Other plant photos

[Joakim B]

Mike nice plants
You grow a lot 

David Maderira is nice in the summer as well and I think many people will have problems with the 35C and more in Costa del Sol unless they go back home up North for the Summer. I for one think it is a bit hard with those temperatures in continental Portugal and then see the weather forcast where Maderira have 25-30 C That is really great.
I visited twice and liked the island a lot. Definately a place one can visit many times.
But next Portuguse island will be one in Azores.
Take care
Joakim

[Lesley Cox]

Mike, New Zealand though such a small country in physical size (and population, only 4 million) has a huge climatic variety. In the far north, it is indeed, subtropical and commerial tropical fruits are grown. Also bananas, mangoes and pawpaws etc, though perhaps not commercially, though they are offered at the Farmers' Markets in the area. But where I live at (almost) the other end of the country, we have a hot, dry summer, mild dryish autumn and a pretty cool, damp winter then a coolish but beautifully sunny spring. We have frosts to about -4 or 5C in my area on the coast, though to -18 inland. So our climate here is similar to or perhaps a little milder than that of the southern parts of the UK or the Republic of Ireland. I have just 500-800mm of rain per year. Not nearly enough. The Three Kings Islands are tropical I guess, in that they certainly don't have frosts but they are probably drier than what I think of as tropical, such as Fiji or Hawaii.

Did you find your Tecomanthe? All the plants in cultivation have come from a single plant found in the wild on one of the islands.

[Carlo]

I've just picked up a couple of small Tecomanthe dendrophylla along with some other tropical vines. Can't wait to see what happens.

[Michael]

Thanks for your kind comments!

Joakim, yes i grow a lot of plants, but my interest in bulbs is as ancient as the interest i have in growing carnivorous or orchids. Those i can find easier, but finding different bulbs of the few i have, is an headache. On 2005 i went onto a SPECIALIZED nursery and asked about fritillaria imperialis, and showed them a picture. They told me they had bulbs already last year, and they will order some more soon. I remember that i got sooo happy that day... A few weks latter, when i arrived they had Lilium for sale, and they said those were the Fritillarias! How can this happen? Even with the latin name! It's useless...
Yes our climate is mild and very humid, in summer the average is 20-26 (32º on the hottest week of August), winters 10-18 (7º at the coldest week). Azores is a little bit more cold, but it's very nice too. I also never been there...


Lesley, so i think NEw Zealand might be very similar to my island. Warm near the sea and cold on the mountains. On the hottest part we also grow tropical fruit, and on the colder areas, other kinds of plants (like Kiwi fruit It's my fav. fruit and animal BTW...)
No i didnt find that Tecomanthe. The only two places where i found seeds for sale (Oratia Native Plant Nursery and TradeMe (the New Zealand "ebay") but those places only send them within New Zealand. Do you have that plant Lesley? To me it's similar to Worsleya, the Holy grail of the Bignoniaceae   

[Maggi Young]

Tecomanthe dendrophylla is grown in some of the UK Botanic gardens, though I don't know of anyone who has it privately......I'm told care should be taken in pruning the plant, since it flowers on old wood.
see this page from St. Andrews Botanic Garden site:  http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~gdk/stabotanic/Jan05pom.htm

[Michael]

Yes! That is what i found more interesting on the Tecomanthe genus. I grow T. venusta. That plant, i got it as a rooted cutting on July, but it's growing now fast. I hope to see flowers in 2-3 years! But T. speciosa is the only one in yellow (as far as i know).

[Lesley Cox]

Mike, maybe if Tecomanthe speciosa is offered as seed here, I could get some for you. I'll have a look on the two websites you mention. It will certainly be hardier than the one in the RBG website in Maggi's link. I know there is (or was) a huge flowering plant in a garden on Otago Peninsula (technically within Dunedin city) but that was some years ago and the then owner is no longer alive, so anything could have happened to it since. I remember seeing it in full bloom, sprawled all over the top of a large garage. The peninsula has a little less frost than in the city proper but gets apalling winds right up the harbour.

T. speciosais not really yellow, a creamy shade, even greenish white, as I recall.

[Michael]

Thanks Lesley! I dont know if those places still have seeds, because it has been a long time since i made a search of that plant. But as far as i remember, it's a very widespread vine at local gardens (at least is what they say...)
If you have news, please contact me
M

[Casalima]

Olá Mike,

Welcome! (better late than never ...). You have a wonderful collection of plants. Don't forget to consider yourself lucky to live on such a wonderful island! A bit crazy, but definitely wonderful - with interesting local plants and amazing conditions for growing other plants. If there is one thing that plant growers have in common it is the desire to grow "inappropriate" plants!  I am sure that you can find plenty of excellent "candidates" for the climate in Madeira.

um abraço
Chloë
looking forward to going to Madeira again one day ...

[Michael]

Hi Chloe!

Thanks for your nice comments