March 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Gail]

Lovely Empoduims Bill - nice starry flowers and I like the corrugated leaves.

[Lesley Cox]

Pachystegia rufa is interesting in that in nature it is exceptionally rare, its habitat being exclusively on one West Coast (South Island) farm. I was given cutting material from the site about 10 years ago and they rooted reasonably well (3 out of 4). The "rufa" refers to the reddish colour on the stems and the backs of the leaves and is very attractive. However, a good rain - or watering by hose - washes it off!!! and so it then looks exactly like the common Marlborough daisy, Pachystegia insignis.

[kiwi]

Very nice Arum pictum Doug, does it set seed?

Yes, I had two nice heads of berries last year for the first time.

The Pachystegia rufa is a beautiful plant but recently I was introduced to some hybrids between the three species,
insignis, minor and rufa and there are some real beauties out there. I have just pricked out a couple of trays of seedlings given to me of these crosses, and will keep you posted.

Lesley I was only aware of the one site of P. rufa growing On the 'Haldon Hills' of Marlborough, near Seddon? I have planned to make a trip up there to photograph them next season.

[Lesley Cox]

Well perhaps my information was wrong then? I was given the cuttings by the people who had been given the job of protecting the site on their farm/station.

[Tecophilaea King]

Vireya Rhododendrons originate from the cooler areas of New Guinea, Borneo and the Philippines. Vireyas are an evergreen shrub that do well in cultivation and in most sheltered North Island areas. Colourful scented blooms, sometimes up to 3 times a year make Vireyas a welcome addition to any garden. A frost free dappled shade is the best position, with a well drained humus rich soil. Mulch well with an open mulch.
Many coloured varieties are now for sale and in cultivation, some of which I will post as they start flowering.

[Otto Fauser]

Vireya Rhododendrons originate from the cooler areas of New Guinea, Borneo and the Philippines. Vireyas are an evergreen shrub that do well in cultivation and in most sheltered North Island areas. Colourful scented blooms, sometimes up to 3 times a year make Vireyas a welcome addition to any garden. A frost free dappled shade is the best position, with a well drained humus rich soil. Mulch well with an open mulch.
Many coloured varieties are now for sale and in cultivation, some of which I will post as they start flowering.

Bill , as in N.Z. , Vireya Rhododendrons are now widely grown here ( in a large number of hybrids and species , some of the dwarf ones I find particularly charming).  We also have 2 species native to Australia , in Nth. Queensland .

[Lesley Cox]

Yesterday I took another (very expensive) trip south to Hokonui Alpines. I bought a large number of very fine plants including a couple which I doubt have ever been offered in a general catalogue anywhere in the world, as plants, rather than as seeds. I also took just 1 photograph and while it doesn't look wildly exciting, it really is, because it is Primula wollastonii, in bud and out of its usual season. It should die down soon and flower again in the spring.

I also took a couple of pics on the way home of what I assume is Sorbus cashmiriana, wide and shrubby with large bunches of large, pure white fruit. I first saw this 3 years ago on the same trip south and took some seeds which are nice little bushes now, not fruiting yet. The last two years I've looked for it, couldn't see it and thought it must have been removed (it's in a church car park). I have some more fruit if anyone would like the seeds. The autumn foliage is yellow rather than red or orange like the other Sorbus species I grow.

The second Sorbus pic is one from the original sighting as the one I took yesterday was blurry and I didn't realize until I was home again. This one is better. All the leaves had fallen on that occasion.

[Otto Fauser]

Marcus Harvey , who runs a marvellous nursery for rare bulbs in Hobart ,Tasmania , asked me to post his photo of Crocus autranii, which just flowered in his garden .

  also a few Crocus pics in bloom in my own garden at the moment : the 'common' and easy C. speciosus , still one of the most beautyful.
 C. banaticus , one of the success stories in my garden , so easy and beautyful and a marvellous multyplier ,
and the elegant C. vallicola which appreciates cool ond slightly moist conditions .
 C. cancellatus ssp. pamphylicus

         Otto.

[Otto Fauser]

sorry ,this is Marcus Harvey's photo of C. autranii (4 blooms)

[Lesley Cox]

That is a beauty Otto. I hope it multiplies quickly.

[David Nicholson]

Lovely to see your autumn crocuses Otto.

[Ragged Robin]

C. banaticus , one of the success stories in my garden , so easy and beautyful and a marvellous multyplier ,
and the elegant C. vallicola which appreciates cool ond slightly moist conditions .

Otto your garden must look lovely with those Autumn crocus - I especially like the ones quoted above and am wondering if C. vallicola would grow on a moist semi shady bank here?  Does it open enough to show inside?

[Otto Fauser]

C. banaticus , one of the success stories in my garden , so easy and beautyful and a marvellous multyplier ,
and the elegant C. vallicola which appreciates cool ond slightly moist conditions .

Otto your garden must look lovely with those Autumn crocus - I especially like the ones quoted above and am wondering if C. vallicola would grow on a moist semi shady bank here?  Does it open enough to show inside?

Robin , yes there are a lot of autumn flowering Crocus species in bloom at the moment , amongst them large patches of the easy ones : speciosus , nudiflorus and banaticus .With me C. vallicola never opens out fully , but I like it this way.The segments are just faintly purple-veined and one of it's attractive feature is that those segments are elongated into fine points .As it comes from moist alpine meadows in N.E.Turkey and the Caucasus , (but still well drained ) it should succeed in your garden . I find it a rather slow increaser . Good Luck .

        Otto.

 

[Ragged Robin]

Great news, thanks for all the info Otto - I love the shape too 

[Lesley Cox]

For me, C. vallicola grows in a hot, dry place, really dry baked in summer, but of course I'm not so warm as Otto's place. Mine open perhaps a little more, but not much so perhaps that's it's natural way. It is quite quick from seed and now that I have several (from seed) clones, I'm getting some more each year.