Flowers and Foliage September 2008

[rob krejzl]

Maggi,

Spring down here, so there'll be a wait. You may get a better offer in the meantime.

[Maggi Young]

Of course, Rob... will wait... or let you know if a better offer turns up!!

[Thomas Huber]

Thomas

Does that beautiful fungus have the added bonus of being edible?   

Arthur I have no name for it and therefore I didn't dare to taste 

[Anthony Darby]

In summer I planted a strong plant of Crinodendron hookerianum in a some larger pot with an acid soil and put all in a shady place. It grew very good during summer and also started producing flowering buds but they still remain small and are not getting bigger. Is this normal or do I make mistakes?

Thanks,
Arne

These buds will flower next spring. Mine is in flower now, but has lots of buds for next spring too.

[ArneM]

Maggi, sometimes there are definitely too few information given as I didn't know all these facts. I hope my crinodendron will survive our winter (one day last year we had even -6°C ).

I would be interested in seeds of C: patagua, too. 

Does someone also grow C. hookerianum 'Ada Hoffman'?

[ashley]

I hope my crinodendron will survive our winter (one day last year we had even -6°C ).

Arne,

Plants here in Ireland get temperatures briefly down to -5°C or so and never seem to suffer.

[ArneM]

Plants here in Ireland get temperatures briefly down to -5°C or so and never seem to suffer.

Then I have hope. 

[gote]

I have been corrected re the peony seeds. It is P obovata. I mix these names up. Probably because the meaning is so similar.
Thank you Hans
Göte

[TC]

A walk up country to look for migrant birds produced no birds but any amount of fungi.  We leave the picking of these to experts and collect our mushrooms fron Asda or Morrisons.
I think I named the Chanterelles correctly but would not risk eating them.  There must have been about 3Kg.of them in the area we looked at.  Mushroom picking is not part of the culture in Ayrshire

[TC]

Last few.  For those interested in such things they were taken on a Nikon D200 and a Tamron SP 90mm macro lense.  I couldn't be bothered with a tripod so they were all taken hand-held with me wobbling on a slope and Cindy preparing to catch me if I fell.  At 105 Kg., she would have been flattened if I had landed on her!

[ArneM]

The first of a mass of flowers are open. Cobaea pringlei started flowering. I bought it as a measly plant this summer at Bingerden. Fascinated by their flowers I had to buy it and to my surprise it grew up to 5 metres. Original it is from Mexico and therefore not the hardiest. The nurseryman told me that it should be hardy with some protection. Even if it is not hardy it is a nice jungle for a year.

[Maggi Young]

Tom, very photogenic fungi..... thank you.

Arne, now I must search to find what the form C. hookerianum 'Ada Hoffman' looks like!
I agree with you, even if your Cobaea survives only a year, it is delightful... close to a jungle plant indeed

[David Nicholson]

Here is one from the garden today, Gladiolus callianthus formerly Acidanthera. BUT, I thought I had seen the same plant at Wisley with a different name that I can't bring to mind.

Gladiolus murielae.
But when I see it, the name Acidanthera always comes first in my mind.
Aaah, it is not so easy for us seniors, isn't it David? 

Thank you Luit, when I saw the name at Wisley I thought that since I had an aunt Muriel that I would remember it. The grey cells new otherwise!

[Paddy Tobin]

Maggi,

Here is the Crinodendron patagua. You will see that the shrub spreads itself out quite a bit, certainly now wider than it is high whereas Crinodendron hookerianum is more upright in habit or maybe this is because I have it growing among other shrubs where it hasn't much room to spread around.

Apologies for the poor quality of the flower but it is will past its best at this stage of the year. I haven't seen seed on C. patagua to date and haven't bothered to try to slip it. If you would like to try I can certainly put a few pieces in the post - with the cut ends stuck into a spud they should stay fresh on their journey.

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Paddy, I  would certainly like to try slips... is it legal to send spuds in the post!!