July 2015 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Maggi Young]

Clever tactics really, by this plant - a nice fragrance to attract pollinators but  a stink to deter grazing critters!  Other Polemonium I have grown have been uniformly  stinky.

[Robert]

Ornithogalum candicans looking stately.

[Jupiter]

Stunning plant Robert. I haven't seen that one before.

[Robert]

Stunning plant Robert. I haven't seen that one before.

Jamus,

I was impress too. This plant stands close to 2 meters tall, others from the same batch of seed are not as tall. The heat does not seem to bother it either, as there is no foliage burn and the flowers last in good condition for a week or more. It does need irrigation during the summer. For me it is certainly worth the effort to give it the extra water.

[Jupiter]

I found them on the catalogues of the bulb nurseries here in Oz. I'd just overlooked them before, thinking I knew Ornithogalum and wasn't interested... my mistake!

[Leena]

Romneya coulteri is in flower here in my Berlin garden 

Irm, what phlox do you have growing behind Romneya?

[fermi de Sousa]

I found them on the catalogues of the bulb nurseries here in Oz. I'd just overlooked them before, thinking I knew Ornithogalum and wasn't interested... my mistake!

Previously known as Galtonia candicans, so that maybe why you've missed them before,
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Jamus,

I was impress too. This plant stands close to 2 meters tall, others from the same batch of seed are not as tall. The heat does not seem to bother it either, as there is no foliage burn and the flowers last in good condition for a week or more. It does need irrigation during the summer. For me it is certainly worth the effort to give it the extra water.

 My goodness - nearly 2m tall!!  Surely this must be something of a record? Does anyone know of a taller example of this plant, Ornithogalum candicans /Galtonia candicans ?

[Maggi Young]

Irm, what phlox do you have growing behind Romneya?

I wondered the same thing,Leena. Irm, the combination of the Romneya with the Phlox and its dark foliage is very pleasing.

[latestart]

(Attachment Link)

Ornithogalum candicans looking stately.

I grow these and the flower seen inside is beautiful too. Mine have only reached around 1m. I bought them as bulbs. This photo taken in 2011. 

[Robert]

My goodness - nearly 2m tall!!  Surely this must be something of a record? Does anyone know of a taller example of this plant, Ornithogalum candicans /Galtonia candicans ?

I grew the Ornithogalum candicans from a seed exchange seed list. So maybe they are hybrids? Perhaps mislabeled seed? I know that I had misgivings about ordering the seed. Why did I want this? They turned out much better than I expected (understatement!). Who ever they are they are keepers.  They certainly thrive with our climatic conditions and look great.

[johnw]

The show on the Cornus kousa trees about the city is quite amazing this year.  Here the pink-flowered 'Satomi' at one of Ken's clients & note the vigour, those grafted on C. florida seem to lack that and go into a decline.

johnw   

[Maggi Young]

Rather impressive display there, John.

[Gabriel B]

I can't help posting about my cyclamens again. The seeds are ripening, and I've been collecting them every morning and evening as they open. Looking forward to raising hundreds of seedlings this fall and winter, and creating huge cyclamen carpets at Gardens of Rice Creek.

The blazing stars (Liatris pycnostachya) in our rain garden have been growing upwards, preparing for their autumn bloom. Their stems covered in narrow leaves look like rockets with green plumes of smoke shooting up from the ground. In autumn, the stems are 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and the upper half is covered in closely spaced small red-purple flowers. Very spectacular, although they tend to fall over (probably from lack of potassium).

At Gardens of Rice Creek, Betty Ann Addison's Carpathian bellflowers (Campanula carpatica and Campanula carpatica turbinata) are in full bloom. They have self-seeded, so there are many different colors, from deep blue-purple to icy blue, and some of the flowers are flat (the turbinata form).

The twinflowers (Linnaea borealis) are sending out long purple stems with bright shiny round leaves. They're just as pretty in leaf as in flower.

[Edit:] Oops. Maggi, would you rotate the twinflower picture clockwise?

{ Maggi ----Yup! }

[meanie]

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Ornithogalum candicans looking stately.

That is one of my favourite hardy bulbs of the summer. Quite a prolific self seeder here.

Digitalis ferruginea.................