Flowers and foliage March 2008

[Gerdk]

Michael,
According their beauty for me Moreas are improved Iris if their flowers would last a little bit longer than only a day. My experinece with that genus is very limited. So my question:
Are there species with a longer lifetime for an induvidual flower?

Gerd

[Lvandelft]

Yesterday morning I was just able to make some pictures in my garden
before the weather turned into very cold and windy, with hailstorms and rain.
The pictures of my raised bed show just some colours by tulips, but not much more to see at the moment. And I am afraid after the hailstorms of yesterday and today these flowers will have suffered very much.

Prunus  Pandora   
Iberis pruitii                 
Prim. trough 1   
Narcissus Oz       
raised bed 20.03.08 1   
raised bed 20.03.08 2 
raised bed 20.03.08 3           

[David Nicholson]

Seems to have been worse weather in Germany Luit, see Armin's pictures in the Weather thread

[Armin]

David,
indeed ugly weather here today.

Luit,
nice pix from your garden. It seems you still have a lot of free space in you raised bed
Have you already asked your collectors around your home to share some excess stock
Best Easter Greetings!

[Michael J Campbell]

I'm never sure when to sow South African stuff,

David,I sow them all in late Summer or early Autumn and hope for the best,those that don't germinate in the Winter usually do so in spring.
Aristata, Atropunctata,and tricolor are winter growers and flower in spring,Vegata is a spring and early summer grower and flowers in mid to late summer and Poltstachya is a Summer grower and flowers in autumn. 
According to Goldblatt ,Huttonii grows in or close to water and flowers in early summer (July) October to December in the Cape.
Cheers.

[Michael J Campbell]

Are there species with a longer lifetime for an induvidual flower?

Gerd ,the Spring flowering forms last more than one day with me ,the Autumn ones only last one day but produce an abundance of flowers so there is always a few open when the sun shines or the temperature is high enough.
cheers.

Michael.

[Lvandelft]

 It seems you still have a lot of free space in you raised bed

When I planned this bed I would not make the mistakes I made before and plant so much that for many plants was no room enough.
I hope to see plants develop and growing like in nature, so now after 3 years there is still free space, and after byuing new plants, I almost don't know where to plant them.
Frohe Ostern!

[David Nicholson]

I'm never sure when to sow South African stuff,

David,I sow them all in late Summer or early Autumn and hope for the best,those that don't germinate in the Winter usually do so in spring.
Aristata, Atropunctata,and tricolor are winter growers and flower in spring,Vegata is a spring and early summer grower and flowers in mid to late summer and Poltstachya is a Summer grower and flowers in autumn. 
According to Goldblatt ,Huttonii grows in or close to water and flowers in early summer (July) October to December in the Cape.
Cheers.

Michael, thanks for that, very helpful.

[Paul T]

Gerd,

Moreae spathulata, huttonii etc (there are about 5 in the species range of the same "type") have flowers that last for a few days at a time, and the clump is in flower in total a few weeks and there are always flowers there.  They look almost more like an Iris to be honest, rather than a Moraea.  I can post pics of the 2 species I mentioned if you are interested, and I have seed of M. spathulata I harvested a few months ago if you're wanting some.  These are evergreen species, with leaves a couple of feet long.  Extremely drought hardy and requiring absolutely no attention.

I think that Moraea polystachya (Michael posting a pic a couple of days ago) has flowers that last a couple of days I think (the first flower has just opened on mind, so I can confirm that if you want), rather than the single day like so many of them.  This species has a partially branching stem, which means you get multiple flowering points on the same stem with flowers open at the same time.  They can keep flowering for a couple of months in total, and depending which form of it you get they range from about a foot tall to more than 3 feet tall.  I have placed a small clump of the shorter form into my crocus garden as they won't be too tall and overpowering, while giving flowers through autumn into winter. 

Moraea villosa I think has flowers that last about 3 or 4 days unless it is really really warm.  They're a large flower and quite showy, but there aren't that many per stem.

That's a few that have a little less fleeting flowers.  Let me know if you want pics of the first two, either privately or here.

[Gerdk]

Michael, Paul,
Thank you.
Paul,
I am interested in some pics of your moreas but no seeds, please (there is always a lack of space in my greenhouse.

Gerd

[Paul T]

Gerd,

Here's a few pics of some of the Moraeas I mentioned.  I think that loubseri also lasts a few days, so I've included a pic of it as well.  M. spahtulata is by far the largest of these, with flowers more than 4 inches wide, looking more like an Iris.  It's smaller relative huttonii is much more delicate.

I hope others will forgive me interjecting these pics here in the northern hemisphere thread.

Enjoy.

[Gerdk]

Thank you Paul,
delightful plants, indeed.

Gerd

[Gerdk]

I cant resist to send a pic of this trashy pansy - but I love the colours.

Gerd

[Ulla Hansson]

Hello.
Is it possible to grow Moraea in Sweden, I think I live in zone 5, they are so beautiful.
Ulla

[Paul T]

Ulla,

I wish I could answer that for you, but I'm Zone 8/9 with -9'C absolute minimums in winter, so I'm not exactly authorative in answering this!!  I have no idea how cold particular species can take, so maybe others here can answer that for you.  I'd imagine that you'd be best growing them in a greenhosue or something like that, kept warmer than outside, but you would not need it to be frost free (well none of my Moraeas get frost free conditions, that is for sure!!).  Sorry I can't be more help.