October 2013 in the Southern Hemisphere

[rob krejzl]

Jon,

I can tell you it isn't a bee - only one pair of wings and thus a hoverfly. What my Uni lecturer would have called an example of Batesian mimicry. Which hoverfly it is I can't tell you.

[Mini bulb lover]

Thanks Rob. I was hesitant to call it a bee but didn't know how else to describe it. It looks like Melangyna damaster from a quick Google search but I'm no expert.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Jon,
Is that the Pelargonium foliage in the back-ground? The flower looks similar to the P.triste I got from Roraima Nursery years ago; it's different to the one I grew from seed from Silverhills.
The TBI is an old French hybrid, I think; someone named them on the Forum a few years ago. Pat Toolan might have it written down - I always forget
Here's a pic of MBI Jallab in the Rock garden,
cheers
fermi

[Mini bulb lover]

Fermi - that is Pelargonium foliage in the back-ground. A Google image search shows that P.triste looks very similar to P.anethifolium. I purchased mine from Pat Marko last year. She grew it from seed. She wasn't sure if I'd get the same colouring. The purple blotches look black in person. Does P.triste have a fragrance? I'm seeing Pat Wednesday so I'll ask her about it.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Jon,
here's a pic of Pelargonium triste from last month - but it's still flowering now - this is the form I grew from seed. It is incrediably scented in the evening and hardly scented at other times so is probably moth-pollinated.
cheers
fermi

[rob krejzl]

I was hesitant

Mimicry did it's job then  .

[Mini bulb lover]

Fermi - Going by the leaf, mine is probably P.triste. Geraniaceae.com describes the leaf of P.anethifolium as having "long narrow lobed leaves". Unfortunatley it doesn't have a photo of them, but it does have photos of the leaves of P.triste. Mind you it says P.triste has brownish blotches. Mine are dark purple like the P.anethifolium photo. Mimicry at work? 

P.anethifolium - http://geraniaceae.com/cgi-bin/detail.py?id=908

P.triste - http://geraniaceae.com/cgi-bin/detail.py?id=871

[Lesley Cox]

The TB Iris is definitely an oldie, QUITE old and what the Iris people now call "Historic." But they go too far and are calling TBs of only about 30 years old by that term even though they have a modern look to them. TBs from the 80s and 90s are among the finest still, in my opinion, but then I'm not keen of the ultra frillies, spoons, hooks, horns etc which are more and more evident on the latest cultivars.

[arillady]

Agree Lesley

[Mini bulb lover]

Fermi - a query about my Pelargonium anethifolium has gone all the way to Cape Town, South Africa for clarification/ identification! Apparently it can have variable leaf forms and the way to tell the difference between P.triste and P.anethifolium is that the later has "...minute hairs on the stem and leaves which are not apparent on triste". So mine is correctly labelled. 

[fermi de Sousa]

Jon,
if I get a chance I'll bring a flower and some foliage to the meeting on Saturday!

I think this is Muscari weissii now in bloom in the rock garden,
cheers
fermi

[Rogan]

After filling several pots with seed-raised bulbs of Watsonia aletroides and W. laccata, I planted the "excess" bulbs in a scruffy old tractor tyre in my back yard; low and behold the "excess" bulbs did famously and are giving me a fabulous show - the potted bulbs did not do nearly as well! On top of that, one of the W. laccata seedlings has turned out to be white-flowered, a real bonus...   

[fermi de Sousa]

It's always nice to have a surprise like that, Rogan
Here's the first flowering on Penstemon eatonii, which Palmiro, a member of our AGS Vic Group, grew from seed and brought to our plant swap last December,
cheers
fermi

[Mini bulb lover]

Last year I purchase some Aquilegia seeds from Touchwood Plants in Wales. I like this upward facing pink double and this long-spurred yellow, blushed red.

[fermi de Sousa]

Healthy looking plants for yearlings, Jon.
Some plants in the Shade-house this morning - all from our Plant swap last year and the year before:
Justicia pauciflora 'Firefly'
and two Lewisia cotyledon hybrids
cheers
fermi