Flowering Now - August 2009

[cohan]

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

thanks, chris and simon--another rich area! i've asked at semp group about your jovibarba, btw..
the senecio doesnt look all that tall and untidy to me, but maybe lack of reference...anyway, in your conditions likely to remain compact...
love the yellow violas..we have some in the province, but i've never seen one  in person!

[Sinchets]

Thanks, Cohan. The other choice for this area was Sempervivum leucanthum- but the plant looked more like the pics of Jovibarba (IMO).

[Hans J]

Here are two flowering Roscoea ( bought in last week ) :

Roscoea purpurea 'Vincent'
Roscoea purpurea 'Brown Peacock'

[cohan]

Thanks, Cohan. The other choice for this area was Sempervivum leucanthum- but the plant looked more like the pics of Jovibarba (IMO).

i'll let you know if i hear back anything..
heuffelii is the species that usually splits to produce offsets, rather than stolons or 'rollers' but not sure how apparent that is in the field..
here's an article you might find interesting, on the distinctions btwn Sempervivum and Jovibarba..
http://stalikez.info/fsm/semp/site/jov_gb.php?clc=12&zc=AeHa1b1g1f1f1i1r1zu1g

[mark smyth]

Gazanias are lovely especially the pink and green 'Christopher Lloyd'

[Ragged Robin]

Mark, your shots of Gazanias are lovely!  What a great contrast and intensity of colours....

Reminds me of Hawaiian leis......

How long does the flower last on the plant?

[Arykana]

started today - several are blooming days ago, but the heat burned the leaves
it is full shadow

my favorites: this year the seeds are not germinated well, I have only 4 or 5

the nameless, but loved:

red:

the heath tolerants:

[Gerdk]

Here are some pics made yesterday evening in a region dominated by plants - which are called ' Heide ' (heath) - consists of Calluna and Erica species.
The area was  ' renaturated ' only a few years ago when a lot of trees were removed in order to give the heath a chance, which occured a century ago there.

1. + 2. Erica tetralix
3. + 4. Calluna vulgaris
5. + 6. Drosera ? rotundifolia - which becomes smaller and smaller-              because the site is too dry for them
7. + 8. Impatiens noli-tangere
9.        Impatiens glanduligera
10.      Part of the heath region

Gerd

[joop huyslook]

More from the Rila mountains:
Jovibarba heuffelii (?) on Maliovitsa and Musala- is the id correct?

The id is correct. The bell-shaped flowers are typical for Jovibarba heuffelii. This is most probably the type plant with pubescent leaves.
Besides, no other Jovibarba is known with certainty to grow in Bulgaria, and Sempervivum has starlike flowers.
Jov. heuffelii also occurs in the Pirin and Vitosha Mts. and in the Stara planina.

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Joop, good to have to help out with this ID.
Thank you for deciding to post now! 

[Rodger Whitlock]

For the gardens of the curious: another Mexican composite with chocolate-scented flowers to keep your Cosmos atrosanguineum company—Berlandiera lyrata.

Easily grown from seed, but for good results seed must be sown in warmth, as with many other members of the Asteraceae.

Apparently quite hardy, as long as it has a modicum of drainage. The three surviving plants are on top of my "Anglo-saxon burial mound" where they are up and out of the wintertime squelch of my garden. Adjacent to them is Convolvulus cneorum, which was hit hard last winter. I don't think the berlandiera would survive a really seriously cold winter such as Lori Skulski gets in Alberta, but since it survived the hardest winter here in Victoria in twenty years, it should survive in many less intemperate gardens.

My plants are still young and I have no idea just how they will develop in the future.

[cohan]

mark--gazanias really do have unbelievable colours and patterns..i was surprised to know they are perennials in warmer places, but then many of our northern 'annuals' are...

erika--nice flowers--is the second last a variegated euphorbia, or?

gerd-nice to see this place--so it is supposed to be heath and people planted trees and then later removed them?

[cohan]

Thanks, Cohan. The other choice for this area was Sempervivum leucanthum- but the plant looked more like the pics of Jovibarba (IMO).

you will have seen joop answered this, on the semp forum also
do let me know if you get seeds from this!

[Lori S.]

The variegated euphorbia appears to Euphorbia marginata, a prairie native annual...

The other choice for this area was Sempervivum leucanthum- but the plant looked more like the pics of Jovibarba (IMO).

Wouldn't the flower form alone indicate it to be Jovibarba rather than Sempervivum... or is that an oversimplification?  

mark--gazanias really do have unbelievable colours and patterns..i was surprised to know they are perennials in warmer places, but then many of our northern 'annuals' are...

Gazania linearis 'Colorado Gold' is supposed to be hardy to zone 4.  Tried it a couple of times but no overwintering success with it here... (while Osteospermum barberiae var. compactum 'Purple Mountain' has survived over many years).  

Cosmos atrosanguineum
Berlandiera lyrata.
I don't think the berlandiera would survive a really seriously cold winter such as Lori Skulski gets in Alberta, but since it survived the hardest winter here in Victoria in twenty years, it should survive in many less intemperate gardens.

Absolutely right, Rodger. - no overwintering success for me in the past with either, unfortunately.

[Gerdk]

gerd-nice to see this place--so it is supposed to be heath and people planted trees and then later removed them?

Cohan,
Yes the region became heath after ruthless deforestation during the time when industrialisation advanced followed by sheepgrazing. Around the first decades of the last century reforestation began and the scenery changed once more. Interestingly the names for places which were heathland didn't change. For instance there is a wooded hill near my home which is called ' Heidufer ', which means border of heathland.
Around 1986 the town of Solingen decided to restore the original cultural landscape. Trees were felled and additionally the humus layer was removed partly.
After some time an interesting phenomenon was observed.
Suddenly lots of plants occured which where kept for regionally extinct. Also a lot of rare insects were seen.
Today it is a nature reserve of about 150 hectare.

Gerd