May 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Gabriela]

Your spring garden looks beautiful Leena 
I will keep in mind not to prick out the Ranzania (I usually don't get to do it for many others anyway).

I chased this plant for years having seen one specimen at a North Vancouver friend's in the late 80's, Ranzania japonica.  No one else seemed to grow it.  No seeds were ever set as I recall but Philip McD landed a small plant around 2000 and gave us one shortly there after.  While it's actually self-sown a few times, the seeds are reluctant to sprout for us.  Very elegant.
johnw

Seeds from Yuzawa Nursery are germinating now John. They need to be sown fresh/or kept moist and go through a warm/cold cycle.
I also think is an elegant plant - flower wise a sort of 'hybrid' between a Glaucidium and Anemonopsis.

[Gabriela]

Rain at last, the garden looks fresher. Sticky catchfly (lychnis viscaria) img. 1020533. Another ladies slipper in flower img. 1020534. Perennial cornflower img. 1020540. Star of Bethlehem img. 1020541. Poached egg plant img. 1020542. There is a swarm of small white tailed bees in the tit box in the ivy. I see the tories are going to re-introduce the barbaric pastime of fox hunting. I wonder what they would say if Guy Faulkes pastime was re-introduced. Forwards for civilisation, backwards for what.
"The Countryside and Wildlife are not ours to dispose of as we please. We must account for them to those who come after." KING GEORGE VI.

That's a great quote!

[johnw]

They need to be sown fresh/or kept moist and go through a warm/cold cycle.

Have done exactly that many times but nothing.  Maybe our own seed of last autumn will germinate shortly. It's so cool things are lasting & lasting and seeds taking their good old time.  One gifted seed of Galanthus 'Eliz. Harrison' sown last summer is just up yesterday.  The first Trillium rivale up yesterday. Erythronium revolutum, one sprouts every week.

Still lots of buds to open on Camellia japonica ex Daechong Do and a few with buds that haven't even started.

Wise Geo. VI .

john - damn chilly at 6c, overcast and breeze straight off the Atlantic. Heavily sweatered with mitts.

[Robert]

Some plants in the garden today.



Aquilegia formosa - it reminds me of the Sierra Nevada. I have them planted throughout the garden.



Navarretia pubescens - from Snow Mountain. They are growing in a pot. For us, this works well for a seed increase. With plenty of seed I can start experimenting with them in the garden.



Eriogonum incanum - it has been in bloom for some time now. The silvery foliage can be very nice. I need to grow more seedlings in hopes of getting a good tight plant.



Salvia apiana - we keep it around for the bees. They love it and we need more bees.

[shelagh]

A quick trip around the garden yesterday and I found these.

Tha Aster alpinus var. dolomiticus was our little green oddity. Gerd Stopp said we had to be patient and he was right. I had tohold the Gladiolus because the breeze was moving them around too much.

[shelagh]

Also found Roscoea humeana which was a gift from Ian Christie when we were on a trip to Golspie with him.  My tree peony which looks half dead for a large part of the year has come up trumps again.

Also we were taken by a friend to see very rare examples of the English form of Cypripedium calceolus.  It is guarded by English Nature because people come and dig them up. They have had a hard year because of the lack of rain and the fact that they grow on a limestone pavement.

The sedum humifusum was at Glasgow last weekend but it wasn't fully out, a week of sun has cured that.

[Michael J Campbell]

Blandfordia punicea.

[johnw]

Michael   

I got a small plant of this Blandfordia about 10 years ago.  Today it is not terribly bigger than it was upon receipt, about 5" high and 5" wide.  Is my mix too lean in fear of rot?  Fear of fettilizer and phosphorus?  I can't say I've ever seen a pic posted on the forum of one in flower or one so lusty.

johnw

[Michael J Campbell]

John, they like plenty of water in a well drained compost. I pot them in the usual alpine mix for acid loving pants, they don't like lime. They get the odd feed of miracid and seaweed fertilizer when I remember, and are kept in the alpine-house at all times because of our wet and unpredictable  climate. I have some seedlings but they are still very small. BTY I got the original from Lesley.

[Steve Garvie]

What a wonderful plant Michael -grown to perfection!

[ashley]

Thanks Michael, you grow it very well  

Mine's in peaty, gritty soil outdoors but grows only slowly and hasn't flowered yet, so conditions may not be ideal.  However it doesn't seem to be bothered either by winter wet or a few degrees of frost.

[johnw]

How old is your flowering plant Michael?

I do keep mine wet, perhaps the pot's too small.  The 10 year old.

john

[Maggi Young]

Advice on growing the Blandfordia commercially:
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/134837/blandfordia.pdf    - not sure if it will help!

[Michael J Campbell]

John, I got two seedlings from Lesley Cox on the 20/05/2014, the other one has two flowers stems but not in full flower yet. They are growing in 30cm pots at the moment.

[johnw]

How very embarassing!   


johnw