April 2010 - Northern Hemisphere- Flowering now.

[gote]

Earliness seems to be different from year to year. This year Chrysosplenium macrophyllum, was not as early as last year.
A corner of my woodland.
Cheers
Göte

nice to see this corner of your garden!
i thought i had not heard of chrysosplenium, until i looked at this site,
http://www.saxifraga.org/plants/saxbase/listimages.asp
and then actually paid attention to the name-- we have some here, but the very different alternifolium or similar (i will need to look at them closely this year to try to key) macrophyllum is an interesting plant, for sure.. is it a native for you, göte?

I like this plant, though I can never remember its name... it is establishing nicely and spreading gently here now. I pictured it last year.
www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3141.msg81323topicseen#msg81323    
                                      
It is from China, cohan. www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200010085



Katrin... is is hardly ever too dry here! 

My plant is supposed  to come originally from Korea so they grow also outside China as well - but not in Sweden 
There are Japanese ones more similar to alternifolium but not quite hardy here.
Alternifolium is a Swedish native and is supposed to signify that there is a spring underneath. However they grow well in ordinary woodland. Too well actually. Be careful!!
Göte

 

[Lesley Cox]

A glorious gentiana Ian. No wonder it is considered to be (that overused word) "iconic."

[WimB]

Some pictures of plants which are flowering here now:

Androsace sarmentosa
Aquilegia scopulorum
Haberlea ferdinandi-coburgi
And some small Irisses which are starting to flower (the one in the front is 'Open Sky', I don't remember the name of the white one)

[Michael J Campbell]

Chaenomeles japonica.
Dianthus 'Conway Star.'

[ichristie]

 Hi so many more super pictures all the plants are fantastic. First the Daphne rosmarinifolius is now Wikstoemia  rosmarinifolius as it has 5 petals the plant is from China and I grow it under very basic cover. I post some more pictures from the garden,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[daveyp1970]

A Dactylorhiza that i got today some people might not like the yellow splashing on the leaves but i like it.

[cohan]

My plant is supposed  to come originally from Korea so they grow also outside China as well - but not in Sweden 
There are Japanese ones more similar to alternifolium but not quite hardy here.
Alternifolium is a Swedish native and is supposed to signify that there is a spring underneath. However they grow well in ordinary woodland. Too well actually. Be careful!!
Göte

there are no springs here, but there are low areas-wet in wet years, moist in dry, the chrysosplenium i have seen only in those low wettish places in shade, but maybe your ordinary woodlands are moister than ours?; this plant doesn't seem like it could take over anything here, but i have only seen it in areas where there is some presence of grazing cattle, so it may be subject to grazing or trampling limiting its success; i will keep an eye on it, but plan to grow it with other natives anyway, so no danger of it overwhelming any delicate exotics i'd be happy to have a nice big patch of it!

[Lesley Cox]

A really good pink bud on your sanguinaria Ian. I guess it fades does it? The shortia is superb.

[cohan]

some photos from 11 days ago-- native willow species growing in a half-wild farm area which is grazed by cattle, and the woodies are browsed--at times heavily-by deer and moose..
at the time these were taken, there was virtually nothing else in flower--maybe a few scattered petasites, and probably poplars--but those catkins are high up and you only see them close when they fall.. so the bees were very busy in the willows..
Salix species

[Maggi Young]

cohan, terrific photos! 

[cohan]

thanks, maggi
you can see by my obsession with tiny catkins just how desperate we are in spring...lol

[Maggi Young]

But cohan, how many people never get to see the wonder in that little catkin? Your photos, while cheering you as you wait for winter to be a true season of the past, is bringing these artistic little packages of perfection to a wider audience.... no hint of desperation there!

[cohan]

thanks again, maggi
i'm encouraged by your words, since i am now working on processing Petasites photos   and fear sometimes i overdo it....
i do think this is a great boon of easy macro photography via digital cameras---allowing a much closer view into the tiny miracles that surround us ; for example--i had never noticed the difference between male and female flowers in Salix before i started photographing them over the last few years1

[Maggi Young]

Exactly, cohan.... the close-up shots possible with digital and so easy to share  on the web are one of the greatest excitments for me of plant photography.It is often astonishing how much one can better understand the working of the whole life of the plant by these insights into the finer workings of it. It's all very well to be told that this and that exist... but it is SO much better when we can really see and appreciate these details.
And, of course, in the case of your catkin shots.... it certainly doesn't hurt that pussy willows are so darn cute!

[ichristie]

Hi, firstly, I agree with Maggie we are so fortunate that we can appreciate the beauty of plants and flowers and it is great that we share this passion on the forum.  The sanguinaria will go green once it opens the flowers are pink for a day or two,  cheers Ian the Christie kind.