April 2010 - Northern Hemisphere- Flowering now.

[johnw]

I would comment but I'm too busy hyperventilating over Sanguinaria 'Armstrong's Pink' 

An ACTUAL pink! For other pink forms I've seen, I needed to get out my rose-coloured spectacles.

As John says it will fade however it was it's first flowering so I was pleased you enjoyed it as much as I

It's a real Fragonard pink in the early stages, eh?

johnw

[johnw]

Flowering now or almost so:

Shortia galacifolia

Shortia uniflora

Shortia x Leona

johnw

[TheOnionMan]

So, has anyone tried crossing the two Jeffersonia species, the North American J. diphylla and the Asian J. dubia?  Both are easy growers, but long appreciated that the Japanese (and from other Asian countries) is the better of the two species, being more showy with longer lasting blue flowers.  Has anyone attempted crosses between the two species?

This year, being the earliest spring on record here in Northeastern USA, with a current heat wave accelerating the season, both species are in bloom at the same time, a rare occurrence.  So what to do... try hybridizing, what else?  Does anyone know of any success in hybridizing these two species?  I certainly dabbed pollen both ways today, given the rare occurrence of both blooming at the same time.  We'll see what transpires in a few years.

Also today, I spied some seedling plants of J. diphylla in a woodland area of my property well beyond the reaches of water hoses, and I was struck by the dark blackish coloration of the leaves on some J. diphylla seedlings; photos show this coloration.  They are yet to bloom, so I still have about 2 days of Jeffersonia hybridization opportunity available.  Hey Aaron, what sort of variation have you spotted on this plant?

[arilnut]

Here are some things that have opened the last 2 weeks.

John B

I. scariosa
I.mandschurica
I. svetlanae
Frit. eduardii

[gote]

I am not quite sure whether this belongs here or in the "happy" thread. Anyway I am happy that:
When the snow receeded there were Helleborus thibetanus that have not only survied an unusually cold winter but happily grown on under the snow and appeared through the snow in semi-opened buds!
 
The Scilla among the Eranthis is also quite nice. It never comes out as blue in the pictures as it appears to the eye.
Cheers
Göte

[WimB]

In flower here today:

Dicentra cucullaria 'Pink Punk'
Primula auricula 'Golden Splendour'

[Afloden]

Mark,

 Not much variation in Jeffersonia diphylla. I've seen several large populations and the only thing that is nice is the variation in the leaf margins. The flowers are all pretty much the same.

 Here are some things in flower now.
For Gerd! -
 Viola rotundifolia
 Viola hastata
And a genus I have some familiarity with and find to be very attractive, if subtle, garden plants.
 Dirca palustris
 Dirca decipiens

[Afloden]

And a few more things;
 
 Cardamine laciniata
 Cardamine multifida
 Cymophyllus fraseri
 Mertensia virginica Alba
 Mukdenia acanthifolia - flowers and a leaf
 Mukdenia rossii in flower and leaf

 Aaron

[Gail]

The Dircas look interesting, I've not seen those before.  What family are they and any fragrance?

[Sinchets]

We only just have Jeffersonia leaves appearing here- but these Anemone pavonina raised from seed collected in the southeast have been flowering on and off since just before our last snowfall. In the area we collected seed the pink forms flowered before the red, but in the garden they are flowering together.

[Afloden]

Gail,
 
Dirca is in the Thymelaeaceae, but according to molecular data it seems closer to the Gondwanan taxa than it does to Daphne. And yes, the two species above do have a fragrance. On warm still spring days they have a sweet fragrance, but nothing like some Daphne species. There is also D. occidentalis from California and D. mexicana from a single site in Tamaulipas.

 Aaron

[Gail]

Interesting, thanks.  How big do they get?

[Afloden]

 Of all the Dirca I have seen in the wild I would say none were much over 2m. Most stop at about 1-1.5 m. In the garden my D. decipiens have stayed near 1.1-1.2 m for about 5 years and flower heavily each year. I cannot yet say the same for D. palustris as I have not grown it as long. Still waiting on D. occidentalis and D. mexicana.

 For those interested the paper can be read here: http://www.brit.org/brit-press/jbrit/current/. It is the 3rd paper down.

 Aaron

[TheOnionMan]

In flower here today:

Dicentra cucullaria 'Pink Punk'
Primula auricula 'Golden Splendour'

Wim, what can you tell me about the source of Dicentra cucullaria 'Pink Punk', too bad it has such a dastardly cultivar name.

[TheOnionMan]

And a few more things;
 
 Cardamine laciniata
 Cardamine multifida
 Cymophyllus fraseri
 Mertensia virginica Alba
 Mukdenia acanthifolia - flowers and a leaf
 Mukdenia rossii in flower and leaf

 Aaron

The two Viola are charming, they should be grown more often.  And the two Cardamine are nice too, but C. multifida is certainly very different looking with those finely dissected leaves.  Please tell us more about Mukdenia acanthifolia... is it an American native species, in one of the familiar parallels with Asian flora and M. rossii?  I still like the older genus name for Mukdenia... Aceriphyllum.