Flowering Now - May 2009

[John Mitchell]

John,

That is a brilliant of a Roscoea.  Is that a named form?  I thought cautleyoides was yellow, which is why I ask.  It is a very nice colour, and what a stonker of a clump!!

Paul you get the two colour forms growing in the wild together the yellow and the purple we do not have a clonal name for it but there are many clones out there with names. I will post the yellow form once it has a few more flowers on it

[Tony Willis]

a few things open at the moment

Ramonda serbica
Ramonda nathaliae
Thalictrum orientale a delicate plant
Thalictrum tuberosum a quite robust thing about 18 inches tall with flowers an inch across.

[Paddy Tobin]

John,

The Rheum alexandrae is fabulous, so seldom seen. I am amazed that your roscoea is already in flower. Here, the first shoots are just appearing above ground.

Paddy

[Gerdk]

a few things open at the moment

Ramonda serbica
Ramonda nathaliae
Thalictrum orientale a delicate plant
Thalictrum tuberosum a quite robust thing about 18 inches tall with flowers an inch across.

Tony,
Your pictures are well suited to tell apart Ramonda serbica (blue anthers) and  nathaliae- it's the first time I found a comparism. Thank you!

Gerd

Gerd

[Gerdk]

Some SH beauties began to flower here

1. - 3.  Pasithea coerulea from Chile
4.  also from Chile (Volcan Llaima) - Fragaria chilensis - hardy here!
5. + 6. XRhodoxis 'Hebron Farm' - different colors - also hardy outside!
7. Cotula turbinata from the Table Mountain, South Africa
8. + 9. Cyrtanthus parviflorus, South Africa

Gerd

[Rodger Whitlock]

4.  also from Chile (Volcan Llaima) - Fragaria chilensis - hardy here!

"Chilensis" or "chiloensis"? Fragaria  chiloensis is common all along the Pacfic coast from Chile to British Columbia, possibly even into Alaska. Named after the island of Chiloe in Chile.

It's becoming a weed in my garden.

[Paddy Tobin]

Two of the traditional games in Ireland are hurling and football. Hurling is a very fast game played with a fist sized leather ball (sliotar) while football is, well, football - not soccer though, all players handle the football. To the point: those who play hurling often refer to football as a sport for those with poor eyesight - need a big ball -  my photographs tonight are of the bigger plants in the garden, some trees and shrubs which are in flower now.

Aesculus turbinata - grown from seed
Amelanchier alnifolia (alnifolius?) - grown from seed and a very promising shrub, upright in growth with good sized flowers
Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder'
Cydonia oblonga



Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

A few more along the same lines:

Halesia caroliniana - grown from seed
Magnolia 'Susan'
Malus floribunda
Staphylea pinnata - grown from seed


Paddy

[cohan]

Two of the traditional games in Ireland are hurling and football. Hurling is a very fast game played with a fist sized leather ball (sliotar) while football is, well, football - not soccer though, all players handle the football. To the point: those who play hurling often refer to football as a sport for those with poor eyesight - need a big ball -  my photographs tonight are of the bigger plants in the garden, some trees and shrubs which are in flower now.
Aesculus turbinata - grown from seed
Amelanchier alnifolia (alnifolius?) - grown from seed and a very promising shrub, upright in growth with good sized flowers
Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder'
Cydonia oblonga
Paddy

i think what you call football is what we call rugby, perhaps...

in toronto there were splendid giant Aesculus, and there is a famous one i havent seen surviving decades in zone 3 edmonton..not sure of species--standard horse chestnut, probably not the same as yours...

nice to see the Amelanchier--we have wild ones all over the place, (and maybe a few my mom planted, not that you can tell the difference..) they arent in flower or leaf yet, but wont be too long... they could probably easily be kept pruned smallish, but naturally go rather tall and narrow--i think i took photos of some last year around 20 feet nice white flowers, though very short lived.. purple berries are delicious..(there are clones specially for fruit that stay smaller, dont sucker, larger fruit etc)--
also really nice, and a much rounder bush, is Prunus pennsylvanica, red berries not so good out of hand, but the birds devour them eagerly...

[Paddy Tobin]

Cohan,

Our 'football' is similar to rugby, I suppose.

I really like the amelanchier. It flowered last year but only sparsely while this year it is simply covered in flower. It is, as you have described, upright in habit appearing as though it will remain columnar in habit. I don't mind if it goes to twenty feet, would suit me fine, good to see it grow to its natural habit. I must watch for the berries and try them out - and keep a few to grow on some more plants.

Aesculus hippocast... (buckeye to you, horsechestnus to us!) makes a big tree here. I have an old tree in the garden about sixty feet high and in full flower now. I also grow some of the smaller verieties.

Paddy

[Giles]

Paddy,
- a flowering shrub man!
Please keep on posting, I love them!

[Lori S.]

How nice that our saskatoonberry, Amelanchier alnifolia, has made it to "the big time", LOL!   Cohan, the cultivars that are sold ('Smokey', 'Pembina', etc.) are selections from the wild, chosen for fruit size or flavor, so it sure makes sense that they'd blend in with the wild ones pretty easily.    Paddy, I hope you get enough fruit to make a pie some day... or, given the yield of one bush, at least a tart!  The berries are very tasty.

Beautiful and most unusual (to me) thalictrums!  (Before joining this forum, I had thought only T. delavayi, rochbrunianum, et al, were large-flowered... lovely to see more!)

Rheum alexandrae is wonderful too!  (I've had R. australe?? (not near so interesting) for a while, from seed years ago, but never doing much... I guess I should treat it better.  )

[Onion]

A few more along the same lines:

Halesia caroliniana - grown from seed
Magnolia 'Susan'
Malus floribunda
Staphylea pinnata - grown from seed


Paddy

Paddy,
is the superb Malus floribunda in your garden?
Only knew them as littel plants around 1m high.

[Gerdk]

4.  also from Chile (Volcan Llaima) - Fragaria chilensis - hardy here!

"Chilensis" or "chiloensis"? Fragaria  chiloensis is common all along the Pacfic coast from Chile to British Columbia, possibly even into Alaska. Named after the island of Chiloe in Chile.

It's becoming a weed in my garden.

Rodger,
You are right - it will be Fragaria chiloensis. The other name also exists but
I guess as a synonyme.

Gerd

[cohan]

Cohan,
Our 'football' is similar to rugby, I suppose.
I really like the amelanchier. It flowered last year but only sparsely while this year it is simply covered in flower. It is, as you have described, upright in habit appearing as though it will remain columnar in habit. I don't mind if it goes to twenty feet, would suit me fine, good to see it grow to its natural habit. I must watch for the berries and try them out - and keep a few to grow on some more plants.
Aesculus hippocast... (buckeye to you, horsechestnus to us!) makes a big tree here. I have an old tree in the garden about sixty feet high and in full flower now. I also grow some of the smaller verieties.
Paddy

paddy, i'll try to get some pictures in of the Amelanchier--as lori said, its saskatoon berry to us, and in my opinion, superior to most blueberries, certainly the bloated watery commercial type.
i suspect fruit growers keep them pruned and to new growth, but old stems develop some great character--i will try to get some shots now while they are still mostly bare..
lori--whichever my mom planted were many years ago, so they have had time to blend in...lol, and the natives seed in all around our property..

paddy--the Aesculus dont normally grow around here, although there are a lot of people talking about that one in edmonton and trying to get some seed distributed from this hardy individual--i'd like to get my hands on some myself
smaller would be cool too, if hardy, i dont know much about them; buckeye may be an american name, i know them--little that i know them --as horse chestnuts also...