April 2016 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Robert]

A few photographs from the garden a little earlier in the week.



Mimulus pictus

One of our annual California native species. Seed via Ginny Hunt, Seedhunt.



A very nice Rhododendron atlanticum hybrid. About .6 meters tall after 15 years.

[fermi de Sousa]

A few photographs from the garden a little earlier in the week.

Mimulus pictus

One of our annual California native species. Seed via Ginny Hunt, Seedhunt.

Well, that one certainly lives up to its name, Robert,
cheers
fermi

[Lampwick]

Mimulus pictus

One of our annual California native species. Seed via Ginny Hunt, Seedhunt.

WOW!!. . .that Mimulus is a beauty! I have never seen that before.
That is now on my “must have” list.

[Tristan_He]

I'm rather fond of the woodland Cardamine / Dentarias (though C. bulbifera is a bit of a pest). They don't flower all that long but they are pretty, no trouble and make a nice contrast to the bulbs.



Cardamine pentaphyllos


Cardamine kitaibelii

Ypsilandra tibetica is nice at this time of the year and again no trouble. Gone over now but here is a photo a couple of weeks ago.

[olegKon]

Gymnospermum altaicum. A week later than G. albertii

[Maggi Young]

Gymnospermum altaicum. A week later than G. albertii

 Do you have any cover over this in winter, Oleg - or is the snow enough?

[ian mcdonald]

The front lawn img. 1010225, and not a stripe in sight.

[Mike Ireland]

Cassiope Beatrice Lilley
Daphne x susanne Tichborne, now almost five feet across.
Paeonia cambessedesii white seedling.  Is this unusual?
Tulipa saxatalis.

The patch of seedling Trillium kurabayashii posted on April 7th has now been partially split up.
800 into pots, as many again into the garden, even more elsewhere, still plenty left so if you are passing this part of Lincolnshire
call in for a few.

[Robert]

WOW!!. . .that Mimulus is a beauty! I have never seen that before.
That is now on my “must have” list.

Yes, Mimulus pictus is certainly a beauty. There must be 30 plants in this tub - a good genetic mix and hopefully a good seed set!

When I get my latest outing posted under "blogs and diaries" there will be photographs of some of our other annual Mimulus species. They are all so charming and well worth the effort to grow, even in containers.

Well, that one certainly lives up to its name, Robert,
cheers
fermi

I enjoy cultivating many of our California native annuals. I hope to have more photographs soon. The Collinsias have just started as well as Leptosiphon bicolor.

[olegKon]

Do you have any cover over this in winter, Oleg - or is the snow enough?

No cover at all. I don't find the bulbs long-lived, but it self seeds which restores it

[Maggi Young]

Thanks, Oleg.

[Tristan_He]

Some of the trees are starting to flower now:





Betula ermanii. This is a really superb tree and tolerates our windy conditions very well when other birches (including native silver birch) struggle.



For comparison this Betula albosinensis was planted at the same time (about 12 years ago), but has grown much more slowly. Still beautiful bark though.



Salix gracillima 'Melanostachys'. I had to coppice this tree two years ago because it was suffering from a progressive disease that caused the leaves to go crispy and branches to die back. This treatment seems to have rejuvenated it though unfortunately it's still not flowering too well.

[Tristan_He]

Salix helvetica.



Salix hastata.

[Tristan_He]

Primroses and lungwort (P. angustifolia?) in the 'open woodland' area. This is a dryish border in semi-shade with a mix of perennials interspersed with a few shrubs and some small ash trees that will be coppiced for firewood when they are big enough.


The lungwort up close. These are really valuable as a foil for bulbs in the spring, and the bees and butterflies love them too.


Nepeta 'Walkers Low'. Our cat really does like this, as you can see! He doesn't tend to do the catmint much damage but he is then often stimulated to roll on the adjacent border, which doesn't do the plants there any good.


Echium piniana. A seedling from a friend on Anglesey - to be honest I didn't really expect it to survive the winter up here but it seems fine. I wonder if it will flower this year?

[Robert]

Allium unifolium looking good today.