February 2023 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Robert]

Oh, yes, very much indeed, thank you!

Hi Maggi,

I received some valuable feedback from a dear Formist friend. They continually tell me how much they enjoy information-based postings. I especially enjoy writing information-based postings. My posting on some California native annuals and a few of our native Phyrmacaea was just a brief overview. Over time, there are many details of horticultural value to fill in.

I wish to do the best I can to support the forum, including supporting it financially. The hard drive of one of our older computers died and is now being replaced. This has delayed my financial contribution to the forum by a few weeks. 

I am very happy that I am posting information that is interesting and helpful.

[Robert]

thanks for sharing these photos Robert, and specialiy annuals plants, not so much grown among garden's enthusiasts.

Hello Yann,

Annuals play such a prominent role in the native plant communities in our part of Northern California, especially at lower elevations. The use of California native annuals in our garden landscape is a practical and logical solution toward our set of gardening objectives.

There is a whole world within the genome of each species. There are tremendous horticultural possibilities for those interesting in exploring such things. I frequently grow fairly large populations of genetically variable plants (annual and perennial species). In addition to the genetic variability within each species, somatic and meiotic mutations are fairly common. Even within wild populations chance hybrids occur. It is an exciting adventure each morning to go out and check on the emerging seedlings and plants in the garden to see what is new and different. There is always something new to see.

Thank you for sharing the photographs of the beautiful and interesting plants that you grow in your garden.

[Leena]

Voilà, i hope this kaleidoscope of colours brings you a few sunshine.

Yann, they really did bring me sunshine.
So many wonderful forms, it is impossible to choose a favourite and I can imagine how hard it was for you to choose just a few.
Thank you for showing them!

Robert, you have such a large amount of native California flowers, and also I like your posts full of information about them.

[Robert]

Robert, you have such a large amount of native California flowers, and also I like your posts full of information about them.

Hi Leena,

Thank you for the kind and encouraging comment.     

Although creating a pleasing and attractively designed garden is a very important consideration for me, horticultural R & D is a passion. Our local native California flora certainly engages a great portion of this passionate aspiration. There are many life times of valuable information to share on this topic.

[MarcR]

Robert,

Your posts are consistently interesting and informative.  Than you for the effort and passion you put into them.

[MarcR]

My Galanthus elwesii Eranthus hymalis, and Iris crestata are blooming.
My Galanthus hippolyta,nivalis, plicata,and woronowii are sprouted but not yet blooming. My Erica 6 sp.] Cyclamen [4sp] Primula auricula [ various forms]continue to bloom. I have Ferraria [5 sp] and Moraea [3sp] in bud but no blooms yet.

[Mariette]

My crocusses have escaped into the neighbour´s garden.



They´re a rather mixed bunch. Fortunately, since January, my youngest son is our neighbour.   



Some odd forms turn up, too.



I always hope for forms with contrasting tips or picotés.



The Small Tortoiseshell enjoys the rich nectar.

[Robert]

Hello Mariette,

The photographs of the Crocus are very fascinating. I enjoy picotee flowers too. Despite several years of effort and a great deal of observation I have never been able to get any Crocus to set seed in our Sacramento garden. For me it is time to move on and experiment with other plant species for this seasonal flowering time frame. I am not sure what I will try, however maybe some of our native flora will be a solution.

The borrowed scenery in the first photograph was very intriguing. In the background, it appears that there is a great deal of open grazing land and wooded areas too. I wonder if the concept of the municipal forest is, or was, practiced in Germany? Such locations seem like they could be a refuge for native plants.

Yesterday, 18 February, a chance of snow was forecasted for Sacramento, California in the time periods between Tuesday night and Friday. It has not snowed in Sacramento in nearly 50 years! Today the forecasters are a little more “wishy-washy” about the snow, however we will very likely get snow if there is precipitation at our Placerville property. We have had some spring-like weather, however winter is not ready to go either.

[Mariette]

Robert, we´re living on the utmost outskirts of our town, there are just fields and paddocks between us and the next village. What may appear as a wood are trees growing alongside a ditch dating from the Middle Ages. Such ditches were constructed to defend the community against aggressors, be them military or marauders. Of course, such spots are a haven for native plants, though their diversity cannot compared with what You do enjoy in California.

Germany is too densely populated to afford municipal forests, as most towns date from medieval times if not from Roman. Today, there is even pressure on parts of parks becoming overbuilt.

We had a somewhat cold and stormy day, nothing like the balmy start of last week. At least, winter appears to have gone, and there is neither frost nor snow predicted for the next weeks.

[Leena]

I always hope for forms with contrasting tips or picotés.

Very nice spring pictures, so sunny with crocuses  . I like also crocus with contrasting tips, and I'm very happy that Crocus heuffelianus seems to do well here,
and don't mind cold snowless winters, though right now we got about 30 snow again last week-end. I hope that also C.tommasinianus increases slowly, though I haven't found any seeds from my own plants yet. Mariette, your C.tommasinianus seeds are now germinating (in the root cellar, so I took them inside to grow under lamps). I hope that by getting seed grown tommasinianus, they would also produce seeds here in the future.

[Robert]

Mariette,

Thank you for all the information. It is all very interesting.    Sadly, our California flora is disappearing. Who would have thought that the Passenger Pigeon would disappear?     We almost lost all the Bison. There were millions. We might still have a great deal however urban development, commercial logging, wildfires, and climate change are all very quickly taking a toll on our California flora. We have seen so much lost and dramatic changes to ecosystems take place during our lifetimes. It will not take long until nothing is left. Jasmin and I are extremely concerned about the situation.

[Robert]

The Rubicon/Buckeye Flat forms of Erythronium multiscapideum are starting to bloom in our Sacramento garden. My seed accessions from these locations do not spread as rapidly as other forms of this species from lower elevations sites in the Foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. If the weather is exceptionally cold when the plants bloom there can be a slight pink tint to the flowers. This is not surprising as transcription factors that regulate gene expression of anthocyanin frequently respond to variation in temperature.



Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ preforms well in our Sacramento garden, accepting our well draining clay-loam soil and our mild Mediterranean climate. This variety has been a dependable plant in our garden for many years.



Pseudotrillium rivale has performed surprisingly well in our Sacramento garden. The plants reliably set seed and propagate around the garden. My original seed source came from Alan Bradshaw-Alplains many years ago. I have long since lost the records of this seed line. Most likely its origin is Northwestern California. I observed this species occasionally when I conducted field studies in this region back in the 1990’s.



The first of the Ranunculus occidentalis hybrids are blooming in our garden. This plant very closely resembles one of its parents, Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidentalis. Unlike most forms of Ranunculus occidentalis var. occidentalis this hybrid is extremely tolerant of summertime irrigation when the plants are resting in their summer dormancy. In my field studies, early blooming forms of this subspecies are frequently seen each season. Out in the clay-loam of our garden other hybrid selections are yet to bloom but also returned strongly after their summer dormancy.