December 2015 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

First day of "official" summer here!
 A friend in Kyneton suffered a frost last week! We live in interesting times!
In flower in the garden:
Calochortus ? argillosus
Acantholimon hohenackeri x2
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Also in flower:
Alstroemeria hookeri x2
Delosperma ?cooperi x 2
cheers
fermi

[Jupiter]

nice pictures Fermi. I love Acantholimon hohenackeri. I only recently discovered the genus and am planning to get hold of some seed next year.

[melager]

great to see these Fermi

Mel

[t00lie]

Nice plants Fermi
Alstroemeria hookeri doesn't last long here ..probably too shady and wet...

Had a wonderful catch up here yesterday with Carolyn and David of Kirkcudbright who hosted us back in 2010 while we were in Scotland.

Hot for them ,(and for us locals  ), with today reaching 25c with 28c forecast for tomorrow --even 'Monty' felt the need for a rest.

[ichristie]

Hello all thanks for showing pictures with flowers pretty dismal here with lots of snow, cheers Ian the Christie kind

[Jupiter]

You softies. We have our first heatwave of the season looming with these forecast tops for the week ahead.

Thursday: 29°C
Friday: 35°C
Saturday: 39°C
Sunday: 40°C
Monday: 36°C

Time to say goodbye to spring and embrace the summer scorch.

[fermi de Sousa]

Nice plants Fermi
Alstroemeria hookeri doesn't last long here ..probably too shady and wet...

Dave,
if ever there were two diametrically opposed gardens they would have to be ours

Hello all thanks for showing pictures with flowers pretty dismal here with lots of snow, cheers Ian the Christie kind

Glad to cheer up your dreary weather, Ian, with our pics;
here are a few Aussie native plants:
Eremophilas and Banksia foliage
Eremophila hybrid, maybe 'Summertime Blues'
Eremophila bignoniflorax polyclada
Eremophila glabra x E.veneta
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

I very much enjoyed the photograph of Clay Mariposa, Calochortus argillosus.

This species is native to Contra Costa County, California (and other neighboring counties) near and around Mt. Diablo. Mt. Diablo is certainly a landmark here in our part of California. It can be seen from across the valley near our farm here in El Dorado County. My grandfather farmed near the base of Mt. Diablo near the town of Brentwood. The Clay Mariposas grow in the foothills that start just outside Brentwood. At one time they were more common, however now one generally needs to go out Morgan Territory Road to see them.

There really were Morgans at one time that would come into Brentwood and "raise hell". My father remembers seeing them when he was a little boy. I do not know if there are Morgans around any more, but exploring around Mt. Diablo for plants is fun. There is still some wild space and many different species to see in the spring. Maybe I can get over there and report on what it is like and what I see.

[Maggi Young]

Had a wonderful catch up here yesterday with Carolyn and David of Kirkcudbright who hosted us back in 2010 while we were in Scotland.

Hot for them ,(and for us locals  ), with today reaching 25c with 28c forecast for tomorrow --even 'Monty' felt the need for a rest.

nice to see Carolyn  and David  looking so nice and warm!!

[Lesley Cox]

A quick question please. Yesterday I received in the post, my new seedlist but nothing so far Online. Is there no online list this year or have I somehow missed it? I want to pay the fee online as a draft is so very expensive, more than the seed fee itself. I haven't seen any feedback from people having received their list and usually there's a feeling of excitement when it arrives and people post about it. My sub is paid (October but not right at the beginning) so I'm wondering what's happening.

[Maggi Young]

Lesley - the online seed service opened yesterday. There is a notice  on the main web page,  in two places in the forum, notice board and seed threads, and on the main Seed Exchange page here :  http://www.srgc.net/site/index.php/extensions/seed-exchange  which is where you need to be!

[t00lie]

nice to see Carolyn  and David  looking so nice and warm!!

Hottest December day here yesterday at 28.5c since 1962 Maggi .......
However last night was the killer as temps only got down to a sticky 21c ...wet face cloth on the side of the bed ,sheet only ,all windows and curtains open overnight .Thankfully a very wet front has come through and it's a lovely 11c currently ....

Yip Jamus we are softies ......

[Jupiter]

Boy oh boy... 21 and I'd be pulling the quilt on. (not quite)   Isn't it interesting how we acclimatise to what we have to live with? Just like our plants.


A couple of ordinary garden plants flowering today



Alstroemeria psitaccina vriegata is a favourite despite it's bad reputation for being a thug.




I was given a bucket of Lilium regale bulbs and they are now all over the garden looking lovely.

[Mini-daffs]

 
Jamus, I wish someone would give me a bucket of liliums!
A few photos of what is flowering now.