April in the Southern Hemisphere

[Tecophilaea King]

Here is a close-up of this charming Nerine gracilis

[Tecophilaea King]

Lesley mentioned the dainty Gladiolus carmineus that belong to a small group of species, which produce their flowers in late summer and autumn, before the foliage has appeared (hysteranthous group)
It is very easily grown, certainly the easiest member of this group, and the flowers are cerise with white markings on the lower petals.

[Maggi Young]

Sorry Cohan, for the late reply, we have been away over the Easter with the campervan, fishing with the family in the Coromandel
To show you (I hate boasting  ) here is a picture of a 30 lb. kingfish caught on the beach with a longline. Very nice catch.
Maggi will probably growl at me for going off-topic. Would you Maggi? What about an chocolate Easter egg as a sweetener?

Growl? Moi? Nah, everyone knows my bite is worse than my bark.

Fred Admin will be very interested to hear more about the kingfish, though..... he's is a keen fisherman ( I'm only interested in it if it tasted good!)

[anita]

The autumn crocus are in full swing but the highlight's been this cluster/clump of C. goulimyi Mani White. This cluster is based on just three bulbs I bought from Marcus Harvey in 2006. Of the various crocus that I've been trialling in the garden C. goulimyi seems to have adapted best to Adelaide's dry summers and moderate winters. This clump is at the edge of the front lawn where they get a little additional water in summer. The second pic is a wider shot showing outliers to the cluster. Interestingly the flower at the bottom of the cluster seems to have more pointed petals yet it must be a clone of the others in the group as I haven't had any self-sown seedlings (although I did collect seed from this group last year).
Anita

[Tecophilaea King]

The autumn crocus are in full swing but the highlight's been this cluster/clump of C. goulimyi Mani White. This cluster is based on just three bulbs I bought from Marcus Harvey in 2006. Of the various crocus that I've been trialling in the garden C. goulimyi seems to have adapted best to Adelaide's dry summers and moderate winters. This clump is at the edge of the front lawn where they get a little additional water in summer. The second pic is a wider shot showing outliers to the cluster. Interestingly the flower at the bottom of the cluster seems to have more pointed petals yet it must be a clone of the others in the group as I haven't had any self-sown seedlings (although I did collect seed from this group last year).
Anita

What a nice clump of Crocus goulimyi Mani pure white you got there Anita, they almost look like the beautiful Weldenia candida flowers.
Wish I could grow Crocus like that.

[Lesley Cox]

My first thought was Weldenia candida too Bill, especially with those long tubes.
I haven't a single crocus out yet, it's been so dry but C. vallicola will only be a day or two at most, after a decent shower last weekend.

Bill, your frits are on the way, well almost. Easter and other things kept getting in the way but I'm sorting some today and will post first thing Monday. Promise.

[cohan]

Sorry Cohan, for the late reply, we have been away over the Easter with the campervan, fishing with the family in the Coromandel
To show you (I hate boasting  ) here is a picture of a 30 lb. kingfish caught on the beach with a longline. Very nice catch.
Maggi will probably growl at me for going off-topic. Would you Maggi? What about an chocolate Easter egg as a sweetener?
Anyway Cohan, here is also a picture of Nerine fothergillii and Nerine gracilis I picked for comparison.

no worries--sounds like a nice family outing..
i've seen very little growling about OT on this forum, and none of it from maggi but who's going to turn down a chocolate easter egg 
these little nerines are very interesting,little is key for me....shields shows a rather different looking gracilis:
http://www.shieldsgardens.com/amaryllids/nerine-b.html
undulata sounds nice and small by his description, among others..
that glad is very nice too..here, i have only seen the garden monsters, which are lifted in the fall..

[cohan]

Here is a close-up of this charming Nerine gracilis

charming indeed--are those leaves full size, or have they just emerged?

[Tecophilaea King]

these little nerines are very interesting,little is key for me....shields shows a rather different looking gracilis:
http://www.shieldsgardens.com/amaryllids/nerine-b.html

Yes you could be right cohan, there is a difference, some of those small Nerine species might have been mixed up, I do grow the N. gracilis, must go and have a look for it.
The foliage of most Nerines species, usually grow a bit more after they finished flwering.

[Tecophilaea King]

It's that time of the season again when the autumn/winter flowering Oxalis species start blooming once more.
The first to display their flowers, one of my favourites, is the beautiful Oxalis massoniana, always reliable and colourful to brighten up the garden.

[Lesley Cox]

Lovely Bill. Yours are well ahead of mine but then, it's still so dry here. Just the first two crocuses over the weekend, CC. pulchellus and vallicola.

[kiwi]

I wish we had smell-o-vision because this NZ native orchid Earina autumnalis has a beautiful intoxicating aroma, overpowering all in the garden at the moment. So easy to grow and yet one of our most beautiful orchids I think.
Aconitum carmichaelii - wolfsbane, never fails to put on a show.
Pinellia tripartia - keeps on giving, bloom after bloom.

[Tecophilaea King]

The second Oxalis to flower of all the species to come yet, is the delicate but equally charming Oxalis pardalis
The growth of this species has the tendency to collapse and almost become pendulous when grown in a container.

[galahad]

It's that time of the season again when the autumn/winter flowering Oxalis species start blooming once more.
The first to display their flowers, one of my favourites, is the beautiful Oxalis massoniana, always reliable and colourful to brighten up the garden.

O. massoniana is one of my faves.

[galahad]

My Cyclamen seed from the SRGC list is germinating well.  For those of you that know the weather patterns here in Canterbury, should I provide C. persicum with some shelter?  We have had 2 frosts already