April 2015 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

It's really autumn here now with turning foliage and autumn bulbs such as Rhodophiala bifida coming into bloom!
cheers
fermi

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Guys,

I will add a few "traditional" bulbs to the mix.

The last few flowers of:

Colchicum "Princess Astrid"
Colchicum "Lilac Wonder"

Just starting up:
Colchicum speciosum Album
Colchicum autimnale Abloplenum

Cheers, Marcus

[arillady]

Fermi you always seem to just beat me to the post with different bulbs. This time it is Rhodophiala bifida. Marcus you always show some choice bulbs. thank you.

[Paul T]

The last few years of neglect are obviously getting to a lot of things in my garden.... very, very few Colchicum have flowered, almost a complete failure with the majority of the South African genera, etc.  Very poor autumn flowering at my place for a lot of things, yet it was a bumper year in other gardens for things like Belladonnas.  Not good.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Guys,

A couple more from Hill View:

Colchicum 'The Giant" - good old variety
Colchicum "Don's weird bicolor" - From Don Schofield up in the Blue Mts
Crocus kotschyanus - tons out now along with pulchellus. Lots of pollinating of rarer species like vallicola, autranii, gilanicus, asumaniae, and cancellatus.

Cheers, Marcus

[Hillview croconut]

Ooops! I will do that again  .. M

[Jupiter]

Hi Marcus, wow Don's bicolor is different isn't it? You certainly grow the Colchicums well. Nothing to post here, it's a desert. Still no real rain to speak of and it has never been so dry.

[Maggi Young]

Colchicum "Don's weird bicolor" - From Don Schofield up in the Blue Mts

Cheers, Marcus

Lots of flowers with you, Marcus - great colchicum.  Can't say I "go" for the weird bicolor though - too much like the strange 'Harlekijn'  - see the photo here :
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=7848.msg216294#msg216294   Funny thing - and not always  stable, as we hear from  other reports in the forum.   Odd!

[Anthony Darby]

It's April here, so that's October in the northern hemisphere, so why is it the garden centres are selling pots of Narcissus "Jet Fire" in full bloom?

I tried three garden centres and checked 14 packets (of 5 bulbs) of Narcissus bulbocodium "Golden Bells", but couldn't find one with even one healthy bulb in it. They were either shrivelled and papery with a rock hard tiny centre, or soft and squishy with blue-grey mould underneath.

Putting these two scenarios together would suggest bulbs are imported months in advance from Europe or the USA and stored (badly) and then wheeled out in our autumn, by which time the smaller varieties have given up the will to live. Those that do grow produce a pathetic excuse of a display.

[Jupiter]

A few from my garden this afternoon



Maurandya scandens in full swing




Sternbergia lutea, old faithful.




Lysimachia atropurpurea




Allysum tortuosum; can't get enough of those compact little rosettes.

[Anthony Darby]

Good view of tonight's lunar eclipse.

[Jupiter]

Wow great photo Anthony. You've done very well, I know from personal experience how hard it is to photograph the moon.

Ps. The albuca seed you sent me is germinating already!

[Anthony Darby]

That's good news Jamus. I got them to flower within the year.

[fermi de Sousa]

Will and I are just home from visiting Adelaide where we got to meet up with fellow forumists Jamus (and Rebecca, Isabella and Hugo) and Anita (and Peter).
We had a great time and visited some beautiful gardens and people and realised that its only about 7 hours from here!
We also had time for some retail therapy, some of which involved things for the garden
Before we left I took a few pics in the garden:
Cyclamen graecum "album"
Nerine rosea

cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Jamus,

Do you grow any of the California Native Sedum species or Dudleyias? It seems that they might do very well for you, but then most likely you may already have them growing in your garden.

What I see of your garden it seems most impressive! Especially, given the climatic conditions.