Flowers and foliage March 2008

[johanneshoeller]

Some more pics
Androsace ciliata, carnea ssp. brigantiaca, Iris winogr., "Schlüsselblume"

[Maggi Young]

Obviously some things unhappy outside, Hans; but I presume the Androsace etc were safe under cover?
I hope the very bad weather that we are told will affect the UK in the next few days will leave you alone over there... you have had enough wind for a while, eh?

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Beautiful shots Hans - they show well what these little plants can stand don't they 

[Lesley Cox]

Presumably they all stand up again as soon as the frost thaws? They do here but I don't think my winter is as cold as yours Hans.

[mark smyth]

Next few days, Maggi! Tonight

[Maggi Young]

Our weather man at the BBC today said the next few days as well as tonight, Mark!

[Armin]

Some more pics
Androsace ciliata, carnea ssp. brigantiaca, Iris winogr., "Schlüsselblume"

Hans,
your "Schlüsselblume" is Primula elatior (Waldschlüsselblume oder Hohe Schlüsselblume)
It is an very early one! My have set buds but will need some more days for flowering.

[John Forrest]

Here are a few more things that have put their noses above the parapets.

1 Scilla greilhuberi which has a lovely flower but like the bluebell is a bit tooo enthusiastic with its foliage.
2 Scilla greilhuberi detail shows the very, perhaps too much reflexed petals
3 Scilla amoena is much more restrained and delicate in every way.
4 Scilla amoena detail whose flowers put me in mind of an Erythronium and aren't the anthers striking.
5 Romulea clusii flowers don't last for long but they certainly zing whilst open.
6 Romulea clusii again
7 Tecophilea cyanocrocus and who could resist it (perhaps why it was nearly driven to extinction in the wild

They will all probably put their noses back down later tonight with 80 m.p.h. winds forecast.

[David Nicholson]

Very nice John, especially the Scilla amoena, I must look out for that.

[Lesley Cox]

I do agree with you David. Overall, I think Scilla is a strongly under-rated genus with many lovely species.

[Armin]

John, superb pictures!

Is S.amoena hardy outside? And where is its natural distribution?

[olegKon]

Scilla amoena is absolutely hardy outside and a good grower even in extreme conditions of Moscow. I have never heard anything about its natural distribution but it is said to naturalize in Western Europe

[Diane Whitehead]

This spring I have caught a bad case of what Maggi calls "White
Fever." I just lifted up my eyes from the last snowdrop to flower and
discovered there are other flowers in bloom. I think I'm recovering.

Here are a few plants I have just bought.  They are being walked
around the garden to see where they should be planted.

They have to be in one of the places that gets watered in the summer,
so they'll probably be squeezed in with my Arisaemas and Hepaticas.
It's getting a bit crowded, and I worry that if I dig a hole for something
new, I might destroy some plant that is not showing yet.

The brown leaved plant is Corydalis quantmeyerana 'Chocolate Star'
which I haven't seen before.  I don't know what it is likely to do - is
it grown mainly for its foliage?  Does it get huge?

Anemonella is something I try every few years but have had no success
growing in the 30 or so years I've been trying.  Maybe it will survive next
to my moisture-loving Arisaemas.

A blue Hepatica, Cyclamen coum and Heloniopsis orientalis are also
in the photos.  Cyclamen grow well for me.

[Katherine J]

Diane,
This Cardamine enneaphylla is the same as Dentaria enneaphyllos?

[Maggi Young]

Diane, the name of your new Corydalis rang a bell..... see this page in the Old Forum:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/4/35733.html