Author Topic: Autumn 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere (Read 12102 times)

kiwi · « **Reply #15 on:** March 07, 2009, 08:14:44 AM »

My first Arum pictum flowers, short lived, reeking of pig manure, loved every minute of them!!!

Maggi Young · « **Reply #16 on:** March 07, 2009, 01:05:31 PM »

Yes, stinky but FAB, eh, Doug?!!

Lesley Cox · « **Reply #17 on:** March 07, 2009, 10:49:19 PM »

Fab indeed! That they were short-lived suggests they may have been pollinated.

Fermi I know how you feel. Our nightly TV weather forecast goes on through the summer grinning inanely about the hot/dry, while gardeners and farmers are desperate for rain. Eventually they recognize that prolonged drought is not to everyone's benefit so when 2mm of rain falls in Hawkes Bay they say how pleased they are for the suffering farmers, then back to hot/dry again next day and the silly grins.

My cyc. graecum is in flower now too, 3 and some more buds. First time since 1996!

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #18 on:** March 10, 2009, 12:15:31 AM »

Doug,
that's a nice looking arum!

Lesley,
that's good news - must've been the hot dry summer!
here's a pic of the Cyclamen graecum in our rock garden where 10 days ago there was nothing!

cheers
fermi

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #19 on:** March 11, 2009, 07:13:44 AM »

Hi everyone, Otto has asked me to post some pics for him;
first some colchicums:
Colchicum "Violet Queen"

Colchicum davisii from Greece

And one he got as Colchicum liparochiadys

he got it as seed from the Moscow Botanic Gardens in 1968 labelled Colchicum liparochiadys Woronow ex Czerniak but can't verify the name; can any aficionados please help?
cheers
fermi on behalf of Otto.

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #20 on:** March 11, 2009, 10:41:24 PM »

More from Otto:
A couple of Aussie native plants, first the stunning "Christmas Bells", Blandfordia grandiflora

And the Tasmanian Climbing Heath, Prionotes cerinthoides,

And though these aren't "flowering now" here are a few pics to prove that Otto did get to Afghanistan in 1971!

And here he is wondering which way to go!

And on top of the Khyber Pass, a younger Otto and friend!

and the view from the top,

cheers
fermi, on behalf of Otto!

Lesley Cox · « **Reply #21 on:** March 12, 2009, 04:05:21 AM »

That's never Otto

I really want to grow the Prionotes. Saw it in 07 in Tasmania, crawling up trees in the Mt Field National Park. A beautiful thing. The Blandfordia's OK too

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #22 on:** March 13, 2009, 03:15:15 AM »

It's amazing how quickly the autumn bulbs appear once the weather cools down; none of these were above ground a week ago!
One of the few Australian native bulbs, Calostemma purpurea, the Garland Lily

Crossyne flava (also posted to the SA Bulbs thread) which eventually becomes a large "star-burst" seed head - as there are another two flowering I might get some seed this year

Sprekelia formosissima, The Jacobean Lily,

The tiny autumn snowflake, Acis autumnalis (syn Leucojum autumnale)

cheers
fermi

Onion · « **Reply #23 on:** March 13, 2009, 07:54:39 PM »

Fermi,

can you tell more about the Calostemma purpurea? Cultivation, soil, hardiness etc. Or have you report this in a thread of the last years?

Robert G · « **Reply #24 on:** March 14, 2009, 02:13:07 AM »

Fermi,

Your flora (native and imported) continues to amaze me. I can read about it and see pictures, but your pictures are a step beyond that. Calostemma purpurea is amazing. Aso as I already noted elsewhere the imported Crossyne flava. I feel as though my pictures, once the snow melts will not be as interesting.

Michael · « **Reply #25 on:** March 14, 2009, 08:37:38 AM »

Very impressive Fermi, please keep posting more

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #26 on:** March 15, 2009, 11:06:02 PM »

Hi Uli,
I've posted pics of the Calostemma purpureum (sorry about mis-spelling it before!) in previous years, at least last year I think! It's an amaryllid and the bulbs can go down pretty deep. The most common as far as I know is this pinky purple form but Pat Toolan (arillady) has mentioned that forms near her place can be white as well. There is a separate species called C. luteum which some people believe is just a colour variant; I've grown it but it hasn't flowered for a couple of years - I think it needs to be moved to somewhere sunnier.
I treat mine with almost total neglect (maybe why C. luteum hasn't reflowered!) and they can take at least -7C which is what we get down to in a "normal" winter.They seem to prefer a dry summer. I think you could treat them similar to Nerines or Lycoris where you live. In our conditions they usually take around 2 years to flower from seed, but can take a lot longer if conditions don't suit them.
here are a couple more pics:

cheers
fermi

fermi de Sousa · « **Reply #27 on:** March 16, 2009, 02:25:11 AM »

Hi Robert and Mike,
thanks for your comments; the feeling we get at the end of summer is somewhat akin to what some people in the NH feel at the end of winter - relief and expectation as to what has survived!
The recent rain has brought out the "rain-lilies"; here are some Habranthus,
first, Habranthus tubispathus