Flowering Now - September 2009

[Gerdk]

Here is Bessera elegans - better late than never. A gift from a nice Dutch forum member. 

Gerd

[Regelian]

Gerd,
what a wonderful little flower.  I guess I'll have to put this one on my list, too.  Is it winter hardy for you?  Or does it need protection?

[pehe]

Alberto, nice Scilla!

This afternoon I was in Botanical Garden of Aarhus, Denmark for a short visit.

Poul

[pehe]

And a few more

Poul

[pehe]

my 'Mini - Moor' today

regards   Wolfgang

Lovely moor you have!

I have some carnivorous plants too. I use them for 'biological warfare' in my greenhouse.
I have lots of seeds from Dionea muscipula if someone is interested.

Poul

[cohan]

This afternoon I was in Botanical Garden of Aarhus, Denmark for a short visit.
Poul

nice to see this place again, that bessera is a winner!

[Gerdk]

Gerd,
what a wonderful little flower.  I guess I'll have to put this one on my list, too.  Is it winter hardy for you?  Or does it need protection?

Jamie,
Until I saw Pouls pics of the same species from Aarhus I was pretty sure that it needs the same treatment like tender Gladiolus species - i.e. dry and frostprotected in winter. So I'll ask how Bletilla is handled there.

Gerd

[Gerdk]

This afternoon I was in Botanical Garden of Aarhus, Denmark for a short visit.
Poul

nice to see this place again, that bessera is a winner!

Poul,
Are the Bessera planted outside without protection in winter?

Gerd

[pehe]

This afternoon I was in Botanical Garden of Aarhus, Denmark for a short visit.
Poul

nice to see this place again, that bessera is a winner!

Poul,
Are the Bessera planted outside without protection in winter?

Gerd

Yes, they are planted outside. I can't remember if I have seen this plant site in the winter. Some plants in the botanical garden are protected by branches of fir during the winter, and I will guess that this is one off them.
They are planted on a south facing slope in a very sandy soil.

Poul

[Regelian]

Gerd,

the Flora in Köln has a large bed of Bletilla in the rockery which has survived and prospered for well over 20 years.  I've never seen Bessera there, but, if they are similarly hardy, it would be worth a try.

[Stephenb]

interesting windowsill plant! i knew those flowers looked familiar, and juncaginaceae sounded about right--we have a species--not positive of which, but maybe T maritima---'seaside arrow grass' ironically here, several days and several mountain ranges from the ocean! ours is quite tall, book says 10-100cm, though i think those i have seen are probably in the range of 60cm...i really like it, though its supposed to be terribly poisonous (cattle would be the ones at risk)-releasing cyanide gas when eaten....

how large is yours, does the bulb show? nice leaves? i've photographed ours a few times, but very hard to get good shots of tall skinny plants like that!

We have two species in this area, Triglochin palustris (Marsh Arrow Grass) which grows in boggy areas and T. maritima (Sea Arrow Grass) which is mostly a shoreline plant (although also found inland). The first two pictures below show T. maritima which is a much bigger plant (although this could be due to its well fertilized environment on the seashore). I learnt that T. maritima was edible from a local forager here many years ago. He regularly made/makes a tasty springtime soup from it and is still going strong. I cultivate it in my garden but only use small amounts to be on the safe side.  However, I’ve read that the toxicity is higher when the plants are stressed by the weather and the white bases are apparently safe. I’ve since also learnt that Sea Arrow Grass is one of the halophytic (salt-tolerant) plants which has been studied as a candidate for saline agriculture (food production on the increasingly extensive areas of land which have become too saline to grow conventional crops or for cultivation in dry coastal areas with sea water irrigation). One that is already cultivated as a food plant in the Netherlands and Morocco, which often grows together with Triglochin, can also be seen in the centre of the second picture, Aster tripolium, Sea Aster.  Sea Aster can actually now be purchased as a gourmet vegetable in one of the biggest supermarket chains in the Netherlands!   I guess the potential toxicity of Triglochin has not favouritised it so far, but this could perhaps be dealt with through breeding (I was in contact with a German professor working on halophytic plants and he rated it highly).

I don’t know T. bulbosa, but maybe it’s related to the Australasian species T. procera, Water Ribbons, shown in the bottom picture (from Kew Gardens) which has an edible tuber. This plant was probably an important staple aboriginal food throughout Australia. The tubers are reported to have very high levels of vitamin C, but were difficult to harvest, to be found 30 cm down in the oozing mud, presumably harvested by toe rather than hand…

[Thomas Huber]

Poul, what a wonderful rockery in Aarhus!
I'm not a Cyclamen specialist, but the C. libanoticum
photo looks more like C. hederifolium!?

[pehe]

Thomas, you might be right. I just named it after the label! Another place in the garden there was a group labeled hederifolium with much larger flowers. I have only one cyclamen in my garden, so I am no expert too.

Poul

[Gerdk]

Poul and Jamie,
Thank you both. Because I'm not able to cultivate Bessera in a pot successfully it will not be a mistake to plant some bulbs outside - will try it.

Gerd

[johnw]

Poul and Jamie,
Thank you both. Because I'm not able to cultivate Bessera in a pot successfully it will not be a mistake to plant some bulbs outside - will try it.

Gerd

Gerd - Be warned the slugs will come for kilometers for the Bessera leaves. Last year I had mine in a pot and set it on a trough that was on a pedestal.  They climbed to the top and almost completely defoliated the Besseras on several occasions.

johnw