May in the Northern Hemisphere

[Hoy]

This is terribly late for Leucojum vernum to be flowering but that's not a complaint.  We love the vernums and have v. carpaticum, we lost v. wagneri and one called 'Popo.......' which originally may have come from Janis. What has been elusive are those with green marks.  We were told the seed must come from Romania or easternmost Hungary. ()
So I was excited when going through friend's garden yesterday to learn they had the green-marked vernum which came from a neighbour.  On examination the marks were green initially but seem to fade to yellow. Is this the case as a rule?  We had 1000 seeds from the eastern form but none germinated and have not found a source since.

A few photos from the aforementioned ones, you will see green marks on a freshly opened one on the left.  The last photos shows how persistent this species is here, it is struggling to come up in a well-used path that is compacted like cement.

johnw

I have two different clones but they are very similar, one being a bit more yellow than the other which have two flowers in the inflorescence. None are as yellow as you sometimes can see pictured. The plants are from friends and Leucojum vernum is a very common and old garden plant here at the west coast where it increases well.
They usually flower as early as February - March here.

[meanie]

Unfortunately we have had occasions in the past when Photobucket and similar  albums have become unavailable and the photos are then  lost from the forum. 

This may not bother everyone but from the point of view of building the forum as a permanent searchable resource, it is, as they say "a bummer"   

I see the point there, but as the photos I post are "look at what I've got" type photos they don't qualify as a resource do they?  Let's be honest, the odds of me being able to give you guys a "how to" thread are marginally less than booger all, it's deffo the other way round
Plus my 800 odd photos on Flickr still doesn't add up to 1% of my available storage.

Anyway, back on topic, a piccie of Ornithogalum nutans.............


Dead common and easy but I like them and they reward me by multiplying freely here............


I'll share this rather nice surprise with you as it is technically foliage. Yesterday I pulled a Datura wrightii out that was planted last summer for a last hurrah only to notice that it is back in growth. So I can confirm that D.wrightii is hardy to short spells at -8°c..........


All in all not a bad weekend as Bomarea edulis is just breaking the surface after being planted out last year.

[Maggi Young]

I see the point there, but as the photos I post are "look at what I've got" type photos they don't qualify as a resource do they?  Let's be honest, the odds of me being able to give you guys a "how to" thread are marginally less than booger all, it's deffo the other way round
Plus my 800 odd photos on Flickr still doesn't add up to 1% of my available storage.

Anyway, back on topic, a piccie of Ornithogalum nutans.............
Dead common and easy but I like them and they reward me by multiplying freely here............


I'll share this rather nice surprise with you as it is technically foliage. Yesterday I pulled a Datura wrightii out that was planted last summer for a last hurrah only to notice that it is back in growth. So I can confirm that D.wrightii is hardy to short spells at -8°c..........

All in all not a bad weekend as Bomarea edulis is just breaking the surface after being planted out last year.

Well, you see , as the forum contains so many photos of plants that are either correctly ID'd in the first place - or obtain correct naming from the other forumists chipping in, even  a basic "this is what I've got" shot can add to a balance of information on a particular plant.
And look at the rest of your post -  comment on your experience with the Ornithogalum and useful info on the Datura  - what makes a resource  that can be used by so many if not the experiences of the many - so long as they are here for good and searchable!
That's what worries me about Facebook  for instance - there are folks imparting some useful stuff there - but it will disappear into the ether and never be able to be found by a search  in the future. It ca be tough to find something there after five minutes!

[johnw]

Trond  - That L. vernum you posted looks green to me. Does it indeed fade to yellow?

john

[johnw]

We're quite chuffed with Ernie O'Byrne's Winter Jewel Series, THE ONYX ODESSEY STRAIN of Helleborus xhybridus even though I am no lover of doubles in anything but Galanthus.  All are nearly identical to these two - Photos 1 & 2  ONYX ODESSEY STRAIN seedlings, a good percentage are like these.   Photo 3 is his Winter Jewel Series, APRICOT BLUSH STRAIN which is now fading to raspberry and hard to capture properly.

Edit  - See below for seed availability outside North America, not available in N. America! Photo names have been renamed.

johnw

[David Nicholson]

I think those are the darkest I've ever seen John.

[Hoy]

Trond  - That L. vernum you posted looks green to me. Does it indeed fade to yellow?

john

No, not yellow but a colour between green and yellow.

The other clone looks like this, it tends to be more yellow (but not like butter) and to have only one flower.
It is difficult to see the colour difference in the pictures.

[Maggi Young]

I love Leucojum vernum - but I do think that most are a tad on the "variable side" 

[Maggi Young]

We're quite chuffed with Ernie O'Byrne's Winter Jewel strain of Helleborus xhybridus even though I am no lover of doubles in anything but Galanthus.  All are nearly identical to these two - Photos 1 & 2.   Photo 3 is his Apricot Blush strain which is now fading to raspberry and hard to capture properly.

johnw

Those are glorious! The black is just scrumptious.   A double that is complete with "sexy bits" can be very acceptable in my eyes - it's frilly fully double flowers that  I don't like.

[johnw]

Trond / Maggi - Your picture in reply 82 is more what I thought of as a green-marked L. vernum.  To my eye I'd call it lime green rather than the bright yellow we see here either as v. carpaticum or a faded "green". 

As for the black Hellebores I have never really seen them effectively displayed.  Helen Dillon said she yanked out all the black flowers and foliage as she reckoned she was simply creating holes in the garden.  As is so often the case she may well be spot on.  We won't be tossing them however. By the way has Hazles Cross Farm stopped hellebore seed sales? Every year I go on their website and the seed sales section says the list will be posted in May 2012.  And never a response from them.

john

[Robert]

A few photographs from the garden - nursery.



Allium campanulatum. One of our common, high elevation native Allium species. They are easily grown and may be worth selecting improved forms. In their native habitat they look great mixed with their other native wildflower companions, such as Lupinus lepidus, various annual Mimulus species, Calochortus minimus, Eriogonums, ect.



Collinsia heterophylla. This form is from local seed gathered down the road about 1/2 mile. This is the third generation of saving seed and selecting. The flowers are not as large as the Southern Sierra form, however they are good robust plants that produce many flowers. When massed, as they can be in nature, they put on a spectacular show.



Geranium dalmaticum. Very common and easily grown. Still a sweet little plant that I would not be without.

[Leena]

That is the most beautiful dark double I have ever seen!

About Leucojum vernum: they are here just going over and it is raining now, but i'll see if I have any photos of mine. I have one which starts yellow and stays yellow (usually two flowers per stem), another starts green and changes to yellowish green (usually one flower/stem), and then I have the third but I don't remember how it behaves.

[johnw]

That is the most beautiful dark double I have ever seen!

About Leucojum vernum: they are here just going over and it is raining now, but i'll see if I have any photos of mine. I have one which starts yellow and stays yellow (usually two flowers per stem), another starts green and changes to yellowish green (usually one flower/stem), and then I have the third but I don't remember how it behaves.

Leena  - You should be able to find that strain in the EU somewhere.  North West Garden Nursery sells seed in the EU but not in North America.  All the seedlings here are virtually identical.

L. vernum, I believe we too have a group that open with yellow markings and stay yellow.

john

[Leena]

Leena  - Yoiu should be able to find that strain in the EU somewhere.  North West Garden Nursery sells seed in the EU but not in North America.  All the seedlings here are virtually identical.

I googled it, but only found Oregon based nursery. If anyone knows where their seeds are sold in EU, I would be interested in them.

These are my Leucojum vernum.
The first two pictures are are from a strain which has mostly one flower per stem and the spots start out green but change to yellowish green later, in the first picture the flowers are different age and show the change (sorry that they are not sharp, leucojums were not the main target)

In the third picture these are Leucojum vernum also bought from Estonia (at the market in Tallinn) but they produce mostly two flowers per stem and the flowers start green and stay greener as the first one.

The fourth strain was bought from Netherlands and there are both bulbs which start yellow and stay yellow and some bulbs have green spots, sorry I don't have a better picture.
I didn't find a picture of the strain which has yellow flowers all the time and has two flowers per stem, when the rain stops I will have to go and see if the flowers are still in any condition to photograph.

[Leena]

This is a picture from the garden yesterday evening. Corydalis is still in flower, as are some crocuses and hellebores. The narcissus is N.moschatus (or bought as such).
Second photo is of one of my yellow hellebores (from Ashwood seeds) and the third is Trillium chloropetalum 'Rubrum' planted last autumn and flowering now.