January 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

This was bought as Artemesia schmidtiana "Nana" but isn't herbaceous, so is possibly something like A. pedemontana.

I'm amazed to hear that A. schmidtiana 'Nana' would be herbaceous in your climate, given that the woody lower branches tend to winter over even here... ?

Hi Lori,
I was told that the plant in the pic which has woody branches wasn't the true Artemesia schmidtiana "Nana" because of this! Do you have pics of the one you grow? I'd love to finally get a name to ours! Is there an Artemesia expert out there who can say definitively?
cheers
fermi

[Lori S.]

I haven't grown it myself for a very long time, so I don't have any of my own photos, but will check out and provide a link to some later.  (It's a very commonly grown plant here, and, frankly, not something anyone here would waste rock garden space on!)

[Ray]

Some Eucomis and Gladioli flowering now.bye Ray

[Hristo]

Hi Ray,
Your Eucomis look very happy and healthy, have you got any names to go with them please?

[Ray]

Hi Hristo,no I don't have any names for these Eucomis,I was hoping some one in the forum could help me and you out.the only one I had a name for was No 1 which was E comosum but I can't find a species with that name and the nearest to that is E comosa and when you see all the forms of that on the net you really couldn't say it was E comosa.bye Ray

[Hristo]

Ray,
Have you checked out the PBS page for eucomis?
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Eucomis

[Ray]

Hi Hristo,have had a look at the PBS site but I think the link to the David Fenwick
site will be a better site to try and ID these Eucomis,so now to do some homework.bye Ray

[Tecophilaea King]

Sorry folks, I have had a little problem with our computer, which we finally managed to fix, with a new motherboard.
Fortunetly we had most of the important info, email and pictures backed up on a external harddrive, a must and a big relieve.
Anyway, to start where I left off with the with the variegated Alstroemeria aurea, and the questions by Lesley and Fermi.
Lesley, I am not sure about the rampant nature of this plant, if any, but who cares, it will always look spectacular and eye-catching in the garden.
Yes Parva Plants is finished in Tauranga, and now Christchurch, but Ian Duncalf I think still have a few projects ongoing and and this variegated Alstroemeria is on of them.
Fermi, like so many variegated plants, this one undoubtly started of as an sport or mutation, when one part of a plant produces a different form or colour, and with tissue culture wouldn't take long to mass produce.

[Hristo]

Ray, please let me know how your homework turns out! Your post jogged my memory and I ordered E.comosa in my annual Silverhills order, so many thanks!

[Lesley Cox]

Last evening I went to visit a friend close by and came away with many plants and cuttings, some I've not seen or grown for years. They included Aphyllanthes monspeliensis, 2 Convolvulus (boissieri and compactus), Teucrium subspinosum, Frankenia laevis, Potentilla x Tonguei, a couple of Salix species, Origanum microphyllum, a little procumbent, grey-leaved species with bright magenta flowers, and the silver Artemisia pedemontana which Fermi showed recently. I'll go back in a month and collect cuttings from cassiopes and rhodos, phyllodaces etc.

My friend who is getting on in years, is anxious to pass along propagating material of as many plants as possible while she can. She has many things which are no longer available from nurseries, so it's great that her nature is a generous one.

Her Cosmos atrosanguinea is in full flower so there will be some seed later. Mine is struggling in drought and hasn't opened a single flower yet.