March 2024 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

It's officially autumn here! Still expecting some hot weather though, so we're not out of the woods yet.
Some typical autumn flowers have popped up including these colchicums - raised from seed as something that they're not!
Possibly they were cross pollinated but the first one was supposed to be a spring flowering species.
The second was given to me by Jon (Mini-Bulblover on this Forum) but he said it wasn't what it was supposed to be or he had gotten it as an unnamed dwarf species.
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

At the FCHS gardens a couple of weeks ago there was a lovely clump of Nerine rosea and some Colchicum x agrippinum
cheers
fermi

[MarcR]

Fermi

VERY NICE!

[fermi de Sousa]

Thanks, Marc.
Here are a couple more nerines in our garden in Redesdale,
1) Ariel, a paler colour in real life
2) Nerine rosea
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

A few more from last week:
1) Cyclamen mirabile ex 'Tilebarn Nichlas' from AGS Seedex many years ago
2) xAmarine - appearing to be a cross between Amaryllis belladonna and Nerine bowdenii - like a nerine on steroids!
3 & 4) Aster (Symphotrichum) "Purple Prince'
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

From last weekend:
1) Nerine fothergilla "Major" - like Nerine rosea this has been "lumped in" with N. sarniensis which I don't agree with because these two are frost hardy here whereas N.sarniensis isn't.
2) more flowers open on Nerine 'Ariel' with a truer representation of its colour
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Almost a week ago the first Sternbergia lutea finally made an appearance in the rough grass at the base of a rock garden.
Today there were a few more in bloom,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Last weekend I decided to put the sprinkler on this bed and it seems that helped spur on the Rhodophiala bifida to finally send up a flower stem with the promise of many more,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

In a neglected part of the garden a clump of Nerine rosea has been growing without any input from us apart from clearing a bit of the overgrowth to allow the flowers to see the light,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

In another neglected part of the garden (there are quite a few of them, actually ) I spied a late flowering form of Amaryllis belladonna.
There was still viable looking pollen so I decided to try my luck crossing it with some of the nerines in an attempt to increase our range of xAmarines. Time will tell if any of the crosses take,
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

Sternbergia will delay blooming in our Sacramento garden unless I start watering them about 1 September. If I do not start watering them and the autumn rains are delayed they tend to bloom poorly. Back in the 1980’s I had a gardening friend that kept his Sternbergia plants irrigated all summer. They bloomed consistently each autumn and appeared healthy despite constant summertime irrigation. This is something I keep filed away in my brain as I begin experimenting with them in the open garden.

Acis autumnalis also seems tolerant of some summertime irrigation. Too much irrigation and they will grow but stop blooming. Acis autumnalis seeds around freely in our garden and performs well on the fringes of irrigated areas where they receive some very light irrigation during the summer. All of my other Acis species I keep 100% dry during the summer. The exception is Acis rosea. It seems to like some summertime irrigation. Interesting observations from our garden.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert,
that's interesting that you find Sternbergia require some water/rain to come into flower or to flower well. The ones above are at the base of a rock garden which has not been watered but they are not sheltered so if it rains they get wet. I think if the rains had already started they probably would have been earlier.
Usually Sternbergia sicula starts the season here but they were a week behind this year
cheers
fermi