October 2009 in the Southern Hemisphere

[arillady]

Iris cypriana is the blue behind the Iris purpureobracteata
Iris pallida and the Australian native bulb whose name escapes me at the moment
then with a black card behind it
and an unknown medium iris from an old garden

[kiwi]

Pulsatilla vulgaris, Iris ?, Pterostylis curta, Arisaema triphyllum subsp. stewardsonii, Rodgersia pinnata and my favourate named NZ native, Anaphalioides bellidoides.

[galahad]

Weldenia candida

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill, I've had seed-raised bulbs of Calydorea xiphioides for many years now and they never flower - is there a secret to getting them to do so? Judging by your beautiful photos they are very striking little plants indeed.

Ray, not sure about the secret, I grow my Calydorea like so many South African species, in a well drained potting mix in shallow polystyrene trays with plenty of sand and pumice added, in full sun all day. When dormant I store the bulbs or whole container in a cool, dry spot. They also don't like cold wet feet. Hope this was helpful.

[Tecophilaea King]

Weldenia candida

Ross, that's a very nice Weldenia candida you got there, one of my favourite plants.
To see your Weldenia in flower, made me rush out and check my plant, and was very disappointed and mad to have lost it, to cold and wet during the winter, I presume.
I should have listened to Lesley, to store it in a cool, dryish place, when dormant.
Now I have to ask (bribe) Lesley nicely, if she could spare me another one  
She grows this plant to perfection and supplied many a happy, satisfied people with this treasure.
Is that enough sweet talk Lesley, plus more bribes with Tecophilaea and South African bulbs later.

[galahad]

Thanks, Bill

I keep it dryish in the winter but the main thing is the top half of the pot is stones to ensure drainage around the crown

[Ragged Robin]

Pulsatilla vulgaris, Iris ?, Pterostylis curta, Arisaema triphyllum subsp. stewardsonii, Rodgersia pinnata and my favourate named NZ native, Anaphalioides bellidoides.

What a great show of plants, Doug, love them all especially the Rodgersia bronze foliage and the NZ native   

[Tecophilaea King]

This time two spidery looking Hippeastrum hybrids, the result of crossing Hipp.cybister with Hipp. aulicum and Hipp.papilio.
Many more cultivars in a wide range of colours are also available, will show a few more later.

[annew]

They are lovely, much more elegant than the big, full ones.

[Lesley Cox]

Bill, apart from one of the best plantsmen I know whose nursery staff put his winter pot under a dripping guttering, you are the only person I know to have lost one of my Weldenias. Shame on you.  Having said that I can certainly let you have another but not until next spring when I'll have another big one to divide. I may also do a few cuttings this coming autumn. A couple of months ago I sent all my little ones to new homes in the northern hemisphere where they are beginning to flower now. And I'm infinitely bribable.

[Lesley Cox]

I don't remember telling you to store it in a cool, dryish place while dormant (what? 10 years ago?) and all mine are either planted in the open garden or in pots out in the open with no winter covering and soil around their necks. I've come almost to take it for granted (which could, of course, be its death knell) but I do keep any cuttings dryish once they have callused in early winter, then they seem to root in early spring.

[Michael J Campbell]

I may also do a few cuttings this coming autumn.

Lesley, what method do you use for taking cuttings of Weldenia.?

[galahad]

This time two spidery looking Hippeastrum hybrids, the result of crossing Hipp.cybister with Hipp. aulicum and Hipp.papilio.
Many more cultivars in a wide range of colours are also available, will show a few more later.

Oooh, Bill.  I have been looking for those for ages.

[Lesley Cox]

Michael I do stem cuttings. I've tried the "accepted" method of root cuttings and never produced a single plant that way.

My plants are outside and get very dry in summer but are tolerant of that. However, they get a good watering in late summer/early autumn along with other, finer-rooted plants. They then produce a number of new shoots which really haven't much purpose because the flowering has finished and the plants will die down within 2 or 3 months anyway, so I cut them off, as tender as new asparagus shoots. If you look toward the base of these shoots they have quite faint rings, 1-3, which look like the rings on a bamboo shoot. I figured originally that if the shoot had these divisions, why wouldn't it make roots there? I did just a few as an experiment, dipping the ends into a liquid rooting solution then placing them in damp gritty sand. Winter came and they died down and I forgot about them and stuck the pot under a bench. It became bone dry over winter but in October (mid spring) I noticed a tiny green shoot in the still arid sand.

Fishing in the sand I found a couple had died, a couple had callused and a couple including the green one had incipient roots. So I removed the dead, watered the rest and soon had 4 nice young plants.

Since, I've done maybe 200 this way and now don't let the pot become super-dry but still keep it exceptionally well-drained (grit only in it) and rarely lose a cutting. I pot them about Dec (May to you) and they grow quickly to flower within a couple of months. I like to check that the cuttings have callused before they go dormant, if possible, and from there they seem pretty much infallible.

[Michael J Campbell]

Thanks Lesley, I never produced any plants from  root cuttings either,that is why I asked.