January 2016 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Jupiter]

Habranthus cv. given to me by Fermi responding to the 20mm we had last week. Amazing how fast they are. A nice bit of optimism in the midst of a very challenging summer. Thanks Fermi.

[Otto Fauser]

Hello Jamus ,  re ordering seed of Leucogenes grandiceps : in autumn I will send you a plant of Leucogenes leontopodioides ( the " New Zealand Edelweiss ) which I think is nicer than grandiceps . I can also send you 2 other silvery New Zealanders :the natural bigeneric hybrid xLeucoraoulia loganii and Ozothamnus (Helichrysum )coralloides  for planting in your crevice garden . I too would love to grow Lesley's Campanula pulla x zoysii !Would you like Campanula tommasiniana  , 'G. F' Wilson" and cochlearifolia 'Miranda ' that Reginald Farrer found in the Alps a century ago and which I kept in cultivation here for nearly 60 years .

[Jupiter]

Thank you Otto, L. leontopodioides looks lovely. I'm planning a new rock garden project for the autumn. I'm already dropping hints about buying more stone to Rebecca, warming her up to the idea.

I have a white flowered Campanula cochlearifolia established under a rock overhang and it's coming through its second summer. I think I can grow these with a bit of care and just the right nook for them.

[Jupiter]

Welcome to the forum Brock. Do you grow your bulbs in pots or in the garden too? Do you have a rock garden? Be warned, they can be seriously addictive... I had to look up contrabassoon... wonderful instrument.

[fermi de Sousa]

Jamus,
nice to see the Habranthus flowering for you. Did I have it labelled as H.martinezii x H.robustus?
There are a few things worth a pic at present in our garden.
Zauscherneri (known included in Epilobium - what a come-down!) cultivar? received from Gillian, a friend in Kyneton;
Lilium 'Black Beauty'
The Seseli is favoured by ants!
cheers
fermi

[Jupiter]

Fermi the Habranthus was simply labelled Habranthus hybrid. Is it martinezii x robustus?

I can't get enough of that Seseli. My plant looks good. It might flower next year with any luck. I may ask you for some seed Fermi, looks like you will have a bucket!

[Robert]

Lovely Zauschneria Fermi.

Epilobium (Zauschneria) canum ssp. latifolia grows near the farm here. It is not as drought tolerant as some of the other subspecies. I always find it near water at the lower elevations. Higher up the mountain I have seen it in drier habitats, or what at least appears to be drier habitats?

I have observed ssp. canum on the east side of the Southern Sierra Nevada. There the habitat was very xeric. or so it seemed!

I have never observed ssp. garrettii in the wild, however despite its desert home, it appears to be associated with moisture in some way or another - at least this is what I find in the literature.

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi the Habranthus was simply labelled Habranthus hybrid. Is it martinezii x robustus?

I can't get enough of that Seseli. My plant looks good. It might flower next year with any luck. I may ask you for some seed Fermi, looks like you will have a bucket!

Hi Jamus,
most likely that's H.mart x robust but I'm not sure which clone; I don't think that I've ever seen a "proper" name for it, other than the cross spelled out in full.
I'm hoping that the critters on the seseli are pollinating it - the previous flower head yielded no seed at all

Epilobium (Zauschneria) canum ssp. latifolia grows near the farm here. It is not as drought tolerant as some of the other subspecies. I always find it near water at the lower elevations. Higher up the mountain I have seen it in drier habitats, or what at least appears to be drier habitats?

Hi Robert,
despite it's silvery foliage it does seem to do better if given some summer water so we're not keeping it very xeric. Another plant is planted in a much watered bed and it is looking luxuriant but is yet to flower,
cheers
fermi

[melager]

Leslie love the color of the cast, and Fermi great pictures of your fantastic liliums I have a few at the moment as well

Mel

[melager]

Have some interesting seeds germinating at moment, the start of Chris Chadwells expedition seed is germinating which I am thrilled about

[astragalus]

Robert, all the Zauschnerias in my garden handle drought very well, despite what the literature says.  That would include the dwarfer forms of californicum, canum and garrettii.  All have been hardy so far.  Sometimes it just pays to ignore the books and give plants a try.

[Robert]

Hi Robert,
despite it's silvery foliage it does seem to do better if given some summer water so we're not keeping it very xeric. Another plant is planted in a much watered bed and it is looking luxuriant but is yet to flower,
cheers
fermi

Actually my experience with various Zauschnerias is similar to that reported by Fermi - some summer irrigation being best. Our Zauschnerias looked and performed terrible this last season under extreme xeric conditions. Maybe drought is relative to the climate?

I tend to ignore many "gardening books" too. "The literature" I was referring to were field notes made by trained botanist here in California. In reference to Epilobium canum ssp. garrettii, I read things like: "Growing on bank above running water"; or "Growing on north facing cliff face with dripping water". These observation were made in the Southern California Desert.

(The field notes are from the Anza-Borrego Desert. It has been a long time, but have been there. The mountains to the west drop-off very quickly and steeply towards the desert below. There are a number of streams that flow down the mountains into the desert before disappearing. The field notes seem very reasonable to me based on what I observed when I visited the area.)

I just planted seed from Alan Bradshaw of ssp. garrettii. I will report on my results under our local gardening conditions with this subspecies as things progress.

Anne, it is clear from your experience that many Zauschneria have a good degree of drought tolerance. These are very useful observations. Interior California and parts of Southern Australia perhaps take drought tolerance to the next level of endurance. I am sure that all of this information is useful for gardeners with similar climatic conditions. 

[astragalus]

Robert, the zauschnerias have performed amazingly well here, despite last summer's almost 3 months with no rain and a lot of heat.  However, in most cases they have very, very deep root runs, in a mostly gravel mix on top of creviced rock that was simply too big to remove and use.  Their roots probably remain cool during the heat as a result and they may be able to find a little moisture under the rock.  I did lose one Z.'Siskiyou dwarf' planted in a shallower crevice on the back of the cliff in full all day sun.
Guess that was asking too much.
Of course, they might be even better if I were able to give them water during the summer heat and drought.  I have observed during the removal of dead plants (not zauschnerias), that the roots will be splayed against and concentrated around rock.  My assumption is that the rock may be the last place to lose moisture.  (I'm referring to buried rock, of course).

[Robert]

Anne,

The soil around here (farm) can be (more like is ) terrible. The soil is rocky, sometimes shallow, to non-existent (i.e. rock outcroppings), and too often poor draining. All the "good" ground is taken by the orchard and row crops. This is a big part of the plant culture equation around here. "Alpines" and "Rock Garden" plants do well around here only because the planting beds I make are "above ground".

In Sacramento our house sits on Class I soil (the very best there is!). Even Rhododendrons are drought tolerant on this soil.       It seems a crime that this ground grows houses. I would certainly enjoy having more ground like this to garden on. 

[Jupiter]

Since when did our Southern Hemisphere thread get hijacked by Northerns arguing about the definition of drought!?!      Too funny.

Speaking of drought, I call this cause for optimism... Pulsatilla vulgaris responding to the recent rains... 35mm in the last week. Things are looking up.