September 2014 in the Southern Hemisphere

[vivienne Condon]

Robert, how lovely to hear about your nursery people Garden and seasons. I never new who named my Geranium Victor Reiter or where the name came from, it is an exquisite form. The colour of the foliage is so good. Did Victor Reiter raise this plant or was it just named after him. So many times nothing is recorded about these plants people and information is lost.
Occasionally it is available here in Australia, we have a very good Nursery that our Australian Alpine group go to, they raise all manner of perennials and occasionally alpine plants . They have had to rebuild their houses, Nursery and stock plants after the King lake fires they lost everything, at the time it was devastating for them but they have gone from strength to strength. In my long winded way I am saying they occasionally have Geranium Victor Reiter for sale.

[vivienne Condon]

 I should have said that is why it is important to keep the Jim Archibald file going because if we don't all his collecting, plant growing will be lost
as well. Such a great man, I sure do miss his seed lists and opinions at the begging of his lists. I think I must have been one of his best customers, I have quite a few new plants to put on his file when I get a bit of time.

[Robert]

Vivienne,

I do not know if Geranium 'Victor Reiter' is one of his many creations or just named after him. It is a good question that deserves an answer. I'm sure someone knows the answer.

[Jupiter]

A few from this morning. Spring is really kicking in now.

[Anthony Darby]

Here today, gone tomorrow. Flowers of Moraea setifolia.

[Jupiter]

I've had a disaster with my Moraea aristata which has been with me gradually building up for about 7 years. It was in the middle of blooming and just turned up its toes and looks like it's dying, or dead already.     I feel like I've lost an old friend... I don't know what happened. I need to scratch in the soil in the pot and see if it's too wet or too dry. I will replace it but this time it's going in the ground. Pots can be a trap sometimes...

[Robert]

Jamus

I really enjoy the photographs from your garden. The garden must be really nice now!

[Jupiter]

Thanks Robert, yes I'm very happy with how things are coming along. Then again this is that golden time of year when even weeds look fantastic... Only 3 years gardening and some areas only two and it's starting to feel settled... I promise to post some garden views soon. I'm always waiting for this or that to come into bloom or until I pull out that patch of weeds of whatever. You know how it is...

[Jupiter]

The poppies have started! I've grown poppies every year since coming here and I love their generous, jagged, glaucous foliage as much as the flowers. Half the fun is waiting to see what colours and forms you'll get! I prefer singles over doubles and am always looking out for new colours and variations.

[Robert]

Jamus,

I'm impressed with your garden - after only 3 years! - and the range of plants used, some of which seem tender to the cold up at our farm.

I do have two questions. I'm still trying to get an idea of the climate in your neck of the world. In general, it seems very similar to our part of California - but more like our Central Valley - a long growing season (260 or more days) and no snow during the winter. Up at the farm there is always some snow during the winter months and the growing season is much shorter, about 180-190 days.

Do you get snow during the winter? How long is your growing season?

Thanks!

[Jupiter]

No snow here Robert. It has happened but it's a one in ten year occurrence or more-or-less and even then it doesn't stay on the ground all day. Things start to move here in September, many temperate perennials just emerging now, for instance Polygonatum and it gets cold and dark enough to shut things down by May or June, so that's spot on your 260 days. The trouble here is always summer heat, temperatures get over 40 C for a week at a time in our heat waves, which we get two or three of in an average year these days. I do think it's hotter than it was, experts agree it's heating up here unfortunately. Summer is without a doubt the main challenge and shade and regular watering is essential to keeping things alive through January and February.

[Jupiter]

I did a quick loop walk at Scott creek conservation park and took these pictures for you all. Wasn't the best location and I'll do another walk hopefully this weekend in a better spot.

https://plus.google.com/photos/118198884481946835903/albums/6064400260621157105

Sorry I haven't had time to put names on them.

[Lesley Cox]

Some more Trilliums hope your not bored by all the Trilliums all are from seed
Viv

Oh yes Viv, trilliums are terribly boring to the extent that at our Otago Alpine Garden Group show at the weekend, the salestable trilliums sold out just about before anything else even though they were ALL years away from flowering and offered (we sell separately on the same table, giving a commission to the Group) at outrageous prices! $10 for tiny one leaf T. rivale, and not even supposed to be pink or in any way distinguished. I was quite shocked. (Of course I was not offering trilliums myself and it was only after they had all gone that my own stuff got a look in, which it did, to a very nice degree, a little later.   Unfortunately, though there were many good show and display plants to photograph, the light in the Dunedin Hort Soc's show venue is so bad that even flash was useless. We are looking for another venue for our own show, somewhere further away from the BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA!!!

My friend Susan pointed out to me the other day that T. rivale will NEVER flower on stems with two leaflets and ALWAYS flower on stems with three leaflets. I hadn't previously made the connection to identify flowering size plants. Wish it were the same for the larger species.

[Lesley Cox]

Jupiter, what is the first plant in your batch of pictures. It looks a little like one of the dwarf woolly Stachys species? And which species are your gorgeous poppies. Are they P. orientale?

[Jupiter]

Lesley the wooly plant in the pot is Origanum dictamnus, commonly called dittany of Crete.

Origanum dictamnus
Geranium incanum with Veronica umbrosa
Hyacinthoides hispanica
Tropaeolum pentaphyllum
Ferraria crispa
Geranium maderense
G. maderense again
Geranium incanum again because I love it
Artemisia ludoviciana 'Valerie Finnis'

Second group

Papaver somn-shhhh 'paeoniflorum'
As above.

I love these so much I don't like to mention the 'O' word. There's a fuzzy grey area regarding the legality of growing these so it's best to use the name P. paeoniflorum and avoid the attention.

My orientale aren't flowering yet and I'm starting to worry that they won't!