Flowering now April 2007

[BuddyM]

A fine collection of peonies. Here are two more, flowering in my garden now.
Lawrence, Northampton, UK

[BuddyM]

One of my Japanese maples is flowering profusely.
Up until now it has only produced one or two flowers.

[BuddyM]

Three more flowering plants from my garden.

[Hans J]

Hi Buddy ,

I have know it : there must be some other peony collectors !
Thank you for your nice pictures - it is funny : my Exochordia flowering exact in same time

Greetings
Hans

[Ola]

The orchid season has started. My Pleiones are quite slow this year and instead some other species have brought colour to my greenhouse. First Dendrochilum tenellum, a species with minute flowers looking more like a grass than an orchid. Still I find it quite elegant.



Next Dendrobium linguiforme with its feathery flowers.



Coelogyne cristata dislikes heat and will spend the summer in the garden.



The first Cypripedium this year.



Now some bulbous plants. Melasphaerula ramosa is flowering for the first time, three years after sowing. It is called fairy bells and I like its airy appearance. Seeds will be available.



Oxalis cathara is another Soth African species.



And so is Ornithogalum caudatum.



Now a couple of species in "Swedish colours". First Corydalis wilsonii, one year after sowing.



And then a Chirita (species unknown) which is very floriferous. Seeds are available.



Finally a plant from the living room. Hoya calycina is spectacular when in flower and the scent is almost overwhelming.


Ola

[Joakim B]

Nice plants and pics Ola
Are You growing the Cypripedium in a greenhouse or have Spring come that far in Sweden? 
Do You know what Cypripedium cymbidium it is? Gisela, ventricusum or (macranthusXcalceolus) or possibly Axel? I think I have covered most of the possibles but not looked close enought to be able to determine (nor am I skilled enough) one perticular.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Maggi Young]

In the absence of more pix from the recent AGS Ulster show, I'll remind any non-AGS members that you can see some photos from the show on the AGS Website: http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/servlet/htmlservlet/shows/results/shows2007/shows/ulster/photogallery.html

I am impressed by the size of the artisitic section.
 Many congratulations to Susan Tindall for her Farrer medal winning pan of Anemonella thalictroides 'Oscar Schoaff' .
I see lots of other friends were doing well at the show, including Billy Moore, from Dublin, who won the SRGC Quaich for the best plant in a pot less than 19cm, for his Primula bracteata
Billy also won  an AGS six pan medal class and the best Australasian plant..........
Ian is staying with Anne and Billy on his trip to Dublin, so they should all be in high spirits !

[Martin Baxendale]

Can anyone put a name to this small tree? It was here when we moved to the house and makes a stunning show every spring. People stop in the street and stare. Some come and knock on the door to ask what it is. And to my embarrassment I have to say I'm not sure. It seems to be a malus, but never produces any autumn fruits, not even tiny ones.

My thought has always been a form of M. floribunda. The buds are pink and it opens white. But is there a double form of M. floribunda? The flowers are decidely semi-double.

My copy of Hillier's encyclopedia of shrubs and trees, which might have helped, went missing some years ago and has never turned up again.

I should probably try some cuttings.

[mark smyth]

dont know Martin but anyone would want a tree that does that every April

[Paddy Tobin]

Hans,

Just catching up on your posting now. You really have a fabulous collection of paeonias. It seems that you give every spare space to pots and pots of seedlings. They are an extremely beautiful flower. I really must grow them again and this time in the garden instead of in my glasshouse of death.

Martin,

I don't think your tree is Malus floribunda, a tree I grow here and is in full flower at the moment. The flowers of M. floribunda are red in bud and open to pink, fading a light pink. However, they are never as white as those you have shown in your photograph.

I wonder if it is one of the flowering almonds?

Paddy

[Martin Baxendale]

Paddy, I don't think it's an almond. The leaves aren't right. The flowers are typically malus-shaped, lightly scented, but not scented like an almond. I'm still thinking malus. I've found some white-flowered forms of M. floribunda illustrated on Google images, so I'm thinking maybe a white semi-double variant of floribunda, or maybe M. hupehensis.

Mark, it looks even better from the side:

[mark smyth]

fantastic.

looking similar is a Prunus I bought today from plant centre. P. glanduosa fl pl. I hope it comes back this good next year. Instructions say it will not exceed 1m high and it hard prune immediately after flowering

[Maggi Young]

Whatever that tree is, Martin, it is a smasher! Are you sure it is not entirel ;)y made from white candy-floss?

[Mick McLoughlin]

Mark,
I was looking in Hilliers book last night, for Martins tree, and the P. glanduosa fl pl was the nearest picture I could find to it.

Regards,
 Mick

[Martin Baxendale]

Mick, I also saw the pic of Prunus glandulosa 'Albiplena' in Hillier's colour dictionary (I really wish I hadn't lost the much more extensive Hillier's encyclodedia or whatever it's called!) but that's only a small shrub, as Mark says, only about 70-100 cm tall. Different kind of flower too. Mine is a small tree, with more malus-type flowers rather than cherry flowers (and malus type leaves) also an apple-blossom kind of scent.

I'm pretty sure it's a malus, but I can't put my finger on exctly what species or variety.