March 2007

[Ian Y]

Funny you should mention the corydalis Martin, they are a big favourite of mine as well and the earlier ones are just starting to flower now. The usually get covered in snow and as long as it is not heavy wet snow that falls they appear unscathed in the thaw.

Corydalis 'Beth Evans'

[mark smyth]

Ian I liked your large stone trough I'm planning on copying one here at the front door but on a smaller scale

[Martin Baxendale]

Ian, when we do get a bit of white stuff down here it's almost always the nasty slushy wet kind which settles on and flattens flowers, seldom the kind of nice crisp cold snow that settles around flowers and preserves them for after the thaw. All my snowdrops were squished right down onto the soil by the slushy  snowfall we had earlier this year. Took them a good ten days to sit back up, some never did, and many flowers were badly soil-marked. Must try to take some pics of the corydalis before the snow comes.

[mark smyth]

Ian I would like to get some Corydalis for the garden. What ones do you recommend? No prolific seeders/runners

[annew]

Weather turning in time for my open garden on Sunday  winter drawers on I think!

[Katrin Lugerbauer]

Hello! I want to show some pictures from today. Because we had no snow - although I live 460m above sea level - everything is much farther than last year.

Greetings from Austria, Katrin


    scopolia_carniolica_var_hladnickiana.jpg
    scopolia_carniolica_var_hladnickiana_ganz.jpg
    scopolia_carniolica_zwanenburg.jpg
    scopolia_carniolica_zwanenburg_ganz.jpg
    epimedium_grandilorum_07.jpg
    epimedium_black_sea.jpg

[KentGardener]

Anne - me being amused by puns as usual:

was the meaning 'Winter draws on" or "Winter drawers on" - or did you know exactly what you were writing?

regards

John

[johngennard]

Here are one or two nice plants that might not be here any time now but the best one is still to come.Watch this space.

    Pieris 'Prelude'.jpg
    Camellia Cornish Snow.jpg
    Corylopsis pauciflora.jpg
    Corylopsis chinensis var.chinensis.jpg

[mark smyth]

ohhh Cornish Snow. I saw it back on February 3rd in Devon.

[annew]

John, I'll leave you guessing!

[Paddy Tobin]

One for the southern hemisphere members, a terrestial orchid, Pterostylis ringens.


Paddy

[Martin Baxendale]

Just spent an hour talking to Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park at an exhibition of my Dad's early Beano drawings and other cartoon strips down in the town here (and got photographed with the extended Bax family for Country Life) so that was nice.

Anyway, tuberous corydalis...they're all beauties, Mark. None of them run, just slowly form small clumps, and they will seed around but not so much as to ever be a nuisance. Do you not have any at all? If not, get some. They're great to follow on from the snowdrops

Do you have Janis's catalogue? His selection is mouth-watering. Great side-interest for galanthopiles too, as there are dozens of varieties with often quite slight differences! Fascinating!

You must get C. malkensis. It'll seed around and is one of the very best, with big white flowers. Beth Evans is a good pink, but I find the quite similar Dieter Schacht is a stronger grower and increases faster. The terracotta-red-pink George Baker is a strong-coloured must of course and another good increaser. C. solida transsylvanic (from which G.Baker is a selection) is very good pink-red and not as expensive as some of the selected forms (especially from Janis, who has a good consistent strain comes true from seed). Then there are the named varieties. Of Janis's raisings, I like best Sixtus (tall light pink, good increaser) Maxima (v. big lilac spikes) and Cantata (stunning bright dark pink). I'd say those are some of the most distinctive ones for the open garden. Oh, and C. vittae is a cold snow-white beauty, also easy in the garden and later flowering, to continue the season.

I took a few quick pics of some of these in the garden today, before the snow arrives and will post some tomorrow. For now, we're going to round off the evening with a bottle of wine and a DVD rental of the Borat film.      

[johngennard]

 Alright Anne,I'll put you out of your misery.I planted it thirty-seven years ago against all advice in a windswept new garden with no shelter.It was a 2ft.sapling from Hilliers then and you ought to see it now.It is my pride and joy and you ought to see it now.Pictures don't do it justice.Sorry

[Maggi Young]

So, it is Anne's Open Garden Day on Sunday? This explains a lot... why else would all this ghastly stormy weather be heading our way if not to ruin her day? And Anne a Mother, too!  (In the UK this Sunday, 18th March, is Mothering Sunday) Hope the day is still a great success , Anne!

All sorts of great flowers from you all, hope the weather doesn't get them all. At least Paddy's pot of Pterostylis can be carted under cover. Lovely potful, Paddy, has it taken long to get that fat?

Martin,  a "real" photo of you, that was nice!  Sounds like you had a good time at Baxendale Pa's exhibition....Nick Park (hero!!) AND Country Life.... what next... well, apparently, some wine and the Borat film.... bit of an anticlimax that, don't you think?

[johngennard]

It was still Spring this morning.