January 2011 - Northern hemisphere

[TheOnionMan]

I don't have a greenhouse, but do have a single basement window (out of two such windows) where I have the nuptial-privilege of overwintering plants... mostly devoted to a small collection of Nothoscordum species from Thad Howard.  One blooming now is Nothoscordum felipponei, a dwarf plant with very narrow channeled leaves and surprisingly large mildly fragrant yellow starry blooms. It is rather close to N. dialystemon, which I also grow, and still waiting for buds to appear.  In growth, I find these plants love plenty of moisture (not a good point with me, as I'm terrible with "houseplants", habitually forgetting to water them... I'm much better with outdoor plants).  But given lots of watering when in growth, they flower over a very long period and are delight.

I have shared the delightful smaller-flowered N. montevidense with our local New England Chapter NARGS chapter, where it has become a mainstay of rock garden meetings, plant shows, and plant sales.  The small group of yellow-flowered Nothoscordums are all desirable little collector's bulbs, easy of culture, and most rewarding with some that will flower prolifically both in spring and fall/winter... not to be put off by a couple of white-flowered weedy species that give Nothoscordum an undeserved bad name.

The plants shown originate from a few bulbs sent to me by That Howard in 1993, testament to their ease and longevity.

[zephirine]

You have a lot of early flowers, Zeph.... the little fat bells of the Galanthus caucasicus are rather appealing.

A lot may be a little emphatic, Maggi...lol!
But any single flower at this time of the year is a blessing, don't you think?
I intend to plant more of G. elwesii, as they seem to bear my heavy , winter-wet, ill-drained soil much better than other Galanthus, including the standard nivalis.

[Hoy]

Mark, nice plants this Notoscordum! Why not in your sittingroom or kitchen?
I suppose they are not hardy?

[TheOnionMan]

Mark, nice plants this Notoscordum! Why not in your sittingroom or kitchen?
I suppose they are not hardy?

Trond, the rest of the house has casement style windows with very narrow sills, just wide enough for the insulated shades to come down at night... no room for plants.  Only my two basement windows have a wide ledge/sill.

[Hoy]

Mark, I thought I thought you would enjoy the plant on your table in the kitchen when you had breakfast anyway!

I checked the earliest Hellebore today and it is more than a month later than previous years. Here it is struggling with the latest snowfall.

[Pascal B]

In flower today a member of  genus some people dislike and some people are fascinated with. I belong to the last catagory and I could best describe the flower of this Japanese species as the plant version of a cannon. It has one of the bigger flowers of the genus, it is in a 9 x 9 cm pot for comparison



Asarum megacalyx patterned leaf 1.jpg
Asarum megacalyx patterned leaf 2.jpg

[Hoy]

i am fascinated by Asarum! I have tried several but slugs make that acquaintance shortlived The last winter killed the few I had left

[krisderaeymaeker]

Two Ranunculaceae in the picture...
Adonis dahurica starts to flower in the rockgarden.
In the glasshouse ,Ranunculus calandrinioides allready flowers.

[ruweiss]

Pascal,what a beauty! I also love these fascinating plants, it is a pity, that they are not
so easily available. Can you show us more pictures of other species please?

[Pascal B]

Rudi, I have a couple coming into flower soon but most species are highly variable, both in flower and in leaf. In the meantime, check out some other examples of megacalyx on the site of the Flemish Rockgarden Society: http://www.vrvforum.be/forum/index.php?topic=43.0

[Michael J Campbell]

Muscari subsp Botryanthus

[Magnar]

Kris, those Ranunculuses are fantastic.. and what wonderful pics.

[Paul T]

Pascal,

That Asarum is amazing.  Not one I think I've seen before.  I've got as many of the genus as I can find, which isn't very many here in Aus.    Thanks for showing us.

Kris,

Nice Ranunculaceae.

Michael,

Is that as purple as it looks in the pic.  Very cool colour for a Muscari.

[Michael J Campbell]

Paul,it is a purple -black colour, more on the black side but I can't capture it on the camera. The usual problem with blue coloured flowers.

[Paul T]

Michael,

Even "wow"-er then.    I'm developing a growing interest now in Muscari (no pun intended).  I used to regard them as weeds due to the common one, but my wife likes them so I started getting her a few of them..... and the inevitable result as happened.    I just don't learn, do I?