July 2017 in the Northern hemisphere

[Carolyn]

Wow, Steve, lovely cremanthodium.  Hope there will be seed for the seed exchange!

[Steve Garvie]

An amazing photograph, showing absolutely EVERYTHING about this lovely plant. It must be better that the plant itself!  (I had thought all cremanthodiums were yellow!)

Thank you Lesley.
I took care to ensure that the photograph doesn't show the hideous white polystyrene vaccine box it grows in! 

Wow, Steve, lovely cremanthodium.  Hope there will be seed for the seed exchange!

Are they self-fertile Carolyn? If so I'll be out tomorrow with the paintbrush. 

[Lesley Cox]

Ah well, polystyrene boxes are not beautiful but they do have their uses. My best Weldenia candida lived in a large one for about 5 years, grew bigger and bigger until I had to divide it and flowered superbly each summer. It has never been QUITE so good, ever since.

[Carolyn]

Are they self-fertile Carolyn? If so I'll be out tomorrow with the paintbrush. 

Steve,
I have no idea! I have never grown that one before. Always worth trying pollination though, if you can.

[Leena]

Some pictures from this week. Summer has been peculiar here, the cold spring became cold summer, and in June it also rained quite a lot. Almost all  flowers started to flower later than usually and because of the cool weather the flowering has continued for a long time, so it is good in that way.
Primula sieboldii usually flowers here in June, but this year these started to flower in mid June and are still flowering, picture was taken yesterday. These are plants grown from Barnhaven seeds several years ago.
Lactiflora-peonies are now in their full flower, the cranesbill  is 'Orion'.

[Leena]

Near our house is a small field which has not been cultivated for some years, and it is so pretty now with Leucanthemum vulgare flowering. These flowers used to be very common, but now you can't see them very often.

[Leena]

Couple other native pretty flowers.
Galium boreale
I even found one Platanthera bifolia growing by the small road.

[Maggi Young]

Oh  my! Lots of colour all around you, Leena, in the garden and outside it!

[Leena]

Thanks Maggi, summer is such a great time (though spring is the best)!

[gerrit]

Silene frivaldskyana is an endemic species from Macedonia, growing along the Pcinja river. It grows in a trough and seems to be hardy in The Netherlands.

[Carolyn]

Oh that's nice. I'm sure the seed exchange would welcome some seeds....

[ruweiss]

Flowering now in garden and Alpine House
Leontopodium andersonii is native to Sichuan/China

[shelagh]

Another Gerd Stopp plant has put up it's first flower. Caltha appendiculata it's in a 4inch pot now.  Also Sedum corralloides with it's minute flowers.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Buddleja utahensis has survived here for several years, but has never flowered.

[Robert]

I am catching up on reading a few of the back issues of the bulb log. As per Ian's suggestion, here are a few common species that thrive in our Sacramento, California garden. I would not be without them.



Campanula rotundifolia blooms all summer and is not bothered by 40 C heat.



Campanula cochleariifolia is another easy-to-grow species.



Mimulus cardinalis (Gold form). It blooms all summer. It is also a host plant for native Lepidoptera Order (Butterflies) insects.



Mimulus primuliodes var. primuloides will bloom off and on all summer into the autumn. This one is a favorite.



The first of the Symphyotrichum spathulatum var. spathulatum are starting to bloom. With deadheading they will bloom for months. They are also a great nectar source for Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera.