Flowers and Foliage August 2008

[art600]

I am surprised at how early my Hibiscus are this year.  The white one has easily in excess of a thousand flowers in spite of being hard pruned every year.

[Brian Ellis]

Everything is topsy-turvy again.  We have first Michaelmas Daisy and last night had our first Autumn Raspberries and Blackberries!

[Lvandelft]

Another plant in my garden:
Pennisetum orientale 1           
Pennisetum orientale 2 

[Magnar]

Delphinium forrestii coll Sichuan
Clematis potaninii v fragesii
Lilium pumilum

[Paul T]

Magnar,

Love the Clematis.  Yet another species I have never heard of.  

[Linda_Foulis]

Magnar,
If that delphinium sets seed I would love a couple.  That is just stunning.

[Magnar]

Paul: The Clematis is an East Asian species which I grew from seeds some years ago.

Linda: I sure will check the Delphinium for seeds in due time and keep in mind that you want some of them.

[Paul T]

Magnar,

There's quite a few different species that I've come across here on the forums that I've never seen before.  Being a Clematis lover I can see there are lots more I am going to have to find and make some space for!    So many things to grow, so little real estate!! 

[Lvandelft]

We have a place near our raised bed, where I am trying some huge perennials.
Here is an easy one which reaches 2.50 m at least. It withstands strong winds,
of which we get enough here near the coast and it starts flowering the first
week of July and ( very important!) goes on for three months.

Althaea cannabina 1             
Althaea cannabina 2       

[Paul T]

That looks rather interesting Luit.  A very fine and open appearance for such a tall plant.  Lovely flowers too!!

[art600]

Can anyone identify this Saxifrage.  The label says it comes from Napa Hai in Yunnan.  Not from Chen Yi

[Lvandelft]

Talking about Miscanthus you mostly will think of huge grasses, up to 2 meters high when in flower.
Here is a small one, reaching only 50 cm in flower.
It took several years to establish here but now it makes even runners,
so I have to look out it is not getting to big.

Miscanthus tinctorius Nanus Variegatus

[johanneshoeller]

Arthur, I think this is an unknown Sax. from Gerd Stopp who has collected himself this seed.
The first autumn flowering gentiana in my garden.
A hybrid, pneumonanthe and sino-ornata

[Kristl Walek]

I have three sizeable ponds on my property--all connected by streams and a small canal. One pond in particular is HUGE (with it's own small island, just so you can imagine the dimensions).

Many plants and water lilies were put in the large pond in the early years --- and I must admit that my life has become so impossibly hectic that I have barely even walked down to that pond in over 2 years...but today I did a slow stroll around the entire 8 acres, which I have not done in a very long time.

It was lovely to see how large those patches of water lilies had become over the years. Don't ask me any questions about the plants, because I will not be able to answer. This was another lifetime, it seems, when they were let loose in there.

[Kristl Walek]

A couple of weeds I like...

Thladiantha dubia (the Manchu tubergourd) just showed up one year---it never gets into trouble here---although I have heard this is not the case in warmer climates--and I find the flowers pretty. It's never produced a fruit in the 15 or so years it's been here, but does seem to reproduce by the "potato tubers". I have kept it confined to the "rear 40" just in case.

The American Pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, is a large shrubby perennial (3m) that gets into bad trouble here, but I still can't resist leaving a couple plants here and there, first of all because I need the seed, and also because of it's amazing presence at the berry stage. Here is one plant in one of my old nursery areas, boring flowers. But soon will be the fantastic black-berry phase.

The variegated form "Silberstein" on the other hand I can barely keep alive here. I don't mind--not particularly fond of most variegates anyway.

If I recall correctly, I was shocked to discover that this plant was allowed entry into Australia.