October 2024 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Véronique Macrelle]

Aconitum austroyunnanense qui fleurit tardivement. je ne pourrais pas envoyer ses graines pour l'échange.
 je ne la trouve pas vraiment grimpante, ses tiges s'allongent mais restent assez raides  par contre elle fleurit sur l'aisselle des feuilles. Mais c'est seulement  sa deuxième année au jardin, et elle est déjà bien plus jolie que l'année dernière.

[Véronique Macrelle]

semées ce printemps et fleurissant dans la serre maintenant:

-Dactylocapnos scandens :  est-ce que cette plante peut survivre d'une année sur l'autre ? fait-elle un tubercule, un rhizome?
l'année dernière mon semis s'est développé beaucoup sans fleurir et a péri durant l'hiver. heureusement une graine a germé à nouveau. Mais je crois qu'il faut une pollinisation croisée pour obtenir des graines. Je vais donc sans doute la perdre. . en attendant , j'adore!

-Ipomoea alba une première floraison tardive également. j'ai plusieurs plantes en pots et plantées, mais le semis n'est pas si facile: j'espère qu'elle reviendra de souche  l'année prochaine.

[Vinny 123]

I have always found Dactylocapnos scandens to be short-lived outdoors. In most years it will flower profusely and make lots of seed (I suspect that it is fully self-fertile). It is perhaps borderline hardy - frosts of lower than -2C or so hit it hard (guessing at precise temperature).
In a good year it might make 2m up into a tree and be cut back by the first frost or close to freezing.

I have never tried a heavy mulch over them for the winter. I suspect the fleshy nature of the underground parts would require a dry mulch rather than one left open to the rain. (I use a ring of small wire netting, filled with fallen leaves and place a pane of glass over that. That works here for Imapatiens tinctoria which will otherwise not survive a winter in the ground here.)

The roots are like very long (maybe to 30cm?), thin (to maybe 15mm) Dahlia tubers, mostly spreading rather than predominantly vertical in the ground. They are fleshy roots rather than a true tuber, IMO.

Has the debate over scandens v. macrocapnos been settled?

[Véronique Macrelle]

Thanks, I'll try to winterise it better.

here, I don't know which plant it is exactly, I find it more golden than another plant that I had in the ground a few years ago and which was self-sterile, and without the darker lip.

I hope to get some seeds from it...

[Mariette]

The slugs have destroyed the larger part of the plants in my garden, but there are some survivours.

Ipomoea alba climbed 6 m this year - unfortunately too high to enjoy the beautiful scent.



Another ipomoea - I like the ornamental leaves of I. pubescens.



One of the darker flowering Cyclamen hederifolium in my garden.



Crocus gilanicus



A colchicum from Georgia which self-seeds in my garden, probably Colchicum woronowii.

[Véronique Macrelle]

I'm glad to see that Ipomoea alba is surviving in your garden!
I planted 1 plant in the ground, and the others in large pots. sowing was not so easy.
how long has the other species lived in your garden?
I wanted some Cobaea too, but the plants didn't flower this year; let's hope they overwinter well ...

[Robert]

Hi Mariette,

What a challenging garden year you have had! Hopefully you can find a silver lining to this season and conditions for your plants and garden will improve.

This season has been brutally hot in our part of Northern California. The recent October record-breaking heat wave is finally ending. I hope this is the end of it for this year. I will have some graphics to post in the future that will give readers an idea how extreme this past summer-autumn season has been and how temperatures have warmed dramatically over the last 35, or so, years in our part of California.

Jasmin and I have to completely rethink our garden design and the plants we use. Many species that once thrived do poorly now. Some species will not even survive the new high temperature regime.



The foliage of some Lilium hybrids and species now burn each summer. Other species will not even survive the current climatic conditions.



The extended high temperatures are impacting many other plant species in our garden. This deciduous azalea might look good in the spring when it is blooming, however it looks terrible all summer. We want attractive plants in our garden. Plants that once thrived in our garden, but now perform poorly in the extreme heat will be recycled in the compost pile.



All is not lost. Many species perform well despite the extreme heat. Salvia guaranitica is one example.



Salvia sinaloensis is another species that grows well for us despite the heat.



Salvia leucantha thrives in the heat and is very drought tolerant. This is the all purple form. There is also a purple and white form.

[Robert]

Cyclamen of all sorts thrive in our garden, both in containers and in the ground.

It will be an interesting adventure to find ornamental species that thrive in our garden and fit into our garden design plans. Summer and early autumn is an especially difficult time in our garden. Few plants are blooming at this time and we have the need to attract pollinators to our garden. What discoveries will we find? Even our gardening-environmental disaster can be turned into something enjoyable and beneficial.

[ashley]

Robert, do those beautiful salvias attract hummingbirds?

It sounds as though your changing conditions should suit some cyclamen species. Is that hederifolium you showed, and do you also grow C. graecum?

[Robert]

Hello Ashley,

Yes, the Cyclamen pictured is C. graecum, or at least something close to it. The tuber has the characteristic morphology. The foliage of this specimen is especially nice. We have a number of Cyclamen species that do well in our garden, providing flowers all year, except the summer months.

There are many Hummingbird species native to the Mesoamerican region. Not surprising, the Mesoamerican Salvia species attract Hummingbirds. We have some resident Anna’s Hummingbirds that visit our garden throughout the year. In our garden Salvia guaranitica blooms all summer into the autumn. Salvia leucantha blooms autumn into the winter. Salvia gesneriiflorum and Salvia semiatrata bloom late autumn into the winter months. Salvia sinaloensis and S. chiapensis can bloom during any season and for very long periods of time.

[Mariette]

I'm glad to see that Ipomoea alba is surviving in your garden!
I planted 1 plant in the ground, and the others in large pots. sowing was not so easy.
how long has the other species lived in your garden?
I wanted some Cobaea too, but the plants didn't flower this year; let's hope they overwinter well ...

Hi Véronique, I sowed Ipomoea alba for the second time without any problems, though this year´s seeds were at least 2 years old. They germinated perfectly well for me.

I tried to overwinter last year´s plants in my green house, which is kept just frost-free, but they didn´t survive. Recently I learnt that it takes 7°C minimum for them during winter.

The seeds of Ipomoea pubescens arrived rather late, but germinated quickly, too. I´m growing this species for the first time and will try to overwinter them  like I. alba.

Both will not survive planted out in our climate, I suppose.

@ Robert: I´m interested to learn that You face the same problems as we did these last hot years. The leaves of many old stalwarts like pieris were bleached by the hot sun, even apples were damaged by the heat. Gooseberries may no more be planted in full sun, as the berries get "cooked" and brown, in the future they will require a spot in partial shade, at least. Some shrubs like corylopsis thrived for 30 years, but caught fungus and died away over several very dry years. Maybe a similar fate as Your stately walnut. Others like kerria recovered during the wet period since 14 months, which was reported from many parts in Germany and Austria. Currants fell also prey to fungus and look healthy only where they are growing in shady spots.

Some plants show late flowers for the first time, like Iris foetidissima. Obviously an effect of the excessive rainfall.



Spiraea betulifolia ´Tor Gold´ with autumn leaves and flowers, as well.

[ashley]

Thank you for such a comprehensive response Robert.
Yes, after a closer look at the photo I realised that C. graecum was more likely. Here C. hederifolium thrives but graecum needs protection from our excessive winter wet.  The few flowers I get are a bonus because its foliage alone makes it worth growing.
How lovely to have hummingbirds visit the garden. Only hummingbird hawkmoths here, and less often in recent years

[Vinny 123]

Hummingbird hawkmoths.............

I could not keep up with it, although I very much like it as a plant - Vinca major - but the only year (10+ago) that I saw them here (the moths), the Vinca set plentiful seed horns (asclepiadacaea (spelling?) - rather unusual seed "pods").

I had previously had them visit when I lived in Devon - quite something to sit, chill and watch..............

Vinca minor and flower colour and variegated vars. of either sp. make great garden plants that do not romp away and take over.

So far as I am aware hummingbird hawkmoths are only ever vagrants to the UK. They DO live up to their common name

[Robert]

Mariette,

It is nice to see some autumn leaf color. I am not sure we are going to have any autumn color this year. The foliage of so many of our ornamental plants burned this past summer and autumn. In addition, a weak La Niña pattern is being forecasted for this winter. This generally translates into a relatively warm dry winter in our part of California. Generalized, ultra long-range forecasts are very difficult, but can be helpful in preparing for the next gardening season. A warm winter translates into a lack of chilling hours for many plant species in our region, thus muted autumn leaf colors or the leaves that just dry up and frequently cling to the twigs for long periods of time. This is not very attractive, but is occurring much more frequently in our part of California.

[ashley]

Mediterranean geophytes at Madrid BG

Narcissus cavanillesii


Hyacinthoides lingulata


Prospero autumnale