Foliage now- October 2009

[Ragged Robin]

No snails    Unbelievable....we have plenty of Roman ones here that munch through everything especially in mid Spring/ after rain - never thought I was providing the perfect habitat for them either in the cool root run places designed for Alpines not B&B for snails!  Still, it's very good news that there are Hostas which are snail and slug resistant and great leaf colour and I shall have a go and see what happens.  

Thanks everyone for all the information and experiences of growing Hostas - I'm glad the subject came up, even if Lesley says you're hot water for your suggestions John  

Lori, we do have deep snow until March (still skiing season up until Easter) from sometime before Christmas.  Already there is snow on the high peaks and the temperature has been fluctuating like mad from frosty to very warm.  Amazed to see that some seed I scattered of the wild lily is already up and growing away (it's the white one I posted in one of my Alpine walks in Valais)

Temps here are: average 25-35°C from June – September   average -1-15°C December – March
The Valais region has over 300 days of sunshine a year and an average precipitation amount of 500 to 600 mm/year (19 – 23 inches)
At 1200 metres the weather is variable by a few degrees

[pehe]

Nice pics of autumn colours Jamie, John and Lori!

Some autumn colours from my garden.

Poul

 Cornus Kousa.jpg
 Hosta.jpg
 Sedum.jpg
 Sorbus with mistletoe.jpg

[pehe]

And some flowers.

Poul

 Arum pictum.jpg
 Crocus banaticus seedlings.jpg
 Crocus nudiflorus seedling1.jpg
 Crocus nudiflorus seedling2.jpg
 Crocus medius.jpg
 Crocus speciosus1.jpg
 Nerine sarniensis.jpg
 Nerine Stephanie.jpg
 Sternbergia sicula Dodona Gold1.jpg

[Ragged Robin]

Lovely Autumn look to your garden, Poul, the group of C speciosus in the brown leaves is fabulous

[Lesley Cox]

I had snails in a previous garden and when I weeded, I heaved them out into the street where cars did for them but I had to stop that. The stench of rotting meat became unbearable.

[Lesley Cox]

Poul, I do like your Nerine 'Stephanie,' a really spidery appearance, or just maybe wild hair (unlike some .

The Cornus kousa too. Mine doesn't colour as well as that, maybe not cold enough.

Robin my mother's garden had snails and once she captured a couple in a jar for me to take for a "school show and tell" thing. She gave them a fresh lettuce leaf for their supper and later in the evening when everyone else had gone to bed, she HEARD them munching away on their salad.

[johnw]

A few more either colouring up for autumn or putting on their woolies for winter. The Potentilla nitida dickinsii could be a bit of a self-seeding pest if unleashed in the garden.

johnw

[ranunculus]

Surely that isn't Potentilla nitida, John?

[Robert G]

John,

Great shots of some smaller specimens. I find my myself  bending to check out the fall form and foliage of some of my little plants.

[johnw]

Surely that isn't Potentilla nitida, John?

Cliff - Of course it isn't nitida . It's Potentilla dickinsii. How did I manage to pull that name out of the hat?

Posting now corrected. Keep an eye on me!  

Just in the process of cleaning Magnolia species seed - 5 and 10 pound lots, what a mess.

johnw

[ranunculus]

Surely that isn't Potentilla nitida, John?

Cliff - Of course it isn't nitida . It's Potentilla dickinsii. How did I manage to pull that name out of the hat?

Posting now corrected. Keep an eye on me!  

johnw

Only if you will reciprocate, John?   

[pehe]

The Cornus kousa too. Mine doesn't colour as well as that, maybe not cold enough.

Lesley, I think the colouring is depending upon the soil. I have two cornus kousa in my garden, the one shown above is placed among Rhododendron in an acid, humid soil. The other is placed in a more neutral soil 10 meters away and it does not have the same rich colours. Both are cuttings from the same mother plant.

Poul

[Lesley Cox]

Thanks for that Poul. My garden is quite neutral except where I've added either peat or lime. I must dig some arround the Cornus.

John that is a stunning Potentilla for autumn coloir. As to P. nitida, mine has produced a single flower in maybe 15 years. Why haven't I thrown it out?

When does Cornus canadensis flower please? I hoped my 7 plants would this spring but no sign though they're growing well and will be planted out as soon as the rain clears.

[johnw]

Lesley  - Cornus canadensis blooms sometime around June 1st here. I can't say exactly, not something I pay much attention to as it's everywhere.  It oftentimes grows in the forest duff above the soil and wanders through that. A bit of a pest for me in the south along with Clintonia borealis and the cursed Maianthemum both which behave the same way.  We often see intermittent flowering all through the summer and a few flowers in the autumn on aberrant Cornus plants.  The soil and duff here is extremely acidic.  The Cornus also grows on rotting stumps and logs. Torture it a bit.

You are not the first to ask about flowering it! 

johnw

[Lesley Cox]

Oh well, there's hope yet then, as that would be December here. It is very acidic where it will be going and there's quite a lot of accumulated leaf litter so maybe it will feel at home. My late mother had flowers at least sometimes, but so long ago I'd forgotten when. She never had fruit but it was a single clone. That's why I'll plant out all 7 in a patch. The odds in favour of both male and female must be quite high.