April 2017 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Jupiter]

Crocus caspius, the first flower opened today a week behind Anita's. There are more to come.

[fermi de Sousa]

Finally an autumn crocus in bloom!
Only noticed it yesterday evening so brought it inside but it stayed closed; cold drizzly day today so no chance until we turned the heating on after dark!
Crocus speciosus ssp xantholaimus (NARGS Sdx 2003; collected Turkey, Erich Pasche).
Sorry, I can't check it out in Janis' new book as my copy hasn't arrived yet!
cheers
fermi

[Parsla]

Its lovely to see crocus in bloom again. The banaticus is beautiful Jamus, and the dark pulchellus.

My crocus goulimyi are just popping up, some opening, others still sulking underground

Mostly though it is the cyclamen lending colour to brighten the faded end-of-summer garden.

1. Crocus goulimyi
2. The same, but the 'Mani White'
3-5. Various cyclamen

[Parsla]

...and a few miscellaneous perennials

1. Plectranthus ecklonii
2. Persicaria virginiana (or virginia knotweed)
3. A spider chrysanthemum - a cutting from susan jarick
4. Tricyrtis - i think T. formosana but unsure

happy Easter to all.

[Lesley Cox]

It seems we have finished with the last of cyclone Cook down from Vanuatu. In the South Island we had what was for us jolly good rain with no damage at all though the North Island was badly flooded and trees, roofs, cars destroyed, the second dose following cyclone Debbie just the week before.

So I've had heavy drizzle off and on since Thursday but no wind worth the name and no flooding though the lawn is very soggy. All pots and plantings have had a good pre-winter drenching and in the meantime the temperature today at my place at 11am, is 20C. I expect frosts from now on but no sign so far. Today the sun is out and it's very pleasant outside, just as well as I have a lot of pots to move to a new area so I can get my car into one end of my shed before the cold comes.

Crocuses and Cyclamen are the best of the flowers except for Dahlia 'Bishop Llandaff' which has been blooming since Christmas. It is making a fabulous picture under a red-leaved maple which has turned to scarlet over the last week.

[Jupiter]

Hi Jacqui. Your Crocus goulimyi looks lovely in the baby's tears.

[Jupiter]

and two more from today

[anita]

My favourite Crocus (because it grows so well for me) goulimyi is in full swing. It is one of the few that thrives in the garden on the Adelaide Plains, obviously it does not require any winter chilling and it doesn't mind additional irrigation during summer. This lot, originally from Marcus Harvey, has been in the same spot since 2011. There were only three corms to start with. This group has been in bloom for two weeks. As each bloom lasts just a few days there have probably been around 60 blooms. It's near cousin C. goulimyi Mani White is just coming into bloom. Mani White grows adjacent to a buffalo lawn and gets watered every couple of weeks during summer. That group is growing right at the foot of a Papa Meilland rose bush and doesn't seem to be worried by the irrigation required to keep lawn and roses alive - unusual for the autumn flowerers, many of which like it really dry during their rest.

[Jupiter]

Your goulimyi is looking amazing Anita! What a good show. How did you enjoy the rain today? We had 28mm! I can breathe a sigh of relief now as things have been getting pretty dry lately. Good news, tonight when I got home from work and did my customary tour of the garden I noticed two germinating Crocus tournefortii from the seed you gave me. Nothing in the goulimyi yet but they shouldn't be far behind.

[anita]

I'm so glad the tournefortii are up! The goulimyi shouldn't be far behind.
We got about 20mm today. Thrilled to bits as the ground was so dry. If it hadn't rained we were going to have to start a major round of watering. I expect we're now going to have an orgy of cyclamen coming through.

[Jupiter]

Oxalis massoniana

[Lesley Cox]

My Oxalis massoniana is still a couple of weeks away but has been very dry under trees.

[Jupiter]

I was hoping for more this year... I'll feed it up and see if I can't encourage it to multiply. But.. since when do you need to ENCOURAGE an Oxalis? 

[Lesley Cox]

Sounds like an Ox(y)alismoron to me Jamus.

Back in the 1980s when I lived in Timaru (360-odd kms north of Dunedin), I had a friend who grew 3 different oxalis species in a patch, all joining into each other, one of the finest rock garden sights I ever saw. They were O. massoniana, O. luteola, a clean citron yellow and the pure white form of O. purpurea. The orange, yellow and white together were wonderful. I've never been able to duplicate it as for some reason, her massoniana flowered with the others, later than mine does now (and yours too obviously). My friend is no longer alive but I'll never forget the times I spent with her in her garden, stunning autumn gentians were one of her great passions and she had many fine selections and also, with her friend the late Ken Burns, bred a race of low-growing nerines in incredible colours from palest pink through every pink and red shade to deep crimson, with a sheen of gold dust seemingly on these, and apricots and oranges, some with smoky, almost lavender overtones. Most are around somewhere in various gardens but were never recognised as they should have been. I have about a dozen different forms which are just starting now. They are all perfectly proportioned with smaller flowers than the "big" ones, finer stems and less and narrower foliage. They love the sun of course but June K had them under high shade from birches and the like where they were well ripened in summer and flowered wonderfully in the autumn.

June also loved rhododendrons and among many others grew a selection of Vireyas in large pots in a sunny  corridor linking her kitchen and an exit door. They were too tender for the great outdoors but flowered in this sheltered place at all times of the year. She said they would flower not seasonally like others but according to how much water they were given so could be encouraged to flower at almost any time she wanted them to such as for birthdays, Christmas or whatever.

[Jupiter]

A few pictures from the garden today.

Crocus nudiflorus is my new favourite Crocus. It's just gorgeous and I thought it had finished flowering. Galanthus peshmenii is late this year and has three flowers so far with possibly more to come. The little Crocus laevigatus has pulled the same trick as nudiflorus. It threw some early blooms, had a little break and is now popping out a whole lot more! Unfortunately there wasn't enough sun today to open them but the markings on the outsides of the tepals are stunning anyway.