October 2014 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Everyone,

I noticed earlier this month Jamus posted a wonderful picture of Arum dioscoridis I think he purchased from me. I thought I'd bookend that with a picture of the variety cyprium. Note the discrete spots and the relatively unstained spathe limb. Not as good a picture as Jamus' but it shows the differences. This variety is not confined to Cyprus and I have seen it growing in Samos and I guess it probably occurs on Rodos.

Otto I have some seed from my "yellow" Fritillaria rhodokanakis if you would like some. Its not as good as Lesley's, which I have thanks to her, but its a nice thing. I have posted a picture.

My third picture isn't from my garden but I couldn't resist. What do you think it is Otto? I bet you won't guess. I took this on Mt Menalon in the Northern Peloponnese a few months ago now. ...... Its a pure yellow Fritillaria graeca or maybe that's F. mutabilis according to Kamari, I can't keep up with all the taxonomic ructions these days. Anyway, its a drool plant. I have NEVER seen one in cultivation and I have seen literally thousands in the wild and this is a first.

Cheers, Marcus

[Jupiter]

Marcus that's a nice form, I'm going to move mine into the garden once it has died down. I reckon it should be able to stand up for itself in my sunny front garden. Limey, stony soil? Dry in summer?

I've just had Trevor Nottle, who some of you will know, here for a visit. It's so nice to wander around my garden with someone who recognises all the plants. It sure beats banal comments like, "Oh your garden is so pretty", and "My Mum used to grow these.. "(so and so, misidentified and wildly incorrect identification).

[Maggi Young]

Marcus wrote :

My third picture isn't from my garden but I couldn't resist. What do you think it is Otto? I bet you won't guess. I took this on Mt Menalon in the Northern Peloponnese a few months ago now. ...... Its a pure yellow Fritillaria graeca or maybe that's F. mutabilis according to Kamari, I can't keep up with all the taxonomic ructions these days. Anyway, its a drool plant. I have NEVER seen one in cultivation and I have seen literally thousands in the wild and this is a first.

Oh, my, that is YELLOW  - as good a yellow as chitralensis which I always think of as the "best" yellow.   A real beauty, Marcus.

[Jupiter]

We visited Mount Lofty botanic gardens today and the Pacific Coast Irises were flowering... and Rebecca took photos of me talking photos, because I was clambering through the garden beds and she was supposed to be looking out for gardeners!

[Jupiter]

part two

[Lesley Cox]

Agrostemma githago 'Ocean Pearls' : That's a really pretty plant Jamus, with the spotting along the veins. Reminds me of spider's legs for some reason.

[Jupiter]

Hi Lesley, yes it's a gorgeous thing. Trouble is the seed I bought isn't pure and two plants so far have flowered with the pink, wild type. It's a weird plant, flops all over the place and refuses to stand up straight. Every time it gets wet it just lies down on the ground! I think it'd be better planted among other plants which can support it, or perhaps it's missing some essential nutrient in my garden causing it to be so languid?

[Lesley Cox]

I don't know about that Jamus. I'm just getting a big selection of plants ready for next Sunday's Rhododendron Day sale at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens, and I feel distinctly languid and would like to flop all over the place too, especially lying down. A long way to go though with the pots to be washed down, labels to write, a good watering and many or most of them, about 400 plants I think, also needing to be top-dressed with grit or fine pine bark. Then there are photos to find for some, signage of various kinds to collect up for things not in bloom, and early on the morning of the "do," several flowers from the garden and little vases, so it's just about a week's work. Hopefully it will be worth the effort, financially, and weather obliging of course.

[Jupiter]

Sounds exhausting Lesley! If I lived within a 100 km of you I'd make the trip and support the cause, plus satisfy my plant addiction cravings.

[Lesley Cox]

Promises, Promises! But thanks for the thought. I love the occasion but it does take a lot of work prior.

[Matt T]

Hi Lesley, yes it's a gorgeous thing. Trouble is the seed I bought isn't pure and two plants so far have flowered with the pink, wild type. It's a weird plant, flops all over the place and refuses to stand up straight. Every time it gets wet it just lies down on the ground! I think it'd be better planted among other plants which can support it, or perhaps it's missing some essential nutrient in my garden causing it to be so languid?

Hi Jamus,
Agrostemma githago is what we would here call 'corncockle'. It's a lovely wildflower that once grew as acommon arable 'weed' and being a rather tall, floppy plant it would have benefited from the support of the cereal plants it would grow amongst.  In the garden it might need less fertile soil and/or staking or perhaps try growing it through another plant as in the wild? It has now succumbed to modern farming methods and in the UK you are more likely to see it in gardens than in a field.

[Jupiter]

Thanks Matt, you see I suspected it had the habit of growing among other plants. I love it and I will be growing it again next year so I'll need to come up with a planting scheme that works better than this years companions. Do you still see it wild there Matt?

[Matt T]

Jamus, 
This plant was considered extinct as a wild plant in the UK  However, I think that a single plant was spotted in the north of England. Hardly a comeback though.

It is often included as a component in wildflower mixes, i.e. the kind that you can buy in wee packets to make a mini-meadow in a corner of your garden. I don't know that I've ever seen it on a larger scale or in a wilder context than this. I believe that the seeds contain toxins, which I suppose could be problematic if it got back into cereals.

As an ecologist I think this is a sad loss as it's a beautiful plant.

It could be nice to grow it through something grassy to recreate it's natural habitat, although something more supportive might be better?

[Jupiter]

hmmm.. something for me to ponder... I have a large purple Erysimum which always tries to take up more space than I allocate to it. I wonder if the corncockle would find its way up through that and flower up above it? Could make a lovely combination using 'Ocean Pearls'.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't much time to post this spring but these two nice Greek species should get a run.

Lomelosia hymettia is a rare plant and closely related to scabiosa. Makes a lovely mound of silvery-green leaves and bears a never-ending supply of big pinky-lilac flowers.

Cistus salviifolius is an old favourite and another plant that literally smothers itself in flowers. I guess they can look a bit "poached egg" but I still like them. They vary quite a bit in habit and flower size when grown from seed.

Cheers, Marcus