December 2021 in the Southern Hemisphere

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Summer started this week with hot weather! And today after the heat we got a thunderstorm which dropped nearly 10mm of rain in 10 minutes! Followed by a brief burst of sunshine followed by more rain but not as heavy - we'll probably have to water things again tomorrow!
In the sunshine between the rainy bouts we got outside for a walk and I took a few pics.
Eremophila 'Summertime Blues' is a rangy, sparse and pendulous shrub which usually has a few flowers out during the warmer weather,
cheers
fermi

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Triteleia 'Allure' is one of the selections we got from Lambley Nursery many years ago,
cheers
fermi

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Allium acutiflorum & Lathyrus 'Matucana'
cheers
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[Maggi Young]

Allium acutiflorum & Lathyrus 'Matucana'
cheers
fermi

What a good colour combo!

[Lesley Cox]

Good to hear from you Fermi. I hope all is well with you and Will. My life has been discombobulated for most of the year and looks to be even more so in 2022! My health is pretty much ok though so that's a plus. Currently trying to sort out our Health Dept's website in order to provide a vaccination "passport" so that life can go on but like most Govt. things they have made it unduly complicated for those of us who are not fully tech savvy. Thank God for a garden into which one can retire and hide from time to time.

Our weather forecasters are saying summer will be a scorcher but others are saying it will be very wet. Wet and warm sounds tropical and it's true that Dave T now has a flowering banana on the country's south coast. I daily expect an invitation to go south for fruit salad and ice-cream as Central Otago's cherry crop is looking particularly bounteous this year. All  my Christmas presents will consist of 2 kg. boxes of cherries sent direct from grower.. a favourite vendor at the market.

Not much alpine in bloom at present but Rosa moyesii 'Geranium is fabulous and reaching for the sky and the whole garden is fragrant with Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile.' It has a scent which I sometimes dream and wake with the scent in my nose. Arisaema candidissimum is also out but others have suffered from a few years of very dry summers and have gone back or even disappeared. A. ciliatum still flourishes.

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What a good colour combo!

Thanks, Maggi,
A serendipitous combo as they have both "self-seeded" into this area.

Hi Lesley,
glad that your health is okay.
We have the same requirement here - fortunately a very helpful receptionist at Community Health was able to help me and then I was able to help Will download it into his phone. Being born before the Digital age can be a disadvantage but there are usually people who can help.
I hope you were able to get your Seedex Request in without a hassle.
I'm about to start a new job and its amazing how much has to be done on-line prior to starting (and prior to being paid!).
I think my first overseas trip will probably be to NZ (unless the next Czech RG Conference is announced soon??) though that can't be for at least 12 months when I'll have Holiday Leave! At the moment even Tassie is a difficult proposition!
cheers
fermi

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1) Triteleia 'For You'
2) Gilia capitata & Erysimum
3) Honey-bee on Gilia capitata
4) Clematis 'Hagley Hybrid'
5) Isotoma axillaris
cheers
fermi

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1) Pelargonium tetragona
2) Cyanella hyacinthoides
3 & 4) Allium amethystinum
5) Teucrium capitatum ssp majoricum ex ‘Purple Robe’
cheers
fermi

[Hoy]

Fermi,

glad to see the flowers in your garden!

I have snow, much more and for a longer time than in many years.

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

Does Gilia capitata reseed around your garden without your intervention? If not, do you scatter seed, or directly plant young seedlings?

In our California garden Gilia capitata randomly seeds around, frequently growing well in surprising locations. I do grow plants from seed that I eventually plant out in the garden - however, I enjoy the plants that grow randomly without help on my part.

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Does Gilia capitata reseed around your garden without your intervention? If not, do you scatter seed, or directly plant young seedlings?

Hi Robert,
these are about third generation from seed you sent me.
They are "volunteers" but only seem to turn up in pots - this one was planted out in late winter and I hope it will self-seed into this bed,
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

I am very pleased to hear that Gila capitata continues to persist in your garden. Last year we had a robust patch grow in one of our sand beds. I never planted them, they were just volunteers. The plants grew over a meter tall and continued to bloom well into the summer. It was a great show. Bees and other insects mobbed the flowers each day. I gathered a great deal of seed and recently planted the next generation. We are hoping for the best.

BTY – In the field I most frequently encounter ssp. mediomontana and pedemontana. The plants in our garden are a blend of both subspecies. This season, I will resume my fieldwork in the lower elevations of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (the foothills). I will be able to return to many favorite locations that I have not been able to visit in years.