Flowering now in the garden March 2009

[Maggi Young]

Ian has mentioned this in a Bulb Log...... a question of insufficient temperature differences at the correct time to allow the flower to get quickly up and into proper growth. Hard for a snow melt plant, which I believe these to be, to get the right signals when to flower in our odd climate. 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Mine had actually finished flowering when they surfaced last year... 



Thanks for your help Maggi !

[Maggi Young]

Your'e welcome, Luc.... I think Rita and I are pleased to be of assistance 

[Craig]

Definately not something from the rock garden, but I wasn't sure where best to post this & this plant's just to spectacular not to share. It's Brownia coccinea x latifolia which arrived at Kew in October 1889 after the death of grower & producer of the hybrid Dr. W Crawford of County Cork. Brownia (named after Dr. Patrick Browne, an Irish naturalist who lived in Jamaica from 1746-1755and later went on to become curator of Oxford Botanic Gardens) are understory leguminous trees. from the central  and south American rainforests. One of the genus of “handerchief trees”, so called because their new leaves hang limply at first. Part of a stategy to appear unapettising, they begin pink-brown or red speckled with white, before turning green & stiffening as they become more horizontal. The bright red flowers of several spp. are pollinated by birds attracted by the copious nectar within.

This tree has been flowering its socks off for almost three months ! The strange golf ball sized buds appear at intervals on the trunk and branches, swell a little, then burst into the amazing inflorescences you can see below.

[Maggi Young]

Good Grief! That's amazing!  What a colour and such a weird method..... I find trees which have their flowers jut pop out of the  trunks very odd.... somehow seems alien!

[Lesley Cox]

From Jamaica, I assume this is in a big glasshouse?

[Carol Shaw]

That is one very strange tree 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Amazing, but good looking flowers !

[Oron Peri]

A new [green-yellow] form of Veltheimia bracteata , just appeared in between seedlings of the common form.

[maggiepie]

Wow, what an amazing plant 
Never seen anything like it.

Thanks Craig.

[art600]

A new form of V. bracteata , just appeared in between seedlings of the common form.

Are they your seedlings Oron?  A very nice plant 

[art600]

Craig

Does the Brownia have a wonderful scent to go with the spectacular flowers?

[Paul T]

Great topic everyone.  Love that amazing Brownia on this page, and the wonderful series of pics by Maggi while Ian was away.  Great stuff Maggi.  Particularly loved by me was the wonderful dark Erythronium dens canis that you mentioned was first to flower each year (and that other pic of the dark leaf E, too!!).  Very Choice!!  And that pan of Eranthis should be declared illegal!!    I am so jealous.

Speaking of jealous I must also dribble about the Scoliopis.... my plant which had done well and even produced an offset (wasn't even sure whether it would live through a single summer, let alone the 3 or 4 of them that it did) was munched by something.  Whatever it was dug down and ate the growing points straight out of the root crown, just leaving all these roots in place not connected to anything.  I was not happy to put it mildly.  Rare as hens teeth here too.    I'll try it again one day if I can find it, as it was such a lovely plant and so very unusual.  I am blown away by some of the clumps that have been posted here of it.... stunning!!

And of course the Eranthis pinnatifida....... one of the things on my "holy grail" list that I still hope to get one day.  As I ask each year...... if anyone has spare seed of this later this season that they are willing to share in this direction I would be absolutely ecstatic.

There's lots more I could mention but I won't go further into details.  Suffice it to say that I am most impressed with the wonderful pics in this topic, and want to thank everyone for brightening up my evening.  Seems so strange seeing these in flower at the moment, when we have 32'C forecast here tomorrow, which is very warm for this time of year here.

[Oron Peri]

A new form of V. bracteata , just appeared in between seedlings of the common form.

Are they your seedlings Oron?  A very nice plant 

Yes Arthur, this is my seedling but
I know that there is a new similar form that has appeared in the UK a few years ago, I think mine has more Green color than yellow.

[Gunilla]

Poul, great photos!  Eranthis pinnatifida is definitely on my wish list. I have never had any luck with seeds. Guess they need to be sown fresh.

Blue eranthis - good heavens, what wonders!  (Wow, I would have guessed hepatica!)

I think Poul is kidding us   and I do see some old hepatica leaves under the green eranthis leaves