June 2016 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Brian Ellis]

A couple of Dactylorhiza from the garden today.  D. fuchsii(?) Edinburgh form and D. fuchsii var okellyi, a gift from the now elusive John Finch.

[Maggi Young]

I'm not fooled - John  thought that o'kellyi was a fancy new snowdrop!

[François Lambert]

Loverly flowers on the broad bean, I remember them fron when I was a kid, I hated them. Is it the runner bean which is the climber with the red flowers?

I love broad beans ... and grow my own stock every the year.  I have runner beans in white, red and all kinds of hybrids in between.  I started with white & red, but the pollinating insects decided that I should have very own hybrid species.  Even the colour and the spots on the beans get mixed.

[François Lambert]

the pictures were taken about a week ago - one one of those  rare sunny moments we had this month

[François Lambert]

The lovely miniature tigridia chiapensis - grown from seeds of the SRGC seed exchange    Natural habitat are wet meadows, so the current wet June with it's daily rain provision suits them perfectly.

[Brian Ellis]

I'm not fooled - John  thought that o'kellyi was a fancy new snowdrop!

 

[illingworth]

Before June is gone I wanted to post a few photos of our garden.

Polygonatum odoratum 'Fireworks' is a favourite but slow to bulk up.

Paeonia veitchii alba is seed grown. Out of the 5 seeds  planted only one was white. The others were a very pale pink.

The Arisaema is consanguineum .  We think. Seed came from the ACE collection.
After the first plants matured and produced seed I planted it in 12x12 inch flats. Germination was nearly 100%, and rather than planting each seedling individually, the flats were emptied out on the ground without disturbance.  They prospered and proved to be fully hardy, surviving  with little snow cover at -30C for 3 weeks or more.

[Roma]

Tulipa sprengeri did not last long when the heavy rain came.  Now botrytis has set in and it looks a mess.
Aquilegias ready for dead heading (job now done).
Martagon lilies poised to take over the display

[Roma]

Androsace lanuginosa always looks a mess in winter and takes up too much space but when it flowers I can forgive it and it flowers for a long time.
The thymes on the other hand have a brief flowering period but the bees love them.  These are self sown seedlings.

[Lesley Cox]

I love broad beans ... and grow mhttp://www.srgc.net/forum/Smileys/classic/tongue.gify own stock every the year.  I have runner beans in white, red and all kinds of hybrids in between.  I started with white & red, but the pollinating insects decided that I should have very own hybrid species.  Even the colour and the spots on the beans get mixed.

But that doesn't matter does it Francois, so long as they all taste good.

[Gabriela]

Before June is gone I wanted to post a few photos of our garden.

The Arisaema is consanguineum .  We think. Seed came from the ACE collection.
After the first plants matured and produced seed I planted it in 12x12 inch flats. Germination was nearly 100%, and rather than planting each seedling individually, the flats were emptied out on the ground without disturbance.  They prospered and proved to be fully hardy, surviving  with little snow cover at -30C for 3 weeks or more.

Love the way they look clump growing!
Have you tried 'breaking' the Polygonatum rhizome? I did it by chance with Polygonatum Spiral Staircase when I moved; I took it apart in 3-4 pieces, planted them in few pots and it started to multiply with the speed of light.

[johnw]

Rob - What a magnificent stand of Arisaema!  It would be great to hear which of the Arisaema spp. have proven hardy outdoors for you.

Wonder also if you have tried A. yamatense as here it is almost 4ft high?  I have to wonder if this is not what Barrie Porteous was growing long ago on Georgian Bay and which at the time was thought to be tortuousum or even robust?

john - extremely dry.

[François Lambert]

But that doesn't matter does it Francois, so long as they all taste good.

one of those vegetables with high ornamental value and the other way round too

[illingworth]

John W asked >> It would be great to hear which of the Arisaema spp. have proven hardy outdoors for you.<<

We have a Flickr album which brings together our arisaema  photos over time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/illingworth/albums/72157600052899390

When we first started with arisaemas we cheated quite a bit by growing the tubers in 5 inch square pots which were plunged early each season and lifted for storage after the first heavy frost. I drilled 16  holes 1 1/2 " in diameter in each pot to give the roots room to run once they were in the ground.  When lifted in the fall for winter storage I slipped the mother pot into one of the same size without extra holes after the plants had first dried off. The pots were stored in a cool cellar room until the plants either woke up on their own in spring or there was enough residual warmth in our hoop house to trot out the trays.  Eventually I became impatient with the routine, the time spent and the artifice and started trying a few plants directly outside in the open garden.  The Ace plants were out there early and quickly proved their hardiness. There is another ACE plant in the garden similar to consanguineum with a light green spathe that can grow to 1 m. in height. It hasn't really done that well here over winter in the garden and I think there is one still out there.  I have only two left in pots so maybe I should collect some seed and keep trying.

As for other plants A. flavum is hardy but does not emerge until after July 7th. We  have two varieties; a small yellow flowered one and one that is taller and slender. I consider both to be weeds as they really seed about. Our native Arisaema triphyllum also seeds everywhere but is easier to manage and I like the variation in the spathe colouring that they give.

Arisaema tortuosum has not been hardy.  Arisaema amurense robustum is hardy and grows well, seeding around but in the last few years the deer have taken a liking to them. A.fargesi has not been tested over winter yet as they have never produced seed. We get off sets but they take time to take hold and grow. Arisaema ringens is not hardy and sikokianum fades after a winter or two. I was totally surprised when Arisaema candidissimum wintered. It still hasn't emerged this year and I keep checking the spot hoping to be surprised again for the third time. Finally, I have some tubers of Arisaema urashima to grow on and will try to see if they overwinter once the tubers give me flowers and seed. 

We have not tried A. yamatense.

John, you wrote  >>I have to wonder if this is not what Barrie Porteous was growing long ago on Georgian Bay and which at the time was thought to be tortuousum or even robust?<<

Do you mean what we grow here as consanguineum? I may have sent seed of our plant to Ellen Hornig years back but I'm not certain.  Our original seed all came directly from the ACE distribution with only a collection number as an ID.

Thank you Gabriela for the suggestion to bulk up the the polygonatum rhizome. I'm going to follow your lead.

-Rob

[johnw]

We have not tried A. yamatense.   John, you wrote  >>I have to wonder if this is not what Barrie Porteous was growing long ago on Georgian Bay and which at the time was thought to be tortuousum or even robust?<< Do you mean what we grow here as consanguineum?

Rob  - Thanks for the great info.  No I meant I wonder if yamatense is the big arisaema Barrie grew.  It was very tall and green-flowered.  In the autumn I'll send you a spare to try out there as it seems impervious to the weather.


johnw