August 2018

[Leucogenes]

Eriogonum kennedyi, California, Ventura Co. 2645 m

The current heat and drought seems to be very good for this plant...😊

[François Lambert]

Most of my Commelina Coelestis did not survive the cold frozen winter, but 4 did survive and they are now in full colour display. 

[astragalus]

Eriogonum kennedyi, California, Ventura Co. 2645 m

The current heat and drought seems to be very good for this plant...😊

Could this possibly be a different eriogonum?  I've never seen E.kennedyi bloom on long stems. The ones I've grown have always had the flowers with very short stems right on the plant.  Just asking.

[Paul Cumbleton]

Could this possibly be a different eriogonum?  I've never seen E.kennedyi bloom on long stems. The ones I've grown have always had the flowers with very short stems right on the plant.  Just asking.

Eriogonum kennedyi seems to have several varieties. When I worked at Wisley we grew two forms, one labelled E. kennedyi var. kennedyi and the other E. kennedyi var. alpigenum. The former had long flowering stems and the latter had very short ones, as pictured below.

Paul

[GordonT]

Not exactly a rock garden plant, but it is definitely photogenic (Steve Garvie, I could use your expertise!). Nelumbo nucifera var komarovii, grown from seed. It bloomed for the first time last year- (one, possibly two flowers in 2017). So far this year it has produced at least 14 buds, five are already spent, and more show up every few days. It is fun to watch the flowers change colour and shape during their three day lifespan. At the rate it is growing, I'll have an endless supply of blooms next summer... and a full pond!

[johnw]

Five years from seed this Albizia julibrissin f. rosea ex Dresden, Ontario seed is at last flowering heavily due to the hot summer, the hottest since 1876. Only 2 out of 10 seedlings were hardy. It receives no water, no fertilizer and gets full sun against a south-facing wall.  The soil is very poor, shallow and still it grows like a fiend. 

The Eucalyptus to the left did not fare so well after last winter's snowless spell.  It got to 17ft and valiantly sprouted from the base in 2017 but the winter of 2018 delivered the coup de grâce.

The first bud has opened on Rhododendron auriculatum, this shrub - one of about a dozen from a Guizhou collection - is the latest of all and covered in buds, many are multiples. The smallest leaves of the lot. Highly fragrant, barely auriculate leaves.

john
feeling cool at 24c.

[Leucogenes]

Eriogonum kennedyi seems to have several varieties. When I worked at Wisley we grew two forms, one labelled E. kennedyi var. kennedyi and the other E. kennedyi var. alpigenum. The former had long flowering stems and the latter had very short ones, as pictured below.

Paul

Hi Paul

 I was very pleased with your detailed information about the Eriogonum kennedyi. I've only had the common name so far. Now I know a little more about it. Your two pictures are wonderful. I think the low version is even nicer. Maybe I'll get these someday.

With the current development of the climate we will probably establish more such starvation artists here in Europe in the future...

Thanks and greetings
Thomas

[johnw]

Lovely Nelumbos Gordon.  I assume they are planted in the pond but would like to know how deep the water is where they're planted.  And how on earth did you plant them? Scuba gear?

john

[GordonT]

John, yes, they are planted in our lower pond. During the winter they are under at least 2 feet of water. The water level drops during the summer, partly due to evaporation and largely because inflow from the upper pond dries up, unless we have a lot of rain. At the moment they are under about a foot and a half of water.

I am hoping I'll have some seed set this year... a tricky business with Lotus since they are programmed to avoid self pollination (pollen ripening and stigmatic surface receptivity in a flower occur at separate times).

 The seedlings were originally in a pot, which I moved to deeper water each autumn, until it got too heavy to move (chest waders come in handy). Two years ago, I finally liberated them from the pot, so now they are free to roam the pond. What is shocking is how quickly they are growing! If these were to escape into the wild (in a suitable environment) they would gallop across any pond or lakeshore!

[Gabriela]

The Nelumbo nucifera looks great Grodon!
I'm not surprised it spreads fast, after all our native N. lutea can cover an entire lake fast.

John - what a treat to have Albizzia julibrissin flowering. Most beautiful tree for late summer if climate allows. Used extensively in some European regions.

[cohan]

Hi everybody! Long time since I posted here, thought it was well overdue so I'll just post a couple of quick shots from one of the rock beds-- Sempervivum marmoreum ssp erythraeum (with Rosularia, other semps, Armeria, Draba etc in the background, then another view of the same bed with that semp to the lower left, some of the big boys behind.. August 07, 2018

[cohan]

Five years from seed this Albizia julibrissin f. rosea ex Dresden, Ontario seed is at last flowering heavily due to the hot summer, the hottest since 1876. Only 2 out of 10 seedlings were hardy. It receives no water, no fertilizer and gets full sun against a south-facing wall.  The soil is very poor, shallow and still it grows like a fiend. 
john
feeling cool at 24c.

Very cool, John!

[Maggi Young]

Hi everybody! Long time since I posted here, thought it was well overdue so I'll just post a couple of quick shots from one of the rock beds-- Sempervivum marmoreum ssp erythraeum (with Rosularia, other semps, Armeria, Draba etc in the background, then another view of the same bed with that semp to the lower left, some of the big boys behind.. August 07, 2018

Lovely light!

[cohan]

Lovely light!

Thanks-- love those afternoon shadows (even deeper than these)-- and the smoke has been giving us picturesque (if eye and throat and lung bothering!) yellow and orange days -- I think it was just starting when those shots were taken a few days back. Here is Erigeron caespitosus and Heterotheca villosa (mostly spent flowers in this shot) on our second hottest day, around 33C on August 09, with lots of smoke from distant forest fires. And, a shot from the hottest day (in years) Aug 10, we got to just under 35C.. this is a road shot from a trip to town...

[François Lambert]

Cooling temps and finally some rain, that's all that was needed for these seedlings of Commelina Coelestis to put up some flowers.  Sown this spring and flowering already - almost feels like growing annuals.  Looks like after all I will have a nice harvest of seeds this year again.