April 2015 in the Northern Hemisphere

[johngennard]

Lovely,one of my favourite Spring sights but not seen often enough.Sadly I haven't been able to establish them as I would like but enjoy them in great profusion when travelling to my daughter in Bedfordshire where the roadside banks are covered with them at this time of the year.

These are a few pictures taken in the last few days in my garden.

Magnolia campbellii
Magnolia sargentiana robusta
Magnolia Leonard Messel


Acer palmatum Katsura
Pachysanthum

[johngennard]

cont'd

[astragalus]

No flowering trees yet, but a few things are flowering in the garden.  Not eough forage for the deer yet to distract them from the garden, so it is still covered by chicken wire, which makes it interesting when trying to photograph.

1.  Iris reticulata 'Clairette'
2.  Unknown Sax. in tufa.
3.  Close-up of above
4.  Another unknown Sax. in tufa

[astragalus]

And two more.
1.  Draba zapateri
2.  Synthyris laciniata  (?)

[Philip Walker]

Salix reticulata

[meanie]

The drought situation is getting strange. Our irrigation district has everyone on a 25% mandatory cut back on water, and yet they want to sell 16,000 acre feet of water (about 1/2 to 1/3 our current supply) to the Westlands Water District (Gigantic corporate farms - they are willing to pay big money). I am not the only farmer out of business. Other farmers have lost all their fruit trees and the farmers' market has thinned of vendors considerably. The produce also tastes terrible now! Tough, woody and dry.  Stay tuned. Now we have to get through the summer and fall.

Big corporations will always win any battle to protect or grow their profits. It is a harsh and unpleasant reality as the African land grab has proven. Enough politics though. I wish you the same as an online "buddy" in San Diego which is a wet and cool summer.

Here are a handful of standout plants from my visit to Oxfords Botanic Gardens yesterday;
Strongylodon macrobotrys was pruned back hard a couple of years ago and this is the first year that it will have a good flush of blooms since.............


Fritillaria acmopetala............


Arisaema sikokianum...........


Helicodiceros muscivorus...........


Lysichiton americanus..........

[brianw]

Dryas drommundii today, or is it?
This is in flower on a new rock bank I created to hold the soil/drive up. Planted 2 years ago as bought at an AGS show. The concrete edging is 3 feet wide. It only had 1 flower last year. The buds are quite attractive with the reddish hairs. Unfortunately I may have to erect a fence along the concrete in an attempt to keep the local deer out of this area so it will then get no sun. How well will it move and when should I do it?

[Maggi Young]

Couldn't you put a net bottom to the fencing to allow the area and its plants to keep their  light?

[ArnoldT]

Blood orange "Moro"

Wonderful scent.

[fixpix]

Some pics around my small garden. I am unemployed at the moment so there's more free time and fewer weeds.

[fixpix]

A few more (didn't know I was only allowed 5)

I always see some lizards around the rocks so I have pets

[brianw]

Couldn't you put a net bottom to the fencing to allow the area and its plants to keep their  light?

Can't decide how to close off this space. May use hit and miss fencing so broken sunlight would still get through. If I move it the other side of the concrete edging it would be flat in full sun for half the day. Maybe too hot. At present it is near the top of a north facing slope.

[latestart]

Can't decide how to close off this space. May use hit and miss fencing so broken sunlight would still get through. If I move it the other side of the concrete edging it would be flat in full sun for half the day. Maybe too hot. At present it is near the top of a north facing slope.

The hit and miss fencing is a good solution. If the concrete will take them use flat base metposts instead of digging in to the garden space.  If you use them you could then use the h&m fencing on 4" square posts to a height of your choice. Alternatively use wind/shade material,  (3.8mm x 1.6mm mesh made from "army" green polyethylene, with eyelets. Gives 50% wind speed reduction without creating turbulence and eddies as occurs with solid boundaries. It should be noted that wind speeds over 15mph can stress a plant so much that it will stop growing. It will give 35% shade which helps prevent scorching of plants) or High density black polythene. 15mm square mesh which should be deer proof. 

[latestart]

I am very pleased with this Androsace septentrionalis. It is the smallest member of the Primula family in the garden. I grew it from seed from SRGC seedex 2013/14. It is a small plant with a rosette of leaves and umbels of small white flowers held on multiple stems. 

[astragalus]

The tiny Androsace septentrionalis is a charmer, so nice to see someone growing it.  In the wild it seeds around and is a understory counterpoint of white.