Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Flowers and Foliage Now => Topic started by: mark smyth on June 04, 2011, 02:11:24 PM
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I bought some Nemesias this week for a summer bedding display in a pot. Their smell is fantastic and strong. It goes under the name of N. Aromatica Scarlet. The scent is difficult to describe. My brother says vanilla custard
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oops I forgot the photo
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Has anyone seen or bought the new Gazania Apache? What a plant!
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Very nice, Mark.
I grow a few perennial Nemesia here, but am not aware of them being perfumed. Next time they flower I'll have to check them out. 8) Excellent colour to the Gazania.
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Is anyone growing the new black Petunia that sometimes has a yellow stripe? I dont rate it but that couild be down to the poor weather
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Mark same thoughts here, after a few days of rain my plants look really poor. Mine have the yellow stripe, won't be buying them again.
Angie :)
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A bit like this Angie?
I still dont rate it as a good plant. Mine are in a manger and althought they flower they havent grown. Maybe they would have been petter in the ground
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Yep that's mine. I was thinking today about removing them from my planters. Maybe it's just the amount of rain we have had but I think it's not worth growing.
Angie :)
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Well if they were like that first plain black, I'd even grow petunias myself!
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Hi Mark and Angie,
Purpleand blue petunias often have a sweet scent - are these scented?
cheers
fermi
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yes they're scented - of a lovely horse scent. That's the only way I can explain it
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Lovely horse or lovely scent? or are you being a trifle ironic and it actually smells of manure? ???
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I bought a black plant, no yellow on it at all.
I didn't realize they were the same plant.
Think I better plant it and hope for some seeds.
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I bought this Lysimachia last year but do not remember its name or which mail order company I got it from. I didn't get round to using it in a pot so planted it out in the garden not expecting it to survive the winter, but survive it did and now looks as if it could be quite invasive. The foliage is very attractive and the flowers are of a similar size to the ordinary 'Creeping Jenny'.
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Gazania Apache is the best buy this spring. One flower lasts a long time
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Wow! Certainly a Red Indian, though I'm afraid that's a non PC term these days.
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Native Americans - where I got some of my genes
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Gazania again
I know that in Asteraceae the true flowers are at the centre but do they have petals? Either way it's good to see the colour on them
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All are flowers but the outer ring only have LIGULES. All together mimic a flower with petals. This is superbly depicted when one see sunflowers with all the grains swelling.
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All are flowers but the outer ring only have LIGULES. All together mimic a flower with petals. This is superbly depicted when one see sunflowers with all the grains swelling.
After reading that, thanks, I went out and took a couple of photos
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oops - to do three things watch Harry P, edit photos and upload photos
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What's this ?annual that my local Tesco have for £1?
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A superb Argyranthemum, a form of maderense?
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I thought Argyranthemum also
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The Nemesia Aromatica Red shown on page one of this thread has struggled to look as good as it was when bought - thumbs down
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What SUPER photos
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oops - to do three things watch Harry P, edit photos and upload photos
I hope Harry's not P shy :o
;D
cheers
fermi
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Maybe more a pot plant than a bedding plant but I couldn't resist it.
Begonia 'Burning Embers'
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Roma really nice Begonia 8)
Today I threw out my black Petunia plants. Not sure if it was all the wet weather we have been having but I wouldn't bother buying again.
Angie :)
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Not sure if this is bad form or not, but it's relevant to Marks thread............
Last year Sue grew these black Pansies that I had the seeds for - they really were black!
And much as I'm not a fan of Gazania (or daisy like flowers in general), I did buy myself this one - Bicton Orange. Very striking colour on the three days of sun that we've had this summer, and the silvery foliage is at least interesting the rest of the year!
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Is it common for Osteospermum flowers to shrink in size in late July onwards? We planted a few tubs with the Symphony series and they were glorious until ythe end of July. Suddenly they stretch and the flowers are tiny. Dark days and too much rain in August, they did get liquid feed though. Someone said when the cool weather returns (what ever that means after our record cool summer) the flowers would increase in size.
johnw
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:o :o I havent seen Bicton Orange for sale in years. I'm sooo jealous
It's supposed to be very hardy
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:o :o I havent seen Bicton Orange for sale in years. I'm sooo jealous
It's supposed to be very hardy
Really?
I could lift it in a month or so and fire it over to you if you want...........
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Thanks but a cutting would do nicely
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Thanks but a cutting would do nicely
Your call Mark - they're in a hanging basket so I would expect their prospects are limited........
The basket has to go in the shed for the winter to make way for the large "coldframe" that I've made for that wall for winter protection of the plants that are dear to me.
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I really love black flowers. There are so few true blacks Meanie's pansy seems to be one as are the Viola 'Molly Sanderson' and the NZ raised 'All Black,' the same as MS but not fertile.
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Last year I bought a packet of Suttons marigold seeds called Bo Jangle. The packet promised "a dazzling display of colour combinations". The packet shows doubles, very double and nicely striped flowers
What a disappointment. All the flowers were yellow with varying amounts of chocolate/red
This year I decided to give them another try. I simply broadcast the seeds where I wanted them to grow - among my Dactylorhiza and Colchicums.
They are just beginning to flower. They plants are tall, well branched but again the flowers are very poor compared to what the packet shows. Only one plant, so far, looks like those on the packet.
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Does this EVER happen????
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The rest look like this
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Don't get me started on this!
One of my other pet hates is any seed packet that has the word "mixed" in it.........
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A well known seed company asked me for all surplus Pelargonium seeds to make a mixed seed packet. I told them I had mostly two species and small numbers of others. They said that will do. I turned them down
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Don't get me started on this!
One of my other pet hates is any seed packet that has the word "mixed" in it.........
Funnily enough, Ian has written in this week's Bulb Log , page 8 of Log 35, online today, of his liking for packets of mixed crocus seed from the Seed Exchange!
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Aug311314793821BULB_LOG__3511.pdf
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The word mixed is not for me...........
Mark, I'm not sure if you listened to Saving Species in radio 4 yesterday, but I've included the link below. Interesting piece about Swifts.............
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b013q20h/Saving_Species_Series_2_Episode_15/
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Thanks but I had several emails about it already
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Hi Mark,
trying Googling: Marigold, by Fermi De Sousa
I didn't post the pic but I did distribute seed of this one many years ago!
cheers
fermi
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Nice plant, Fermi
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopkinsii/12126943/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopkinsii/12126943/)
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Last year I bought a packet of Suttons marigold seeds called Bo Jangle. The packet promised "a dazzling display of colour combinations". The packet shows doubles, very double and nicely striped flowers
What a disappointment. All the flowers were yellow with varying amounts of chocolate/red
This year I decided to give them another try. I simply broadcast the seeds where I wanted them to grow - among my Dactylorhiza and Colchicums.
They are just beginning to flower. They plants are tall, well branched but again the flowers are very poor compared to what the packet shows. Only one plant, so far, looks like those on the packet.
Write to them and complain, they need to know and will probably send you vouchers in return.
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David I'll not be buying those seeds again but will email them
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The reply is back from Suttons. They are lying, can I saw lying?,about the contents of the seed packet
"Dear Mark
Thank you for your email.
The flowers of the Marigold Bo Jangles do vary from single yellow flowers to double flowers with various mahogany markings. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
Ian Prestt
Garden & Technical Advisor"
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Mark, did you send him pictures? if not you should and ask him to compare the plants you grew with the pictures on the seed packet. Tell him you feel they have mis-represented the seeds you recived and you want your money back, otherwise you will contact your local Trades Descriptions people. Lay it on thickly and don't let them get away with it.
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David I emailed him and said
"Thanks for the reply Ian but I would say your seed packet is misleading. I only bought the seeds because I wanted what was on the packet. Do you have photos of your stock plants? How do they compare to what's on the packet front? Is Bo Jangles a seed strain? Can you think of any reason why a packet bought last year from one garden centre and a packet bought this year from a different garden centre would have single flowers?
Once all my plants are in flower I'll create a web page so you can see what I got.
Mark"
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Let's know your reply.
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Suttons dont care!!
"Dear Mark
Thank you for replying to our email.
A photograph can be attached to a reply to this email. I appreciate your disappointment and if you would like to send me your postal address I will arrange to refund the cost of the cost of the packet of seed purchased. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with."
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They care a little, Mark, if they didn't care at all you'd have had no reply at all and no offer of a refund!
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I suppose they do but only a wee bit. Will £1.69 make me happy? No I want lovely fully double yellow and chocolate flowers.
Makes me wonder how many people who have bought these seeds get what it shows on the front
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I have on several occasions (from England) but have long gave up. It is like the Tigridias: they show a picture with all the known color forms but you always get the common red form. With the Tagetes they collect all the stunning variants together for the packet photo and you receive the countless radiation. Perhaps if one buys a thousand packets all the pretty forms will be there but this should be pointed in the catalogue!
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Makes me wonder how many people who have bought these seeds get what it shows on the front
Probably no-one does because the seed will all be from the same source and packeted in bulk. More to the point, wonder how many people complain about not getting what was ordered. If everyone did that and demanded money back (while mentioning the bad publicity they're getting on places like this Forum), they'd soon realize they had to up their game and produce what they advertise. Even though you often can't tell the mistakes until months, sometimes years later, consumer legislation still applies. In NZ it is the Consumer Guarantees Act and it requires a product sold to be true to description and fit for the purpose for which it was purchased. We have a Wednesday night TV show called "Fair Go" which names and shames those who persistently cheat whether by taking money without supplying the product, bad service or any of a host of ways in which the general public are cheated by firms and individuals, including on the Internet. One of the most watched programmes in the country and it has been running for around 30 years!
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We have similar programmes, Lesley.
I again asked the man from Suttons for a photo of their trial beds showing this plant. He didnt reply - so far.
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Not a bedding plant, but I don't want to start a new topic for this.
There was a pink and white hollyhock with fringed flowers in the
bistro courtyard where I ate yesterday. I snaffled the only dry
seedpod, palmed it, and checked it in the car - no seeds. I find
this odd, as I have never seen a seedless capsule before. I googled
and found it is called Fiesta. Is it always seedless?