November 2017 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

We have reached the middle of spring and the weather is reminding us that winter is not that long ago!
However Jasminum parkeri is starting to flower well now.
When the sun shines the flowers of Delosperma cooperi seedlings open in variuos colours
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Do you think the jasmine is Jasminum parkeri Fermi?

I have it in a corner of each of two large concrete washtubs and it is growing so well I'll have to move them except that it would be easier I think to move everything else and leave the jasmines. Either way it's going to be tricky and possibly fatal to some items.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
corrected its spelling now
It can certainly smother some things but for the last few years Narcissus cordubensis which seeded itself into the jasmine has emerged up through it (over 30cm) to flower!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

It's Ixia season again!
Here are some of the hybrid swarm from Ixia 'Teal' crossing with some other species or cultivar. The colours vary from almost pure white to purple with some marked similarly to Ixia viridiflora which I presume is one of the parents of 'Teal'
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

More of the Ixia hybrids.
I've donated seed of last year's hybrids to the SRGC Seedex if anyone would like to try them
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Even more!
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Is it possible you are being pushed out of house and garden Fermi? Seems you have hundred already, if not thousands!

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
there certainly are more and more each year of these hybrids and they are spread out, though not too invasively.
All is fine when they come into flower but because I want them to set seed we have to put up with them dying down disgracefully!

Here's my sole surviving Weldenia candida (which you grow so well, Lesley  )
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Good big flowers on the Weldenia,  fermi - some we see here have smaller flowers  -still the exceptional whiteness, but lacking that BIG  punch!

[Lesley Cox]

My own weldenias are starting now too. One small with very large flowers and 1 large with smaller flowers and I think that has been the story over many years, the more flowers there are the smaller they are. The very large one is in a pot and was attacked by rabbits just before it showed through the surface. They dug and scraped - because they could - and I guess I'm to blame for having it at ground level because the pot is so big and heavy that I can't lift it up. The plant was so close to breaking through that within a couple of days of their dig, it was showing and bright green so no real damage done. But I'm going to have to tip the pot and retrieve it and divide it up and do something with it, maybe plant it out and keep the smaller bits for nursery potting.

[fermi de Sousa]

I stand corrected - a second Weldenia has poked a nose through the gravel! I had unpotted it a month or so ago and was dismayed to find the main plant had rotted away over the winter
I repotted whatever looked sound but had not been hopeful till I saw it come through this week 
This little Moraea herrei (syn Barnardiella spiralis) was grown from Silverhills Seeds sown in 2014 with first germination 2015.
Each flower only lasts a few hours, opening in mid-afternoon and fading by evening. The  first pic was taken indoors and the second was the next day,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Puya chilensis is flowering again - 2 years since the first flowering which we mostly missed as we were in NZ!
The old spike is still in place and the new one is just as tall.
The bees and the honey-eaters are enjoying themselves!
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

Fab, understated little number, fermi!

[fermi de Sousa]

Fab, understated little number, fermi!

Easy to miss if you are scouring the ground for the tinies
Here are some "themids"
1) Triteleia 'The Giant'
2) Triteleia ixioides
3) Brodiaea elegans
4) Triteleia terrestris
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

Nice to see a few Themidaceae. All of ours are up now. I was planning on planting many out in the garden this autumn, however the room removal took so long, well it didn’t happen (sort of).

One of those ooppss moments.    The photograph is a bit blurry, however Brodiaea terrestris is looking like Brodiaea terrestris. They look like they could be ssp. kernensis with the notched staminodes. Triteleia must have been a typing error.

Anyway, thank you for sharing.