June in the Northern Hemisphere 2020

[Andre Schuiteman]

Hmm, it was in 2013/14 seed list number 4331 as such. I don't know any more about it. Maybe the person who donated the seeds was from Kazakhstan, but I don't think it would have been written down as ex then..

All I can say is that if it is T. sprengeri it cannot be from Kazakhstan and if it is from Kazakhstan it cannot be T. sprengeri. 

[Maggi Young]

All I can say is that if it is T. sprengeri it cannot be from Kazakhstan and if it is from Kazakhstan it cannot be T. sprengeri. 

 All that is  true, Andre, and  I  suspect  there  has  been some  mixup in the  labelling - but  the  SRGC has members  all over  the  world, including Kazakstan - and who is to say they  do  not grow  T. sprengeri - I grow  it  in Aberdeen !! 

[Graham Catlow]

A couple of troughs with three colour variations of Dactylorhiza.

[Knud]

Interesting discussion on T. sprengeri, I did not know it is considered extinct in the wild. I agree Leena, they have such incredible colour, and beautiful form, probably my favourite tulip.

Blooming now, though not in our garden, is white clover. In the absence of busy little feet,this playing field, though mowed and kept for three months, turned white the last couple of weeks. That will end now, when playing is allowed again.

The beauty and the beast, both man-made. The beast is some oil production unit in for a makeover at a local shipyard, the clover-covered promontory is in fact a tunnel. Our island was connected to the mainland through a 12 km tunnel to the mainland; a lot of debris, and here you see the result. They seeded it with wildflowers, and just now it is dominated by white clover. I go for walks there, and on still mornings the smell of the clover is very nice. 

[Leena]

Leena  - If not too late it would be a good idea to cross the two Kazakstan sprengeris. Hope you can track down the donor and do a little interrogation.  Not the first time an extinct plant was rediscovered!

John, a very good idea  , but now too late. That picture was taken June 15th, and it's been very hot here and flowers of T.sprengeri are now going over. I'll try to remember that next year (and maybe move the other more orange seedling to another part of the garden).

I'm glad I posted that picture, because I didn't think that T.sprengeri was only found in Turkey (and not even there anymore). They are really nice tulips, and I hope to have more of them from seeds now that they have flowered. It would be interesting to hear more about the origin of these seeds, but anyway thank you who ever donated them.

Knud, they are also my favourites!

[Gabriela]

I sowed two Tulipa sprengeri from seed ex in 2014 and the one on the right flowered already last year, it was labeled T.sprengeri. The one on the left with two flowers is flowering now for the first time and it was T.sprengeri ex Kazakstan. It is slightly darker red, and bigger flowers but that maybe the bulbs are bigger or something like that. I really like these both! They are growing in too shade under a big hybrid peony, the peony is in the list to be moved.

Trillium luteum is still flowering. I noticed yesterday when I looked at older pictures that is has increased: in 2014 it had only two flower stems, now there are more.  I have never gotten seeds from it, I don't know why.

That's indeed a very nice Tulipa Leena. I've seen beautiful pictures on FB somewhere but don't remember anything else; the most undesirable trait of FB where you cannot search for anything showed in the past.

Trillium luteum looks the same here, it appears still in flower for very a long time which is very nice Almost no seeds or very few, usually.

[ian mcdonald]

Olearia macrodonta.



Erigeron mucronatus.



Dropwort.

[ian mcdonald]

Dactylorhiza fuchsii and D. praetermissa with dotted loosestrife behind.



Geranium dalmaticum.



Umbilicus rupestris.

[johnw]

John, a very good idea  , but now too late. That picture was taken June 15th, and it's been very hot here and flowers of T.sprengeri are now going over. I'll try to remember that next year (and maybe move the other more orange seedling to another part of the garden).

That's great Leena.  You never know the Seedex people may be able to tell you who the donor was and go from there.

johnw

[Andre Schuiteman]

1. Kniphofia pauciflora. This South African species is critically endangered in the wild, with only one tiny population remaining near Durban (http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=2207-39). Fortunately it is easy to grow in cultivation, where it flowers from spring to autumn. It requires a sunny, fairly damp location.

2. Lobelia chinensis. I include this as a warning, as it is a bit of a thug. It grows quite quickly, producing tangled masses of creeping and ascending stems that root fast and deep. Its main weakness is that it is barely hardy.

3. Phlox alyssifolia subsp. abdita. Not the best of the western phloxes, in my opinion, and the flowers last only two days or so.

4. Scutellaria suffrutescens 'Texas Rose'. This is a species from the mountains of Northeast Mexico, not from Texas, in spite of the cultivar name.

5. Trollius farreri. I bought this as T. vaginatus but I suspect that the real T. vaginatus is not in cultivation.

[FrazerHenderson]

Lupin out the back, best for years

[ruweiss]

Campanula spicata:

[Hannelore]

Iris spuria

[Gail]

This made me smile. An appreciative audience??
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2020/jun/22/barcelona-opera-reopens-with-performance-for-nearly-3000-potted-plants-video

[Leena]

Two Nomocharis are flowering now, photos from last week end.
This first one I have grown from seed ex as N.aperta. It is now flowering already the third year, and it has increased.
The second one is flowering for the first time and I got it from a friend as a small plant, and it is Nomocharis forrestii Trillium.no 14-118. Really pretty, they both are. I'm so happy I have succeeded with these plants.