October 2013 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

Another month has gone by!
We're right into spring here having had a severe storm last night with wind gusts over 100kmh!
In the Sand Bed a lot of South African bulbs are in flower,

especially lovely is Moraea aristata (which might be a hybrid)



cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Tropaeolum tricolor still struggles on in parts of the garden without any interference from us!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Found this irid - I'm presuming it's a moraea one which used to be Gynandriris setifolia - growing where I'd never planted it! But it is in other parts of the garden, so seed must have been relocated at some time!
cheers
fermi

[Ezeiza]

Fermi, it is Moraea (G.) setifolia. Incredibly, also in flower at the same time with you and over here in Argentina. Another one in flower right now is Moraea (Gynandriris ) simulans so I imagine you must find it in flower in the garden.

[Rogan]

A 38'C day has been forecast here today ( ) so I went out early with the hosepipe to give a few plants some respite from the heat and drought; whilst there I noticed one of my favorite South Americans in gorgeous bloom, Calydorea xiphioides:

A nearby pot of Cypella hauthalii opalina also promised to be spectacular with no less than six blooms today but some bug got in first and ate the lot!

I could not resist this tray of glory, one of my "just for fun" pots dazzling the eye with primary colour - it probably won't look so good later today after the high temperatures though!:

[Rogan]

Here the two are together from last year:

[fermi de Sousa]

Rogan,
nice stuff; disappointing about that bug but there's always next year, I guess.
Some pics from the weekend:
Leschenaultia biloba from Western Australia and a Senna sp - not sure if it's an Aussie native or an introduced species;
Eremophila densiflora and a close up of the flower head
Aphyllanthes monspelsiensis
a tulip from Marcus as "aff sprengerii" - maybe a hybrid?
cheers
fermi

[Lvandelft]

Calydorea xiphioides:

What a lovely combination of blue and yellow, Rogan I presume it is a bulbous plant?

[Ezeiza]

May I answer, Rogan. It is a tigridioid from Chile with bulbs, and difficult to maintain alive not to mention to flower to perfection as Rogan does. As most lowland Chilean bulbs it is very sensitive to humid air.

[Rogan]

I love your picture of Leschenaultia biloba Fermi, one of those 'legendary' plants from Australia; I have never managed to germinate the seeds though - probably because I didn't use 'smoke water'.

Thank you Alberto,

Initially I made the mistake thinking that Calydorea xiphioides would enjoy full sun; it doesn't and grows and flowers much more readily with morning sun only. I have found that to be the case with the aforementioned Cypella species and Herbertia pulchella as well (which I really do find difficult to grow at the best of times).

I do grow a few more South / central American irids as well and find them all very interesting and rewarding plants to cultivate.

[Ezeiza]

Rogan, the Calydorea, Cypella and Herbertia are all plants of open pastures in full sun, the Cypella growing in a really hot area. Perhaps your pots get too hot for them. Why not try growing them in the ground in a slightly raised bed?

Calydorea xiphioides comes from a perfectly Mediterranean climate. H. pulchella and the Cypella receive year round rainfall, only that in summer the rain is not enough to keep them green, therefore they are both summer dormant but never get dry bone soil around the year. The Cypella grows in Australia (in cultivation of course) to perfection in the hot regions in full sun.

[Lvandelft]

May I answer, Rogan. It is a tigridioid from Chile with bulbs, and difficult to maintain alive not to mention to flower to perfection as Rogan does. As most lowland Chilean bulbs it is very sensitive to humid air.

Thank you Alberto!
No problems with humid air here near the coast  , but alas the temps will be too low to grow such beauties, I'm afraid 

[Ezeiza]

Luit, they suffer from humid air, that is why Leucocorynes are grown so well in Australia.

[Lvandelft]

Oops, I understood it totally wrong then Alberto. I'll do my best to notice 

[Mini bulb lover]

This tuberous rooted Pelargonium anethifolium has a lovely fragrance in the evening. It's flowering for me for the first time.

The tall bearded iris came from a friend years ago. It's in a position that's been too shady for it to flower the last few years but this year it finally produced one. I moved it's offsets earlier this year into a sunny position but they haven't flowered yet.

Can anyone tell me what type of bee is on my Achillea argentea?