March 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Armin]

Bill,
I'm in general not a great fan of Dahlia's because they are not hardy here but your Collarette Group Dahlia's are real beauties.
What is their height ?
The Lycoris sp. is top, too

[Lesley Cox]

Super Lycoris, whatever its ID. Dahlias are not geat favourites of mine either though I do grow and like very much the 'Bishop of Llandaff.' I used to have one which was a single red with flakes of white on the petals and was called 'Denmark.' It had some sentimental attachments because I was given it by an elderly friend who lived in Denmark Street in Fairlie (South Canerbury) and she had bought it because she had seen it painted on some Copenhagen porcelain when she was in Denmark. Had bought a piece with it depicted, at the factory.

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill,  
The Lycoris is not longituba! I am curious if the leaves appear in autumn or spring? In Flora of China, depending on the arrival of leaves, it would key to L. straminea (being ochraceous) or L. x albiflora, but the stamens and style are likely too long for the latter.
Aaron Floden

Good to hear from you Aaron, most of the Lycoris species and hybrids originally were imported from a reputable source in the US.
Nevertheless, I stand to be corrected, especially when I also grow the L. x albiflora.
Will keep an eye on wheather the foliage will appear in the autumn or spring and keep you informed.
Thanks.

[Tecophilaea King]

Fantastic photo of great looking flower Bill - when do plants become referred to as male (handsome) or female (?)  

That's an interesting, intriguing question Ragged Robin, handsome could also be described as attractive, elegant, graceful, gracious etc.
Other examples of female plants could also be: Angels Tears (Narcissus triandrus), Fairy bells (Dierama), Lady's locket (Dicentra), Widow's tears (Achimenes), Naked Ladies (Amaryllis belladonna).
The same goes for (common names) male plants like: Bashful Ben (Trillium cernuum), Friar's cap (Aconitum napellus), Jacob's rod (Asphodeline), Jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), and not to forget Naked Boys (Colchicum autumnale).
What about Lord's and Ladies (Arum maculatum), Adam and Eve (Erythronium grandiflorum) for both sexes?
Does that answer your question RR?  

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill,
I'm in general not a great fan of Dahlia's because they are not hardy here but your Collarette Group Dahlia's are real beauties.
What is their height ?
The Lycoris sp. is top, too

They normally grow up to 1 meter in height Armin, but need staking to stop them from blowing over.
Another interesting hybrid is the Dahlia variety "Knockout" with almost blackish, dark brown foliage and contrasting yellow flowers,  
bred by Keith Hammett from Auckland, who also hybridised new varieties of pom pom dahlia's, not to forget sweet peas and Clivia's.

[Ragged Robin]

See post 48

Does that answer your question RR?        

 

Wonderful humour and it more than answers it Bill   

Nick names have a knack of raising a smile and are a wonderful way of describing what would otherwise be considered sexist (amongst flowers)

As female with a male name during my career it posed a few problems but mostly has been beneficial 

My chosen Forum nick name:
Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) suggests I'm female  - but not completely cuckoo 

[Armin]

Bill,
I'm in general not a great fan of Dahlia's because they are not hardy here but your Collarette Group Dahlia's are real beauties.
What is their height ?
The Lycoris sp. is top, too

They normally grow up to 1 meter in height Armin, but need staking to stop them from blowing over.
Another interesting hybrid is the Dahlia variety "Knockout" with almost blackish, dark brown foliage and contrasting yellow flowers,  
bred by Keith Hammett from Auckland, who also hybridised new varieties of pom pom dahlia's, not to forget sweet peas and Clivia's.

Bill,
thanks for your reply. "Knockout" is very beautiful. Marvelous color combination of flower and foiliage.
I can imagine why Dahlia enthusiasts got "knocked out".

[fermi de Sousa]

Fantastic photo of great looking flower Bill - when do plants become referred to as male (handsome) or female (?)  

That's an interesting, intriguing question Ragged Robin, handsome could also be described as attractive, elegant, graceful, gracious etc.
Other examples of female plants could also be: Angels Tears (Narcissus triandrus),

I'll have to remind you, Bill, that the "Angel" in that name refers to the boy who was guiding the daffodil hunters to find it - a diminutive of Angelo, perhaps?
The Lycoris (maybe) longituba is stunning - does it set seed?
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Unfortunately Lycoris elsae doesn't set seed but it does flower quite nicely after "bulking up" over the past 6 years!


The rain lilies appreciated the 3inches of rain we got last week: Zephyranthes candida




And two of its offspring, "Ajax"




and "Grandjax"


The real thrill was to see the first Sternbergias!
Sternbergia lutea




and S. sicula (grown from seed from Rannveig Wallis in 1997)


And the white Cyclamen graecum is now in (sparse) bloom,


cheers
fermi

[Lvandelft]

Fermi your Lycoris elsae is a dream!

[Armin]

Fermi,
you have a wunderful collection So many nice plants I can't grow here.

[fermi de Sousa]

Thank you, Luit and Armin,
some of these plants grow well for us but a lot of the ones that don't like the heat I only get to see when I visit  Otto or Tim or Viv in the Dandenongs!
Lycoris aurea is just opening here, just 2 stems this year,


A seedling Amaryllis belladonna from Peter Genat (of nerine fame) has just flowered - he knew it would be pink but said both its parents were white! I think it has a slight "picotee" effect - we'll see if it retains it as it ages,


This little colchicum flowered last year and it was declared that it wasn't as the seed was labelled "C. bivonae" but some other, much smaller species - any guesses?


Another shot of the smaller Cyclamen graecum in the Rock Garden -much paler pink that the older plant I showed earlier.


And the Sternbergia sicula is so stunning in the morning light I can't refrain from posting another pic!


And the promise of things to come, a spike on Brunsvigia josephinae flowering for the first time (I got it 2 years ago from Helen in our local AGS Group)


cheers
fermi

[Tecophilaea King]

I'll have to remind you, Bill, that the "Angel" in that name refers to the boy who was guiding the daffodil hunters to find it - a diminutive of Angelo, perhaps?
The Lycoris (maybe) longituba is stunning - does it set seed?
cheers  fermi
[/quote]

I think your quite right fermi, about Narcissus triandrus albus which Peter Barr called Angel's Tears.
The story goes, that those tears were not celestial, but very real ones of the native guide Angelo, who wept from exhaustion when Mr Barr (whom he was suppose to be leading) dragged him to a spot, high in the Austurian Mountains, where this little daffodil grows.

As far as the Lycoris longituba? is concerned, like your Lycoris elsae, I am afraid no seed so far,
On the other hand Lycoris Xhaywardii is fertile and has set seed, perhaps we could swap a few seeds later on.

[Tecophilaea King]

Here are a another couple of the magnifecient Haemanthus species flowering for us.
This time its the Haemanthus amarylloides and Haemanthus namaquensis, both very colourful and desirable.

[angie]

Bill you are so lucky to be able to grow these amazing plants, how long does the flower of Haemanthus last for.
Angie