August in the Northern Hemisphere

[ruweiss]

Clematis mandshurica and the Eucomis are in full flower:

[MarcR]

Rudi,

VERY NICE!

[Stefan B.]

Colchicum byzantinum 'Innocence' started blooming in my garden, much to my surprise.  There are those, the purple spots characteristic of this variety on the tips of the petals, maybe because it is currently about 30 degrees and very sunny.

[ruweiss]

Stefan, thanks for the photo and Marc for the friendly comment.

[Robert]

Our garden is slowly recovering from the epic heat wave of July and early August. Currently, temperatures have cooled dramatically from the record high levels in July. There is even a chance of precipitation by Friday!



Most of our food crops went through the heat wave well with only a drop in fruit set. For example, our Hidatsa Shield Figure shell – dry beans, Phaseolus vulgaris, set no beans during the heat wave. Now that the weather has cooled bean set is excellent. We will have an excellent late crop of shellies for succotash (An American food dish), and dry beans for winter use.



We are completely revaluating the ornamental plants we grow in our garden. We wish to grow highly resilient varieties that we like and perform well in our garden. Part of our system is to develop and evaluate the best-of-the-best of each species of our liking. In this photograph are some of our best new Eriogonum species ( Eriogonum ursinum var. ursinum RMB 1014, E. prattenianum var. prattenianum, low growing form, RMB 919, E. incanum RMB 1051, and E. umbellatum F1 hybrids) that we are evaluating for use in our garden. Also pictured is a new selection of Acotinium columbianum ssp. viviparum (RMB 1031) that performed extremely well through the heat wave despite the plants being small seedlings. We will continue to evaluate all these seedlings.



In this year’s Upland Rice trials Kanto Wase Upland Rice, Oryza sativa, is setting a fine crop of rice. This variety is much easier to hull than Duborskian Upland Rice and is reported to taste better. This is a highly subjective evaluation. We will have our evaluation after the harvest ends this autumn.



In this year’s watermelon trials New Orchid F1 Watermelon continues to be our favorite orange-fleshed watermelon. The 7 to 9 lb. watermelons receive top scores from us in flavor, texture, and sugar content. In addition, the plants are disease resistant and very vigorous under various weather conditions.

[Robert]

We had an excellent crop of nectarines and peaches this year. Right now the Paradise Peaches are ripe. Paradise Peach is a white-fleshed freestone peach. The flavor of the tree-ripened fruit is divine!

[Véronique Macrelle]

 your peach! 

 we have to find ways of protecting your crops from these heat peaks (in this case, 2 days at 41 or 42°C here) or adapt your crops, but here, we always have negative peaks in winter too, which unfortunately are now sometimes very brutal (a drop of -17°C in 24 hours caused me to lose a lot of plants, including some that were completely hardy).

I'm letting my garden take on more shade...

a newcomer for me among my climbers, Caiophora lateritia (sown in the spring).
 Its flower is complex. The stamens straighten towards the centre when they are jostled, a sort of active movement. I had already observed these movements in Lophophora williamsii.

I'm pleased because it's really very orange. Finally, the leaves sting, but not as much as the nettles!

[MarcR]

Véronique,

The Caiophora is very attractive

[Andre Schuiteman]

Philesia magellanica from the cool and damp forests of southern Chile is not easy to please in the south of England. But it is one of those plants that would be near the top of my wish list if I didn't already have it. I have had it for eight years now, gradually filling a large planter sited between rhododendrons, where it only gets sun in the morning. In all those years it has grown into a dense shrub about one metre across, but it has never flowered. I was getting so used to it failing to flower, that I didn't even bother checking for buds anymore. So, when I spotted a single flower this week, it took me by surprise. A very pleasant one, indeed. Let's hope this is the first of many, although I scarcely hope that it will ever flower as well as the fine specimens I saw in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh some years ago. The Scottish climate evidently suits it better.

[Robert]

Hello Vèronique,

Your Calophora lateritia is lovely. I hope this species thrives for you in your garden. It certainly seems like a fine addition. 

[Jeffnz]

Lack of sun maybe the reason why your Philesia is reluctant to flower.

[Andre Schuiteman]

Lack of sun maybe the reason why your Philesia is reluctant to flower.

Thanks for your reply. It does get a few hours of sun in the morning (if there is any, of course), but I am sure it would dislike being exposed to the full afternoon sun here, with the associated heat and drought. Ideally, Philesia should have a cool, humid atmosphere, while avoiding deep shade. That is easier to provide in Scotland or Wales than around London.

[MarcR]

Andre,

They make grow light bulbs with C or D base that you could rig in outdoor drop lights without going to great expense.

[Andre Schuiteman]

Andre,

They make grow light bulbs with C or D base that you could rig in outdoor drop lights without going to great expense.

Marc, thanks for the suggestion. That may be worth trying for subjects that need a lot of light but often don't survive our summers in sunny positions, such as certain Asian primulas and autumn gentians. In the case of Philesia, I believe it is rather the lower aerial humidity here that makes it shy flowering and not so much a lack of light. Spring and summer have been cooler and cloudier than usual, which may have induced my Philesia to flower at long last. It has also been suggested that Philesia needs many years to get established, so perhaps from now on it will flower more regularly. Let's see what happens next year.

[Leena]

Different coloured Gentiana asclepiadea flowered nicely in late August in my garden. These are all grown from seeds.






Gentiana pneumonanthe also flowered at that time.