November 2024 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Vinny 123]

2) An unnamed cactus - maybe a rebutia?

For sure a Rebutia.
Numerous hybrids are available today, but the usual guess at species would be something like muscula, but it would be a brave individual to attach any identity to any Rebutia beyond what they receive it as.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert,
After reading Graham Ware's article on Brodieas in the latest IRG, I checked BICON for seed allowed and found a huge number of the species he mentioned (some I'd not heard of before) are ALLOWED! I'm hoping that the donors for NARGS had a good harvesting season and more will be on this year's Seedex. The Gilia in flower is descended from some I grew from seed from you which I was not able to establish in the open garden but which has persisted (for now) among the potted plants.

Hi Vinny,
thank you for confirming the ID of the Rebutia - I'm sure it was picked up at a market or from a nursery labelled as "cactus" only.

Last few for November:
Last weekend we had a "rain event" and so by mid-week we had a response from the rain-lilies - sadly in the weediest parts of the garden so no amount of cropping can exclude them!
1 & 2 ) Habranthus tubispathus var roseus
3) Habranthus tubispathus
4) A Cooperia, I think
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Robert,
After reading Graham Ware's article on Brodieas in the latest IRG, I checked BICON for seed allowed and found a huge number of the species he mentioned (some I'd not heard of before) are ALLOWED! I'm hoping that the donors for NARGS had a good harvesting season and more will be on this year's Seedex.

Hi Fermi,

This is great news! Your experiences with a wide array of Themidaeae species will likely be of interest to many gardeners. My intent is to start an open ended thread on Themidaeae on this Forum. Hopefully you can share your ongoing experiences with these species in this thread.

I approach Themidaeae (and many other plant species) from a completely different perspective. I enjoy exploring the vast diversity found within each species from the perspective of environmental plant physiology and genetics. For example, how transcription factors respond to environmental cues to regulate gene expression is a topic I plan to discuss as it applies to each Themidaeae species. Environmental forcing influences epigenetic expression, the creation of ecotypes, and rapid adaptive evolution in ways that can have horticultural significance. Somatic mutations, meiotic mutations, as well as unexpected hybrids frequently occur in nature. These too can have horticultural significance.

It is hard to believe that 2025 will mark the 50th year since I embarked on this journey with California native plants. During 1975, I remember taking an introductory college class on Native Plant Identification. One field trip was to the Sweetwater Creek region. Years before my girl friend and I spent a great deal of time in this area. I knew very little about native plants at this time. I am so indebted to the many mentors I encountered along this path. It has been a very tackful (as in sailing) journey with many setbacks and discouragement. I am so grateful that Mr. Tri Thong Dang accepted me as a student. When I felt I was not making any progress he would always encourage me by telling me, “It is when you feel that you are not progressing, this is the time when the greatest progress is being made. Keep persisting.”

Hopefully the views and experiences of plant collectors and other perspectives can be discussed on the Themidaceae thread. This is my hope.

[Mariette]

Fermi, it´s always amazing that You can grow so many different plants in Your garden! Not what I expected from a garden in Australia, really. It´s especially fun to see the pink form of Habranthus tubispathus growing in a border, where it looks so much at home. Unfortunately a plant I can grow only in pots (the orange form).

Robert, to see Broedia elegans growing in great numbers in the wild is a very impressing sight! Your selection of Triteleia ixioides looks really stunning, and these delphiniums are completely new to me. Most delphiniums are difficult to grow here due to the slugs, but Delphinium tricorne grew in my garden unharmed for several years.

[Robert]

Hi Mariette,

Our native Delphinium species have never been easy for me to cultivate. There have been many failures, however I now have a methodology that seems to work well for me.

I have over 30 years of botanical field notes that I am currently entering into a computer program in a useful format. I have been working on this for a number of years now and still have a long way to go. Even with an incomplete computer listing I am getting results. Sorting and filtering data, for example location, elevation, phenology, population size, habitat, soil type, seasonal soil moisture, etc. is useful in pinpointing seed sources that will produce good results in our Sacramento garden. All this data can be cross referenced with my own climatic data sets for each life zone from the Central Valley floor to the crest of the Crystal Range and the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. From this data I am getting a good idea how specific plant species and ecosystems respond to various environmental variables. This provides great clues on how to cultivate difficult species and the possible genetic capabilities of specific species. This process may not be for everyone, however for me it is very enjoyable and seems to work. I guess this is an expression of my authentic self – I have been keeping notes and gathering data for 57 years now. I have always enjoyed this just for the sake of doing it.

The current form of Delphinium patens ssp. patens that we grow in our garden came from Kanaka Valley, El Dorado County, California at an elevation of 1,013 feet (309 meters). The plants were growing in an open grassland habitat on ultramafic gabbro based soil that is vernally mesic – summer xeric. Needless to say I also have a great deal of climatic data for this area.

I gathered seeds from this population on 8 June 2017, RMB 835. From this batch of seed many seeds germinated, however only a dozen or so plants survived to the next season. The surviving plants have bloomed consistently each year and have great vigor relative to the species. Second generation plants will be blooming this spring. All the second generation seedlings are vigorous and grew well last season before going dormant. With cooler weather and the autumn rains they have reemerged from the ground and are growing well. I definitely have my “foot in the door” with this species. I consider this to be a great success considering past attempts to cultivate this species for more than a year or two have failed. As an added bonus, by using my data effectively I am beginning to have success cultivating our native Viola species as well as other challenging species. Our native Viola species tend to be extremely difficult to cultivate. There are still challenges to overcome; however progress is being made.

Fermi might also be interested to know that I have considerable data for Salvia sonomensis. For example, where and when fruit is ripe from specific populations, as well as germinations rates. Sorting and filtering with the computer is quick and easy. Currently I only have limited data entered into the computer, however as more data is entered I will have a good idea when and where fruit is ripening for each population and the specific characteristics for each population. This does increase the likelihood of success with a true to name species.

Anyway, this is how I enjoy doing things and it seems to work well for me. May the 2025 gardening season bring you great success and pleasure despite unfavorable weather and legions of slugs. 

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Mariette,
Thanks. I'm always amazed what will grow here as well! Mostly without intervention on my part
Here are a few more things from my friend's garden in Kyneton:
1) Campanula calaminthifolia
2) Edraianthus horvatii
3) Gentiana wilsonii
cheers
fermi