Flowering Now - June 2009

[Lesley Cox]

I once had a digitalis called D. purpurea heywoodii or 'Heywood' and this is similar in colouring, (though I realize it ISN'T 'Heywood.') It had rather furry flowers of creamy white, delicately flushed with pink and if in isolation, seeded true. But I lost it after a few years and subsequent sowings from other sources always turned out to be hybrids. It was very lbeautiful and I'd love to have it again.

[Lori S.]

1) Doronicum pardalianches
2) white thyme and Lotus corniculatus 'Plenus'
3, 4) Incarvillea zhongdianensis
5) Boulevard planting, a triangle between the street and sidewalk, which used to be thirsty lawn and compacted soil, still jokingly refer to as "Palliser's Triangle".
6) Some form of Penstemon procerus, I suspect.
7) Saponaria ocymoides, doing its duty in the triangle.
8 ) More triangle-dwellers... Potentilla 'Yellow Gem', more thyme, Antennaria dioica.

(Hmmm, an "8" followed immediately by a bracket = smiley face with sunglasses... have to leave a space between the "8" and the bracket.   )

[Magnar]

Lotus corniculatus grows abundantly in the wild here. But that plenus form I have never seen or heard of  before. Very interesting. 

[David Nicholson]

Lovely stuff there Lori.

[Paul T]

Lori,

Excellent pics.  The Incarvillea zhongdianensis with the white throat is amazing.

[Sinchets]

Wow Lori, all that on 40cm of rain a year! We are entering real summer here now and the garden is beginning to go dormant- i envy you your later start over there! 
Flowering here:
Teucrium lamifolium
Scutellaria albida
Scutellaria altissima (the final flowers on a plant in a quiet corner).

[cohan]

1) Doronicum pardalianches
2) white thyme and Lotus corniculatus 'Plenus'
3, 4) Incarvillea zhongdianensis
5) Boulevard planting, a triangle between the street and sidewalk, which used to be thirsty lawn and compacted soil, still jokingly refer to as "Palliser's Triangle".
6) Some form of Penstemon procerus, I suspect.
7) Saponaria ocymoides, doing its duty in the triangle.
8 ) More triangle-dwellers... Potentilla 'Yellow Gem', more thyme, Antennaria dioica.

lots of great stuff--nice combinations;
great boulevard planting--much nicer than half dead grass--or even live grass!
we should tell members from afar that Palliser's Triangle was the name give to an area in southern alberta that was deemed too arid for agriculture!!

[Paddy Tobin]

Alberta is certainly stealing the show at the moment on the forum. Great postings, Lori and Cohan.

Paddy

[PaulM]

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.

[PaulM]

Here are a few more:

1) Lilium buschianum or should it be L. concolor var buschianum ?
2) Onopordum boissieri - the star like bud
3) Penstemon triflorus- I was suspicious regarding this species hardiness hailing from the Lone Star State, but in it's third growing season it has started flowering, and the flowers are real nice I think ( as well as the long buds)
4) Penstemon triflorus
5) Silene aomorensis from some remote location in Japan
6) Silene compacta- it never turns as bright and intense pink here as when I saw it in Turkey.
7) But its compact flower heads are still very nice.
Trifolium trichocephalum- the flower heads are not quite as big as a hen's egg, but not far away.

[ranunculus]

Super images everyone ... boy this is some forum! 

[ranunculus]

Very impressed with your meticulous information and lovely images, Paul ... I now feel SO inadequate!   

[Paddy Tobin]

Paul, Great set of photographs. Excellent plants.

Paddy

[Lvandelft]

Luit,

So does your neighbour collect the seed from the Tulip?  That is a LOT of seed.    And it would hybridise with all the otehr tulips around as well, wouldn't it?

Paul, I talked a little with some 'bulb' people and they told me that Tulipa tarda never are trimmed  ( for economic reasons,  it is one of the cheapest tulips !)
and it does not have influence on flowering in the next year.
Tulipa tarda will not hybridise with other tulips. It is often tried to use for this, but there seem to be some barrier.
From seed they will flower in ca. three years and fall 100 % true.

[Paul T]

Luit,

Amazing that it won't hybridise at all.  Quite fascinating to hear that.  At least that way you don't have to worry about seed falling in the area, because you know that any resultant seedlings are true.  Thanks for the extra info.