Flowering in October 2009

[Brian Ellis]

Super pictures Giles, but seeing Colquhounia coccinia has reminded me that it has disappeared from the garden!

[Lori S.]

I do have a clump of shasta daisies which were disappointing this year, not sure if it might be too cold for them here.

There is no place that's too cold for shasta daisies, Helen.  They can even get to be quite an invasive horror in these very cold zones.

[maggiepie]

There is no place that's too cold for shasta daisies, Helen.  They can even get to be quite an invasive horror in these very cold zones.

Lori, I doubt mine are going to be invading anywhere soon, the clump is shrinking and I have never had a seedling.

[Ragged Robin]

Bits and bobs from the past week (several different gardens).
Camellia sasanqua cultivars:

Giles, wonderful photos of such lovely flowering things in gardens near you, thanks so much, the camellias are outstanding - is this second flowering I had no idea they flowered at this time of year?

[Giles]

Robin,
The C.sasanqua only flower in the Autumn. They are useful in that they do not require an acid soil (will grow on a neutral one).

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks for that, Giles, I am thrilled to have seen these Camellia as I love them and have only grown the ones which require acid soil in a large tub - I shall go on the web and find out more and look out for them - do you know of a good site?

[David Nicholson]

Eclectic selection Giles and very interesting.

[Paul T]

Robin,

Through selection of the different species and varieties you can have Camellia flowers from mid autumn through until late spring.  I still have flowers on a few Camellias here, and have had them since early April.  The Sasanquas start the season, but even those vary considerably and some start and finish earlier than others.  With the Camellia japonica they are even more widely flowered, with some flowering for a month or two while certain varieties can start with the earliest of the season and finish with the latest of the season 3 or 4 months later. 

As an example, I have photos taken this year of one of the first flowers on my small shrub (only been in a couple of years and maybe 4 1/2 foot tall) of 'San Dimas' that were taken on the 27th July.  I still have a few lingering flowers on it now, a full 3 months later.  There are others that have an even longer season.  When you add all the Camellias together, you could easily get close to 7 months of flowering out of them if you have the right combinations.

[Ragged Robin]

Thanks so much Paul for giving an overview of Camellias through the months - very good news and I shall do some searching to see what I can grow 

[maggiepie]

Robin, check out this nursery.
You might not be able to buy from them but you can get a very good idea of what is available.
I spent many an hour here wandering around and going broke.
I particularly love the miniatures and species.
Most of these grow very well in pots or did for me in Oz.
Bogong Snow and Baby Bear were two of my favourites.
Some of them are scented too which is a real bonus.


http://www.camellias.bravehost.com/index.htm

[Ragged Robin]

Helen, thanks so much for this pointer to a site - I struggled this afternoon with clicking on every link to see a photo on the International Camellia site and it proved very laborious though good info - your site shows photos by names which makes selection of what interests one much easier.  I'm pleased to see there are so many scented ones in Autumn varieties 

[Lesley Cox]

Lovely things there Giles, especially the Mahonia and Eleutherococcus. I love blue fruit.

If anyone is interested in a totally useless bit of information, Salvia confertiflora will root in water over the winter. Six months ago I placed 3 flower stems in each of 3 stone porter bottles, that live on my kitchen window sill along with a few other stone bottles and jars. I'd filled the bottles with water of course. After a month or so all the flowers had dropped off but I didn't get around to removing the stems. After another month, green shoots started to appear out of the bottle necks. The bottles are filled with roots now.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Definitely not useless information.  Always good to hear info like that. 

[olegKon]

An aconitum dares to flower here in spite of night frosts and all leaves yellow

[ArneM]

Many of the plants shown below were given to me by very generous forumists. With those pictures I'd like to thank all of them for their kindness and these wonderful flowers. I'll give my very best to make them feel happy.

 C. goulimyi MELT 9652.JPG
 C. mathewii.JPG
 C. mathewii ex P&B collection.JPG
 C. speciosus 'Albus'.JPG
 C. speciosus 'Oxonian'.JPG
 G. peshmenii.JPG
 G. reginae-olgae 'Eleni'.JPG
 G. reginae-olgae 2.JPG