July 2014 in the Northern Hemisphere

[meanie]

Penstemon newberryi with some late season blossoms.

I believe that Salvia elegans is day length sensitive. Ours always starts blooming in November.

That's a nice looking wee Penstemon.

There are some S.elegans cultivars here that will bloom late summer - not a patch on the real thing in terms of colour and strength of blooming, but they are reliable. Last winter was a good winter here for S.elegans.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hello

Here are some plants flowering at the moment at the nursery that I wanted to share....
2:  Codonopsis gracilis

Wow, Lisa,
I hadn't heard of this one before!
Very elegant!
Does it have a scent?
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Little bit more information on Google (but not much) if you search on H. ciliolatum

 That is so - but Kew lists accepted name as
   Hedeoma ciliolata (Epling & W.S.Stewart) R.S.Irving

"This name is the accepted name of a species in the genus Hedeoma (family Lamiaceae).

The record derives from WCSP (data supplied on 2012-03-23) which reports it as an accepted name (record 96451) with original publication details: Brittonia 22: 345 1970 publ. 1971."

An aside : Cecilia Coller's plant  was given an Award of Merit by the Joint Rock Committee at Tewkesbury in July 2012.

[Growild]

Wow, Lisa,
I hadn't heard of this one before!
Very elegant!
Does it have a scent?
cheers
fermi

Hi Fermi

Codonopsis gracilis is native to the eastern Himalaya and I think still quite rare in cultivation. I grew this plant two years ago from seed (hope to offer seed as soon as ripe as I have quite a few pods developing nicely). But as for scent the flowers produce none and for all it graceful beauty the foliage unfortunately smells of fox - if you brush against it it certainly produces quite a whiff!

Lisa

www.growildnursery.co.uk
www.facebook.com/growildnurseryuk

[Robert]

There are some S.elegans cultivars here that will bloom late summer - not a patch on the real thing in terms of colour and strength of blooming, but they are reliable. Last winter was a good winter here for S.elegans.

meanie,

Thanks for the reminder! At one time I grew a form of Salvia elegans called 'Honeydew Melon Sage'. It would bloom during the summer for us. It also was a much more compact plant.

For anyone that might be curious, here are 2 photos of Lupinus breweri growing in their native habitat. Outside their home range they may not grow true to character. I first saw this in the early 1970's with 'Bartlett' Pears. Bartlett pears in California look different from those grown in the NW USA - both the same clone!



Lupinus breweri in an open pine forest, about 5,000 feet elevation. Very little competition from other low growing vegetation.



Yellow and/or white on banner is typical.

[Lori S.]

Lovely plants, Growild.  I'm envious of the Codonopsis!  I've only managed to get C. clematidaea going... too successfully, now.   
Is your Lindelofia longiflora just blooming now?  Surprising, as I've already cut mine down and it should bloom again - I always imagine everything there must be way ahead of everything here!

Fabulous lupins, Robert!!   

[Rick R.]

The Anemonopsis and Dienanthe (especially the latter) are exquisite pictured so close up. We've tried both of these but haven't found spots where they really thrive. Daniel Hinckley quotes Reginald Farrer on Dienanthe - 'sad, pale violet' - so I don't think there's much chance of the blues of hydrangeas!

Many, many years ago before I knew better, I grew Deinanthe caerulea in full sun, and it grew as an ephemeral would.  It is now happy in constant dappled shade.  They certainly like water!

Deinanthe caerulea
Deinanthe 'Blue Wonder'

[Tim Ingram]

Robert = many thanks for showing the pictures of Lupinus breweri in habitat. I've only read about this (and there is a wonderful chapter on the Californian lupins in Lester Rowntree's book where she describes it as like a 'silvery moss' which makes groundcover over gravelly banks and rocks - must be beautiful to see). I have grown a few of these lupins in the past, notably L. albifrons which seems very variable and in some forms pretty similar to L. breweri. They are never easy to keep going in the garden, but produce lots of seed, and very exciting when they do prosper and flower well. It's equally exciting to see the Astragalus and Oxytropis that Anne and Lori show - these little legumes are tremendous plants but I have yet to really discover how to grow them successfully and they are hardly of interest to most visitors to the nursery.

[astragalus]

Tim, it's difficult for me to understand the lack of interest.  Astragalus, Oxytropis, Trifolium and the rest of the peas each have species which would be superstars in any rock garden except possibly one that was heavily shaded.  Yes, they can be a challenge (less to grow than to keep), but they are worth any amount of effort.  There are also some which are relatively reliable - Oxytropis multiceps and Astragalus utahensis leap immediately to mind.  Who could ignore them when they are performing well?

[astragalus]

Sorry, the last picture is of Astragalus lutosus.  All the pictures are small but if you have the time to view them close up you'll understand what I mean by spectacular flowers and foliage.  I'll try and hunt up a picture showing the seed pods, yet another reason to be growing these plants.

[Tim Ingram]

Anne - I think that last picture has pushed these plants right up to the top of my agenda again (and they always have been pretty high up!). There are few families of plants which combine such beauty in flower and foliage (I could say some umbellifers do but there may be fewer who would agree!). I shall look back closely through the Crevice gardening thread and pick up more of how you and others grow them - so much is the need for experiment and persistence and I would much rather grow these in the garden rather than in pots, even though you do see superb plants displayed every now and again. Will certainly try A. utahensis once more which is a species that grew well several years ago in the alpine house.

[Growild]

Lovely plants, Growild.  I'm envious of the Codonopsis!  I've only managed to get C. clematidaea going... too successfully, now.   
Is your Lindelofia longiflora just blooming now?  Surprising, as I've already cut mine down and it should bloom again - I always imagine everything there must be way ahead of everything here!


Thank you Lori 

I collected my first ripe pod this morning of Codonopsis gracilis. They have much bigger seeds then most species and I've found them very easy to grow compared with species with tiny seeds.

The Lindelofia still has a few flowers today, but you are right it should have finished by now. Things here are flowering a little behind this year. We moved to this farm in Feb (5 Luton van trips just with plants ...). Unsure of what weather conditions would hit us and with no greenhouse or polytunnels in place to protect them from the strong winds / rabbits / hares etc, everything was moved straight into the old farm byres. So most plants were under dark conditions for over a month before we could start and get organized and begin to get plants out into the light.

Very best wishes
Lisa

www.growildnursery.co.uk
www.facebook.com/growildnurseryuk

[astragalus]

Tim, I think I have many of the same problems you might have, i.e. moisture at the wrong time.  The worst for me is  the summer "mugs' which we are suffering through at the moment.  In my dreams I have a giant dehumidifier that lowers the humidity to 20%.  In my fantasies, the garden is mounted on a giant pole which raises the cliff, ledges etc. to 7,000' during the worst summer moments.  In reality, I supply two-way drainage to the peas - very, very, very fast draining mix with no humus, and planted on a slope.  I think they really appreciate air movement in this climate.  If you're growing a plant from an area where 6" of rain is a good year, you don't want heavy, moist air sitting on it.  I'm lucky that my garden is naturally vertical, but if it was flat, I'd probably make a mountain of sand and gravel and rock and go from there.

[Robert]

Robert = many thanks for showing the pictures of Lupinus breweri in habitat. I've only read about this (and there is a wonderful chapter on the Californian lupins in Lester Rowntree's book where she describes it as like a 'silvery moss' which makes groundcover over gravelly banks and rocks - must be beautiful to see). I have grown a few of these lupins in the past, notably L. albifrons which seems very variable and in some forms pretty similar to L. breweri. They are never easy to keep going in the garden, but produce lots of seed, and very exciting when they do prosper and flower well. It's equally exciting to see the Astragalus and Oxytropis that Anne and Lori show - these little legumes are tremendous plants but I have yet to really discover how to grow them successfully and they are hardly of interest to most visitors to the nursery.

Tim,

There are definitely good forms of Lupinus albifrons. I will post a photo ASAP (have to go to town first). Most in the wild look "leggy" growing directly out of rock, on wickedly hot, south facing slopes and cliffs. Good forms of L. albifrons can be created fairly easily and maintained as a seed line. This is much easier than cuttings. Good to know if you are a nurseryman.

For us it has been much easier growing L. albifrons. They have been much more tolerant of a variety of different soil types as long as it drains well. Slugs are a problem for all the Lupines. I like growing the annual types (L. nanus, L. bicolor, L. benthamii) with spring flowering bulbs. Our annual native Mimulus species are great with spring bulbs too. I know many do not like to fuss with annuals, but they really do look good, and for me anyway, it is worth the effort. Sometimes they can self-sow too.

Astragalus, Oxytropis, Trifolium, etc. are great plants!  I agree, growing them in sand/volcanic grit with no humus, on a slope is, most likely to bring success, even in our dry climate.

[Robert]

Back from an over-night trip to "town" to get supplies.



A very nice Lupinus albifrons growing in the wild.



Same plant -  good flower trusses.