Flowering Now - September 2009

[Michael J Campbell]

Haemanthus albiflorus in flower in the greenhouse

[Paddy Tobin]

Wow, Michael, What a stunner. Beautiful.

Paddy

[ranunculus]

Absolutely superb Michael ... what a gorgeous plant.

[mark smyth]

I want to extend the season in my garden. What is the best Sorbus for a small garden? It cant be any shade of orange or red

[cohan]

Haemanthus albiflorus in flower in the greenhouse

splendid! i assume that's many years of skilled tlc?

[cohan]

paddy--very nice set---lots of really nice berries and leaves...viburnums lovely..

[Ragged Robin]

Paddy, how mature is your Sorbus cashmeriana? Wondering what height it will reach eventually....all your berries, hips and fruits are so decorative...do you grow a lot of different apple varieties?  Virburnums are wonderful for flower, leaf and Autumn colour - although we have wonderful colour here in the valley too from fruit trees I do miss the woodland mix of changing colours in our Alpine garden here.

[Paddy Tobin]

Robin,

The S. cashmeriana is only planted five years, lost it leader two years ago and is a miserable specimen. Despite this it berries well, disproportionately well to be honest.

Yes, I grow a number of crabapple trees in the garden. Off the top of my head, sitting here at the computer, I can count 8. Then, there are 5 domestic apples as well.

Viburnum setigerum is a young plant and this is its first year fruiting and I  am delighted with it. It is a nice orange-red and very attractive.

Paddy

[Michael J Campbell]

Thanks folks, that plant is ten years old. It is the first time I have got a decent pic without slug damaged leaves,they love the young growth. 

[Regelian]

Robin,

I can agree with Paddy, S. cashmeriana is not the most hardy or well-formed shrub.  I notice winter-kill every season, however it does recover quickly, but is hardly a symetrical shrub.  Mine is seed grown, which means it was not selected for its form, etc.  On the other hand, S. hupehensis grows quite nicely, does suffer a bit from winter-kill, but is a profuse bloomer with lots of pink berries.  It was purchased from a Dutch nursery and assumedly selected.  Although I cannot be certain, I think one can keep both to a 2-3 meter high shrub through pruning.  Even with a single lead, I doubt a tree form could be pruned without support as the stems are pretty weak and lax.

As to growing from seed, most Sorbus are apomixus and produce seed without pollination.  The resulting seedlings are very similar to the mother, although not identical.

[Geebo]

 Thanks Cohan and Paddy for the nice touchts.Great pictures with all those vibrant colors,its hard to believe autumn is all around us,went out for a while to get a Little medley.
enjoy,

Guy

[Ragged Robin]

Paddy & Jamie, thanks for all the information covering your experiences of growing S. cashmeriana.  I will see what happens next year with ours....

Paddy, with all those crabapples I imagine you make crabapple jelly     my absolute favourite on hot buttered toast or with creme fraiche & croissant 

[Ragged Robin]

Haemanthus albiflorus in flower in the greenhouse

Michael, can you tell me more about this wonderful plant you've grown?

[Ragged Robin]

Guy, I do wish you a speedy recovery from your knee replacement and the best tonic is seeing what is growing in your garden - what a a welcome you had from your plants flowering so profusely and the medley of flowers is wonderful too 

[Michael J Campbell]

Robin, there is no skill required to grow this plant,actually it thrives on neglect. It has not been re potted for four or five years and only gets water when I remember. It is very slow growing so patience and neglect is the order of the day. I only water it on a regular basis when I see new growth.
I have some one year old seedlings if you want one,obviously they are very small.