sit the dry pot back until repotting time - this prevents the bulb getting to hot & possibly shrivelling. Brian Mathew reports losing Massonia bulbs to shrivelling in hot weather but of course that was down south in the UK Banana Belt. Better safe than sorry though.
Pests: Very few! Mice are sometimes attracted to the flowers but seem not to bother the plants beyond leaving droppings or claw scratches on the leaves or tasting the odd flower. M. depressa is rodent pollinated in the wild of course. Paul Cumbleton makes the point that faded flowers readily attract botrytis and must be removed - I emphasise this too! I usually go as far as then dusting the crown with sulphur to be on the safe side.
Propagation: Seed is usually the only way. I've only been organised in my propagation from my own plants for a few years and don't have much experience to share. Germination is triggered by warm days & cool nights in late summer & early autumn so I sow all my bulb seed around the end of august (my birthday again!). I have noticed that some years only a few in each pot will germinate. If I then dry out the pot undisturbed for the following summer many more will germinate in year two. I speculate that this is to do with poor (too cool?) conditions for the seed to ripen during summer (after harvesting) in year one, with them catching up in year two. Older seed stored at room temp for a full year often germinates immediately upon sowing. I mean to experiment more with this.
Phew, that was rather more than I'd intended! Hope it helps.
D.
-
Darren, a superb post.... I've turned it blue to make it stand out!!
[attach=1]
-
Thank you Maggi, I'm flattered again!
Rogan - I notice your mystery massonia has had some debate on the Pacific Bulb Soc forum? I can't add anything except I'm pretty sure that the verdict about it being an undescribed Massonia species is probably correct. It doesn't resemble any other Massonia with those campanulate flowers but it still has the 'feel' of the genus. Unscientific I know. Fantastic foliage colour too - one to be added to the list of desiderata for sure.
-
Thanks Darren
GREAT, GREAT, GREAT,
What a lot of information. Got my husband to copy it all into my plant file, that will allow me to gain this information easy. Thanks for taking the time and sharing all your tips, liked the idea of the pebble and also the mirrors on the wall, I just threw out mirror wardrobes a few weeks ago, what a pity, still my husband is in construction so he will keep a look out for me ( get it before it goes in the skip ).
I am glad to hear what you thought about the light levels. I was struggling with that and didn't now what to do .I have put one growlight in but maybe like you said if they are not growing I might not need this .
There was so much information in your posting it will be a great help for me.
I heard before that you should never throw out your seeds to soon as they might take a year or two to germinate,so I have trays everywhere ( just peony seeds and trillium's) nothing as rare as your plants.
There was so much information in your posting it will be a great help for me.
I keep going back and looking at your plants, I like everyone else was amazed at your display.
Thanks Darren
Angie :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
-
Hi Angie,
Some further thoughts re: light. I notice that Roma reported flowering Ferraria crispa last year, and not a million miles from you. The South African Irids like Ferraria and some Moraea seem to need better light than Massonia to induce flowering so I'm pretty confident that if you keep your south african bulbs cool and just ticking over in winter then there are probably many you could grow without artificial light. And being that bit further north you may get an extra few weeks growth in spring before temperatures are high enough to send things dormant. I'd be interested in knowing how you get on. I see prevention of freezing as being a bigger issue for you, and a more expensive one. Our mirrors came from the 'Big Shed' (which appeared on the old forum). The previous owners of our house had a body-building son so there were mirrors everywhere, and I mean everywhere.
I have some lecture notes from a respected orchid grower who declared that light intensity north of southern europe was too poor to induce flowering of the Australian Thelymitra orchids. Nobody told mine! Half the fun of our hobby is challenging the 'rules' and learning from it.
There are usually some Massonia & Polyxena seed in the SRGC and AGS seed exchanges. If you get some just keep the packets in a drawer in the house until next August & sow them then.
Don't follow my advice in the above post for the Peony & Trillium seeds - don't dry these out if they don't germinate, keep them moist. Many true bulbs I think would be OK to dry out & try again next year but most other seeds won't like it. Good luck.
-
Thanks Darren
I keep my greenhouse around between 3- 5c ( this is only my second winter I might be broke after this one ) and I try and not think about the cost, like you say its my hobby and I get so much joy when I see my plants growing. My husband laughs at me in the winter he is always saying have you tucked your babies up for the night, don't want them getting cold.
I shall quiz Roma at the next meeting, she is another SRGC member that has so much knowledge. Thanks again Darren I will keep you posted, hope you have lots of patience.
Angie :)
-
Brilliant and very useful posts Darren. I'm again thankful for living where I do (and given the heat we get in summer I need to be reminded there is something to be thankful for at times ::)..... definitely hot enough here in summer to give a full dormancy, mature seeds etc. ;D Still, there are a couple of experiments I might make after your post. Thanks heaps!! 8)
-
Many many thank's Darren for all your informations !
I'm glad to listen that your SA bulbs will survive below 0°C; If I didn't have lot of Caudex in my greenhouse, I would decrease the heating ;)
-
thanks for all the great stuff, folks! esp loving the massonias--some great leaves, and love the tiny ones--good to hear the size, as many seed lists-esp for SA bulbs!- dont seem to give plant sizes! i guess they expect everyone to have unlimited room and/or not care about size? thats one of the first things i look for when i am checking a species...
-
Darren, now that you've spoilt us all with your fab Massonias / Polyxenas, how about some Daubenyas? ;D
-
Thanks for taking the time and sharing all your tips, liked the idea of the pebble and also the mirrors on the wall, I just threw out mirror wardrobes a few weeks ago, what a pity, still my husband is in construction so he will keep a look out for me ( get it before it goes in the skip ).
Angie :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
I don't grow any of these but find this an extremely interesting topic anyway !! Very impressive info Darren !!! :o :D
Angie, if no mirrors are available I can recommend aluminium or tin-foil stuck on cardboard - it also does a great job to improve light levels. ;)
-
Is there a site anywhere that lists what and how much is in each of the John Innes mixes for those of us who cannot get it as we live out of the country?
-
This should help:-
http://www.gardeningdata.co.uk/soil/john_innes/john_innes.php
-
Hi Rogan - I don't grow any Daubenya! I would love to and I do have some small seedlings of a couple of species but the UK retail prices for mature bulbs are prohibitive.
I did once splash out on bulbs of both colour forms of D. aurea but they had just been imported from RSA by the retailer (and thus their internal clocks were wrong) and I lost both to mould before they even started to grow.
Luc is quite right about aluminium foil - I used this for a few years before the mirrors became available.
-
Interesting stuff Darren. Do you keep seed of both winter and summer growers in your kitchen drawer? I have been keeping both kinds of mine in the fridge but wonder if I could save myself (or the other kitchen user!) some fridge space?
Have you any evidence that suggests your home sowed stuff is any hardier than bought in bulbs?
-
Hi David,
My view is that the summer growers in nature would get a cold, dryish dormancy so these seeds go in the fridge. The winter growers which would get a warm dry natural dormancy get placed in a jiffy bag on a high shelf in the kitchen. It isn't over-hot as the small window in there gets little direct sun and it is on the north west side of the house. I've not experimented properly but observations suggest that the winter-growing South Africans don't need cold storage.
I think that the fridge would be OK for long-term storage of these winter-growing seeds but my feeling (and it is only that) is that some need several weeks at warm temperatures to prime them for germination when the rains arrive, so if I intend sowing the autumn of the same year I collected or received the seed, then I store in the kitchen. Any I didn't sow that year might then go in the fridge until about June the following year then I'd take them out and give them a few weeks in the warm before sowing. But then I just sowed Massonia seed which has been at room temp for 18 months and it germinated better than this years crop.
All speculation for the moment!
-
Opaque white plastic once lined the walls and ceiling of my orchid growing room and bounced light all over the place...
-
Opaque white plastic once lined the walls and ceiling of my orchid growing room and bounced light all over the place...
even glossy white paint would help for any paintable surface;
if you want to get fancy-you can get rolls of mylar (highly reflective 'paper foil') sold by people dealing with artificial light gardening and hydroponics..
-
Thanks Luc and everyone for the information on how to bring more light into the greenhouse. I was saying to Maggi today how generous the people on this forum are , sharing all there Knowledge and secrets to us novices, its great . Thanks to all :)
Angie :)
-
If we were to start lining rooms with foil we'd probably have blue-suited men around, looking for cannabis plants. ???
-
I'm using artificial lights all the winter for the SA bulbs in the greenhouse !
First, it was HPS lights ( 400 W ) and now ENVIROLITE low power ( 200 W ) lamps, with less heating on plants.
-
Lesley
Funny you saying that, my husband said its only a matter of time before I get a visit from the drug squad. Where I say there is no houses next to me and all you see at night is this orange glow coming from my greenhouse, but no cannabis plants here, Chocolate does it for me ;D
Angie :)
-
I'm using artificial lights all the winter for the SA bulbs in the greenhouse !
First, it was HPS lights ( 400 W ) and now ENVIROLITE low power ( 200 W ) lamps, with less heating on plants.
also very good for lighting plants are high output (HO)T5 fluorescent lights, much greater light output than regular fluoros, they can be placed farther from the plants, and less heat and energy consumption than HPS etc..
-
Don't tell my wife please --- we still use candles all over the house! :D
-
Well you would Cliff, "leccy" hasn't got to Lancashire yet, has it? ;D
-
Cliff, You just have to add some candles in the greenhouse now.... big ones ;D
-
Thanks David for the website
-
Cliff, You just have to add some candles in the greenhouse now.... big ones ;D
The buttercups would die of fright, Fred. ;D
-
Well you would Cliff, "leccy" hasn't got to Lancashire yet, has it? ;D
I believe it is getting nearer David ... Yorkshire has promised to send us something called a self-destruct machine. Jolly decent of them, eh?
-
In flower Polyxena paucifolia
-
See Paul Cumbleton's latest Wisley Log for more on Lachenalia and Polyxena ......
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2009Nov051257439113Log_23_of_2009.pdf 8)
-
And another super Log it is. The little Lachenalia looks more like Massonia, but perhpas not in the leaves. Beautiful plants all over, for the autumn period.
-
Hi all ,
knows maybe here anybody a source ( here in Europe ) for south african bulbs ? ( seeds/bulbs)
Thank you
Hans
-
Hans,
our forum member Renate Brinkers have some south african bulbs.
And this is a special group of "south african bulbs". Don't know if it is a group of the AGS.
http://www.sabg.tk/
Uli
-
Hi Uli ,
thank you !
Renate is a good friend of mine and we swap often - her nursery is one of the best sources here in Germany !
I know also this page from South African Bulbs ....but those sources are mostly old ....p.e. Monocot Nursery ....(I really regret this )
The problem in this time is more and more order from other continents ....and it is not possibly to import plants without a "phyto" .....
Hans
-
Knows here anybody this nursery ?
http://www.choicelandscapes.org/
It is listet for a lot of plants in the RHS plantfinder .....
I have written to them and asked for a list but I receive never a answer .....
Any advices are welcome !
Thanks
Hans
-
Knows here anybody this nursery ?
http://www.choicelandscapes.org/
It is listet for a lot of plants in the RHS plantfinder .....
I have written to them and asked for a list but I receive never a answer .....
Any advices are welcome !
Thanks
Hans
Hmmmm.... well, I do not know this nursery, Hans, but you and I both know there are too many nurseries where it is impossible to get a reply, eh?! :( >:(
-
Hi all ,
knows maybe here anybody a source ( here in Europe ) for south african bulbs ? ( seeds/bulbs)
Thank you
Hans
Hans you have widened your greenhouse?
-
Knows here anybody this nursery ?
http://www.choicelandscapes.org/
I tried to order from this nursery, the web page does not work so I e-mailed them and was told that they were at a show in London and would attend to my order when they returned. That was two years ago and I am still waiting on my order. Their web page still does not work.
-
Thank you Maggi and Michael .....that looks not so good ....
But I dont understand why this nursery is listet still in RHS plant finder ?
Alessandro :
It is so ugly outside in this time ...fog ...falling leaves ...rain ....so it is always a good time to look in new lists and look for new plants !
I wish more plant friends here in Europe works closer together ( with changing seeds and bulbs ) so we need not so much to import from other continents ( which makes a lot of costs and other problems )
-
But I dont understand why this nursery is listet still in RHS plant finder ?
Neither do I... perhaps the customers who have been disappointed with this nursery have not complained to the RHS Plantfinder people?
-
They have a web address listed in the RHS Plantfinder and only one page works for the past two years. You cannot order online.
-
Thank you Maggi and Michael .....that looks not so good ....
But I dont understand why this nursery is listet still in RHS plant finder ?
Alessandro :
It is so ugly outside in this time ...fog ...falling leaves ...rain ....so it is always a good time to look in new lists and look for new plants !
I wish more plant friends here in Europe works closer together ( with changing seeds and bulbs ) so we need not so much to import from other continents ( which makes a lot of costs and other problems )
Hans
I quote your thought, in my state we have many problems in the import, task that are much species present in Europe, also of other continents, the problem is to acquire
-
Hans and Michael, you should be a bit more patient (http://smileys.sur-la-toile.com/repository/Rires/lol2.gif)
-
While I understand the frustration of passionate growers who are keen to source plants for their collections ( and knowing also that some government regulations can seem unneccessary or too draconian) I must take a moment here to reiterate and emphasise that it is, categorically, the policy of the SRGC to both comply, for instance in our Seed Exchange, and to encourage the compliance by all members in their other dealings,with any and all regulations pertaining in the UK and in any other Member's country.
-
his would have to be a hybrid of Nerine bowdenii, but I do not know the name
-
While I understand the frustration of passionate growers who are keen to source plants for their collections
all i can say is anyone in europe having difficulty sourcing plants should try living in canada!!
i see a bazillion online nurseries ( i know not all areas will have them nearby)selling every kind of plant, in europe, and obviously in the u.k...
we have a couple of excellent places for alpines, i think a few good orchid places, and lots of hybrid lilies :-X (that icon says lips sealed, but for me it means i'm about to throw up) and other flavour of the hour suburban garden junk..
virtually nothing interesting (species, please, species) thats tender, and many people grow things indoors here--how can you not when the growing season is so ridiculously short? no c+s, no cool bulbs, no tropicals/epiphytes...nothing!
ok, had to rant a bit, i'm better now..
-
I went into my local garden centre today and they still had their full range of Autumn bulbs for sale ,all with a 50% reduction in price. I viewed all 150 boxes carefully, and left without making a purchase. How is that for discipline?.
-
I went into my local garden centre today and they still had their full range of Autumn bulbs for sale ,all with a 50% reduction in price. I viewed all 150 boxes carefully, and left without making a purchase. How is that for discipline?.
Well now, Michael... I may be cynical, but perhaps by this time of year those bulbs were not in the best condition and that made it easier for you to resist?! ;)
-
Maggi, the Crocus and Lily bulbs had certainly started to grow but the Tulips and Allium's looked in quite good condition. :)
-
Maggi, the Crocus and Lily bulbs had certainly started to grow but the Tulips and Allium's looked in quite good condition. :)
In which case I must salute your restraint! ;D ;)
-
I went into my local garden centre today and they still had their full range of Autumn bulbs for sale ,all with a 50% reduction in price. I viewed all 150 boxes carefully, and left without making a purchase. How is that for discipline?.
very disciplined! was there anything really interesting if you hadnt needed to be restrained?
-
Not really,just the usual garden centre stuff. To be honest I was afraid to buy anything because of the risk of introducing virus into my collection.
As a rule I don't buy the dutch trade stuff anymore.
-
Not really,just the usual garden centre stuff. To be honest I was afraid to buy anything because of the risk of introducing virus into my collection.
As a rule I don't buy the dutch trade stuff anymore.
well, then, that gives purpose to the discipline!
-
I went into my local garden centre today and they still had their full range of Autumn bulbs for sale ,all with a 50% reduction in price. I viewed all 150 boxes carefully, and left without making a purchase. How is that for discipline?.
Better than our garden centres then Michael. They were still offering autumn bulbs (i.e. to plant in autumn) a month ago, mid spring, and not a CENT off the original price. Some would have been OK, Glad. nanus forms, some late Lachenalias et al.
-
This is a gladdie which was grown from Silverhill seed as G. grandiflorus.
[attachthumb=1][attachthumb=2]
Here's a better pic of Babiana spathacea,
[attachthumb=3]
This is a little one called Ixia rouxii
[attachthumb=4][attachthumb=5]
The ixia I grew as I monadelpha turned out to be missing the dark central zone ???
[attachthumb=6][attachthumb=7]
This moraea was a volunteer in a pot from a bulb grower who says it's most likely to be M. gracilenta,
[attachthumb=8][attachthumb=9]
And finally, Chincherinchees, Ornithogalum thyrsoides,
[attachthumb=10]
looking a bit better than it did last year.
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi, stop this,
I will be growing broke by the time I have ordered seed of all the lovely things you keep showing us. I already have most of silverhills Gladiolus germinated and am considering a buying a new tunnel specially for SA bulbs. Unfortunately they will never be as glorious as the ones you have been showing us due to our lack of summer sun, that's if they survive the winter.
Susan
-
Wonderful plants, Fermi ... the Moraea is especially nice. Many thanks for posting.
-
great stuff--i love the views of your garden--esp the silvery plants against those wonderful red rocks!
-
Fermi,
Could you please set some seed for me on the Ixia rouxii? I've mentioned earlier in this topic that I have been trying to find it again. I just love the dark eye zone. I also love that little volunteer Moraea of yours, nice markings/shadings. The white Ixia without the eyezome looks to me like one of the Ixia polystachya. Do you have others of that species? Mine are a few days off, not much more than that, and I have a white like that, 'Baby Blue Eyes' (white with a blue eye) and some "pastel" ones from a friend in WA which come from white through to mauve with purplish eyes of various intensities. I have seed (very old, but still extremely viable last time I checked) from the originals sent from WA if you'd like some. I'll post some pics of them within the next few days I would imagine, given this heat.
And that little Gladiolus is gorgeous. Not one I recall ever hearing of before, but that isn't really that surprising with how many Gladdies there are. ;D Thanks for the excellent pics. 8)
-
Hi Fermi
Love the pictures 8), My favorite was Ixia Rouxii, but would love to have them all.
Angie :)
Susan
Stop considering the polytunnel for the SA bulbs, we need some- one with your experience in Scotland to grow these plants that we can get supplies here.
Wouldn't that be a dream for me ::).
Angie :)
-
Wonderful show Fermi !! :D
Thanks for making us drool every now and then... ;D ;D
-
Keep them coming Fermi, a real treat for me too. I've only had a few south Africans over the years but will try more as the garden grows a bit and I may get to invest in a small glass house soon. I love the little Gladiolus species and it's worth mentioning that many are deliciously perfumed too, not only the night-scented G. tristis.
-
Lovely stuff Fermi.
-
I have this little (assumed) Gladiolus in bud and I await with great interest to see what it will be like as I've no idea where it came from or what it is. The pot label said Anemone blanda! ??? Needless to say, there will be a pic in due course. It is just 30cms high.
-
I have this little (assumed) Gladiolus in bud and I await with great interest to see what it will be like as I've no idea where it came from or what it is. The pot label said Anemone blanda! ??? Needless to say, there will be a pic in due course. It is just 30cms high.
Oooh, a surprise Glad...... or even a Glad surprise..... I love surprises like this!
-
You're beginning to sound like Pollyanna Maggi. ::)
-
Lesley,
I have been watching this little stem come up on a volunteer (obviously in the recycled potting mix) in my crocus garden..... I'd messed with the flower and knew it was red, but that was it. It finally opened yesterday and was Gladiolus cardinalis, with just a single flower on the stem that was 15cm tall, if that. As the crocus garden is all pretty much into dormancy now there isn't any watering going on, so it obviously miniaturised in the conditions as the species normally flowers well over 60 or 70cm with lots of flowers per stem (they've just started flowering in other parts of the garden). I hope yours isn't just an escapee 'Blushing Bride' that is a bit smaller because it is in a pot. Then again, 'Blushing Bride' may not be the common almost thug for you that it is here. Brilliant flowering from them for me this year in one spot in my garden, over a metre tall. Normally they don't get that tall. Nice to see them at their peak to remind me of why they are very nice in the garden, instead of the periodic weeding out of them that I do in some areas where the corms seem to get spread around by birds very easily.
Good luck with you little unknown being something very special. 8)
-
You're beginning to sound like Pollyanna Maggi. ::)
Sorry, Lesley..... was trying to promote feeling of positive thinking.......been feeling rather down and needed a "happy" boost ..... :-[
-
I don't have 'Blushing Bride' Paul. Used to have a G. nanus form called just 'The Bride' but I don't have that now either.
-
Blushing Bride is a very common white nanus type with dark pink/red chevrons on it. I find that 'The Bride' is much more upright however, whereas BB leans over a bit. BB also branches quite a bit when happy. I'll see if mine are still holding any decent flowers to photograph of BB. I photographed 'The Bride' (what is the difference between this ans Gladiolus illyricus, by the way?) yesterday , so I know I have pics of that one. I can try for seed on 'The Bride' if you want to try it from seed, Lesley? No idea whether it sets them or not, but I can attempt it if you want me to.
-
"was trying to promote feeling of positive thinking.......been feeling rather down and needed a "happy" boost"
A little 'something' from down south to help brighten your day Maggi (Jeez, I hope you don't hate cacti!) :)
-
"was trying to promote feeling of positive thinking.......been feeling rather down and needed a "happy" boost"
A little 'something' from down south to help brighten your day Maggi (Jeez, I hope you don't hate cacti!) :)
who wouldnt be cheered by a cactus flower? :) though admittedly some (inexplicably) fail to see the beauty of the plants...
-
Paul,
I should have some corms of Ixia rouxii for you when they die down - I couldn't find them when I sent you stuff last summer :-[ if you have spare seed of the ones you mentioned, I'd love to try some.
The volunteer moraea (M. gracilenta) puts up a tall (> 1m) single leaf and the flower spike emerges low down and develops into a sizeable spread of little mauve butterflies which open in the evening and are gone by morning. No seed set last year as there was only one flower spike but this year the second corm has sent up a spike as well.
Lesley,
I haven't sniffed this little gladdie but might try it soon. It sort of looks like the pic of G. grandiflorus in "Gladiolus in Southern Africa" but not in habit which is more like G. floribundus; so I'd like to know for sure which one it is! I grew a huge batch from Silverhill and planted them into a sandbed which has become neglected and over shadowed in the last couple of years. Unfortunately with an enchidna which likes hunting for ants a lot of the labels have been broken or moved so I can't be sure of a lot of the names as they hadn't flowered before they were planted out.
Maggi,
I hope you aren't still down, but in case you are, here are a couple more pics of ixia (pixia?)
Ixia "Teal"
[attachthumb=1]
and Morphixia, Ixia paniculata, I think,
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
-
You've even brightened my day up with that beautiful picture of 'Teal' Fermi - thanks! ;D
-
You've even brightened my day up with that beautiful picture of 'Teal' Fermi - thanks! ;D
... and mine !!
Glorious spikes Fermi !!
-
What a splendid plant that is Fermi. May I request a close-up of the blooms if one is available please?
-
Fermi
Enjoying your pictures, nice of you to brighten up our day.
Maggi
Sorry, Lesley..... was trying to promote feeling of positive thinking.......been feeling rather down and needed a "happy" boost ..... :-[
[/quote]
The next time you are feeling a little bit down :(, just give me a call and I will pop past with a huge piece of chocolate cake and we will pass the day together enjoying our cake ;D.
Maggie liked your spread in the Finnies magazine, your and Ian look like the perfect couple :), sitting in your lovely garden,what a picture it was. I think you need to share it with everyone.
Angie :)
-
"was trying to promote feeling of positive thinking.......been feeling rather down and needed a "happy" boost"
A little 'something' from down south to help brighten your day Maggi (Jeez, I hope you don't hate cacti!) :)
Oh, yes! That's fab, just what I need! Thanks, Rogan. Something magical about a cactus flower.... the vibrancy of the colour, obviously, but also the shape and delicate fullness of the petals, with that crystalline gleam..... just lovely!
-
"was trying to promote feeling of positive thinking.......been feeling rather down and needed a "happy" boost"
A little 'something' from down south to help brighten your day Maggi (Jeez, I hope you don't hate cacti!) :)
Oh, yes! That's fab, just what I need! Thanks, Rogan. Something magical about a cactus flower.... the vibrancy of the colour, obviously, but also the shape and delicate fullness of the petals, with that crystalline gleam..... just lovely!
Feeling better by the minute with all these flowers!
Angie..... you are the type of friend everyone needs! Thanks for your kind words about the Finnies magazine piece!
To clue everyone else in, Finnies are a local family owned jewellery shop, and Ian and I are featured in a piece about the Scottish Rock Garden Club.....it's a publicity puff , saying how fab the SRGC is and how the website, via Fred and the Forum, moderated by little ol' me, makes Aberdeen the centre of the cyber rock garden world!! ;D
-
I hope you aren't still down, but in case you are, here are a couple more pics of ixia (pixia?)
Ixia "Teal"
Oooooh Fermi, what a beautiful Ixia show! 8) 8)
-
To clue everyone else in, Finnies are a local family owned jewellery shop, and Ian and I are featured in a piece about the Scottish Rock Garden Club.....it's a publicity puff , saying how fab the SRGC is and how the website, via Fred and the Forum, moderated by little ol' me, makes Aberdeen the centre of the cyber rock garden world!! ;D
but aberdeen is the centre of the cyber rock garden world :) congrats on the nice article--a little positive reinforcement is always a nice thing--and well deserved in this case!
-
Is the article available somewhere?
Fermi your 'Teal' is a real stunner. Why is it we never see weeds in your garden? Only such lovely plants. ;D
-
Is the article available somewhere?
Fermi your 'Teal' is a real stunner. Why is it we never see weeds in your garden? Only such lovely plants. ;D
Fermi, I agree with everyone's opinion of your Teal clump... FAB!
Lesley, article is in glossy magazine that is going out to ten thousand of the shops' customers.
I will see if I can make a pdf or jpg of the page and post it..... probably in "I'm so happy" thread.
-
Thanks Maggi.
-
Thanks Maggi.
You're welcome , Lesley... it's fun to show the publicity for the club.... I've posted the pdf here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2645.msg119851#msg119851
-
Thanks Maggi.
You're welcome , Lesley... it's fun to show the publicity for the club.... I've posted the pdf here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2645.msg119851#msg119851
Nice one Maggi .... "and its all centred on Aberdeen" - Centre of the Universe .... :)
-
Well, of course it is, Tony: surely you have heard of the headline from the local daily Newspaper.... the Press and Journal... on the sinking of the Titanic? "Iceberg sinks Tianaic.... Aberdeen Man Saved!"
-
Fermi your 'Teal' is a real stunner. Why is it we never see weeds in your garden?
because I learned how to crop the pics! ;D
Speaking of which here is a pic of the open flowers which Cliff wanted to see
[attachthumb=1]
I might try for a pic on the weekend (if there are any decent flowers left) if this one is insufficient!
Maggi that is a great little article and a lovely pic of you and the BD - shame it doesn't show his shoes! ;D
cheers
fermi
-
Many, many thanks Fermi. That is an absolute stunner.
-
Wonderfull group and flowers fermi !!
How lucky you are in such climate :)
-
Wonderfull group and flowers fermi !!
How lucky you are in such climate :)
Thanks, Fred,
but our lucky climate comes at a price! We're not yet into summer and we've already had 2 weeks of temperatures around the 30oC mark - I'm already wishing it was autumn! :P
At least I'm learning to adapt to the climate which means growing a lot more bulbs! ;D
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi
I am jealous, but enjoying every picture.
Angie :)
-
Via the South African Bulb Group I have a copy of Gordon Summerfield's latest Seed and Bulb List. Anyone who would like a copy of it please Email me at my private Email address.
-
Continuing with the greeny-blue colour theme
Lachenalia viridiflora
Not sure whether it looks better against the Cyclamen graecum or the wall.
-
Very nice indeed Roma. I see from 'The Color(sic) Encyclopedia(sic) of Cape Bulbs' that at home it prospers on granite outcrops, should do well in the 'Granite City' then ;D
I've just spent half an hour droolong over Gordon Summerfield's Seed and Bulb List. I shall have to order some seeds and there are loads of bulbs of winter growers I would love to have. A question though- if I do order some bulbs how should I treat them given they will just nicely have entered dormancy? Take a risk and pot them, or keep them dry and warm until next August/September? Help appreciated please.
-
David, Cameron McMaster recommends giving them a short growing season immediately they arrive in January, then giving them a 'normal' dormancy in summer to turn their seasonality around. I can see this working with the true bulbs (which don't replace the whole bulb each year) but I'm not so sure about corms - surely a short season won't give them time to replace the whole corm and you might be left with a smaller replacement?? I'd be interested to hear the answer too!
-
Some pics:
I mentioned the one-off multiple offsetting of one of my 'pink' Massonia jasminiflora a few weeks ago. The offsets were potted up together and here they are. All 6 are flowering but two have taken dominance and I will have to be really careful about botrytis on the hidden flowers later. The next picture is their mum. Brian Halliwell's book on propagation of Alpines & Bulbs suggests twin-scaling would work with Massonia. Sounds a worthwhile experiment.
M. pustulata is now at it's lovely best.
Paul Cumbletons Wisley log had a picture of the two forms of Lachenalia pusilla and , like me, he prefers the spotty one but the picture of the plain one was a wee bit unflattering so here is mine to support the underdog! It smells lovely!
The next is Lachenalia rubida which is behaving this year and not scraping pathetically against the glass in a bid to reach the light.
-
I love those Ixia, Fermi - just stunning.
-
Darren, more wonderfull plants !
The pustulata is gorgeous !!!!
-
Darren I am soooooooooooooo jealous. I was tempted to buy some from Paul Christian :o but I controlled myself
-
Mark,are you going to Termonfeckin? if not I can give a couple to Margaret Glynn for you, if she is going.
-
Thanks Michael. I'll be there on Saturday only.
-
Darren, amazed at your plants 8), it just makes me more determined to try and grow them. I am so jealous.
Angie :)
-
David, Cameron McMaster recommends giving them a short growing season immediately they arrive in January, then giving them a 'normal' dormancy in summer to turn their seasonality around. I can see this working with the true bulbs (which don't replace the whole bulb each year) but I'm not so sure about corms - surely a short season won't give them time to replace the whole corm and you might be left with a smaller replacement?? I'd be interested to hear the answer too!
Thanks for that Darren. Loved your Massonias and Lachenalias by the way. 8)
-
I mentioned the one-off multiple offsetting of one of my 'pink' Massonia jasminiflora a few weeks ago. The offsets were potted up together and here they are. All 6 are flowering but two have taken dominance and I will have to be really careful about botrytis on the hidden flowers later. The next picture is their mum. Brian Halliwell's book on propagation of Alpines & Bulbs suggests twin-scaling would work with Massonia. Sounds a worthwhile experiment.
Darren - your Massonia jasminiflora looks rather different to mine, (from P. Christian). Nice flower but I am not struck by it's scent, which is hard to describe.
I agree M. pustulata is fabulous & nicely scented.
-
Hi Pete,
I do grow that form of jasminiflora too, and I rather dislike the scent as well, which I have graphically described elsewhere.. Especially the pong it leaves on your fingers when removing dead flowers. Thankfully pustulata has it all - lovely flowers, foliage and scent!
-
Hi Pete,
Nice massonia 8) like I have said before amazing plants , thanks for showing your plants. I have seen bulbs on eBay that they say are flowering size but they look tiny are the bulbs small.
Angie :)
-
Hi Angie,
I find that my pustulata seedlings start to flower when the bulbs reach 10 - 15 mm diam. I am not sure if other species will flower on smaller bulbs.
Pete.
-
Hi Pete
That is a small bulb :o , had to get a tape measure out I am still working in inches, showing my age.
Angie :)
-
Darren, Pete, super Massonias, I am jealous as anything!
Many thanks to Michael for the seed, and, now, 8 months later the first flowers
from F.laxa 'Plum Hybrids'!
-
Hristo - that is lovely! I don't really like the normal red form. I quite like the white form with red markings (Joan Evans is it?) but the flower you show is the nicest form I've seen of this species. I had not even heard of this series of hybrids so thank you for posting this.
-
Darren, have a look here.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/michaelJcampbell63/FreesiaLaxaUpdate180909?authkey=Gv1sRgCIHTocXSqeb9Ng#
-
Some cracking hybrids there Michael. "Mr Amazing" strikes again. ;D You've really got your hand on the ball (or does that hurt at the moment?) :P
-
Hristo, When I see what all you folks can achieve with your seeds I have got to give it a go,and if it only took 8 months from seed to flower I must try harder.
Michael, had a look at your web page , amazing cant name a favorite as they were all beautiful, hope it wasn't for Darren's eyes only ::)
Angie :)
-
Micheal should you not be in bed? You have a long cross country drive in the morning.
Do these colours come from crossing white with red?
-
'(
You've really got your hand on the ball (or does that hurt at the moment?)
Very much David :'(
-
Michael, had a look at your web page , amazing cant name a favorite as they were all beautiful, hope it wasn't for Darren's eyes only
No Angie, if you look at the bottom of my posts you will seed a web address to all my pics, the are for public viewing.
here it is. http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/michaelJcampbell63
-
Micheal should you not be in bed? You have a long cross country drive in the morning.
Mark,I am learning to swim. :) All the roads here are flooded and I have packed the waterboots just in case.
-
Micheal should you not be in bed? You have a long cross country drive in the morning.
Mark,I am learning to swim. :) All the roads here are flooded and I have packed the waterboots just in case.
Oh, is it Termonfeckin this weekend? Have a great time!
-
Thanks Darren and Angie for your appreciation of my 'lodgers' from the Emerald Isle!
Some different cultivars from Michael should be flowering over the next week, I am
quite excited!
Angie, Freesia laxa is a great first subject to try growing from seed, it is easy, undemanding and
given a good run at it, can go from seed to flower in a year! Gladiolus tristis is another good un to try, seed to flower in two years if grown well!
-
Maggi: :-X
-
Maggi: :-X
Ooop! That has made me laugh..... yes, I do see know that it sounds rather ambiguous, to say the least..... right, an explanation: the "Termonfeckin" refers to the annual discussion weekend of the Irish AGS, held at An Grianan House/Centre at Termonfeckin . A fun event..... very nearly as much fun as the Scottish Discussion Weekends! ;) A number of speakers, gathering of enthusiastic alpine gardeners.... what could be nicer?
>
>
>
>
Well, in the year that we were across, bacon at breakfast time, but heaven knows, you can't have everything!! And, for all I know, now it is possible to have bacon for breakfast!
-
Maggi,Henry and Margaret Taylor are coming as is Susan Band and Jim Almond.
-
And for the first time in many years I'm not there for the whole weekend :'(
-
Maggi,Henry and Margaret Taylor are coming as is Susan Band and Jim Almond.
Och, that will be grand indeed...... :D
Mark, what a shame, but next year will be different agin, I hope.... for you will surely have a great new job. :)
-
Hristo , will look forward to your pictures of your new lodgers. I need to try something simple as I hate killing plants. My friend gave me all these seedlings of meconopsis to prick out and pot up and I killed everyone ( hope he is not reading this ) since then I find them easy but now I have the problem that I have to many plants, I will have to take them to the Aberdeen club for the raffle.
Michael, Thanks never noticed it at the bottom of your post, Hope you all have a lovely weekend and hopefully we will see some nice pictures.
Angie :)
-
Michael - thank you for that link. Wonderful plants. I'd heard of 'azurea' but hadn't actually seen it so that is the second new thing I've learned today!
-
Micheal should you not be in bed? You have a long cross country drive in the morning.
Do these colours come from crossing white with red?
Mark,
There is also a blue form, which I would imagine would somewhat increase the colour possibilities. I unfortunately had my blue form finish before the red ones started, so no hybridising. I don't seem to have any of the white forms any more it would appear. ::) Definitely inspiring to see Michael's hybrids, they're so much better than the straight red form (which is flowering here right now). I want to try for more colours now, which is why it is frustrating that the blue is already over. Of course if I had planned ahead I could have saved some pollen. ::)
Thanks for the link, Michael. Fantastic pictures. A bit of a challenge finding the Fressia laxa in there, but I didn't mind in the slightest as there are so many absolutely BRILLIANT pics to sort through. As it is I've only discovered 3 laxa as yet, but will keep looking. Excelent set of albums, thanks for much for showing us. 8)
And... OMG the Lewisia album!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o I've only investigated it other than the mixed album, but all the colours and species..... I had no idea!! :o :o :o
-
And... OMG the Lewisia album!! :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o I've only investigated it other than the mixed album, but all the colours and species..... I had no idea!! :o :o :o
I agree Paul, Maggi didn't choose Michael's nickname (Mr Amazing) just like that... ;)
The Lewi's are truly amazing ! :o
-
One of my favourite weeds from South Africa;
Oxalis versicolor
-
Chris,
Just noticed your signature.... I hope you're not using the same shotgun as Elmer was using...... I don't think there'd be much of a Pleione left if you set it off in their direction!! ;D
-
;D ;D ;D
No problems Paul, they all 'Run' away ( i.e.. sell for far more money than I will pay ) before I can bag em! :'( :'(
-
Chris,
Probably a good thing that you aren't into Galanthus then, eh? ;) By the sounds of it a LOT of them run away, particularly on Ebay. ;D
-
True Paul,
I simply don't have the constitution ( or depth of pocket ) to be a Galanthophile. Their dedication to the art of minute differences is beyond me, ( Galanthophiles - I mean no disrespect! )from a commercial point of view...WOW! I actually have had dreams of walking through woods within which I find a fully yellow Galanthus. The subsequent dreams of mansion houses and sports cars are perhaps connected?
-
I obtained some seeds as Paradisea liliastrum in 2007 - only one seed germinated, I soon thought, that it has nothing to do with Paradisea! And now it is flowering as Massonia pustulata for the first time! ;D
best greetings from Austria,
massonia
-
Excellent pics. Did you really flower that in 2 years from seed? :o :o I guess it helps that only one seed germinated and had no competition, but 2 years seems amazing to me. How big did it get in it's first year?
-
Hi Paul,
the seeds were sown on 20.01.2007. They first produced only one small leaf as usually. But normally they get a second or even a third leaf when they are quite strong. Seedlings are held on the suniest spot in the greenhouse and also feeded regulay. This massonia is actually in its third season.
I also have Massonia jasminiflora and pygmaea subsp. kamisbergensis, which are flowering this year after sowing it in 2007. This pygmaea has also divided itself and produced a second shoot, which is also flowering this year (one individual - two flowering buds!). But there is also a seedling with the same age in this pot which has only one small leaf.....
best regards,
massonia
-
So do you liquid feed your seedlings? I think I am going to have to start doing that, as so many of my seedling of so many things grow quite slowly. ::)
-
Paul, at least you are getting your seedlings to grow ::)
Angie :)
-
"Termonfeckin" refers to the annual discussion weekend of the Irish AGS,
Reminds me of "Father Ted" and the elderly, booze-loving foul-mouthed ex priest whose name I can't remember but don't wish to.
-
Paul, if you haven't already done so, have a look at the link Michael gave in Reply # 1018 page 68
-
Lesley,
So far I have only perused the link in so far as the mixed and Lewisia. I had to mop up the drool on the keyboard after the Lewisia, so I haven't looked any further as yet. You might notice my reaction at the top of this page? ;D
-
Actually, I just reactivated that link and it now leads to a Freesia laxa page. It didn't go there when I first activated it..... it pointed to the main page with all the other pages off it. Now I am even more impressed with Michael's Fressia laxa, seeing them all together like that. Wow just isn't a strong enough word. So many colour combination I've never seen before. Such great pinks.
-
"Termonfeckin" refers to the annual discussion weekend of the Irish AGS,
Reminds me of "Father Ted" and the elderly, booze-loving foul-mouthed ex priest whose name I can't remember but don't wish to.
Father Jack. One of my heroes ;D
-
Kept outside untill now after first watering in September, thanks to the warmer
weather still flowering rather late:
Oxalis hirta
-
Very nice indeed Luit. I'm about to do some digging around the Forum pages to see if there is anything to help me get my 'Ken Aslett' to flower. Not one in two years :(
-
Luit, lovely Oxalis and nice to see the sunshine make it glow.
David when you have done your digging please share your findings my Ken Aslett grows great but no flowers in two years.
Angie :)
-
Join the (srg)Club Angie. Two years ain't nothing. I've had it at least 25 and never a single flower!!!!!
-
Likewise for O. palmifrons!!!!!
-
Oh Lesley, What are we doing wrong, if you cant flower it over there with your climate what chance have I.
I wonder if Roma has this plant.
Angie :)
-
I've had 'Ken Aslet' for about 3 years never repotted - even trying to escape through the holes in the bottom of the pot, dry all summer and...... no flowers.
-
Roma, I don't feel so bad knowing that an expert like you is having a wee problem getting it to flower, but if Lesley has had it for twenty five years without a flower then there is no hope for me.
WHO CAN.
Angie :)
-
The Wallises repot 'Ken aslet' every year but only keep the biggest 'corms'. Seems to work for them. I think it gets overcrowded otherwise and starves, depite all the 'no repotting' advice. Mine has been planted out in the garden now - it is quite hardy here. Doesn't flower though!. Palmifrons has never flowered for me either but I grow it as a foliage plant anyway.
-
I'm glad it isn't just me! ;D
-
I probably get a half dozen flowers each year, in the pot they've been in for years without any care or attention. Never more than a few flowers though. And I too can't flower palmifrons. ::)
-
A couple of years ago I saw a lovely pot full of 'Ken Aslett' in the alpine house at Wisley in very early autumn in full blossom. I've dropped a PM to Paul Cumbleton in case he is able to offer us some advice.
-
Hi David et al.,
The only thing that I can think of which may explain our flowering of 'Ken Aslet' (and Oxalis palmifrons which has flowered for us the past two years) is that the glasshouse they are in gets VERY hot in the summer, so it may be they need heat. Perhaps try putting them in a sealed coldframe to build up the heat in summer?
A few more South African things appear in my latest log http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=wisley
Cheers
Paul
-
Okay lets all pray for a really hot summer ::)and maybe our Ken Aslet will flower. Good idea putting it in another frame. Good luck everyone.
Paul would love to see your large plant of M. depressa when it is opens.
Angie :)
-
Reading about the non-flowering of Oxalis Ken Aslet made me think about the way how we grew them en masse (see pictures below) and they did flower every year.
Most Oxalis from S. Africa are difficult to treat in the same way as other bulbs, but flowering has to do with the temperatures and available light.
Ill try to describe the process of a growing year:
We planted the bulbs in August and early September.
(When planted after mid September they will start too late when there is less light!)
We sorted the bulbs in about three different sizes and the biggest bulbs flowered best.
Out of the smaller sizes we selected in the next year again the biggest ones etc.
When planting the bulbs, the flowers were mostly visible already.
When they start growing it is impossible to retain them.
The growing season was here in a high (airy) glasshouse which was kept frost free from September till ca. early April. Watering had to been done carefully and the leaves had to dry off soon.
When starting to wilt we stopped watering and after some weeks we piled the crates (in which they were planted) on transport pallets for a month or so.
When they were very dry we sieved the bulbs out of the soil and when cleaned we kept the bulbs in wired boxes on the warmest places in a shaded dry place in the glasshouse.
The average temperature night and day was mostly about 25 ˚C. But in a wet summer with less sun this was not sure, so later we stored them together with Hyacinth bulbs for 8 or 10 weeks at 25 ˚C. at a specialized factory for preparation services.
After 10 weeks they had to be planted again because they started to grow already.
For the S.H. this timetable may differ some, but the most important things are the right temperatures for at least 8 weeks in the right time and sufficient light.
Since the time we grew them inside I still have some plants outside in the open garden and this year in September I saw some flowers (no picture made..) after a nice warm summer.
I show some pictures of that time too and one of the still easier flowering O. versicolor.
Oxalis Ken Aslet (3x)
Oxalis versicolor
-
I wrote this first in Word and copied it here, because it is very difficult to write when you don't see wat you are writing. (On a Laptop!!)
David N. started somewhere else a query about this.
I hope Mr. Admin can do something about this.
I could not afterwards underline some impertant sentences either.
It is really sort of a problem!!
-
Wonderful pictures of the oxalis en masse, Luit.
I'm sorry you are having problems.... you should be able to go back via the "edit" button to add any underlining that you miss the first time.... formatting from word does not copy directly to the forum, I think .... :-\
-
Wonderful pictures of the oxalis en masse, Luit.
I'm sorry you are having problems.... you should be able to go back via the "edit" button to add any underlining that you miss the first time.... formatting from word does not copy directly to the forum, I think .... :-\
Thanks Maggi, I did not try editing afterwards, will try some later...
-
Very many thanks both Paul and Luit, for the above advice. It is quite likely that my climate is just not hot enough and without a glasshouse I may be flogging a dead horse even if the Oxalis thrive mightily (but without flowers). I'll try Luit's regime and keep the pots on a hot windowsill for a few weeks and see what happens. Other SA Oxalis species flower very well though luteola flowers less well than when I lived in the hotter, drier South Canterbury area, even though it's only 125 miles up the road.
-
Thanks Maggi, I did not try editing afterwards, will try some later...
Did not work either!! :( :(
I know that formatting from Word does not copy directly to the Forum.
But it is almost impossible to type right on dancing lines ::) ::) ::)
-
Sorry, Luit, I did not fully realise you meant the dancing line problem. We will see if Fred has anything to say on the matter. ???
-
Luit, Paul, thanks also for the info. Oxalis speciosa 'Ken Aslet' flowered here for the first time and it is great to match this cultural information to the happy chances that bought our stock into flower. Next year a more deliberate effort!
-
Is it now Oxalis speciosa? It used to be O. purpurea but then I thought it was changed to O. melanosticta, or something similar. ???
-
Thanks Maggi, I did not try editing afterwards, will try some later...
Did not work either!! :( :(
I know that formatting from Word does not copy directly to the Forum.
But it is almost impossible to type right on dancing lines ::) ::) ::)
Reply from Fred : RE: jumping text ......"It's an Internet Explorer problem, lots of people have had it on various forms. Sometimes happens, sometime not. There are lots of bugs in IE8
Tell them to use Firefox - I moved to it exactly for that reason. It's vastly better."
-
Wow, Luit - what a sight!
Thank you for pics and for the advice concerning growing conditions.
Gerd
-
Very impressive Luit !
"Reply from Fred : RE: jumping text ......"It's an Internet Explorer problem, lots of people have had it on various forms. Sometimes happens, sometime not. There are lots of bugs in IE8"
That's exacty what I've experienced. Sometimes this problem occurs and sometimes it doesn't for no obvious reason... :-\
-
Hi Luit
What a sight, all those happy plants, thanks for the cultural information, will try my best to give it more warmth next year ::).
Angie :)
-
Lesley,
I think you are right that purpurea is more current than speciosa, I always forget. Can't think why I find it hard to call a yellow flowered oxails, 'purpurea'!!??? ??? melanosticta would be a new one on me though, still it is South African and taxonomists do so love to mess about with the naming of the flora of that continent!
In 2006 Monocot Nursery had it listed as speciosa, so I guess you pays your money etc etc.
-
Reply from Fred : RE: jumping text ......"It's an Internet Explorer problem, lots of people have had it on various forms. Sometimes happens, sometime not. There are lots of bugs in IE8
Tell them to use Firefox - I moved to it exactly for that reason. It's vastly better."
Downloaded Firefox and tried to modify my posting and it works now for me :D :D :D
Thank you Maggi and Fred!!
-
Lesley,
I think you are right that purpurea is more current than speciosa, I always forget. Can't think why I find it hard to call a yellow flowered oxails, 'purpurea'!!??? ??? melanosticta would be a new one on me though, still it is South African and taxonomists do so love to mess about with the naming of the flora of that continent!
In 2006 Monocot Nursery had it listed as speciosa, so I guess you pays your money etc etc.
Plantfinder 2008-2009 says: Oxalis purpurea Ken Aslet ( see O. melanosticta)
Makes me curious where Ken Aslet disappeared to now ??? ???
I hope to see next year many pictures of flowering Oxalis Ken Aslet ;D ;D
-
I am in love with this delicious little Gladiolus species, probably carneus, in which case it will grow taller than its current 35cms. I don't know where it came from as I didn't grow it from seed and I've never bought it or been given it to my knowledge. This is the first flowering.
[attachthumb=1]
-
Very nice Lesley !! 8)
-
Lesley
What a gorgeous Gladiolus and what a stunning photograph :)
-
Stunning Gladi Lesley
-
Really nice Lesley 8)
Angie :)
-
Lesley,
That looks very much like what we call "Blushing Bride", although usually a bit taller than that.
-
Lesley - that is a lovely flower indeed!
-
Yes, it is a lovely thing all right. I have confirmation from AC in Argentina that it is G. carneus (previously called G. blandus). :)
-
Some time ago I asked for an ID for this little Glad species, on the SH page I think. No answers so I'll try it here. It hasn't flowered this year but it did, in October last year, so mid spring flowering, about 35cms in height.
-
Lesley,
If you are keen on Gladiolus you should really try and get 'Gladiolus in southern Africa ' by Manning and Goldblatt. I have just bought a copy of this fabulous book. It has descriptions of 160 and beautiful colour illustrations by 2 artists of the corms, flowers, seed and leaves of most of them.
I haven't read it all yet so can't identify your Glad ;D
Susan
-
An excellent book indeed Susan. Fondly remember almost injuring myself carrying my luggage after buying it in 1999 at Kirstenbosch, along with the Moraea and Erica monographs.... But it was half the price I would have paid in the UK!
-
The latest Massonia here is this one which is going around as M. aff. echinata. It is from a Silverhill seeds collection.
It has the smallest inflorescence/foliage ratio of all the Massonia I grow and the foliage is very thick and rubbery in texture. It also has the biggest tumbleweed type fruits of all the Massonia I grow.
-
Whilst taking pictures this last weekend (we had one hour of good weather!) I noticed how nice the hairy leaves on Strumaria aestivalis were looking. This species flowers in late july early august and the following picture was taken in august 2005 to illustrate the flowers. I am pretty sure about the name now, though this is the third name it has had since I got it!
-
I've seen the book Susan and yes, it's a beauty. It's size is a problem :D but even more, its price. I'm putting my life savings into troughs at present. ;D
-
Some time ago I asked for an ID for this little Glad species, on the SH page I think. No answers so I'll try it here. It hasn't flowered this year but it did, in October last year, so mid spring flowering, about 35cms in height.
Lesley, you might have a look at the PBS site, where about all Gladiolus from S.Africa are to see with pictures:
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Gladiolus (http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Gladiolus)
-
Darren, Great pictures yet again of your Massonia. I do love the flower of your Stumaria 8). is this hard to flower ?
Angie :)
-
I've seen the book Susan and yes, it's a beauty. It's size is a problem :D but even more, its price. I'm putting my life savings into troughs at present. ;D
Aren't you worried someone will dig through the troughs to find it? ??? ;D
cheers
fermi
-
Lachenalia season has begun on the windowsills. These ones ( L.bulbifera ) are originally seed grown from 'Silverhills' seed, they live up to their name and fill their tubs up with hundreds of small bulbils every year. A nice reliable display, last year there was snow in the backgronud when they were flowering, today, maybe 20c and I will be mowing the lawns, global warming??
-
Hi Angie,
The strumaria flowers no problem and is very predictable in timing - as soon as Susan's workplace begins it's annual two-week summer shutdown I know to look at the top of the bulbs for the flower buds emerging. It is important not to give in to temptation to water it when it flowers, it should be kept dry until september like any other summer dormant bulb. The original bulb has clumped up but I've never split the clump as I feel it likes being crowded and underpotted.
Strumaria are supposed to be 'occasionally self fertile' but in ten years (despite hand pollination) I have had seed set only once (2008) and that was a good crop. I have nothing else it could cross with and only have one clone so it must have selfed. Like most of these amarylids the seed starts to germinate immediately it is ripe so I collected and sowed the seed and now have about thirty or so little hairy seedlings. 2009 was almost back to normal though I did get one seed out of two hundred flowers!
-
I've seen the book Susan and yes, it's a beauty. It's size is a problem :D but even more, its price. I'm putting my life savings into troughs at present. ;D
Aren't you worried someone will dig through the troughs to find it? ??? ;D
cheers
fermi
Considering how much gardening goes on around here from the other member of the family, they're quite safe Fermi, though if Teddy decides to explore.....
-
Thanks for the link Luit. I'll have a good look there. Have a meeting to go to now though.
-
Thanks Darren for the information on Strumaria. Good luck with your hairy seedlings.
Angie :)
-
here now some Massonia from my collection :
Massonia aff. echinata ( ex Silverhill )
Massonia pustulata ( now after many years from sowing has build a offset -in this year both same size - in next year I must divide )
-
the next are strange plants .....
I have it bought in this year from a seller from USA with the name Massonia hirsuta Burdach 11182 .....
When start the leaves I was quiet dissapoint because the leaves had no hairs ( not like the plant which Paul from Wisley show )....
After writing to some people I found the information on the site from Terry Smale this this plants are Mass. jasminiflora ....
In this week gave me a nice plantfriend from SRGC the information about a work from Alison Summerfield ( now A. van der Merwe ) - there is a key for Massonia and it is written that Mass. hirsuta has only hairs on the bracts .....not on the leaves !..... this is the only Massonia with hairy bracts !!!
Now I have looked on my plant from Mass. hirsuta = it has hairy bracts !!!
So it seems I have a correct named plant .....
All is very confusing !!!
Here are the pics :
-
Wonderfull plants and pics Hans !!!
This genus is so lovely... that I'm waiting whith great impatience flowers from my seedlings....
do they smell ?
-
Fred ,
thank you :)
Yes some of them smells wonderful - special M.jasminiflora !
this plants are really nice -they flowers when outside is so ugly wether -a real bonus !
-
By the way, Hans,
do you grow Pancratium tenuifolium ?
If so, when does it start growing ??
-
Fred :'( :'( :'(
I would really like to grow it ....I search for it since long time :-\
Do you know maybe a source ( exept PC ) ?
-
Hans, I bought it from Penroc 1 year ago, but still waiting for leaves... ???
-
Fred :
Thank you for your information !
-
Fred, Pancratium tenuifolium is a summergrowing bulb. It is much sensible to water and rots easily.
Alberto
-
Hans, so now you can sleep and dream of plants without or with hairs! 8)
Alberto
-
Fred ,
Alberto is right with Pancratium tenuifolium as summergrower - this plants comes from the Limpopo area -there is summer rain fall
Alberto ,
we have not so much this tradition with Siesta ....so I have to work on afternoon ....not :
La Dolce Farniete as in Bondeno ;D
....I'm still on search for this hairy Massonia plants !!!
-
Lovely pictures Hans!
-
Thank you Darren !
I forgot :
After Kew is Massonia hirsuta synonym with Mass.echinata .....but A.Summerfield agree not !
-
Hans, so now you can sleep and dream of plants without or with hairs! 8)
Alberto
I wouldn't mind dreaming about Massonia with or without hairs ::) Lovely pictures yet again Hans.
Angie :)
-
Angie I just dream about SA bulbs, European bulbs, South American ........
-
Same here Mark , sadder still I would rather have a SA bulb than a jewellery, I bet there isn't much women like me ::)
Angie :)
-
Angie,
It's called "Correct priorities". Well done!! ;D 8)
-
Flowering in my plant room, first time for me;
Freesia laxa ssp azurea, or is it Fessia laxa 'Azurea' ? Seen it listed both ways!
Have posted F.laxa 'Plum Hybrid' for comparison.
Cheers
-
I started this Cyanella orchidiformis off a month earlier than usual and it has responded with better growth form and it will probably have a much denser flowered spike. In the UK this always baceme rather etiolated.
Cheers
Maggi - Thanks for the move!! Senior moment I think.....
-
Very nice, on both counts. 8)
-
Never seen the flower, but I love the base of foliage, Gethyllis verticiliata
-
I like it also. This was in another photo shown recently
-
Same here Mark , sadder still I would rather have a SA bulb than a jewellery, I bet there isn't much women like me ::)
Angie :)
You'd be surprised Angie. Just as well really considering their relative prices, and I don't get offered diamonds and emeralds I'm afraid. (Must be doing something wrong. My sister's late husband bought her a sapphire ring or brooch or similar, every year for her birthday because she once said her favourite colour was blue. She's worth a fortune nowadays. ;D)
-
Fred,
How cool. It's obviously maturing nicely..... it already needs to shave, so it must be almost grown up. ;D I can't work out "why" it would have a setup like that, but it certainly is fascinating.
-
Fred my first thought when I saw the stem of Gethyllis verticiliata was of a Dr. Seuss character - can't put my hand on the book readily to check which one.
-
;D ;)
-
Pat,
"The cat in the hat" I think is the one you're thinking of. He had the stripey hat, like the stem sheathes.
-
Roma I loved the Ferraria it reminded me of one of my mother's lamp-shades right down to the fringing round the edges. ::)
edit by Maggi: This post made in response to a pix of Ferraria crispa from Roma, in the South American thread ( because it was in connection with another plant posted there!!) Roma said.....It grew quite well in the greenhouse at work, growing in the winter and flowering in Spring. Since I retired it has been a bit more erratic with my lower winter temperatures. It did not flower this year but last year did well and has good shoots on it now. Ferraria crispa has behaved in a similar way. It had the foliage frosted the first year I had it at home, got too drawn with lack of light in the house the following year, but grew and flowered well in the greenhouse the next year. Last winter was colder so it produced a few leaves then died down. I was going to repot it yesterday but just scraped off and replaced the soil above the bulbs which are starting to grow. It seems to increase well below ground even if there is not much growth above.
The following pictures were taken in May 2008
and this is the picture:
-
I think we might be mixing up the South American and South African threads here. I only know this as I spotted a cyanella germinating from Silverhills seed today and the Ferraria is one I am looking out for. Great looking plants both of them.
Susan
-
Alessandro, that's a very fine looking Ipheion!
I started this Cyanella orchidiformis off a month earlier than usual and it has responded with better growth form and it will probably have a much denser flowered spike. In the UK this always baceme rather etiolated.
Cheers
Hi Hristo
lovely flower
I have had Cyanella alba, obtained from seed, but after a year I have lost all the plants? creed for the cold ???
-
I think we might be mixing up the South American and South African threads here. I only know this as I spotted a cyanella germinating from Silverhills seed today and the Ferraria is one I am looking out for. Great looking plants both of them.
Susan
Yes, Susan, I see that there has been some cross posting etc whcih had escaped my tidying brush.... I think I've got them sorted now! :P
-
Have you seen the SA bulbs on Ebay? Anyone know who's selling them?
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/9665cue/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340 (http://shop.ebay.co.uk/9665cue/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340)
-
Mark,whoever it is they are making a nice profit, see the nice gold rings, including one of pink gold.
-
Haven't a clue, but I would want to know before I spent that kind of money!
-
and one with starting bid of £25
-
You would need some room for this bulb
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=230408893111 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=230408893111)
-
The Massonia should be flowering now rather than being a dry bulb?
-
Mark,
Unless they've been imported from the southern hemisphere for selling.
-
Someone who lives in a flat beside Glasgow Botanic gardens has sold over 1200 bulbs this year. Could the botanics be selling on Ebay?
I hope everyone in the UK saw 'Life' tonight? It showed Brunsvigia and their seed dispersal
-
1)Someone who lives in a flat beside Glasgow Botanic gardens has sold over 1200 bulbs this year. Could the botanics be selling on Ebay?
2)I hope everyone in the UK saw 'Life' tonight? It showed Brunsvigia and their seed dispersal
1) not legally!
2) watching it on i-player right now.
-
Hi Mark I fancied some of these bulbs but wasn't sure if they would grow, I couldn't see any roots on the plants, did buy a Boophane bulb off Ebay :-X but no leaves yet ::) I cant get over the prices they fetch but saying this they are so hard to get.
Angie :)
-
Who from Angie?
Paul you could be on the right tracks
-
I think it came from down south I mean England.
Angie :)
-
now is soon the end of season with my Massonia flowers ...
today is flowering :
Massonia spec. north of Stutterheim ( from a german nursery )- I suppose it is also M.jasminiflora
Massonia jasminiflora ( ex Afr.Bulbs )
Hans 8)
-
Angie i have bought a couple of nerine species of him and they growing.I will post pics when they flower
-
Verry nice massonias, Hans! congratulation!
best greetings,
massonia
-
Dave, Looking forward to seeing your nerine sp, in flower. I am never sure when you see some of the bulbs I think will they grow with us in the UK? and I
want them all , but I now that's impossible. I got some bulbs that I have longed for from a special forum member ::) ::) which I am most grateful for and
they are doing well.
Hans, You keep making me jealous with those Massonia, lovely flowers. 8)
Angie :)
-
Hans,
Those are very pink flowers on a jasminiflora. Congratulations. Mine were only shaded with a colour, whereas yours are quite strong. Very nice.
-
Very nice plants indeed Hans. Thank you
-
Thank you all for your compliments :)
Angie : you would be more jealous if you could smell the nice fragrance of this plants :D
Paul : yes -they are really pink -when the buds comes I was really surprised
Hans 8)
-
Hans,
It is such a shame that the Massonia appear to be self-infertile. That one would have been fascinating to see the results of if you could have self-pollinated it. Given that there is always potential for some variability, the idea of the potential for something even darker from self seedlings would have been amazing.
-
Paul ,
Yes ....I know .....
But anyway I will pollinate this both M.jasminiflora together - they are both pretty pink !
-
Just received today a copy of "Cape Bulbs" by Richard Doutt. It's quite good and detailed but, as seems to be the case with many books on bulbs, somwhat short of detail in the "Cultivation" section. Cue the BD!!!!!!!!
In the book he refers to Lachenalia as being pronounced 'lah-shen-ahl-ee-a' whereas I have always pronounced it 'lak-en-ahl-ee-a'. Am I wrong? He does go on to say that the plant was named in 1784 for Werner de la Chenal, a professor of Botony in Basel, Switzerland which would suggest that Doutt's pronunciation is the correct one.
-
Lack for me too rather than lash. :-\ When has what may be "right" ever stopped us pronouncing in whatever way we please? ;D
Should your note about the book perhaps go in the South AFRICAN bulbous section David?
-
Lack for me too rather than lash. :-\ When has what may be "right" ever stopped us pronouncing in whatever way we please? ;D
Should your note about the book perhaps go in the South AFRICAN bulbous section David?
I say the Scottish .... lach as in loch!!
I've moved the offending posts here to the proper section!!
-
I say lack.
I know someone who says cyclamen as sick-lamen and celandine as keel-andine while most others say sell-andine
I learnt recently that both o in Boophane are said
-
Lack for me too rather than lash. :-\ When has what may be "right" ever stopped us pronouncing in whatever way we please? ;D
Should your note about the book perhaps go in the South AFRICAN bulbous section David?
I say the Scottish .... lach as in loch!!
I've moved the offending posts here to the proper section!!
Where had I put it? Just shows the old mind is going :(
-
Lack for me too rather than lash. :-\ When has what may be "right" ever stopped us pronouncing in whatever way we please? ;D
Should your note about the book perhaps go in the South AFRICAN bulbous section David?
I say the Scottish .... lach as in loch!!
I've moved the offending posts here to the proper section!!
Where had I put it? Just shows the old mind is going :(
In the South AMERICAN thread! ::) ;D ;)
-
Is there a ' lack ' of concentrativeness or a ' lack ' of geographical knowledge?
;D
Gerd
-
I love the pencil drawings in the Doutt book David, and he does have some useful things to say (Geissorhiza radians longevity for instance, and seed germination times are spot on too), also his quote that Maurice Boussard states that Melasphaerula graminea is 'a weed' is dead right but was too late for me. I'm just glad it isn't hardy or it would be a menace. It comes up everywhere in our greenhouse, even in the wet capillary matting under my seed pots it germinates and reaches flowering in one season!
My issue with the book is really the same as yours David - it is really aimed at people gardening in an already ideal climate for these bulbs and much of his experience relates to growing them planted out in his garden. Though I found his info on Boussard in France growing South African Irids in frames interesting and I'm sure many would stand this in Devon or here in coastal Lancashire. I just don't have the frame space to try it.
I'm not fussy about the pronunciation either though I agree that Doutts version is probably correct.
-
Is there a ' lack ' of concentrativeness or a ' lack ' of geographical knowledge?
;D
Gerd
Just an old chap whose eyes and mind aren't as sharp as they used to be Gerd ;D
-
I love the pencil drawings in the Doutt book David, and he does have some useful things to say (Geissorhiza radians longevity for instance, and seed germination times are spot on too), also his quote that Maurice Boussard states that Melasphaerula graminea is 'a weed' is dead right but was too late for me. I'm just glad it isn't hardy or it would be a menace. It comes up everywhere in our greenhouse, even in the wet capillary matting under my seed pots it germinates and reaches flowering in one season!
My issue with the book is really the same as yours David - it is really aimed at people gardening in an already ideal climate for these bulbs and much of his experience relates to growing them planted out in his garden. Though I found his info on Boussard in France growing South African Irids in frames interesting and I'm sure many would stand this in Devon or here in coastal Lancashire. I just don't have the frame space to try it.
I'm not fussy about the pronunciation either though I agree that Doutts version is probably correct.
Yes, Darren it is a very interesting and helpful book and I'm glad I bought it and I recommend it to anyone interested in South African (got it right this time Gerd!) bulbs. I thought some of his seed germination times were a bit quick certainly for my climate. I was interested too in Boussard's frames ideas but, like you, space is my problem. Having said that there is a tremendous satisfaction and excitement in raising something in an unhelpful climate and winning some and loosing some is part of the game.
-
Another really beautiful and useful book is Bulbous Plants of Southern Africa by DuPLessis & Duncan if you can get it. It is both detailed and has lovely paintings by Elise Bodley. I bought mine by mail from South Africa about 6 years ago. It is an awkward size to fit on a bookshelf is my only criticism - so my copy is here on my desk as I write.
I suspect it would be very expensive nowadays as these kinds of books often are once they go out of print. If you see a copy at a good price snap it up!
-
Just looked on ABE. Prices start at £125....
-
Me too! I would hang on to that it's better than a pension :P
-
Darren i have a few species of Geissorhiza as well as radians,which i have read is short lived,are all the Geissorhiza the same,my plants are only two year old plants started last year from seed.
-
Dave, Richard Doutt says he had trouble maintaining a population. He quotes someone who had difficulty with it as it developed chlorosis when grown in granite sand but remedied it by applying aluminium sulphate to make the mix more acidic. There's always a clue as someone else says :P
-
David i once read some where that Geissorhiza radians grows in quite damp places along with south african drosera so i might when they go dormant put half my stock into a peat silver sand and perlite mix and stand the pot in a little rain water during the growing season,repot every year into this mix which might keep it nice and acid.
-
I've never managed to get Geissorhiza radians past flowering.... they always die out for me. Flowering seems to be the death nell. ::)
G. monanthos on the other hand has persisted for years for me, flowering each year but never obviously multiplying..... until this year where there were 3 flower stems and another non-flowering one. I have never repotted it (I never remember when it is dormant), and I am not really game to in case I jinx it by doing so. ;D It out competes the weeds in the pot each year, producing the glorious flowers as a surprise to me each year when I again think I have lost it. G. aspera (I think that is the right name, small blue flowers about 1cm wide) persists for me unattended in a pot as well. I noticed with surprise some flowers in the pot this year. It is possible though that these might be seedlings flowering in this case. I know for sure that that is not the case with the monanthos.
-
David i once read some where that Geissorhiza radians grows in quite damp places along with south african drosera so i might when they go dormant put half my stock into a peat silver sand and perlite mix and stand the pot in a little rain water during the growing season,repot every year into this mix which might keep it nice and acid.
I don't have that one Dave but going from the pictures it's a little cracker. A damp acidic mix should suit it a treat.
-
Paul thats what i was told about Radians i was told to collect seed from them and sow it and i would then have stock all the time.
-
From various sources I'd say you are all correct! I have to keep G radians going from seed so carefully hand pollinate & collect some each year. I ,too, think it would benefit from extra water in spring and from a very acid compost and I think your idea is a great one Davey - please let us know if it works. I use ericaceous loam based compost as the basis for my mix for radians - most other SA bulbs seem unfussed about the bit of lime in normal John Innes compost. I'm pretty sure it is short lived. The similar G mathewsii is longer lived and seems to increase vegetatively. Unlike Paul I get great vegetative reproduction of G. monanthos but few flowers! G aspera is very prolific and almost weedy but is so lovely and generous with flowers that i forgive it.
The others I have are G.corrugata (lovely yellow - doesn't have the nice tight coiled leaves like it does in nature though, probably low light levels). This is long lived but doesn't increase much vegetatively. G inaequalis behaves like aspera and I've only just got G. splendidissima to flowering size so can't comment yet. G. darlingensis and G. tulbaghensis I find very difficult from seed and currently don't have either.
My main word of caution is be careful repotting as they all can have miniscule (1mm) offset bulblets and they are the colour of compost. I now plant the corms within a layer of sand in the pot - I can then carefully take out this whole layer at repotting time and pop it into a pot with new compost above and below it. I used to spend hours playing 'hunt the bulbil'....
Here are pics of G aspera and mathewsii:
-
I have friends in Western Australia who have conditions where they can easily grow radians to flowering the first year (or at most the second year), so they just sow seed each year from it. Mine take at least 3 years to get to flowering in my conditions of neglect (not entirely the seedlings fault ::)) but if left in seed pot like the ones I have now, the corms will last indefinitely. I have a pot that hasn't been repotted since sowing about 5 or 6 years ago..... it has never flowered, but still comes up each year..... definitely the energy going into flowering that kills them. :o
-
Darren your Mathewsii is as good as radians and better behaved(long lived)then i will go onto silverhills next spring and order that some seed, Geissorhiza are simply stunning.
Paul i find it incredible that to see such a wonder that this plant has to die,radians was the plant that brought african bulbs and corms to my attention what a shame its so fleeting.
-
Davey,
For some, it apparently isn't that fleeting. There are some people who report it persisting after flowering. They seem to be in the minority though, and obviously have just the right conditions. ::)
-
I'm sure you are right Paul - I'm pretty convinced that I get more than one flowering from radians but still need to have seedlings as insurance because I'm equally sure that I don't get more than two or three flowerings from a corm. There's usually little ones in the pot so it is hard to tell. I can only be sure with mathewsii because I only raised one seedling to flowering size so I know I've had at least three flowerings from that corm and it has sent up a shoot again this year - as well as three offsets. Unfortunately one clone = no seed.
My G mathewsii actually came from AGS exchange seed. Remarkable in two ways, firstly it is quite a rarely cultivated species and secondly it was true to name ;)
-
So, after setting seed, its duty to posterity is done, and a corm dies?
-
Only if conditions aren't right for it to continue, and only if it is a species that has those requirements. Certainly I lose the complete pot of radians after flowering, or at least have done so the twice that I have flowered them.
-
A couple of pics of Lachenalia alioides quadricolor from a distinctly chilly greenhouse today. If you look at Reply 1 from this thread it shows my plant flowering away on 12 February last. It produced so many daughter bulbs I now have four pots full and the pics are from one of them.
-
Lovely that David. I only grow the weird blue/green aloides var vanzyliae and its nice to see some others. Keep it moving - if it increases like vanzyliae it will be overcrowded in no time! Speaking of which - if you'd like some var vanzyliae next summer....?
-
We'll do a swop Darren.
-
Deal - see if you like it first - here is a pic. It flowers in march/april usually.
-
Yes, it's nice, it's different.
-
Darren - Is this Lachenalia as easy to grow as Quadricolor?
I have to ask if anyone with collections of Lachenalia has grown open-pollinated seed. Seems there is good potential to get a wide range of flower shades.
johnw - 5 cm. of snow last night. Cold here at -7c, hard to believe that is considered a very cold night in the UK.
-
Can't answer John - haven't grown quadricolor. I did once have var aurea and that was much more vigorous than vanzyliae but both are equally easy. Var aurea started showing virus symptoms so it went. I might one day replace it from seed. I only sow my own seed from the less vigorous autumnal species, and so far have had no hybrids. A pusilla/rubida cross seems unlikely but could be very interesting given how different they are!
-
Darren,
I don't think I've come across that species before. Looks bluer and a different shape to viridiflora which I grew at one point. Aren't those blue-green/aqua colours just so unusual. 8)
-
Yes Paul - it is an almost unnaturally luminous shade and people often think the plant is not real and made of plastic!
-
Thanks Darren. I'll have to look out for it. I love stuff that colour...... I wish I could grow Jade Vine here. ;D
-
I know this plant has appeared before, and not only from me, but I happened to notice whilst brushing snow from the greenhouse that Gladiolus maculatus is in flower, as it always is at Christmas. These are pictures of 3 clones from seed, taken last year. I do cross them every year and get big ripe seed capsules but none of the seed is ever viable. These cape gladdys usually have a rounded seed within a flattened papery exterior but there is never any sign of a seed within the chaff. Surely enough nothing germinates. If I were to theorise I would suggest it is something to do with our low temperatures at time of fertilisation - something triggers capsule development without actually forming seed. Maybe I should bring it indoors for a week or two?
Lovely plant anyway, with a terrific scent on days when it and my nose are not frozen:
-
Lovely pics Darren, I have just germinated a few species Glads myself, any advice on how to grow them on?
Best wishes, James.
-
stunning gladi darren does it produce little baby corms though, i have grown all my gladi's from seed i have about 20 different sp at the moment i was wondering how long it takes you to get them to flowering from sowing.
-
I'm not that good with the Gladiolus, James , so reluctant to advise. I've been lucky enough to be acquainted with one of the great show gladiolus growers and his advice for raising was to plant the seed deep (like a certain Mr Young would advise!) so that it gets fairly even temperatures and moisture until germination. This was good advice. After that we diverge - Ideally he says they should have a free root run and he grows his in a greenhouse bed in ring culture pots. This is probably best but the soil in my greenhouse area is under 10cm of concrete, plus ring culture uses a lot of space, so I use ordinary pots . I treat them the same as my other cape bulbs and try to repot every year as glads are heavier feeders than most. Seedlings might bulk up quicker with heavy feeding. Other than that nothing special. Sometimes a potful will 'crash' and suddenly I've only got a very few tiny corms left which are very weak. I wonder about virus perhaps? Or possibly some shock during the growing season such as allowing the pot to get too dry (ring culture would have prevented this)? Ideas would be welcome!
Davey - it varies. Some vigorous ones (e.g caeruleus) take about 3-4 years but some little ones like virescens and meliusculus I am still awaiting flowers after 8 years... perhaps they just don't like the conditions I can offer? The related G uysiae (from Jim Archibald seed) is in year two and has already overtaken my meliusculus in size! The commonest of this group in the wild is G alatus but I cannot keep it alive at all.
I do get tiny little offset corms on the maculatus yes, for which I am thankful! I'd really like to get some seed though as a safeguard against virus etc.
What about you? Do you have any tips about them?
James - I note you grow pelargonium too - I once had a great interest in the tuberous species and had quite a few. Nowadays I just keep a small number and my favourite by far is P oblongatum. Which types do you grow?
-
Not as sexy as the G.maculatus ( very nice indeed Darren )
On my kitchen windowsill and awaiting an asignation ( or two ) with various
F.laxa hybrids;
Freesia viridis, originally from Moncot Nursery.
-
Thanks for the Gladiolus advice Darren, I sowed my seed on the surface of the soil and they seem to germinate well that way too, fingers crossed I can keep them going!
I am interested in any species Pelargoniums, but particularly of course the tuberous kinds, I think oblongatum must be one of my favourite plants of all-a real show stopper! I have been raising quite a few cape bulbs and pelargoniums from seed this year-let me know if you want to do an exchange later in the year?
regards, James.
-
after going over my gladi seed i noticed my G.marlothii has finally germinated after 2 years i am over the moon. ;D
-
Well done Dave.
-
Dave, looking forward to seeing it growing up.
Angie :)
-
Dave - well done with the marlothii , this is really interesting as I've usually found that gladdys that don't germinate in year one never do so for me. Perhaps I need to look again at how I treat them.
James - I'll be back in touch in the summer regarding swaps! My tuberous Pelargoniums are now limited to oblongatum, plus volunteer seedlings of barklyi and alchemilloides (the parent plants have long since gone). I used to grow several forms of incrassatum (one of my favourites in the wild) but I found it flowred very early and so the stems got really leggy in the poor light. One day I hope to find a more compact or later flowering form.
-
Thanks for the offer Darren, I will kook forward to swapping with you!
My own experience with p. incrassatum was the same, the long floppy flower stem really detracts from the beutiful flower.
My gladiolus seeds all germinated within one month of sowing, are you giving yours too much heat? I sow mine in a cool greenhouse in late autumn/early winter-I have read that they like a difference between day and night temperetures, so they are not in a heated propagator, just hung in clear bags from the greenhouse roof and left to get on with it!
James.
-
Hi James - I give my Gladdy seeds the same treatment as you. I should say that the problems have always been with imported seed from south african suppliers so I do wonder about viability? Especially as most does germinate OK (almost all of my gladiolus are from SA sourced seed) but just odd ones don't. Drying the pots off and trying again next year doesn't seem to work like it does for other genera and when I investigate the seed has started to decay. My own seed germinates fine usually (G maculatus is the exception as I mentioned above).
-
Darren this is a pot that never got put in the compost heap i dont know why,my Glads normally germinate the first year as well,this is seed that i bought of ebay and of the 20 seeds i bought there are only two that have germinated,but hopefully thats all i will need,i haven't tried sowing them in bags will give that a go this autumn.None of my Lapeirousia have shown there faces this year i have had a look in the pots and they are there perfect but just haven't done a thing this season does anybody have any ideas?But when i say Lapeirousia i have only two species corymbosa and oreogena so any advice is welcome.
-
Dave - don't give up on the Lapeirousia. I sowed jacquinii and oreogena in september 2008 and only one of each germinated. I left the pots undisturbed, dried them off last summer, kept them warm under glass, then watered again in september. All the remaining seed germinated in year two.
Next I will face the biggest problem i have with these - persuading the young dormant corms to reshoot next autumn! They are prone to deep dormancy and I've intact corms nearly ten years old that have never reshooted. I now have a clue from the Goldblatt & Manning encyclopedia which suggests never lifting the corms when dormant. So the plan is to pot-on the whole lot into a bigger pot without disturbance. I'll let you know if it works!
Given that in the wild the corms can grow at shallow depth (in jacquinii certainly) and presumably get very hot in summer I also wonder if keeping the dormant corms at 30C for a few weeks, then soaking them, might break dormancy as recently discussed for my Walleria gracilis under the 'sleeping bulbs' topic.
-
Moved to 2010, Happy New Year!!!
-
I am posting a photo of my seed raising method under South African bulbose plants 2010-see you there!
-James