Early January 2007

[Paddy Tobin]

Just a few more.

Paddy

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks Geebo, for the reference to the national collection of Tropaeolums.

I have a clematis in the garden raised from seed as C. akebioides and it is identical in appearance to that shown above by Tony. I realize some things behave differently here in our somewhat benign climate (C. vitalba is a national disaster!) but may I issue a warning please? It is a beautiful though rampant plant in flower and the seed heads are lovely and silky when new, less so as the seed begins to ripen. But if I don't cut the whole plant down to ground level as soon as that silky period is finishing, I get literally many hundreds of seedlings in every part of my garden, my nursery pots including the seed pots and even in the lawn. It is hugely fertile and establishes in no time at all so be very careful about introducing it to your garden.

[Maggi Young]

Goodness me, Paddy, why would you ever want to replace these lovely hellebores? Especially since, in the words of a Blue Peter presenter(over many years on BBC TV) "here are some I made earlier" !!

Lesley, given that Fred Admin was so busy the other day, wrestling with a rampant Clematis he'd grown from seed, and, as far as I know, he may still be lying down in a darkened room to recover, your warning is well given!
Tony, ought I to be afraid for the future of Young Haven, after your gift of the seedling?

[Paddy Tobin]

Last few odds and ends from the garden today.

Alnus incana 'Aurea'
Bergenia 'Ballawley'
Cornus 'Midwinter Fire'
Daphne blagyana 'Brenda Anderson' - only two flowers open but the scent is wonderful.
Daphne bholus 'Jacqueline Postill'
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Feurezauber'
Ipheoin uniflorum
Ipheoin uniflorum 'Charlotte Bishop'
Rhododendron 'Christmas Cheer'

Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

Maggi,

I suppose it's a bit like the prophet not being accepted in his own country - the self-sown seedling is not held in high regard in its own garden.

Paddy

[Casalima]

My straggly Daphne bholua on one of my delectable balconies. At least the scent is delectable as I work with the balcony window open. And I see from pictures on the net that this Daphne does have a certain tendency to straggle. I am thankful that this balcony gets plenty of sun, unlike the ones at my previous flat, which got a little sun in the summer and virtually none all winter. One of the results of 3 years in that flat was that my pots of Narcissus (bulbocodium and triandrus) that had bloomed enthusiastically for years, baked to a frazzle every summer, simply stopped flowering at all. Lots of leaves but no flowers. At the moment I peer at the pots every day looking for flower buds, but no luck so far 

And my little cyclamen again.

Gorgeous hellebores, Paddy. I'm sure you can find foster parents for them if/when you decide to replace them!

Chloë

[Lesley Cox]

That's a wonderful red witch hazel Paddy. Not sure if it's here but I'll be looking for it. And I'm pleased to se `Charlette Bishop' too. I was given a few bulbs recently with the note that she was lavender to pink. Looks very pretty.

[tonyg]

NOW I know why no-one has asked for seed of my Clematis
I understand your reservations girls, Lesley your experience is scary but not what I have found here.  I do get seedlings of standard Clematis orintalis popping up here and there but so far only a couple from this chap.  Mind you I would observe that anything that is easy to raise from seed and thrives in your garden should carry a health warning .... but then where would we be?  Only the miffy, the sterile and the soon to depart this world would be acceptable
Come on someone, give this little cutie a chance ... I mean the clematis Maggi

[Joakim B]

Nice seedlings Paddy not at all something to be humble about.
They are nice and I thought they were bought ones so I had to reread the post to realize that they were done at Your place. Did You play around or was it the bumble bees that did them?

Nice pics of the trees.

Casalima nice to see that alpies can be grown on balconies
Hope that the sun will make Your Narcissus flower better.

Can just report that the magnolias are flowering here and they are very varying in the flowering stages.
Kind regards
Joakim

[Maggi Young]

Yesterday on the road into town I saw a nice little bush of Magnolia stellata, which I often see as the first to flower around here, and it is looking promising, there are a lot of buds on it, thopugh they are not very fat yet and it will be quite some time before they flower. I cannot believe how many flowers that some of you have in your gardens already. For instance, Paddy in Ireland has wonderful variety already.
Not that much happening here in Aberdeen, I'm afraid. Makes me all the more grateful for your pix!

[Lesley Cox]

That's intersting Tony because I've NEVER found a seedling of C. orientalis. I just have the L and S 13342 form, imported from the UK back in 1981. My original plant thrives (few pics on January downunder 2007, in a few minutes) and makes masses of seed, but no babies at all. I don't find it easy from cuttings either. This one plant has lived in and been lifted from 5 gardens since it came and is now in its 6th. So tough as old boots so far as lifting and relocating are concerned.

[Tim Murphy]

Paddy, the yellow in the first photo in your first post is very nice. Good, true yellows aren't that easy to come by and I'm sure the intensity of the yellow varies from year to year on these plants in the garden.

Two of the plants shown in the last three photos in my post are of unknown parentage. The last but one photo (03007a.jpg) is the result of a cross I made back in 2003. The seed parent was a pure white flowered hybrid and the pollen parent was the plant you see in the photo below; H. torquatus from Montenegro. Most of the seedlings from this cross were mediocre. Only the one in my previous post was worth keeping.

[Paddy Tobin]

Hi Chloe,
I have a Daphne bholua in the garden which is, as you say, very floppy in its habit. It is in the garden about 15 years and is about 2 metres high. It flowers profusely each year, has a heavenly scent but does fall about like a drunken man and this can be a nuisance. With precious and deeply appreciated plants like this I am shy with the secateurs and have never pruned it except when a  branch broke or bent  over too much. Maybe if it was tipped back each year it would grow as a more bushy plant. I can imagine the scent into your apartment must be fabulous.

Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' is not big enough in my garden to flop over yet, though I do recall cutting off a low branch which was simply lying on the ground.

Lesley,
There is an article in this month's Royal Horticultural Society's 'The Garden' about witch hazels and it showed several cultivars where the flower colour was going towards a marmalade colour, with the comment and implication that this was the new and to-be-desired colour. Llike you, I like this rich reddish colour in the plant I photographed. The yellows are also very good, especially the pale lemon yellow of the cultivar 'Pallida'.  Ipheoin 'Charlotte Bishop' increases very well in the garden. Like the species, it is a no-trouble plant in the garden and will soon give large clumps, I imagine.

Re hellebores: About 20 years ago I got one plant of Helleborus x hybridus (or H. orientalis, as we knew it then) and a few years later a cultivar called 'Dawn', a very dark plum colour. The first plant self-seeded prolifically with lots of variation in the seedlings and I have used these over the years to fill new beds, holding the ground so to speak, until I had more desirable plants to replace them. The 'yellow'-flowered plants is indeed a good one. It is very compact and very floriferous. I have, over the years, bought in other Helleborus x orientalis cultivars and these may have added to the selection of resultant seedlings. Everything has been left to the bees, I never really got interested in trying my own crosses.  Judging by Tim's success, it seems a rewarding area of gardening.

Maggi,
I have seen no magnolias in flower here. With us, Magnolia soulangiana is normally the first into flower - in a somewhat dangerous manner really as it can be caught by a late frost in some years and turn to a brown mess. Magnolia stellata is the most tantalising plant in bud I think. The buds look 'promising', seem to be getting big enough to burst, yes they are going to explode into bloom today certainly, well maybe today, has to be today, surely today, they can't swell any more can they, look is that some colour peeking out on that one there, No, any day now, will the blasted things ever open? And then all the waiting is rewarded with a great display. A fabulous plant.

Spring is truly here, there is a stretch in the day, so happy gardening to all.

Paddy

[ian mcenery]

Tim
marvellous Hellebores did you collect seed for some of the species yourself? I note that the Torquatus is flowering already when mine are not through the ground yet is this an early form?

John

Great Thibetanus and Nigericors I can't wait for mine to mature

Paddy
I too have a garden full of hellebore seedlings based on one or two good plants purchased 30 years ago but I have seldom had anything really spectacular appear. I have had some quite good ones around Black Knight and Prince Rupert a very fine guttatus almost comes true from seed but in most cases they were not better. To get super new plants the breeding seems to need control with a purpose in mind.  Otherwise it is a bit hit and miss. I have recently taken on an allotment and some of the ground already contains some Hybrid and species seedlings but it will take time 3 years to flower -not quite as bad as Rhodos though.  But in the short term who wants too wait so I am off to Ashwood in a fortnights time to get my annual fix from the experts

[Maggi Young]

Ian McE says "But in the short term who wants to wait so I am off to Ashwood in a fortnights time to get my annual fix from the experts"

Quite right, Ian: when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping; it's always worked for me!!
Just a pity that my Ian has managed to keep me away from Ashwoods.... so far!