December 2014 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Guys,

I haven't posted for a while so here goes. Nothing brilliant.

Lilium hansonii - early species. Native to East Asia.

Lilium "Lankon" - Fermi has already posted this. Seems to be everywhere in Australia. Cross between L. longiflorum and L. lankongense.

Lilium "Pearl Jessica" - marketed as a Tiger Lily but must be a hybrid. Very strong, lovely long stems and full heads.

Cheers, Marcus

[Tim Ingram]

I wouldn't mind growing those! Good wishes for Christmas for all those enjoying the summer in the south

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Marcus,
nice to have you back on the Forum!
I think this Calochortus is from you - possibly C. plummerae - can't be sure as the echidna has destroyed/buried/eaten the label!
cheers
fermi

[rob krejzl]

It's the variability of Lankon that I find so arresting - some of those open in my garden are wonderfully dark, so that the throat resembles nepalense.

[Jupiter]

Nice to have you back Marcus, I've missed your photos here. Lilium lankon is beautiful. I'm just starting my voyage of discovery into the mysterious World of liliums.

I was given a bucket of lilium bulbs of uncertain identity and they are flowering now. I'll take a photograph tonight and perhaps you can help me ID it. I suspect it might be L. regale, but really not sure.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi again,

Yes Fermi, its Calochortus plummerae. I have sold it a few times now. It never sets much seed for me. How about you? Oh for another Ron Ratko.

Thanks Jamus - its nice to be back posting a few things.

Rob, have you got any pictures of the darker ones?

I have posted this daphne pic. Grown from JCA seed as D. gnidium but looks like D. oleoides. Any thoughts?

Plus a picture of Daphne oleiodes on Mt Falakron in Macedonia.

Cheers, Marcus

[Hoy]

Thank you Hoy and Jamus for your lovely comments, Hoy you have mentioned these slugs or slugges (is that how you spell it) before on the forum, you can drown them in beer in a dish, I know that is one way I get rid of them. Do you have a lot of them in your garden or do they come in from the neighbours? It must be very difficult for you to garden if everything is being eaten.

Hi Vivienne,
It's a lot of advices how to kill the slugs but they are innumerable. I have lots in my garden and they creep in from the neighbours. In summer I take several rounds in the garden especially on moist days or evenings and kill every slug and snail I find.

The worst one has recently come from Europe (Arion vulgaris)


(Wikipedia)

but I have several species here. And of course they'll always take the most precious plants! With the mild weather we have now they're even out eating these days. A couple of new plants I achieved and planted in October are completely gnawed to the soil surface already (and they continue down the roots).

[Jupiter]

Here's a quick pic of one of the lilies I was given. Does it look like regale or more likely something else?

[vivienne Condon]

Hoy I feel sorry for your plants it is difficult to plant new things out and the next day they are gone.
Marcus your Liilium lankon petals reflex right back, mine do not they just slightly reflex like a bell, are there different forms
Viv

[Jupiter]

I really hate slugs and snails. My daughter and I do late night scouting missions of the garden looking for them with torches. They all go into a plastic bag then straight into the bin.

[Lesley Cox]

Lovely to see an Australian Weldenia doing so well. Mine is flowering now too and after a single bite the bunnies have left it alone so maybe it has something in it they don't like. I'm sooooo grateful for that! Today I had to dig and replant two yellow tree paeonies which were doing nicely and settling in after planting about 2 months ago but last night they had been almost dug out, the main tap roots exposed and gnawed on. I hope they'll survive but I'm not sure about it as they were quite badly damaged. I replanted then placed flat rocks around them so further digging will be in vain I hope.

Have finally finished repotting my entire collection of frits except a couple in troughs, the first time in probably 40 years I've got the lot done in one go, though it's taken a few hours most days over a fortnight. Most have gone back, some badly, having not been touched for a year or more since before we moved, getting on for two years ago now, a few, not necessarily the most precious, lost altogether. I've planted out the easier ones, meleagris, acmopetala, pontica, affinis, in the cooler bed which is now so packed with things they've hardy room to breathe and planted some more in a curved, raised bed around the top of the driveway/nursery. These are among dianthus, campanulas, dwarf bearded irises, auriculas and a large number of other sun-loving rock garden things and for now, the whole bed is covered with pieces of wire netting (rooster and 2 chooks this time as well as bunnies). It doesn't look good but is effective until things are well established. The rest of the frits are in pots, and hopefully will flower next spring for a big display we are planning instead of our usual competitive show. Most pots had one to a few flowering size bulbs and a number of rice or very small bulbs so it will be a time for much patience I suppose until they build up again. Surprisingly, F. recurva has thrived on neglect and as well as the pot of fl size bulbs, another pot with only loosened rice and placed there and labelled in 2011, has made big bulbs, with about 15 fl size and a number of smaller as well as many rice as well so not a total disaster.

[Hoy]

Hoy I feel sorry for your plants it is difficult to plant new things out and the next day they are gone.
. . . .

Viv

Yes, I feel sorry too! But we have all our kind of problems I think - too hot, too dry, too cold, too wet etc 

[Hoy]

Nice lilies, Marcus and Jamus!
I like lilies and some of them are spared by the slugs like this L. hasonii (or is it something else, it doesn't look quite like the one shown by Marcus?).

[Hoy]

Lesley, seems you have been very busy!

[Lesley Cox]

I have indeed Hoy, trying to get things done before Christmas. I think it may be less hectic for those in the northern hemisphere with colder weather and a shorter holiday season. Here there is the garden in full WEED growth as well as all the things to do for Christmas itself - and we always seem to overdo those, right over the top, then thinking about preserving and jam making, (some of us anyway), the long summer school holidays with children or grandchildren, maybe a holiday away somewhere, and catching up on visiting friends and doing all the other things we meant to do through the year but didn't get around to for whatever reason. Seed harvest is well under way too. It never stops.