November 2008 in the Southern Hemisphere

[fermi de Sousa]

Time to start a new thread! It's still spring but feels like an early summer.
Here's a better pic of Salvia chamaedryoides with more flowers open,

And Ixia rouxii

And Dianthus haematacalyx ssp pindicola is just starting.

cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

At the FCHS Rock Garden Meeting last Saturday, we had a small but interesting selcetion of flowers on the Show bench,

And a late arrival of urticularias!

Otto was even well enough to attend, he avoided a photo but that was his hand holding up the label for U. reniformis! apparently a carnivorous plant from South America,
Here's close up of the flowers,

and the foliage,

And a tiny cousin from Australia, U. livida,

cheers
fermi

[Carlo]

Fermi,

LOVE the Ixia! What a beautiful little thing. I'll have to try finding it, even if I have to grow it in a pot.

[Otto Fauser]

After 10 days in hospital and a successful spinal surgery behind me , it's good to be home again. Still much in bloom in the garden on my first walk around it yesterday , though missed most of the japanese tree paeonies [there will be next year], but no gardening for the next 8 weeks- so all the weeds are smiling at me , they know they are safe for that period ! I am touched by all your good wishesfor a speedy recovery ,so many thanks to you all,
   ciao Otto.

[fermi de Sousa]

Still much in bloom in the garden on my first walk around it yesterday , though missed most of the japanese tree paeonies [there will be next year], but no gardening for the next 8 weeks-
   ciao Otto.

Ciao Otto,
at least you can do some "virtual gardening" here on the Forum!
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Just spent the last hour talking to Otto on the phone..... you can even hear in his voice how much better he is feeling.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything keeps improving.  You're going to be a new man by the sound of it Otto!! 

Here in Canberra the garden is motoring along in late spring.  Some of the late Rhododendrons are out, Maples have all leafed out, Paeonies, Roses, Heuchera, Poppies, Geraniums, Liliums coming into bud, Wiegelas of all different types are in flower, Cornus kousa in full bloom, etc. Definitely a good time to be here.  And at work at the ANBG the variety of different plants flowering is amazing.  Just today I took so many photos of so many things.... I just need to get them sorted and prepared for posting in the ANBG topic.  Along with the pics from the last couple of weeks that I still haven't prepared.    Not enough time for everything now that I'm working full time.    Life is good!!!!!! 

[Maggi Young]

Dearest Otto, I cannot tell you how delighted we are to have you "home" (in more ways than one)again... ... it is terrific to hear that you are well enough to make an excursion out to the FCHS meeting.
Our best wishes for a continuation of improvment and return to good health for you.

[Lesley Cox]

I have to second that! Great that you are able to cope with the Forum, if not the entire garden as yet.

Here are some from this neck of the woods. Some have been here before, but these are better pics I think.


I guess this is one of the bedding type of Ranunculus asiaticus, not a plant I'd normally grow but I have a cunning plan for it.


The flowers of Sorbus rerducta are very pretty to my mind and followed by pink fruit then fiery-coloured foliage, I think it's a great plant. The very kind gift of seed from Brian and Maureen Wilson now sees me with young plants of the non-running form but in the meantime, I'm planting the running form as a ground cover in a wilder part and it's doing a marvellous job. The autumn colour will be spectacular, en masse.


A better pic of Cypripedium formosanum, which is still perfect after about 3 weeks.


Iris 'Queen's Grace' is a hybrid between tectorum and another of the crested group, maybe japonica or wattii, but better than any of them with many more flowers to the amount of foliage. Flowers are larger too and a beautiful light, clear blue.


The first weldenia flower for the year. This was last Friday. There were 15 yesterday. I'm removing the dead ones each day and hope to count how many for the whole period.


I was very pleased to see yesterday that my other flowering plant of this white Primula reidii is pin-eyed, to this one's thrum. So I tore down the bells of each and cross pollinated. I didn't get any seed last year. The third plant isn't flowering for some reason.


Arisaema taiwanense will go into the garden as soon as it dies down again. But it does do well in pots too.




Better pics of Ranunculus parnassifolius if for no other reason than that I have weeded the trough since the last one.

[ashley]

Wonderful plants there Lesley
Does the Weldenia ever set seed, because I've never seen it in the exchanges? That P. reidii is such a beauty too. 

Plans for the Ranunculus?  In view of your usual response to frilly narcissi or iris do we need to brace ourselves
I have a nice batch of seedlings of the wild form now beginning to re-emerge but unfortunately they are still some way off flowering size.   

[Lesley Cox]

The weldenia has never set seed for me and I think it may need pollinating from the other (Guatemalan) clone. Mine is the Mexican form. Having said that, I have once seen seed on the AGS list, could have been 30 years ago, never again. BUT it travels very well as a dormant plant if you are interested. I've sent it literally all over the world (incl the Republic of Ireland) andnot had any reports of its dying. It seems very easy to acclimatize.

I'll PM you about the Ranunculus as the information is not for the general public yet, nor does it belong entirely to me.

[fermi de Sousa]

A few from our garden before we head off to India.
Dianthus callizonus, grown from SRGC seedex 2007, first flowering,

Verbascum dumulosum; I can take no credit for this one as it was a gift from Viv when she visited our garden in September,

And one of its offspring, the hybrid V. "Letitia"; this is the regeneration ffrom the rootstock after the whole shrub died last year!

Triteleia ixioides in the rock garden

The first bloom on Conathera campanulata,

First flowering on Allium dichlamydeum grown from AGS Sdx 2005,

A slightly larger Allium in the Rock Garden, A. obtusum,

A local endemic, Pelargonium rodneyanum, the magenta cranesbill, known as "Madge" at our place!

cheers for now!
fermi

[Paul T]

All lovely Fermi.  I think I must try to track down a V. letitia one of these years, as I love Verbascum.  I have a couple of small ones flowering at the moment which are white and mauve respectively.  I'm hoping that they might set seed as well, given that they were seedlings themselves form overseas.  Would like to get lots more Verbascum, but you don't seem to see them that much here at the moment unfortunately.

So how long are you going to be in India? Have a GREAT trip.   

[Otto Fauser]

Paul , there are a couple of mature plants of Verbascum "Letitia" in the Rockgarden of FernyCreek Hort.Soc., I will strike some cuttings for you, as soon as I can drive again .
 V. dumulosum were cuttings from my plants.
     Otto.

[Paul T]

Otto,

Thank you very much.  I love Verbascum, but rarely ever see them for sale.  A couple of years ago there were punnets around and I still have a couple of those going (but they haven't set seed), plus I have a white annual one that I got from a friend of mine, which I hope has seeded around a bit.  Other than that I was just pleased to find a couple of seedlings at a wholesale nursery.... they're the ones that are in flower at the moment and I am hoping will cross and produce seed.  They survived since last year, so maybe they'll be semi-perennial if I'm lucky.  I also have a small yellow flowered one, which some people find a weed but I just love.  I wish we had some of the ones here that I see posted by some of the UK people in particular.... they obviously have a good range of named ones over there, although I guess most of those are sterile so you have to rely on cuttings to propagate them.  Thanks again for the offer!! 

[Lesley Cox]

There's a good low perennial verbascum Paul called 'Flush of White' which comes true from seed. I'll send some later in the summer, and I have a little shrubby species with yellow flowers which I can send now. I had it from a seedlist as V. acaule but it isn't, maybe V. arcturi in a dwarfish form. Not sure, but very nice. The V. phoeniceum hybrids come in pinks, purples etc and are very good too, and reliably perennial.