Flowering Now - June 2009

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Great plants and pictures Paul  - nice selection ! 

Love the Campanula spicata !!

[Lvandelft]

Some more flowers this week.

Asclepias tuberosa                          
Cercis canadensis Forest Pansy  
             o.k. , no flowers but a beautiful colored shrub
Dianthus haematocalyx ssp. pindicola          
Erigeron Sommerneuschnee  
   I showed a picture of the same group, made two weeks ago and could not resist to show again.      
Geranium Jolly Bees                  
Geranium sanguineum Elke                
Heliopsis helianthoides Gigantea                  
Lilium Lancini  
Leucanthemum Sunny Side Up 1        
Leucanthemum Sunny Side Up 2        

[Paul T]

Luit,

Great to see the Asclepias tuberosa, a I bought over summer spring and I hope it does well for me this coming year and starts flowering.  Gorgeous colour.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Very nice show Luit !!

The Erigeron definitely deserved a second posting ! 

Curious to see how your Dianthus haematocalix ss pindicola is still in full flower in your garden.  Mine finished 3 or 4 weeks ago already, it is in seed now. Oqbviously we are more to the South than you are... 

Thanks for posting !

[Lvandelft]

Luc, my plant flowered 4 weeks ago too, but was never full of flowers. Actually it started at the same time as D. Eileen Lever.
Dianthus haematocalyx ssp. pindicola is never such a spectacle, but as it seem to flower much longer it is a good garden plant though.

Paul, the Asclepias I grow mostly for nostalgic reasons. As a schoolboy I had to pick the seeds every day in summer holidays on an
enormous field. But I love the flowers anyhow.       

[Darren]

testing....testing....

This post marks my first attempt to post from our new computer, and the first I've posted from the new digital SLR. Anything might happen......

We got the Mac two weeks ago but as with all new technology in our house it has spent these two weeks being watched carefully like a new puppy in case it does the digital equivalent of a little 'message' on the carpet. so far so good. It always used to be that Susan was the technophobe around here but I've decided technophobia is contagious. Getting used to Mac OS and iPhoto is proving an education but I don't regret the decision to take the Mac route (thanks especially to Cliff for being Apple's best UK sales rep!).

Anyway - hopefully a few pictures taken today will now appear.

First up is my favourite UK native orchid Epipactis palustris. This clump moved house with us five years ago and spent a year in an orange plastic builders bucket. It has thrived again after planting out and has 80+ flower spikes this year. Beautiful flowers they are too.

Next is Gladiolus flanaganii. This has had previous mentions on the forum. This clump has now had 4 winters unprotected in this limestone crevice on the rock garden. The award write-up for it in the AGS bulletin a year or two back suggested that somebody somewhere must be trying this outside. I was and still am - the plants in pots are poor by comparison.

This little Tigridia was from exchange seed labeled as T. chiapensis. The flower fits the description but it is only 5cm high. What a lovely little thing - I'd love to grow more South American Irids.

This is my first successful attempt at overwintering Physoplexis comosa - I've tried it in frames and in the alpine house but I finally succeeded in a bit of tufa in a trough without any protection.

Finally another Southern hemisphere Irid - Diplarrhena moraea from Australia. Alleged to need a winter minimum of 10C in Innes' 'World of Iridaceae' this has been outside unprotected for two winters including the last one where we hit -8C. Not even the foliage was damaged. It came from Peter and Beryl Bland who have also had it outside for many years.

I really hope that entering the 21st century at home will allow me to visit here much more often. Lets see how this attempt works first!

[Darren]

OK - it sort of worked. Two gladdies and no Physoplexis. Removed a gladdy and the Physoplexis is here...

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Welcome back Darren !!
The G. flanaganii seems to be liking the spot you've chosen for it !
Thanks for showing it outside !

[ranunculus]

Superb Darren ... if you need any assistance then please don't hesitate to ask?  It is a steep learning curve, but worth every moment of panic and stress.   

[Paul T]

Darren,

The Diplarrhena grows outside at work too, so no problems with sub zero, although the area they are in there doesn't get to -8'C.  No damage to them last winter either.  The 10'C wintr minimum is definitely a dodgy "fact".    I just adore that Epipactis.  What an amazing display of flowers.  And that lovely Physoplexis.  Thanks for making the effort to post your new pics from your new PC and new camera.  Well worth the effort I would have to say! 

[Brian Ellis]

Darren lovely photos, and welcome to the Mac family - as Cliff said don't hesitate to ask for any help, it's quite intuitive and a delight to use.

[Lvandelft]

A few other plants hopefully worthwile to show here:

Penstemon x mexicallii Red Rocks 1    
   Not long living but self seeding. Young seedlings are very hardy!        

Penstemon x mexicallii Red Rocks 2        
Phlox paniculata Danielle
Phlox paniculata Junior Bouquet      
Silphium terebinthinaceum  ( the flowers will reach ca. 3 m. in September/October)          
Thymus Highland Cream  
       (I don't see much difference with Thymus Hartington Silver)
            
Veronicastrum virginicum                
Lilium Red Twinkle 1          
Lilium Red Twinkle 2            

[ranunculus]

Excellent images, Luit ... as usual.   I am still fascinated by the huge greenhouses in the background of one of your shots - are they yours, are they in constant use and, if so, what do they protect?  We are very nosey, we Brits?

[cohan]

I have some pictures to share with you here. We have finally got some nice weather with temperatures around 25C, after experiencing the coldest June in 50 years where I live.
 
1) Aquilegia barnebyi
2) Camassia quamash
3) Camassia quamash, with my thumb as comparison to the flower size
4) Campanula spicata- obtained from the wonderful SRGC seed ex
5) Centaurea triumfetti ssp cana is a small dainty plant, but it spreads quite aggresively
6) Centaurea triumfetti ssp cana
7) Cortusa sp ( probably matthioli ? ) collected in the Fan Mtns., Tajikistan likes a wet spot in the garden. It grew in the middle of a stream where I collected it.
Delosperma congestum is a bone hardy plant, which has survived -20C.
9) Heuchera pulchella took a long time to reach flowering where I first placed it, but in 2008 I put it in a place with more peat, and better moisture, and it seems to thrive much better here.
10) Inula rhizocephala was collected in Tajikistan, and died the first few times I tried it in the rock garden, but this past winter it survived, probably due to a clear plastic cover, which kept it dry but not out of light.

some really great plants, paul--i esp like the form of the inula, and the colour of the aquilegia!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

This thread keeps producing great posts !!!
Thanks everyone.

Here's what's been flowering with me over the last few days/weeks :

1) Campanula incurva - plant
2) C. incurva - close up - huge flowers !
3) Adenophora confusa
4) A. confusa - close up
5) Eschscholzia californica - keeps seeding around here and there and provides some late colour in the garden
6) Onosma.... - lost the label - maybe somebody can help to complete ?
7) Phlox mesoleuca 'Mary Maslin'