January 2015 in the Southern Hemisphere

[rob krejzl]

Thus climate does make cowards of us all....

(with apologies)

[Lesley Cox]

Never a seed on my Scoliopus either. A friend in Dunedin (in the city) has it seed profusely in a large half barrel to the extent that the seedlings are ground cover around it. Maybe it needs more than a single clone though whether she had two to start with I don't know. Jamus it goes quite dormant for the warmer months and through winter so it could well be OK with you if it were in shade. Mine gets pretty much dried right out.

[Jupiter]

Thanks Lesley, that's promising and I may find the courage to buy one from Lynn, in the autumn once the rain comes back. it's something I've wanted to grow for years. I've never seen it in real life in fact. 

[Jupiter]

My rock garden, only finished in the spring and currently enduring its first summer, is coping very well and I’m feeling very positive about it. I did some cleaning up of leaves and bark on the weekend and took stock of all the plants. The only things I’ve lost are one little Androsace, which may yet come back I’m not sure, and possibly a Saxifraga cotyledon, which likewise may recover… time will tell. Even a little Lewisia columbiana which I thought had succumb is sprouting new leaves and looks like it will make it.

I have lots of spaces in the rock garden for crevice loving species so I’m looking forward to the seedex seed arriving and getting some babies raised over the winter ready for moving into the garden in the spring. It has been a steep learning curve but I’m enjoying every step of my accent toward mastering the plants which dwell upon the summit!

A few pictures of things which are common place to you people, but new for me.

Alyssum tortuosum




Globularia cordifolia




Achillea ageratifolia




Penstemon (unknown sp. from Otto)




Achillea ageratifolia (uncertain identity, doesn't match other plant above I have under same name...)




Penstemon sp. (another unknown one! I bought seed as P. whippleanus, but soon became apparent that it is not this...flowers will help with identification)




Pelargonium sidoides




Aquilegia saximontana




Aster alpinus




Aubrieta, seed collected from Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens, identity uncertain at this stage (unlabelled)






Campanula cochlearifolia, strategically placed in rock overhang for protection from afternoon sun.




Primula auricula

[Paul T]

Lovely, Jamus.

[Maggi Young]

Those plants all look to be settling well, Jamus.  Nice rock too.

[Robert]

Jamus,

I greatly appreciate your postings of plants. Some may be common, and easy, for those who have different climatic conditions, however it is interesting for me to see how far we can push the limits on these wonderful plants and still have them express their beauty in our gardens.

I look forward to follow-up over the years to see how well they do in the long run and what you might have learned from the experience of growing the selection of plants that you enjoy.

I too learn from following along.

As for learning the hard way - I should have known better than to plant Calohortus monophyllus in our garden without a wire basket. The rodents found them and ate them all.  They were going to put on a good display this season. I don't like growing plants in tubs but right now for many plants it is a reality.

[Jupiter]

Thanks Robert, yes it will be interesting to see if many of these cool climate alpines will survive. It's a starting point really. I'm madly learning as much as I can about neat, compact species from warmer, drier climates. I need to restrain myself and not give in to my impulse to buy seed of hundreds of species and overwhelm my ability to look after them all... It is tempting though! I keep finding and falling in love with new plants... I'm damn sure I'm not alone here in that regard...

[Robert]

I need to restrain myself and not give in to my impulse to buy seed of hundreds of species and overwhelm my ability to look after them all... It is tempting though! I keep finding and falling in love with new plants... I'm damn sure I'm not alone here in that regard...

Jamus,

I'm one of those in the "need to make sure that I restrain myself" mode. I agree that there is much tempting plant and seed material to try. I'm overwhelmed just by our native California flora. For me it is totally awesome and perfect for my latest gardening situation. I like to look at the situation as "it will all come to me at the right time when I'm ready". In the mean time, and can enjoy and learn from the forum and see tremendous variety that others grow.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi,
If I may join in this interesting conversation.

I too "suffered" from, "lets grow everything". As Rob points out abilities get overwhelmed. I guess one goes through a period of rapid experimentations followed by assessment and learning (scientific method), and one is informed by others (SRGC Forum). Sometimes I have found another "go" with a different seed source may yield different results.
Choosing bulbs over perennials is a bit of a bummer because the "experiments" drag on for a much longer time period. Its always exciting to find other souls who have embarked on a similar journey, and hopefully, may be further down "the track" (Otto).

I guess experience has taught me NOT to try to grow plants that are JUST too damn hard or require too much effort

As someone once said to me, it may have been Roger Poulett, "rare is rarely better" and when I asked him if he would sell me Narcissus broussonetti, he replied, rather cruelly, "I don't throw pearls before swine". I don't think it was meant with malice, just realism. He was saying, learn how to grow these first and then we'll see.

Cheers, Marcus

PS What ever became of Roger?

[Hillview croconut]

PPS I am more likely these days to pick a couple of genera and keep with them for a while. The Czechs have such extensive lists one can do that. Too bad Ron Ratko isn't issuing list but I have sort of eased off a bit. More interested in growing the few seeds that I collect on my trips.

[Robert]

I guess experience has taught me NOT to try to grow plants that are JUST too damn hard or require too much effort

Cheers, Marcus

Marcus,

I enjoyed your comments. It has taken me 3 periods of drought over the past 35-40 years to come to the simple truth quoted above. I guess some, like me, learn slowly. At least I am completely enjoying gardening with xeric plants as they need little or no irrigation during the summer, and our California natives will keep me busy for several life times. I still grow some dwarf plants that need irrigation during the summer, however being small plants this still means less irrigation. It is so much easier!

As they say, Cheers

[Paul T]

I'm obviously just too stupid or too thickheaded to learn that, Marcus ........ !! 

[Hillview croconut]

Ah Paul, you are at heart the romantic!  What did Oscar Wilde say, (about second marriages)? The triumph of hope over experience.

Or what Einstein said was the definition of stupidity?  To repeat the same experiment ad infinitum while expecting a different result each time.

Cheers,  M

[Lesley Cox]

I'm feeling not only a little peeved but somewhat puzzled about the seed pods on my very good form of Trillium maculatum. There were 6 flowers and each made a fat pod. A week ago I took the first which was beginning to soften a little. I thought the remaining 5 would be another couple of weeks. This morning as I drove out the driveway and past the trillium, I noticed that one was gone, something having removed it overnight. I decided to collect the remaining 4 as soon as I was home again, which I was, about two and a half hours later. All the pods were gone.

The area has a little fence right round it and it totally rabbit and poultry proof, so not those. I doubt if a possum having sampled one in the night would have left the others if he liked it. He would have taken the lot right away. Besides, there was no evidence that anything had landed on the ground from above, or scratched or in any way disturbed the ground which is quite soft at present as we've had good rain in recent days. Would a blackbird or thrush have taken them? I doubt it and again, why 1 then 4 some hours later? I asked Roger if anyone had come in or visited this morning while I was away (at market, buying apricots for jam and preserving) but he had seen no-one. The plant looks exactly as it would if I myself had neatly taken each pod from its stem.

So, I'm peeved that upwards of 100 mature and ready seeds have gone missing and puzzled by where they have gone and who/what caused it to happen.