Flowering Now - May 2009

[WimB]

fun to see the maianthemum--which grows wild all over the place here, and is a favourite--here it may just be emerging, if that... where is your plant from?

Thanks,
I bought the Maianthemum last year from Potterton's.

cool..i'll share some pics when ours are active ..slow spring here..

Nice, would like to see them 'en masse' in the wild

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wow, I've been away for four days and it looks like it's going to be some hard work to catch up with all these posts... 

6 pages on flowering now alone... 

Thanks for these wonderful posts ... Wim, Lori, Gerd, Geir !
Geir, you don't post very often, but when you do it's well worth the wait... Wow ! 

[Ragged Robin]

The meadow grass in the garden is changing everyday with new wild flowers emerging in between the grasses swaying in the breeze....my all time favourite wild flower the Harebell is there once again welcoming as I go in and out of the door    It's very difficult to photograph even in the morning light because of the contrast in the sunlight on the bell, as seen in the group shot, but here are my efforts to show you how much it means to me 

[gmoen]

Geir the pyrethum is lovely. Is it growing outdoors with you? I had this plant twice  but have managed to kill it here 

Ian;
Yes i grow my Pyrethrum in the open garden, BUT it only works if I protect it with something against rain in late autumn and winter. In normal winters there are no rain, but snow. It seeds it self in the garvel around the plants, so if one plant dies there are more to come 

Geir, I love the Saxifraga purpurascens, never heard of!

Lvandelft;
I totally agree with you, the Saxifraga purpurascens is a very nice plant. This small member of the section Micranthes comes from the Kliuchevskaia Volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula, where it grows in volcanic ash and cold ravines, is not often seen in culture. To bad, because I find it long lived and quite easy to grow (even if I do not have volcanic ash and a cold ravine in my garden). The whole plant in the picture are about 15 cm across.

[gote]

Just a few more pic's taken to day in the garden.
3 Anemonella thalicroides (Some named selection.....label fade)

Gerd,
It looks like one I bought as 'Babe' from Peters.

You have a really beautifulo collection.

By the way, did you receive the lily bulbs OK Last year?

Göte

[Lvandelft]

Geir, I love the Saxifraga purpurascens, never heard of!

Lvandelft;
I totally agree with you, the Saxifraga purpurascens is a very nice plant. This small member of the section Micranthes comes from the Kliuchevskaia Volcano in the Kamchatka peninsula, where it grows in volcanic ash and cold ravines, is not often seen in culture. To bad, because I find it long lived and quite easy to grow (even if I do not have volcanic ash and a cold ravine in my garden). The whole plant in the picture are about 15 cm across.

Very interesting reading, Geir. I looked again at the picture and I presume you grow it not totally in full sun.
Am I right, when it grows with you in a spot called in German "absonnig" ( don't know an English word for this) ?

[Lori S.]

Maianthemum canadense is, unfortunately, rather invasive... in the sense that, rather than forming a nice compact clump, it sends up shoots in an ever-expanding radius several inches out from the first plant.  I am having to control their advance, now, after a few years. (This is one of my native plants that I did not plant; it showed up on its own.  I suppose it was either in the soil with an Amelanchier alnifolia, probably grown on a local tree farm...  or maybe it blew in on one of the howling gales we get, LOL!)   Seeing it en masse is the wild really is the best thing!

Enjoying the wonderful plants!

[Regelian]

Some pretty foliage from Heuchera seedlings and a lovely maple hybrid; Acer conspicuum 'Silver Cardinal'. 

A note on the genus Acer, although we tend to pronounce it ay-sir (which sounds like an unrefined greeting!), it is derived from the word 'akis', which means pointed, therfore it would be pronounced ah-ker. This should apply to the newer genus Acis, as well.  Of course, the point is that we understand each other, but the etymology is interesting.  And then there is the character Acis from Greek mythology, who was enamoured with the sea nymph Galatea, and, of course, has a tragic end.

[Sinchets]

An interesting point, Jamie. I think the softer pronunciation will take a long time to fade in English gardening circles. Like the way Fuchsia is pronounced in English- rather than a hard German 'ch', or the lack of the 'K' on Kniphofia- or indeed the way Dahlia and Dalea are said. Dahlia must be named after someone called Dahl, and Dalea after someone called Dale... 

[Sinchets]

Anyway less chitter and more pics 
Flowering in the woodland garden:
Dianthus barbatus (from seed collected in the Pyrenees)
Aquilegia chrysantha (possibly a hybrid of this species)
Heuchera pulchella (from New Mexico)

[Hristo]

Three bulbs a flowering now in the open;

Camassia leichlinii leichlinii alba
Dichelostemma ida-maia
Dichelostemma ida-maia 'Pink Diamond'

[Paddy Tobin]

Jamie,

Whatever about pronounciations, I could not live with Acer conspicuum 'Silver Cardinal'. I'm afraid that leaf marking would not attract me at all; quite the opposite effect really.

Paddy

[Gerdk]

It's very difficult to photograph even in the morning light because of the contrast in the sunlight on the bell, as seen in the group shot, but here are my efforts to show you how much it means to me 

- you managed it perfectly - even the light makes the photo so attractive!

Is there anyone who is able to name the species?

Gerd

[Regelian]

Jamie,

Whatever about pronounciations, I could not live with Acer conspicuum 'Silver Cardinal'. I'm afraid that leaf marking would not attract me at all; quite the opposite effect really.

Paddy

Paddy,  of course a matter of taste, but, then again, I have it against a blue wall, which makes it even wilder.  My garden is not for the weak of heart.

[cohan]

Maianthemum canadense is, unfortunately, rather invasive... in the sense that, rather than forming a nice compact clump, it sends up shoots in an ever-expanding radius several inches out from the first plant.  I am having to control their advance, now, after a few years. (This is one of my native plants that I did not plant; it showed up on its own.  I suppose it was either in the soil with an Amelanchier alnifolia, probably grown on a local tree farm...  or maybe it blew in on one of the howling gales we get, LOL!)   Seeing it en masse is the wild really is the best thing!
Enjoying the wonderful plants!

i can imagine them, and many of the local natives--most of which seem to stoloniferous/rhizomatous/ creeping/sprawling etc--being problematic in a small garden..perhaps some of that bed edging stuff several inches or more below the surface could contain them? or a raised/isolated bed?
here vegetatively the maianthemum is nearly everywhere (except totally exposed spots), flowers in many places, but seeds rather little, the berries are pretty, but not often seen here(compared to the number of flowers)..
my feeling is that since this area tends to forest, and there is a cycle of increased competition, decreased sun for any open area, most plants here will grow in sun and flower more (even things like the maianthemum that dont need that much sun and may leaves look washed out, will flower more strongly if the trees over them are removed), then gradually flower less as they are overgrown by grass then woodies; but most will hang on, flowering less, or eventually not at all, but still spreading by rhizomes, creeping stems etc--so they can be present for that next opening in the forest caused by a tree/trees falling to take advantage of the temporary sun..