Northern Hemisphere July 2010

[Maggi Young]

crikey, Arnold.... those are not fruiting to that stage outside already are they?

[ArnoldT]

They're outside and pictures taken this morning.

[Maggi Young]

They're outside and pictures taken this morning.

Goodness me! I suppose the fact that here we seem to have reverted to winter.... or at least early spring, has coloured my viewpoint at the minute.... that hardly seem possible 
 Impressive fruits....

[ArnoldT]

Maggi:

They are Chinese quinces a very different fruit than the quince you can make a jelly or marmalade from.

They reach the size of a American football or rugby ball.

Careful not to walk under the tree around ripening time.

[Maggi Young]

Maggi:

They are Chinese quinces a very different fruit than the quince you can make a jelly or marmalade from.

They reach the size of a American football or rugby ball.

Careful not to walk under the tree around ripening time.

I should think not!
I don't really know about Pseudocydonia sinensis.... I don't believe I've seen one. Is ist related to those strange "Asian Pears" or "Nashi" ( Nachi?) we get in our supermarkets , do you think?  They are odd fruits, not verty tasty, I reckon... and someone told me they were related in some way to the quinces, I think....
 

[ArnoldT]

I'm not sure about the systemics of the Psuedosinensis.

The local Korean's where I live relish them.

They are used as a medicinal agent for chest problems.  Apparently they are cut up and let stand in the Korean spirit, Soju for a week or two and then drunk and everything feels better. I'll bet it sure does.

It has wonderful flaking bark and pink flowers which appear all over the tree including the interior.

Mine is being destroyed by a guest pest, the Oriental Fruit Moth.

Tried a commercial spraying program which only reduced the damage to about 20 percent per year.

I decided that I didn't want to live with the insecticides all over the property.

[Paddy Tobin]

Arnold & Maggi,

I believe I have the same species growing here and it is also now in fruit, still swelling and just now at about the size of a pear. They can be used to make a jam/jelly though not as good as those from Cydonia oblonga, the quince tree, but that has not set fruit for me at all this year, very disappointing as they are delicious baked. It's poor fruit set has me mystified as it seems to be a good year here for fruit with apples, pears and plums cropping very heavily.

Paddy

[ArnoldT]

Paddy:

finely serrated leaf margin, twisted trunk, peeling bark.

Mine took five or six to flower after planting.  Sadly I'm going to lose it.  Maybe repalce with a camperdown elm.

[cohan]

Silene elisabethae is still in flower here .In tufa rocks the flowering stems remain much lower then the plants that planted out in a usual crevice !

so it is 6cm in tufa and 17cm in the crevice? either way, a lovely plant--i love silenes with 'bladders'
love the little blue tuft behind the second photo, also..

[cohan]

Chaenomeles-- Japanese quince

i have seedlings of this, seed from kristl, coming along..supposed to be hardy to z3, so wish me luck orange flowers in spring would be a great change!

[krisderaeymaeker]

Silene elisabethae is still in flower here .In tufa rocks the flowering stems remain much lower then the plants that planted out in a usual crevice !

so it is 6cm in tufa and 17cm in the crevice? either way, a lovely plant--i love silenes with 'bladders'
love the little blue tuft behind the second photo, also..

That is correct Cohan .I also like Silenes and even find it an underrated genus....
The blue tuft is Dianthus microlepis ,this one is also planted in tufarocks .

[krisderaeymaeker]

I love your photos of Silene elisabethae Kris. I have a rosette which is one years old, and three more going which I started from seed this year. I hope the one year rosette will produce some flowers next year. I have them in a limestone crack though, no tufa here.

Thanks Paul .I think they wil flower soon ,but mine are young plants that I bought .So I don't know exactly the age of the plants.I suppose they will grow and  flower good in your limestone crack.Tufa is not the only way for this one ...
But I find it remarkable that in tufa the flowerstems remains lower!

[Kristl Walek]

Late flowering woody species are always a treat.
Itea virginica (Virginia Sweetspire), native to the eastern USA, has been blooming for a while now.

This spreading small shrub is usually found in moist places in the wild, but does fine in ordinary garden conditions here.  It has a wonderful erect-arching habit and colors nicely in autumn.

[Gerdk]

Just some shots from this week

1. - 3. Dicranostigma franchetianum (leptopodum), a nice annual 'poppy' which managed the jump from the old to the new garden without my help - i.e. its seed were taken away with other plants by chance
4 + 5. Chamaemelum (Anthemis) nobile 'Plena'
6.+ 7. Gladiolus flanaganii
8. Erodium glandulosum ex seeds from Rafa
9. Spigelia marilandica
10. Mentha requienii

Gerd

[cohan]

this mint is very interesting!