May 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Mike Ireland]

Some really wonderful plants being shown at the moment, really like the dark red corydalis.
The first flower of Tulipa sprengeri, although we have had really cold weather the last ten days or so they are out a little earlier than usual.
Buds just opening shows the lovely contrast of the buff outer with the dark red inner.

[johnw]

Lovely sprengeri Mike.  How do we bulk ours up?  They don't seem to increase in size, ours are at least 5 years old and the bulbs are no bigger than peanuts.

john

[ArnoldT]

Here's a shot of the exfoliating bark on Pseudocydonia sinensis.

Tree is about 30 years old.

[kris]

Adonis ramosa got from Japan.
Very vigorous plant but +30C for two days burned the  flowering buds. Only one flower opened and 3  buds were burned.

[kris]

Corydalis nobilis

[Robert]

More plants from our Sacramento garden.



Gladiolus caucasicus, or at least the name on the seed package. It is very easy-to-grow. It, with other Gladiolus species, is replacing the hybrid Gladiolus. It is one of the first Gladiolus species to bloom. The others will be coming along a bit later.



Salvia chiapensis  I spread compost around them earlier in the spring and they are responding by blooming profusely.



Geranium dalmaticum Certainly not rare, but so easy and useful in our garden.



The same can be said about Geranium sanguineum striatum. Each season it spreads out over the ground where the early bulbs were growing. It is very useful in this way. It also blooms for an extended period of time even here with our hot summers.

[shelagh]

Looking good at the moment in the scree bed, this Aquilegia and Berberis stenophylla corralina compacta (I wouldn't mind a £1 for every flower).  In a pot Thymus leuchotrichus Peter Davis.

[Maggi Young]

Beryl McNaughton's pic of Meconopsis 'Strathspey' - ready for sale at Macplants

[Maggi Young]

Some pix from Ian the Christie kind -
Glaucidium palmatum album


 Three shots of Meconopsis 'Marit'

[Maggi Young]

Two shots of the lovely Omphalogramma delavayi





Trillium erectum


Trillium hybrid


Podophyllum hexandrum
 

[Maggi Young]

These are Ian C's Meconopsis 'Strathspey' pix

[Lesley Cox]

Meconopsis 'Strathspey' is delicious, almost iridescent with the blue shot through with pink. It seems to glow beautifully. And one of my favourites is the white glaucidium. I am always surprised when it flowers so well and makes a lot of lovely seed in the garden which is very dry by that time. Mine flowers about 3 weeks before the purple form which keeps the seed set separate. I'm awaiting the omphalogramma. I think my "lady-down-the-road" has it.

[Mike Ireland]

Lovely sprengeri Mike.  How do we bulk ours up?  They don't seem to increase in size, ours are at least 5 years old and the bulbs are no bigger than peanuts.

john

John,
My Tulipa sprengeri are all growing in the garden & I find sowing seed directly outside seems to produce the best results.
Growing in pots from seed for me does not seem to work, probably because in the second year the bulbs escape out of the bottom of the pot.
They do extremely well if left to grow outside untended as you can see from the attached photos.

Hope this helps,
Mike

[johnw]

What a splendid sight Mike!  In the ground they'll go.

john

[Lesley Cox]

I had great germination last year from Otago Alpine Garden Group's seedlist, of Tulipa sprengeri. They're still in the pot but tiny so having read your note Mike, I'm off out now to put the potful in the garden. I'll divide it into 4 or 5 pieces and I guess each will have maybe 30 bulbs in it!.