YES!!! The "I'm so happy" thread. 2009

[David Shaw]

Remember, Rodger, also lightly bounce on the right leg, bend the left leg sharply at the knee and gently kick your backside with your left heel.

[ranunculus]

... Whilst twirling your tam o' shanter, obviously!   

[Maggi Young]

At any rate, I'm s-o-o-o-o-o happy! Tra la la! <wanders off snapping fingers and clicking heels together>

Remember, Rodger, also lightly bounce on the right leg, bend the left leg sharply at the knee and gently kick your backside with your left heel.

... Whilst twirling your tam o' shanter, obviously!

Crumbs! It occurs to me that I must quickly remind Forumists that many of us are not as young .... or supple... as we once were ... and that any injuries sustained as a result of over-enthusiastic physical expressions of jubilation cannot be blamed on the SRGC! 

[Rodger Whitlock]

it would bring considerable delight here if we were a)  able to grow C. libanoticum outside and b) to have it self seeding...... 

C. libanoticum is fairly hardy. Not only does it do well in the open garden (admittedly in a somewhat sheltered position), but a pot of it came through last winter with no difficulty in a frame. Last winter was colder than usual with us, a couple of nights in December getting down to -10C. C. graecum, under the same conditions, died horribly.

C. pseudibericum is another cyclamen that I have found to be hardy. On the other hand, C. cyprium is right on the edge: a couple of small seedlings came through in a planter with overhead protection, but years ago flowering plants in the open died in a hard freeze. C. europaeum, however, is a dud: our winters are simply not cold enough, nor (I suspect) our summers hot enough.

Perhaps the key is that these marginally hardy species can take brief periods below freezing, but they will not survive protracted periods of intense cold.

Decent drainage (all important in my ex-marsh) and some overhead protection from trees, shrubs, coldframe covers, or even the overhang of a roof seem to be the ingredients leading to survival.

Truth is, though, that we really do have a very mild climate here, and that's at least half the battle when it comes to cyclamen hardiness. I remember vividly my first Christmas in Victoria, 1970, well over half a lifetime ago. After a communal bachelor Christmas feast, we all went out for a walk to settle our overtaxed digestive tracts. Among the sights was a bed of roses in bloom in a park. Roses on Christmas Day! Wow! After five years in the cold snowy climate of Rochester, New York, it was an eye opener. Perhaps the roses weren't up to show standards, but a mild winter like that is not particularly rare here in Victoria.

[Maggi Young]

We do have some C. pseudibericum tolerating life outdoors here... and we are always trying with seed to increase the species in the garden .... so worth it to have these gems in a more natural setting.

[Roma]

There was talk somewhere of neglected plants surviving a long time in pots but I have 'lost the thread' so will post this here.
I have a rather straggly plant of a Heliocereus species - a night blooming cactus with red flowers, a bit like an Epiphyllum.It went out to the greenhouse a few years ago when we had the house painted and never got back inside.  I was amazed that it survived and even produces one flower per year as the greenhouse is just frost free and does occasionally drop below 0C.  Repotting was going to be difficult so I thought I'd take a cutting which I left to dry for a few days which stretched into months.  The cutting got a bit flabby but I still said I'll pot it tomorrow.  At the weekend I decided to light the gas heater so the cutting had to be moved.  Not only had it plumped up a bit presumably with all the moisture in the air recently but it had produced roots!  It is now in a pot of very gritty compost. 

[Maggi Young]

My word, Roma... that cactus has a strong will to live... we'll await the photo of the flower in a year or two!

I remember the thread you mentioned.... took a while to track it down... it is " HOW OLD DOES YOUR ALPINE GROW ? "  http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1656.0  from April 2008!

[Anthony Darby]

Gi's a swatch o' the flo'er Roma.

[Roma]

Just for you Anthony.
Heliocereus in August this year.

[Rafa]

I loved this tv series called Allan Partridge, when my wife lived in Norfolk,

[Maggi Young]

Is this where you are learning your English, Rafa!??!


I'll move this into the "I'm so happy thread".....

[Anthony Darby]

Just for you Anthony.
Heliocereus in August this year.

Thanks Roma. Fantastic colour, and I assume pretty big. Some of these climbing jungle cacti open at night, are highly scented and bat pollinated. I think it is one of these that the highly coloured round cacti are grafted onto?

[mark smyth]

ummm makes me want to grow Epiphyllums again. I lost all mine on new years year 1999/2000 due to a very hard frost. They were in an unheated green house and I'm partying in Belfast

[Lesley Cox]

So it was a case of "if I scream loud and long enough, someone will eventually listen" Roma.

[Roma]

Yes Lesley, I know you're supposed to let Cactus and succulent cuttings dry off for a few days before potting but I did leave it rather a long time.  If I hadn't had to light the gas heater and had nowhere else to move it to the poor thing might still be there yet.