August (still winter) in the Southern Hemisphere

[Lesley Cox]

There are of course, many succulemt Euphorbia species, mostly African I imagine but so far as I know, the variegated forms around are selected seedlings from E. characias. I would also expect that any seedlings the variegated forms might produce are likely to be either green like the original, or fully cream-coloured, with no chlorophyll and so would collapse very quickly. I don't want to destroy your dreams Paul, but again, it's unlikely that you'd have much joy hybridizing with the red-leaved kinds either. Plants tend to cross-pollinate within their groups within a genus. Still, nothing ventured.....

Pat that is the wonderful dark form that Tony Hall called 'Storm Cloud' or 'Storm Warning' or something similar. I hope you're hand-pollinating. The Leylek Station sems to be an outstanding source of different colour forms of. I. aucheri  from white through to this stunning dark blue.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

As you say... nothing ventured.....!  It will at least be fairly easy to identify those with variegation, unlike having to wait for something to reach flowering size to see if you want it.

Still can't get over that flower on Pat's iris. 

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi,
Is your Iris retic 'Marguerite' variegated?

Hi Paul, I checked this morning and it didn't look variegated; I wonder if Marcus got them mixed up? I just got it this year.
Pat,
that Iris aucheri from Leylek Station is a stunner. How long did it take from seed?

Just one plant pic this morning, Tropaeolum tricolor growing on a Euonymus "hedge" out in the open and apparently unaffected by recent frosts.





cheers

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Tropaeolum tricolor isn't affected by our frosts at all, even in pots in the open in the backyard.  -8 or -9'C in a 7 inch black plastic pot doesn't bother it in the slightest, flowering madly.  We had -6 or so the other night and hasn't even damaged a leaf or flower.    Isn't it SUCH a cool plant?  I have Tropaeolum brachyceras just coming into flower here at the moment as well.... wish I grew more of the tuberous types but haven't found them as yet.

[fermi de Sousa]

Great Narc.  Pure white by the look of it?

Yes it is, Paul, and yes, it'll be on the stall!

Here are some other daffs in flower at our place.
First another clump of Narcissus "Snowski", hopefully no virus in this lot!

And N."Tete a tete" has started here too, Paul.

One of the larger (actually one of the largest) Daffodils is "Kathleen", a lemony trumpet,



cheers
fermi

[Otto Fauser]

Pat , congratulations on flowering that deep, deep purple-black form of iris aucheri .I flowered the same coloured one last year, it is having a rest this year. I find I . aucheri is one of the easier ones , together with I. bucharica ,vicaria , planifolia ,magnifica, flourishing in the open garden. Most Junos take 4-6 years to flower from seed for me.
  I. aucheri has been collected on numerous occasions in Turkey, many times at Leylek Station, your very dark one could be the collection no.ANM 2822 , or KPPZ157B . Other collections from Leylek Station have been given names such as"Leylek Ice" ,"Snowflake", "Shooting Star", "Vigour" etc. At the moment I have a bicoloured in bloom, white and medium blue, rather nice.
        Ciao Otto.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

I'm not sure whether to post this here where you asked the question, or whether to post it in the retic thread.  If the powers that be want to move it to the retic section then go for it. 

I've photographed the Iris reticulata 'Springtime' and 'Clairette' (the latter just opened) for you here for comparison.  I find that the 'Clairette' has a much purer pale blue in the arms etc, whereas the 'Springtime' has much more mauve/purple in them, making them look totally different.  The 'Clairette' is a two tone blue, whereas the other looks purply and darker, dspite the fact that the falls really aren't that different in actual shade of colour.  There is more white on the falls of 'Clairette' in the individual that I have out at the moment, but that may not be representative.  This helpful in working them out?

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for these pics Paul. I'l need to go and look at mine. Only 'Springtime' is out at present and it could have got mixed up anyway. I didn't expect to see so much yellow on the falls, in either one.

I think 'Shooting Star' might have been what my brain couldn't remember (not Storm something), when talking about Tony Hall naming some clones. That was certainly one which he brought here in 2000. It flowered twice out of season both times and then died without making seed.

Much as I admire and respect Tony, I doubt if there's much point in naming a clone which ultimately won't be distributed from divisions, except on a very limited basis, though I suppose it looks good on a show bench. Better to go for seed and a "strain" name.

[Maggi Young]

Much as I admire and respect Tony, I doubt if there's much point in naming a clone which ultimately won't be distributed from divisions, except on a very limited basis, though I suppose it looks good on a show bench. Better to go for seed and a "strain" name.

Take your point about naming, Lesley, but it may be that Tony gave plant the varietal name because it got an award from joint rock ( or Iris ??) RHS committee and then it has to havea varietal name to have award confirmed.
That rule is a galloping anachronism.... complaints are made that awards should be made to a species ( not just talking abou iris here, of course) because certain species are considered generally great plants, then when award is made, it is only ratified if name is given to that specimen... crazy!

[Lesley Cox]

You're probably right Maggi, about the plant being up for an award. Tony gave me 5 clones, all with varietal names, all different colours.

I agree entirely about the varietal naming being an anachronism and I believe it is also unethical. It really makes me angry when an entirely wild plant, i.e. a plant collected from the wild, is introduced with a varietal name. A wild species IS NOT 'Bill Bloggs' or 'Jane Doe' or who/whatever. It is (just) a genus and (just) a species, maybe with a subspecies name as well.

A certain south-of-England nurseryman gave such names to many plants he had collected in the mountains here in New Zealand - I was with him at the time - and it made my blood boil. My reaction was "who the hell does he think he is, to be naming our native flora after his friends and relatives?"

[Maggi Young]

I get a bit ratty about naming species, think that is daft, though I think it is useful in hybrids etc so that you can know what it is you are getting......look at some of the muddles we get into tryingto decide WHAT it IS we are growing!!

[arillady]

Otto,
The Iris aucheri came from BIS 519 2001-02 seedlist.
Iris aucheri, mixed forms all ex Leylek Station pale blue to deep violet purple UK
I have emailed Margaret to see if she can give me more details.
It was a heck of surprise when I saw the bloom and checked the tag to see it was an Iris aucheri form. So very different.
So it must have taken 6 years to come to flower.

[Paul T]

Pat,

And what a nice surprise to have!! 

Here's a couple more things flowering today......  The Tropaeolum brachyceras is less than an inch wide on fine twinings stems climbing up whatever it can find.  The Iris reticulata 'Edward' is a new purchase this year.  It is probably a bit bluer than in the picture, but the strong orange signals are very noticeable, and certainly different to anything else i have in flower by way of retics this year.  Should I be posting these retic pics down in the retic thread as well?