Flowering now May 2007

[Paddy Tobin]

David,

I grew these dodecatheon from seed - a great way to find out the best place to put a new plant. When plants are ready for planting out I put them in a range of conditions and see how they get on in each situation. After trying them in various situations I find they like a little dampness in the soil and also a good rich soil. Those planted in such a situation have invariably done far better than those planted elsewhere.

A similar experience with Asarum caudatum illustrates this very well. Five plants put out into the garden have responded differently depending on conditions so that one plant has just one leaf while another is a clump three feet by two feet.

So, I suggest that if you have a few plants that you try out a variety of conditions. My experience opts for semi shade with rich moist soil.


Lesley, Mary is here basking in the praise you  have sent. She is delighted with herself, like a cat with cream.

Many thanks, Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Mary is right to be pleased, her Myosotidium is a cracker. It is an extraordinary plant, isn't it? Somewhat unlikely combo of leaf and flower...but the shiny green sets off the blue so well.

[Lesley Cox]

It is indeed an extraordinary plant Maggi, the more so because it comes only from one of the bleakest climates on earth, the Chatham Islands off the east coast of NZ and not anywhere that its rather lush, tropical look suggests. It seems to have rather a lot akin to the megaherbs of the islands of the sub Antarctic.Sadly, there are few left in the wild, accessible plants having been eaten out entirely, by sheep.

[Paddy Tobin]

Two odd things from the garden

Arum italicum albispathicum
Sauromatum venosum

then,

Disporum smithii
Disporum sessile variegatum
Smilacina racemosa


Paddy

[David Shaw]

Sauromatum venosum outside! You have a different climate to ours.
We grow ours in a pot that is kept in the glass porch in winter (brought indoors if very cold) then the pot goes onto the patio so that we can appreciate the leaves.
It is not quite open yet - pity because I wanted to take it to Aberdeen Show tomorrow

[Martin]

Geranium renardii, an outstanding garden plant, lovely flowers and great soft velvety leaves.

Martin.

[Anthony Darby]

I got this tree peony from John Amand at the EBS a few years ago and it has two cricket ball sized flowers on this year. Haven't Scooby what it's called, but seem to remember it had a long Japanese name. Any ideas?

[Paddy Tobin]

David,

Sauromatum venosum does very well outside here. In fact, I have never grown it in a pot. The only difficulty outside is that it doesn't like to lie in winter wet, otherwise it is perfectly happy and increases well. However, it doesn't last very long in flower. I imagine hoping to have a plant for show is very touch and go. You can just be lucky that it will open on the right day for you, I suppose.

Paddy

[David Lyttle]

Paddy,

I certainly agree with Maggi's opinion that Mary's Myosotium is a magnificent specimen. I grow both the blue and white forms of the plant. They do rather well here and seed freely. They tend to make most growth in late winter early spring ie, the cooler wetter part of the year. Individual plants are naturally short-lived so it is a good idea to collect the seed and keep a supply of fresh plants going.The seed germinates quite easily.

Contary to Lesley's assertion the Chatham Is do not have the bleakest climate on earth as the nikau palm (Rhopalostylis sapida) grows there. The climate is certainly cool with a lot of rain but it does not get excessively cold. The large leaves of the Myosotidium would be an adaption to the low light intensities ie cloudy days. Chatham Is plants  grow well here on the Otago Peninsula. Many are wind and salt tolerant so make useful coastal shelter. A number of endemic Chatham Is plants besides Myosotidium make good garden subjects if you can get hold of them, Aciphylla dieffenbachii, Brachyglottis huntii, Corokia macrocarpa to name a few.

[mark smyth]

Martin your Geranium is 'Phillip Vapelle'. G. renardii is white with blue veins. Here they are for comparison. There is a Geranium forum if you plan to post more.

[gmoen]

Hi

Here are some pictures taken to day. Since I live up north I can now start to enjoy plants you folks have posted pictures of some weeks ago..........FINALLY 

First out some Gentiana:
1 - Gentiana acaulis 'Alboviolacea'
2 - Gentiana verna - violet form
3 - Gentiana brachyphylla subsp. favratii - collected in the Carpathians (Romania)
4 - Gentiana oschtenica

Then a couple of Ranunculus:
5 - Ranunculus seguieri
6 - Ranunculus parnassifolius 'Nuria Form'

And finally:
7 - Taraxacum pseudoroseum - (PS! not a problem in my garden)
8 - Lewisia brachycalyx
9 - Daphne cneorum
10-Lilium souliei - in bud

[mark smyth]

very mouth watering. Every garden during the Czech trip had Gentiana acaulis 'Alboviolacea' growing

[David Nicholson]

Lovely plants Geir. I particularly liked the Gentians, and the Lewisia brachycalyx. I have just lost my one and only brachcalyx, the second year running this has happened to me.

[Susan Band]

Mark, when you grow Geranium renardi from wild seed you will get darker colours. The pale one that you showed is the one most available in the trade and the one we recognise as renardii. The others still have the lovely foliage, I have a beautiful dark one similar to Martins flowering for the first time this year from seed collected from one of the Czech collectors, can't remember who. Well worth looking out for different forms.

[Maggi Young]

Susan, many thanks for the flowers you sent up with Fermi!  On Friday I was pleased to be given a bunch of flowers by Fermi when he arrived from visiting Susan and Julia in Perthshire. Julia had shown him the Explorers' garden in Pitlochry and Susan showed him her garden and her parents' garden,in Pitcairngreen and then took him to see her bulb field.So when  Fermi arrived in Aberdeen, laden with the baggage that a world traveller needs, he was also clutching a 'Costa Coffee' cup, with a lovely buch of Tulipa sprengeri and a nice (hybrid?) Iris, along with a beautiful stem of Meconopsis. This bunch was given a vase of water and decorated the Show Secretaries' table in the show hall until yesterday afternoon, when i transferred them home with me. they are now looking as fresh as ever and the Mec, which had drooped a little on its journey from Perthshire, but which stood up more as time went on, is now looking out from a vase, fully open. Thanks, Susan !
As Chelsea Flower Show reigns supreme on the UK TV this week, watch out for Tulipa sprengeri in the gardens and displays... they most likely were sourced from Susan!