Flowering Now - August 2009

[Arykana]

I fall in love with Dalea - lokked up the internet, cannot found in Hungary
how do you multiply it? seeds or stem division?

[Brian Ellis]

Brian - Have you seen Tetrapanax 'Steroidal Giant' selected at Cistus?  It's a whopper.  next time Philip comes this way I'll ask him to bring a piece of root for you.

[Ragged Robin]

Sorry, Robin, I missed your last post. If you have a pic of the Centaurea leaves I can try to help. 

Simon, thanks for your help with this Centaurea ID - the colour is very attractive and different to those I have seen before...is it C jacea?

[Sinchets]

Hi Robin, so many Centaurea in your area! Erm, I was trying to look at the leaves and the bracts, to see if they looked like pics I had in books here. The leaves look 'right' for C.jacea- but the bracts I am not sure. There are a few good close ups at this link- any help?

http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/centaureajace.html

Simon

[Sinchets]

More from the Rila:
Knautia dinarica (?) in the montane and lower alpine meadows
Oxyria digyna- near the peak of Musala
Pedicularis orthantha (?) another semi-parasite of alpine meadows

[Sinchets]

More from the Rila- almost there   
Phyteuma species- the only one listed for the whole of Bulgaria in Flora bulgarica is P.confusum- so i am confused- to me this looks more like P.hemisphaericum, with quite large bracts below the flowers.
Potentilla haynaldiana
Pritzelago (Hutchinsia) alpina- not the best pic- but the plant was very small 

[Lampwick]

Petrophytum caespitosum. Not the most attractive of plants, but flies seem to be attracted to it! 
I’ve had this now for quite a number of years, and it’s an easy plant to grow. Not so P. hendersonii; which I found more difficult to keep – and which I lost it about 3 years ago! 

Allium flavum. I’m not sure if this is A. f. ‘Minus’ as I have not got any comparisons.
 

[Maggi Young]

Your Petrophytum caespitosum has a much longer and more loose inflorescence than those which have died here,Lampwick. On the other hand, Petrophytum hendersonii seems to like us and grows well. (flowering in past now)

 Your post reminds me that August is indeed upon us.... I must go and retrieve some posts from July to move them across 

[Sinchets]

Allium flavum. I’m not sure if this is A. f. ‘Minus’ as I have not got any comparisons.
 

If it is any help plants of wild A.flavum growing happily here can be between 50 and 80cm tall. They are shorter in more challenging locations. A.flavum 'Minus' I have had from seed exchanges seems much smaller so far!

[Sinchets]

More from the Rila:
Rhodiola rosea- on Maliovitsa growing in crevices between boulders
Silene pusilla- again on Maliovitsa -all the plants we saw here were growing near the streams
Veronica bellidioides- on Musala Peak. When I see plants like this in the wild I am reminded of the Albatross Soup riddle. I have had seed before from exchanges, and none of the resulting plants looked like the real thing, but I never really thought about it until I saw the real thing!

[Hristo]

A few last pics of Ranunculus from Mt.Musala and Maliovitsa.
1 and 2 - Ranunculus crenatus
3 - Ranunculus montanus
4 - Ranunculus platanifolius

[Sinchets]

Also from the Rila- a smattering of Saxifraga 
Saxifraga stellaris growing in the alpine meadow streams on Maliovitsa
Saxifraga pedemontana (?) near The Ice Lake below the peak of Musala
Saxifraga bryoides from shady slopes near the peak of Musala

[Ragged Robin]

The leaves look 'right' for C.jacea- but the bracts I am not sure...

Thanks for the link for the C. jacea  took another photo of the bracts and they are not the same, infact they a brown with whitish filaments...will keep searching and let you know what I find out - thanks for your help at such a busy time Simon  

Gorgeous Saxifraga, especially S. stellaris 

[Sinchets]

Nearly there:
Senecio abrotanifolius- a plant I fell in love with, and hope to collect seeds from soon. I'd always avoided it, after reading Ingwerson's description of it as "rather too tall for most rock gardens... a sprawling and untidy plant". I could put up with that no problem, for the intensity of colour in those flowers!! The petals are red backed btw.
Senecio doronicum- another interesting plant I hadn't thought about growing before.
Veratrum lobelianum (V.album)

PS. No problem, Robin. Good luck with the search.

[Sinchets]

The last set from the Rila:
Viola biflora- base of a north facing cliff on Maliovitsa
Viola alpina with Arabis alpina- these seemed like odd bedfellows when you think about the places Arabis alpina is planted in gardens
Viola dacica (?) syn V.declinata- in the alpine meadows. In the montane area Viola tricolor was found.  With increased altitude the two species grew together and appeared to form a hybrid swarm, where some individuals were hardto differentiate. At higher altitudes a 'standard' V.dacica seems to predominate.