March 2014 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Anne Repnow]

Pretty Pulsatillas, Bernd!

My clever books say that Cardamine glanduligera grows wild in Poland (!), Hungary, the Carpathian mountains, the Balkan peninsula and rarely in the eastern parts of Austria.

Here is another Cardamine: C. trifolia (sorry - bad photo). Lovely unobtrusive flowers and the evergreen leaves form a nice carpet for Hostas.
Third photo: Pachyphragma macrophylla in full bloom now - a great favourite of mine.

[Gerdk]

Does Viola jaubertiana survive our normal winters, Gerd? Or does it stay warm in that special spot you have found for it?

No, it does not. I once tried it and it was in a very bad condition after that - more dead than alive. I keep it in the greenhouse
with temperatures not deeper than - 2 to - 5° Celsius.
It has no special warm spot in a selfmade tufa container. It wasn't repotted since about ten years.


Gerd

[Jacek]

Hacquetia epipactis has one stand in Southern Poland. It feels at home in my garden in cool and not very shaded places. It grows both in mineral and organic soil and seeds in both. Does not suffer from frosts and seeds mildly. Does not like soil covered with  leaf litter.

I like its incredible bright green "flowers".

[Leena]

Cardamine glanduligera is early in my garden. C. pentaphyllos is later and a bigger, taller plant.

This is interesting discussion. I got Cardamine pentaphyllos (I got it as C.pentaphylla, but is that the old name) from a friend who I think had bought his from the UK (but I don't know where), and now I started to think if mine would also be C.glanduligera, because it is very early.
What do you think?
The first picture is from yesterday, it is just coming up and the second and third picture are from last spring. It flowers here usually at the same time as the last snowdrops and hepaticas, and it starts the same time as Corydalis.

[Leena]

Here is another Cardamine: C. trifolia (sorry - bad photo). Lovely unobtrusive flowers and the evergreen leaves form a nice carpet for Hostas.
Third photo: Pachyphragma macrophylla in full bloom now - a great favourite of mine.

C.trifolia looks nice, I haven't heard of it before.  P.macrophylla picture is fantastic, I got seeds for it this year from the seed exchange and I hope they germinate (they are still in cold stratifying) and one day I get as great plant as in your picture.

[Giles]

A hardy selection of the Formosan Cherry: Prunus campanulata 'Felix Jury'
Yoshino Cherry: Prunus x yedoensis

[Steve Garvie]

Synthyris missurica var. stellata Details of the inflorescence.


Commonly called Mountain Kittentails.

[Anne Repnow]

@ Leena: I think your Cardamine is - like mine - Cardamine glanduligera (particularly if it produces offshoots round about). Obviously these woodland Cardamines aren't so well known, so that mistakes occur.

@ Giles: Beautiful contrast of flowers!

@ Steve: What an absolutely stunning plant! I am ashamed to say I never heard of it before. I bet it doesn't survive continental winters... 

[ranunculus]

Exceptional image of a beautiful species, Steve.

[Anne Repnow]

We had a summers day today - with temperatures over 20 degrees C.
My magnolia has recovered from the night frost a few days ago.
And my ancient cherry tree reckons that there wont be another frost and it is safe to burst into bloom. It has been known to err...

[Leena]

@ Leena: I think your Cardamine is - like mine - Cardamine glanduligera (particularly if it produces offshoots round about). 

Thank you Bolinopsis. it does increase by roots around the original plant.

[Tim Ingram]

I've always wanted to grow Synthyris missurica since seeing it years ago at Washfield nursery. We now have a little plant and I think it should be pretty hardy (Mountain Kittentails after all!), but it doesn't like hot dry summers. That is a stunning picture! The leaves are very attractive too and all in all it's a very neat plant.

Jacek - nice to see Hacquetia epipactis; we have grown this for a long time and it copes with dry shade and self-sows gently - probably my favourite umbellifer and so long flowering. It was really popular as a nursery plant ten or fifteen years ago but seems much less seen these days.

Also really like the cardamines. C. pentaphyllos has grown but never increased much for a long time (I like its synonym Dentaria digitata too - very descriptive), but C. glanduligera is even more striking for those deep purple flowers - will have to look out for it.

Rhodanthemum hosmariense and Narcissus panizzianus doing their thing. What a great time of year!

[Lori S.]

Likewise, I don't believe that continental winters should pose a problem for the Synthyris clan.
I can grow Synthyris platycarpa and S. dissecta here (and it doesn't get much more continental than the Canadian prairies!)

I'm not absolutely certain if this is S. missurica, but it's an inspiring plant even if not.  It does very well here in the garden of some local expert gardeners:

[johnralphcarpenter]

Still camellia time here. Camellia japonica 'Midnight' and Camellia 'Leonard Messel'.

[Gerdk]

Some Anemones from today

1. Anemone hortensis (with some older flowers of Anemone caucasica)
2. Anemone pavonina - an own collection from Macedonia which is surprisingly hardy
3. Anemone appeninna - a collection from Montenegro
4. Anemone nemorosa - a blue coloured  one - (label lost unfortunately)
5. -Anemone nemorosa 'Hilda'

Gerd