March 2025 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

March is "officially" the start of autumn in Australia. Despite the temperatures staying in the 30s (Celsius) these colchicums started into bloom on the 1st of the month!
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

It is nice to see the blooming Colchicum in your garden.

Colchicum species work well for us too, here in hot, dry interior California. I enjoy the large, bold foliage of Colchicum macrophyllum and similar species with large foliage. These types are looking especially nice in our garden right now.



Our “dormant season” is during the summer – July and August for the most part. I am doing what I can bring more flowers into our ornamental garden without using common summertime bedding annuals; I use these elsewhere in the vegetable garden to attract beneficial insects and butterflies. This year I will trial new Symphyotrichum spathulatum accessions from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Eurybia integrifolia and Doellingeria breweri are two additional California native species that will likely provide mid-summer flowers with a good degree of drought and heat tolerance. If all goes well, I will trial these species next year.

Many plants are blooming in our garden now. I hope to post photographs soon. The California native annuals are looking especially nice right now.

[fermi de Sousa]

Our “dormant season” is during the summer – July and August for the most part. I am doing what I can bring more flowers into our ornamental garden without using common summertime bedding annuals....

Hi Robert,
You might've noticed that there was no "February 2025 in the Southern Hemisphere" thread because it is our main dormant season. Summer bedding annuals take too much water to keep them looking good, so we tend to avoid them. It's been a very hot and dry summer and it's extending into "autumn". Today it reached 37.7^oC and we're nearly at the equinox. There a cool change expected tomorrow with a bit of rain - I always say "I'll believe when I see it!" (I'm a curable optimist).
Two weeks ago I put the sprinkler on one of the beds and a week later Rhodophiala bifida burst into bloom. Today only one or two flowers are open.
Pics from last week:
1-3): a hybrid swarm between the blood-red form and the orangey-red form.
4-5): The dark-red or "Ox Blood" form which has overtaken the orangey-red one in "commerce" - no one really sells Rhodophiala in any huge number, it's only available from bulb specialists.
And don't tell me this is now a Zephyranthes - I think the taxonomists are getting drunk on power and I won't re-label these for at least 10 years because it could easily be shifted back!
cheers
fermi

[Leucogenes]

Hi Fermi

I share your opinion on the need for prestige of some taxonomists. It's very tiring when  moleculargenetics constantly gives rise to new classifications of names. Stand firm and use the old names... just like me.✊

Your Rhodophiala bifida are stunning. Thanks for showing them.

Best regards
Thomas ✌️

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Fermi

I share your opinion on the need for prestige of some taxonomists. It's very tiring when monocular genetics constantly gives rise to new classifications of names. Stand firm and use the old names... just like me.✊

Your Rhodophiala bifida are stunning. Thanks for showing them.

Best regards
Thomas ✌️

Thanks, Thomas,
I hope you are enjoying a beautiful start to spring in your part of the world.
The end of summer is when the Amaryllis belladonna and its hybrids come into bloom.
Here are a few in our garden
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

It is nice to see your autumn bulbs coming into bloom. Spring is arriving here in our part of Northern California. The first of the Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus are coming into bloom now. Triteleia laxa is not far behind. Slow but steady progress is being made developing new and hopefully superior forms. This year I will be evaluating selections of Triteleia bridgesii and making appropriate crosses. I believe this species has great potential. It just requires some time and effort – something I enjoy doing. I will be posting Themidaceae photographs as the season progresses, as well as reporting on any new results and findings.

[MarcR]

Hi Fermi

I share your opinion on the need for prestige of some taxonomists. It's very tiring when  moleculargenetics constantly gives rise to new classifications of names. Stand firm and use the old names... just like me.✊

Your Rhodophiala bifida are stunning. Thanks for showing them.

Best regards
Thomas ✌️

Hi Robert,
You might've noticed that there was no "February 2025 in the Southern Hemisphere" thread because it is our main dormant season. Summer bedding annuals take too much water to keep them looking good, so we tend to avoid them. It's been a very hot and dry summer and it's extending into "autumn". Today it reached 37.7^oC and we're nearly at the equinox. There a cool change expected tomorrow with a bit of rain - I always say "I'll believe when I see it!" (I'm a curable optimist).
Two weeks ago I put the sprinkler on one of the beds and a week later Rhodophiala bifida burst into bloom. Today only one or two flowers are open.
Pics from last week:
1-3): a hybrid swarm between the blood-red form and the orangey-red form.
4-5): The dark-red or "Ox Blood" form which has overtaken the orangey-red one in "commerce" - no one really sells Rhodophiala in any huge number, it's only available from bulb specialists.
And don't tell me this is now a Zephyranthes - I think the taxonomists are getting drunk on power and I won't re-label these for at least 10 years because it could easily be shifted back!
cheers
fermi

fermi  & Leucogenes,

I share your opinion.  I have long believed that fhere should be 2 separate phylogenies: one for academia and one for horticulture.
The horticultural phylogeny should change only when academic changes are horticulturally useful.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Fermi,

It is nice to see your autumn bulbs coming into bloom. Spring is arriving here in our part of Northern California. The first of the Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus are coming into bloom now. Triteleia laxa is not far behind. Slow but steady progress is being made developing new and hopefully superior forms. This year I will be evaluating selections of Triteleia bridgesii and making appropriate crosses. I believe this species has great potential. It just requires some time and effort – something I enjoy doing. I will be posting Themidaceae photographs as the season progresses, as well as reporting on any new results and findings.

Hi Robert,
I'm always amazed when I see your pics of Themids so early in the season. Here they are some of the last spring flowers, often after most of the narcissus have finished. Perhaps they are reluctant to appear so far from home?!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

fermi  & Leucogenes,

I share your opinion.  I have long believed that there should be 2 separate phylogenies: one for academia and one for horticulture.
The horticultural phylogeny should change only when academic changes are horticulturally useful.

Hi Marc,
that's an interesting viewpoint - how do we get it recognised by the Taxonomic Council? 

Here are a couple of mystery colchicums:
1 & 2) This was grown from seed as Colchicum diampolis but I've been told it isn't - apparently it should be winter or spring flowering.
3 & 4) This appeared today in a bed where I have no recollection of planting it - no label, but it could have been a stray seedling planted out with something else ( or I've just forgotten that I'd planted it here!).
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

I was up at our El Dorado County farm yesterday. The earliest forms of Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus are coming into bloom now. Many Triteleia laxa are well advanced and will be blooming soon. Here in our Sacramento garden our earliest blooming forms of Dipterostemon capitatus ssp. capitatus are blooming now. From a horticultural perspective the individual species of Themidaceae are much more diverse than might be readily apparent. In addition, observing the species in their natural habitats provides invaluable clues on how they might be used effectively in gardening situations. Continuing research needs to be done. This is a slow process. The same can be said concerning our native Erythronium species. They too are much more diverse than is readily apparent. For example, 30 years ago I was told, by the local experts, that Erythroniums, as well as other species, were impossible to grow in Sacramento. Today, some Erythronium species have become almost weedy in our garden. With continued research and effort a highly diverse group of ultra-heat tolerant, easy-to-grow species selections, and interspecific hybrids are continuing to be developed for our Sacramento garden. Gardeners with similar climatic conditions or those concerned about the impacts of climatic change on their gardens might be interested. I will be posting results and new findings as time permits.

[MarcR]

Hi Marc,
that's an interesting viewpoint - how do we get it recognised by the Taxonomic Council?  ......

Fermi,

It needn't be approved by anyone.

If the horticultural community were to choose a point in time, that makes sense  for our use, [by consensus] and began using the plant names in use at that time, it would happen by default.

[fermi de Sousa]

... 30 years ago I was told, by the local experts, that Erythroniums, as well as other species, were impossible to grow in Sacramento. Today, some Erythronium species have become almost weedy in our garden. With continued research and effort a highly diverse group of ultra-heat tolerant, easy-to-grow species selections, and interspecific hybrids are continuing to be developed for our Sacramento garden. Gardeners with similar climatic conditions or those concerned about the impacts of climatic change on their gardens might be interested. I will be posting results and new findings as time permits.

Hi Robert,
I'd be interested to see which species do well for you because they might do well here!
Here are a few more flowers
1 & 2) Lycoris radiata - which vanished the next day due to the wallaby, rabbits or the Hare now inhabiting our garden
3 & 4) xAmarine which looks like a Nerine bowdeni on steroids
5) The first Sternbergia lutea - possibly a cross with the smaller S. sicula which grows nearby
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

I am doing the best I can to systematically document and report on my results with various Western North American Erythronium species. It is a slow process, as I wish to be as thorough and complete with my research as possible (a similar approach as used by Michael Faraday and his methodology in physics).

Each individual species is far more complex and variable than might be currently understood. For example, populations and individual specimens of Erythronium multiscapideum are highly variable in many genetic characteristics. The Sweetwater Creek and Kanaka Valley forms of this species spread rapidly, bloom sparsely, and bloom very late in the season. Some of their characteristics are so distinct that they could be considered a unique subspecies - definitely an ecotype. These populations are also found at very low elevations where survival is dependent on possessing a high degree of heat and drought tolerance. They are also found growing on ultramafic soils, which influences their performance in the garden.

Populations of Erythronium multiscapideum vary greatly within El Dorado County, California depending on elevation, soil type, and other variables. Some populations possess characteristics generally associated with Erythronium californicum. Some high elevation populations possess some characteristics associated with Erythronium purpurascens. I have a new accession of Erythronium multiscapideum from a high elevation site in Northwestern California. Here Erythronium multiscapideum and E. californicum can form hybrid populations. This group of plants has not bloomed for me yet, however they consistently emerge in the spring very late in the season. Populations of Erythronium multiscapideum that I have studied in Butte County, California have, yet again, their own unique set of characteristics. I could go on with this discussion by sharing my data and field notes on Erythronium tuolumnense both in our garden and population in their native habitats. It is all very complex and there are other Western North American species to discuss.

Inaccurate results can arise from cultivated plants. Epigenetic changes can and do occur in cultivated populations. Seeds of plants sourced from Northern Europe may have undergone adaptive epigenetic changes that are not conducive to survival in your Interior Australian garden. In addition, seeds sourced from collections with a large number of closely related species might be unintended hybrids unless controlled pollination occurred. You might get some very beautiful plants; however, the hybrids would not provide accurate information concerning the performance of the type species. Excessive inbreeding is something that I have frequently encountered. My experiments with Western North American Erythronium species have demonstrated that they have a strong outbreeding preference. Excessive inbreeding consistently produces weak plants and poor results.

My study of North American Erythronium species is ongoing. For example, Erythronium taylorii has been difficult for me to cultivate in the past, however I now have a new accession that is thriving in our garden. This species has a very limited range in California, yet the species appears to have a fair degree of genetic diversity. Based on my experiences with other Erythronium species in our garden I suspect that low elevation populations of Erythronium purpurascens may yield plants that could be adaptable to our low elevation Sacramento garden. A great deal of research still needs to be done.

Finding Erythronium species that will thrive in your garden will likely be a trial-and-error process. Starting with the most likely species will be a good start. Sourcing seeds and/or plants, keeping good records of the outcomes will impact your end results. Experimenting with unlikely species and trusting your intuition can bring surprising results. I guess this is part of what make gardening enjoyable. May you have good fortune with this endeavor.

[Jasmin]:  I always enjoy the images you post.  We can have the challenges of deer, jackrabbits, and the like to empathize with your gardening wildlife challenges--we get reports of "small" black bears and mountain lions in people's yards too; however, so far, my neighbor's pet rabbit was more than enough raiding, and the skunks, raccoons, and opossums love digging more than anything.  That said, your post reminds me I remain thankful we do not encounter wallabies, red or other kangaroos raiding, although Sacramento has a zoological garden nearby, and any encounters with your wildlife here would be escapees.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert and Jasmin,
thanks for your comments and advice. We've had kangaroos in the garden since we started living here. But they don't do as much damage as the wallabies, because they mostly eat grass while the wallaby will eat any plant.
I've gotten some locally (well, the Dandenongs) produced Erythronium seed which I'll try out here. I've previously tried plants which have simply petered out after a few years, even ones I'd grown from seed.
Here are some more flowers:
1) Narcissus 07/02T - N. tazetta  lacticolor x N. elegans from Lawrence Trevanion in Canberra
2) Lycoris Elsae
3) Rhodophiala bifida seedling of the orange red clone
4) Rhodophiala bifida pink - on a very short stem!
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

You have brought up a good point concerning the cultivation of Erythronium species. An important consideration is the fact that I have been working on this project for over 20 years. In the beginning I had similar results at the best. Over the years my success rate has increased, however over many years progress was extremely slow with many setbacks. Most likely my methodologies would not work for you. I work with only local species and highly genetically diverse populations of plants. The fundamental concepts behind the theory of rapid adaptive evolution is a guiding force forming the basis of my methodologies. As it has turned out, the loss of our walnut tree has turned out to be a huge blessing. I have dropped many projects and now focus my efforts on the R and D of a small selection of plant species, and creating a beautiful garden. These have always been my horticultural passions. It is nice to get back to my core horticultural passions. I especially enjoy working on very difficult and challenging R and D projects. The process and the knowledge gained is what is so satisfying for me. I enjoy making new discoveries.

Jasmin says that wallabies seem like goats.