Flowering now- July 2009

[Ragged Robin]

Cohan, I have only seen it growing on sunny banks from June until Septemberish - actually I think they are a Mediterranean native flower and have silver pinnate leaves with a lovely bright yellow flower with a woolly looking calyx.  I hugs the bank so not tall, a few inches, and is very attractive to bees.  I am trying to encourage it into our garden so we will see what happens when I scatter the seed   
Doesn't suggest a pea family but not sure how one would describe it 

thanks for info on the Anthyllis, robin..the size surprises--it seemed  bigger in lori's photo, but that could be as she said because of different conditons..

Cohan, it seems we have a different wild Anthyllis here as I found the attached photo I took before and the leaves are not the same, any ID ideas?

[Anthony Darby]

If anyone wants any poppy seeds, sent a message as I'll have millions!

[olegKon]

Summer is progressing with more and more flowers everyday
1. Carduum nutans
2.3. Diedropetala schmalhausenii
4.Eleuterocock senticosus
5.Eryngium alpinum
6.Sempervivums

[Lori S.]

Cohan, I have only seen it growing on sunny banks from June until Septemberish - actually I think they are a Mediterranean native flower and have silver pinnate leaves with a lovely bright yellow flower with a woolly looking calyx.  I hugs the bank so not tall, a few inches, and is very attractive to bees.  I am trying to encourage it into our garden so we will see what happens when I scatter the seed   
Doesn't suggest a pea family but not sure how one would describe it 

thanks for info on the Anthyllis, robin..the size surprises--it seemed  bigger in lori's photo, but that could be as she said because of different conditons..

Cohan, it seems we have a different wild Anthyllis here as I found the attached photo I took before and the leaves are not the same, any ID ideas?

Cohan, it seems we have a different wild Anthyllis here as I found the attached photo I took before and the leaves are not the same, any ID ideas?

Robin, the anthyllis you show does appear to be Anthyllis vulneraria, and the same as the plant I'm growing... (which I assume are the photos under discussion).  (I've attached a photo showing the foliage from one out in the yard - it is not so full as yours, as it's growing in part shade).  And it is indeed a legume.

This site describes it's natural range (large):
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?300032

[Lori S.]

Lovely plants, Oleg!  Diedropetala schmalhausenii seems like it must be very closely related to Delphinium, no?

Finally, some sun today... (though it's now clouding over with the forecast 60% chance of showers)... the air is wonderfully scented... ahhh, bliss!

1) Salvia nemorosa 'Snowhill', a favourite of the bees.
2, 3) Our native Heuchera richardsonii, very non-showy flowers but pleasant-looking foliage - again, very attractive to bees, I've noticed.
4) Geranium orientali-tibeticum, lovely foliage, rather ordinary flowers... and something of a rambler - this stalk popped up a couple of feet away from the main plant.
5) First flower on Passiflora caerulea in the greenhouse... what amazing structure!
6) Martagon lily 'Earliest of All'... though it wasn't, this year.
7) A sunny gaillardia...
8 ) Leontopodium alpinum
9) One of my favourite geraniums, starting to bloom, Geranium x 'Patricia'
10) The colour of Aster tongolensis 'Wartburg Star' always reminds me of "Thrills" chewing gum...  

[fermi de Sousa]

Lovely plants, Oleg!  Diedropetala schmalhausenii seems like it must be very closely related to Delphinium, no?

Finally, some sun today... (though it's now clouding over with the forecast 60% chance of showers)... the air is wonderfully scented... ahhh, bliss!

1) Salvia nemorosa 'Snowhill', a favourite of the bees.

5) First flower on Passiflora caerulea in the greenhouse... what amazing structure!

Hi Lori,
interstingly enough the Salvia was avilable here as "Snow Hills" and has survived a few years in our garden.
The passion flower is often used as an understock for grafting fruiting varieties and unfortunately has become an uneradicable weed in our vegetable area! I was amazed (as a child) to read the story of its discovery in the "New World" by missionaries who saw the "Passion" of Jesus represented in the flower structures: the crown of thorns, the whip, the nails. And interpretted the natives eating the fruit as a sign of their hunger for christianity!!
I won't write what I now think of that sort of thing!
cheers
fermi

[Lori S.]

Hi Lori,
interstingly enough the Salvia was avilable here as "Snow Hills" and has survived a few years in our garden.
The passion flower is often used as an understock for grafting fruiting varieties and unfortunately has become an uneradicable weed in our vegetable area! I was amazed (as a child) to read the story of its discovery in the "New World" by missionaries who saw the "Passion" of Jesus represented in the flower structures: the crown of thorns, the whip, the nails. And interpretted the natives eating the fruit as a sign of their hunger for christianity!!
I won't write what I now think of that sort of thing!
cheers
fermi

Fermi, you know, it's probably actually 'Snow Hill' here too, if the sales info can be believed:
http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/264/index.htm
(I will correct my photo titles!    I take it these commonplace (here, anyway) sorts of perennials are not suited to the growing conditions there, generally?  Too dry?

Re. the passion flower "story"... I assume it would suffice to say that "it has to be believed to be seen"...      

[cohan]

"i got a batch of seed from SA last fall, and had dismal results"

Judging by the seeds you had ordered Cohan, I would think I have bought seed from the same nursery on several occasions and also had generally dismal results. I have also had raging email battles with them on occasion with absolutely no resolution - if it's the same nursery we're talking about...

Generally, most SA seed germinates fairly easily if it's fresh, and therein lies the problem - many nurseries insist on keeping their seeds far too long / store them incorrectly and then sell them at exhorbitant prices. I suppose that's also a sign of the times we live in - high costs and dodgy suppliers! However, to be fair to the nursery, the plants raised from the seeds that I have managed to germinate are excellent and impossible to obtain from any other source.

therein lies the greatest disappointment--their seedlist was  SO  exciting! full of exactly the sorts of oddities and miniatures which i treasure,more than any other list i have seen, with the very significant added advantage of locality information on many species of course, great species with great info is of no consolation if nothing comes up..

do you have any recommendations for SA sources of this sort of material which is likely to be fresh and preferably (though not essentially) with locality data? i dont mind garden seed if it is from known stock and controlled pollination, but not so keen on open pollinated stock; my space indoors is very limited, so i prefer to be very particular; outdoors i can be more generous of spirit...lol...at this point, i would be thrilled to get just one or two choice species that i know will germinate(or at least be likely to!)

[cohan]

Cohan, it seems we have a different wild Anthyllis here as I found the attached photo I took before and the leaves are not the same, any ID ideas?
Robin, the anthyllis you show does appear to be Anthyllis vulneraria, and the same as the plant I'm growing... (which I assume are the photos under discussion).  (I've attached a photo showing the foliage from one out in the yard - it is not so full as yours, as it's growing in part shade).  And it is indeed a legume.
This site describes it's natural range (large):
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?300032

thanks lori and robin, for details... foliage doesnt look much different than some of our natives, but the flower head is quite distinct and lovely...

[Anthony Darby]

Definitely Anthyllis vulnararia. Look out for 'Small Blue' butterflies (Cupido minimus). They look almost black.

Cohan, I have only seen it growing on sunny banks from June until Septemberish - actually I think they are a Mediterranean native flower and have silver pinnate leaves with a lovely bright yellow flower with a woolly looking calyx.  I hugs the bank so not tall, a few inches, and is very attractive to bees.  I am trying to encourage it into our garden so we will see what happens when I scatter the seed   
Doesn't suggest a pea family but not sure how one would describe it 

thanks for info on the Anthyllis, robin..the size surprises--it seemed  bigger in lori's photo, but that could be as she said because of different conditons..

Cohan, it seems we have a different wild Anthyllis here as I found the attached photo I took before and the leaves are not the same, any ID ideas?

[Stephenb]

thanks lori and robin, for details... foliage doesnt look much different than some of our natives, but the flower head is quite distinct and lovely...

Anthyllis vulneraria is a very varied species with as many as 35 subspecies described according to a Norwegian paper I have (some are stated in the GRIN link), with varying leaf shape, height etc. I've had plants of ssp. alpestris, rupestris,  iberica as well as ssp vulneraria, but all have been short-lived. Only the red form coccinea has (luckily) proven long-lived (see picture below in which you can see a Canadian - Hedysarum alpinum, Fragaria vesca and an Allium sp.). We also have wild plants near the garden and one year there were masses of plants on a rocky outcrop in the garden, never to be seen again.

Kidney Vetch is often seen along road verges here and can form a continuous belt for many kilometers (much preferable to have this native to the invasive Lupins). It has been suggested that the Road Authorities actually sowed it at one time, but research hasn’t been able to prove this. However, it was at one time used as a forage plant and the material used was selected from taller subspecies (such as carpatica) and forms rather than prostrate forms. Today, wild Kidney Vetch can exhibit a mixture of forms.  

[Ragged Robin]

Wow what a gorgeous patch and red coloured Anthyllis, Stephen.  Thanks so much everyone for the interesting info, ID and comments about this lovely Kidney Vetch which I look out for each year and have finally managed to gather some ripe seed before they were strimmed and scattered them on my sunny bank - I keep you posted with the outcome next year!

[Sinchets]

Wow what a gorgeous patch and red coloured Anthyllis, Stephen.  Thanks so much everyone for the interesting info, ID and comments about this lovely Kidney Vetch which I look out for each year and have finally managed to gather some ripe seed before they were strimmed and scattered them on my sunny bank - I keep you posted with the outcome next year!

We found a lovely offwhite one yesterday with a peachy coloured centre- I can only assume it was Anthyllis vulneraria- but very tiny, because of where it was growing, and with flowers too small for my camera. We found seed, so hopefully it will be beefier in the garden!
Flowering now 2 lovable rogues hellbent on world domination.
Monarda menthifolia- worth it for the fragrance.
Scutellaria laterifolia- tiny flowers, but I really like the colour.

[cohan]

Anthyllis vulneraria is a very varied species with as many as 35 subspecies described according to a Norwegian paper I have (some are stated in the GRIN link), with varying leaf shape, height etc. I've had plants of ssp. alpestris, rupestris,  iberica as well as ssp vulneraria, but all have been short-lived. Only the red form coccinea has (luckily) proven long-lived (see picture below in which you can see a Canadian - Hedysarum alpinum, Fragaria vesca and an Allium sp.). We also have wild plants near the garden and one year there were masses of plants on a rocky outcrop in the garden, never to be seen again.

Kidney Vetch is often seen along road verges here and can form a continuous belt for many kilometers (much preferable to have this native to the invasive Lupins). It has been suggested that the Road Authorities actually sowed it at one time, but research hasn’t been able to prove this. However, it was at one time used as a forage plant and the material used was selected from taller subspecies (such as carpatica) and forms rather than prostrate forms. Today, wild Kidney Vetch can exhibit a mixture of forms.  

thanks for more details, stephen...great colour form in the photo

we went into the mountains yesterday, and various peas were very prominent from the beginnings of the foothills biome where its still flat, up to nearly the highest levels..hedysarum for sure, and probably oxytropis and astragalus, and some others i havent looked up--i probably photographed at least 7 or more species...

[Darren]

Cohan - it sounds like we have a common interest in South African bulbs and succulents. I note your interest in Conophytum (a genus I love and am constantly fascinated by - the first of this years flowers is opening today on C.frutescens. Almost makes me look forward to the autumn when the others will follow) - If you are not already a member I can recommend joining the Mesemb Study Group. UK based but with a global membership. A really excellent source of cheap Conophytum seed with locality data. The occasional bulb turns up too - I grow a lovely pink flowered form of Massonia jasminiflora from their seed. Rogan's advice about seeds is spot on as you would expect from a SA native! Anything I can help with please ask.

Onion - thank you very much for pointing me at the Cistus site. I agree with your conclusion that my plant is C x oblongifolius.

A couple of pictures taken today:

This first is a surprise. Cypella herbertii growing outside and unprotected. Some sources say it is hardy outside in southern England but I didn't expect it to survive our cold and wet winters in the North west. It was planted out in spring 2007 and flowered that year. It did not flower last year and the foliage was lost among the other Irids it grows with so I assumed it died during the winter. Much to my surprise I spotted this flower today so it must have survived two winters including the last really harsh one.

Two plants on my ericaceous raised bed. First is Cyananthus lobatus peeking out above the erics. No matter what I try the blue still comes out looking too pink in the pictures!

Second is the Twinflower, Linnaea borealis, attempting to sell itself as a hanging-basket plant.