July 2015 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Arum]

Flowering in July

1/ Scoliopus bigelovii
2/ Scoliopus bigelovii
3/ Galanthus dionysus
4/ Narcissus romieuxii ex "Julia Jane"
5/ Narcissus ? lost label. Would like to put a name to this.

Edna

[Jupiter]

Edna thanks for posting those pictures. Stunning plants and very well grown. Scoliopus bigelovii is high on my list of wants but I haven't come across it for sale yet.
Your Galanthus dionysus is exemplary, look how many buds are coming!

[Arum]

Thank you for your kind words Jamus. As you will know I cannot send you a plant but I do expect seed later in the season. I have an older plant outside in a one of my garden tubs which usually produces an abundance - so let me know if you would like some. Can take up five years to flower but so interesting and well worth the effort. My own plants were grown form Belgium seed. Yes I love the galanthus - a few bulbs given to me some years ago have increased nicely. Have other doubles coming on I am looking forward to - just hope they survive the hail expected later. Impossible to cover all my treasures.
Regards Edna

[Anthony Darby]

I like your hoop petticoats, which seem to be behaving well, and the Dionysus are looking really good too. I never got seeds on my Scoliopus bigelovii.

[Anthony Darby]

Some pics taken down at Bill Dijk's place near Tauranga. An unidentified cyclamen; Lachenalia hybrids; Narcissus viridiflorus cross; Iris unguicularius and a view of the pans of plants in one section, with Tecophilaea cyanocrocus in the 3 dozen or so nearest boxes.

[Arum]

I don't know why your Scoliopus bigelovii does not set seed Anthony. Maybe it could be that my plant is outside where it is more exposed to insects. It is certainly smelly enough to attract them. I find it fascinating that as the seed capsule matures the plant bends & bows over to bring it in down in contact with the soil.
Regards Edna

[Anthony Darby]

My plant was outside in the rockery in Dunblane. Never got down close enough to smell it. Not a plant I would grow here though.

[fermi de Sousa]

I don't know why your Scoliopus bigelovii does not set seed... It is certainly smelly enough to attract them...

Hi Edna,
I think the polite term is "wet dog"! I'm not too sad that I can't grow that one here!
It was a beautiful, sunny winter's day here after a ferocious (for us) frost, so a good day to get stuck into the gardening.
A few blooms I thought worth sharing:
Sternbergia candida now in full flower,
A single bloom on Crocus olivieri ssp olivieri, grown from seed Marcus Harvey collected in (on?) Steno (?),
Galanthus 'Lady Beatrix Stanley'
Dryandra, now Banksia....label buried in there somewhere!
Muscari inconstrictum, this one grown from seed from AGS Seedex,
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Quote from: Arum on Today at 04:27:33 AM

    I don't know why your Scoliopus bigelovii does not set seed... It is certainly smelly enough to attract them...

Many people find that Scoliopus bigelovii  will not set seed. Alf Evans wrote as much in "The Peat Garden" - he had not had the plants set seed in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (at that time - it maybe that they have more success there now)

We have found that it is willing to set seed here, though we are not always  good at collecting it 

[Arum]

Hello Fermi
Yes all wonderful blooms to share thank you. Especially the Galanthus "Lady Beatrix Stanley" & the muscari inconstrictum - such a great little plant & such beautiful shades of blue. Love it.
Regards Edna

[Lesley Cox]

I've never had seed on mine even with hand pollinating. I wondered if it needed another clone? but perhaps not if yours Edna, is just a single plant. A friend in Dunedin had it growing in a half barrel for many years and the stems curled over the side all round and shed masses of seed so that it eventually become a tight ground cover.

Looking forward to a sunny day and there will be two flowers on Iris danfordiae. Yeah!!

[Lesley Cox]

Wondering now if the crocus I posted n the Crocus ID thread may be olivieri ssp olivieri. I know I had it somewhere. It looks just like yours Fermi.

[Tim Ingram]

The thought of Scoliopsis bigelovii setting seed and making groundcover is remarkable. We've never had seed set on it but S. hallii has set lots of seed, though few people will ever notice it.

Fermi - presumably all Dryandra are now Banksia? I have 'The Banksia Book' and 'The Dryandra Book' - Field Guide by R.M.Sainsbury (and 'The Grevillea Book') - they are obviously very close botanically but dryandras are restricted to the south-west as far as I know so do make quite a distinctive group. These Australian Proteaceae are fascinating - we used to grow quite a few (they would suit our present really dry summer well - wouldn't like the winters so much!).

[Arum]

Tim & Maggi,
I am just beginning to realize how lucky I have been. I have had S. halli also set seed in the past - such a dainty little thing.
Regards Edna

[fermi de Sousa]

Yes all wonderful blooms to share thank you. Especially the Galanthus "Lady Beatrix Stanley" & the muscari inconstrictum - such a great little plant & such beautiful shades of blue.

Thanks, Edna,
Lady Beatrix is the only one of the doubles that does well in our garden and has actually increased! I've posted a pic of another seed raised M.inconstrictum on the "Muscari Thread" which I grew from seed from Kurt Vickery; it's more vigorous than this one and increased a bit, while this one hardly producesany offsets

Wondering now if the crocus I posted n the Crocus ID thread may be olivieri ssp olivieri. I know I had it somewhere. It looks just like yours Fermi.

Could be, Lesley,
you'd need Otto or Marcus to confirm; I'm no expert!

Fermi - presumably all Dryandra are now Banksia? I have 'The Banksia Book' and 'The Dryandra Book' - Field Guide by R.M.Sainsbury (and 'The Grevillea Book') - they are obviously very close botanically but dryandras are restricted to the south-west as far as I know so do make quite a distinctive group. These Australian Proteaceae are fascinating - we used to grow quite a few (they would suit our present really dry summer well - wouldn't like the winters so much!).

Hi Tim,
I love the banksias and we've planted a number over the years. This one has great foliage which you have to shove aside to be able to see the flowers! Here are a few more pics,
cheers
fermi