Flowers and foliage April 2008

[Lvandelft]

That's magnificient, Kathrine!
Would like to have such a place like that nearby.
I only saw these Irises once during summer east of Vienna without flowers,
but with much variation in the leaves. These are beautiful selections.

[Lesley Cox]

Lovely irises Kata. Can you put them on the Iris Page?

Dave, I didn't collect the seed this year. It's fallen into the trough and once the orange flesh dries up, they're invisible among the stones. But I have a bunch of seedlings from the summer before last and you can have a couple of those. I've still to pot them up though.

[David Nicholson]

Lovely Irises Kata, I agree with Lesley please put them on the Iris page as well.

[David Nicholson]

One from the garden today, Pulsatilla vulgaris quite common but a nice form I think

[Lvandelft]

Here some flowers on my raised bed.
The Iris leaves have suffered badly from last weeks frosts.
Another plant was a bit earlier and almost all the flowers are frozen.

Iris bucharica Dark Yellow Form
Degenia velebitica     
Fibigia triquetra

[Hans A.]

Thanks all for the pics.
Kata great to see Iris pumila in the wild!

[Tony Willis]

katherine  lovely irises, very similar to those in Greece and Turkey.I have one from Hungary in flower now on my raised bed.

[Gerdk]

Nice pics, Luit. The Degenia and the Fibigia are very similar to eachother, aren't they?
Is Fibigia more persistant than Degenia?

Gerd

[Lvandelft]

Nice pics, Luit. The Degenia and the Fibigia are very similar to eachother, aren't they?
Is Fibigia more persistant than Degenia?

Gerd

Gerd, I think they are both equal in time of living but are both easy seeders.
For the Degenia I believe this is a good place in our sand and I am curious how long it will stay with me.
A November month with much rain and no hard winds could be very bad for it I believe.
We'll see.

[mark smyth]

I have never seen a yellow I. pumila

ZZ showed us slides last year of how he does Daphne cuttings. He makes small clay balls with plant food added. The cutting is taken, dipped in hormone rooting powder and pushed in to the clay ball. The clay ball is about the size of a cherry. The balls are then set in a plastic container with a layer of sand that is kept permanently wet

[mark smyth]

My Fibigia always looks sick and has never flowered

[ChrisB]

Mark, I'm quite interested in this method of daphne cutting.  Do you mean the ball of clay is 'planted' on the bottom of the plastic container, then sand put all around it, or is the clay on top of the sand?  I may try this rather than the other more difficult method of using grafts.  I wonder too, whether it would work for other shrubby things?  Now to find a friend with some clay to give me.... I'm on pure sand here.

[gote]

I passed one of the roads out of Örebro yesterday and could not resist taking a picture.
Hepaticas have not been giving the right show this year. The flowering season has been streched so the flowers look fewer. Here is a native red.
I bought this as Scilla melaina. It is like a light coloured siberica but not invasive at all. Indeed very slow to increase - but nice.
My Helleborus viride seeds itself everywhere so I used to remove them as weeds. One year I put a couple aside to give away and they showed up as new hybrids.
Thus I now have to save as many as possible and see what they look like. The one in the picture is new for the year  - and located between two big stones where I cannot get it out   
Göte

[ChrisB]

Lovely display Gote, lifts the spirits to drive past that every day I bet

[hadacekf]

Here are a few in flowers today.

Iris bucharica. Hope the ID is correct.

Muscari macrocarpum
This is my favourite muscari. It has a wonderful smell.