Northern Hemisphere August 2010

[PaulM]

Zepherine, your Sedum tatarinovii seems to have built up to a sizable clump. My plants are still very tiny. They grow in a very exposed sunny crevice though, so maybe they are slow to develop.
Here is a picture of my plant:

[zephirine]

Lol, Paul. Usually, I feel sorry that my (few) "rock garden-type" plants suffer from the heavy and ill-drained soil here. Sedum tatarinowii seems to be an exception, yes.
I originally planted 2 specimens: the one in a gritty soil and in pot didn't develop half as well as the one on the picture, in a "normal" garden soil.  It's too early to derive conclusions, just after one year, but I wouldn't be surprised that S. tatarinowii proves to like moisture more than I would have initially thought...

[PaulM]

I have taken up an interest in Salvias and try to grow a few new species every year, here are some of the ones I've been growing this summer, both new and old ( which have proved hardy ):

1. I got seeds of Salvia brevilabra from Robin Middleton, and these seeds resulted in two different types of plants seen here in this picture. The one with the brownish -red flowers and lights green bracts is what looks like the true S.brevilabra, while the other one with more purple-burgundy flowers is some cross where species such as  from S. przewalski, hians, evansiana might be involved. Many of the Chinese  species are prone to hybridizing I've learned.

2. Variation 1-  ( true S. brevilabra )

3. S. brevilabra flower which has yellow striations on the lower lip

4. S. brevilabra leaf

5. Salvia brevilabra variation 2. What should this variation be called ? Salvia hybrid or ?

6. Salvia hybrid variation 2 close up of flws.

7. Salvia hybrid var. 2  leaf

[PaulM]

Right next to the Salvia brevilabra and Salvia hybrid shown above I grow another Chinese species from the SRGC seed ex called Salvia pogonochila, so the seeds I will collect will probably be a crossing of all three. Should this be donated as Salvia hybrid ? Any other vital information I should include ?

1-5 Salvia pogonochila

Some other species:
6-7 Salvia sclarea
8. Salvia regeliana
9. Salvia verticillata

[PaulM]

I have some more pictures of plants that were flowering for me in July and I'd better hurry up posting them as we're halfway into August now.

1 & 2. Knautia dipsacifolia makes a big clump of flowering stalks up to 120cm tall, and butterflies are drawn to it as well as other insects.
3. Linum dolomiticum
4. Onosma arenaria grows into a big clump in a season. Very irritating hairs all over the plant, but nice as long as you don't have to handle it.
5 & 6. Senecio polyodon ssp subglaber- a South African beauty introduced by Panayoti Kelaidis of DBG self seeds and turns up here and there in the garden. Biennial or annual.

[PaulM]

1. & 2. Persicaria polymorpha

3 & 4. Penstemon tubaeflorus - I think. The other possibility would be P. digitalis.

5. This year I raised Verbascum wiedemannianum from seed, and I hope that the nice fuzzy rosettes will develop into big stately plants next year. I grow them in Värmland where the temperature can go down to -30 C in the winter. Hopefully there will be a good snow cover.

6. Echinopsis mirabilis was raised from seed in 2009, and the plants are still very small, ( like a thumb nail), but hopefully they will grow and flower in a year or two. They are not hardy outdoors here!

[Gerdk]

5 & 6. Senecio polyodon ssp subglaber- a South African beauty introduced by Panayoti Kelaidis of DBG self seeds and turns up here and there in the garden. Biennial or annual.

Paul, it's a pleasure to find a pic of a South African beauty which in my opinion is little known and deserves much more attention. I had it a couple of years outside and it was unexpectedly hardy here.

Gerd

[Graham Catlow]

The herbaceous beds are coming to an end with very little to follow.
Lobelia being the last in the red bed, just replacing the Astilbe.
The colour in the photo is a little more scarlet than the real colour even the one taken in the shade isn't quite deep enough.

A seed head from Arisaema elephas provides some colour also.

Graham

[David Nicholson]

Nice Lobelia Graham they look very happy in your garden. I find I can start them off OK but then the slugs find them, and curtains!

[Graham Catlow]

Nice Lobelia Graham they look very happy in your garden. I find I can start them off OK but then the slugs find them, and curtains!

Thanks David,
I don't have a problem with slugs eating the lobelia, but you got me thinking and I don't actually have a 'large' (meaning big slugs) slug problem. In fact I can't remember the last time I saw one. There are plenty of tiny ones that I find under plantpots etc. I do have a snail problem though and there are plenty of those but they don't seem to eat the Lobelia. Probably too many Hostas to be bothered with the Lobelia.

Graham

[Lesley Cox]

Love those rich reds.

The little Senecio polyodon can be a bit of a disaster when it starts to seed around, especially in sandy soil, to the extent that it has been declared a noxious weed in NZ and is taking over some North Island beaches and sand dune areas. Pretty but..... Maybe it's not hardy enough in Europe?

[Ragged Robin]

Graham, is that Lobelia cardinalis?  I just love that fabulous rich red and it looks terrific against the dark wine red of the acer - you always seem to have a great group of whatever you are growing 

[Graham Catlow]

Graham, is that Lobelia cardinalis?  I just love that fabulous rich red and it looks terrific against the dark wine red of the acer - you always seem to have a great group of whatever you are growing 

Hi Robin,
Thanks for your kind comments.
It is a cardinalis, probably a cultivar.
Graham

[pehe]

Autumn is near wether you like it or not.
And slowly me and my bulbs are coming out of summer dormancy. I have not been so active in the forum lately, but now that the autumn bulbs have started flowering I will post pics regularly.

In the garden:
1. The first flowering autumn bulb was Scilla autumnalis as usually shortly followed by acis autumnalis
2. Then colchicum parnassicum, here with the 3'rd flower. I have been out with my paintbrush on all 3, so I hope for seeds.
3. Another sign of autumn is the many seed pods, here tulipa sprengeri
4. Eucomis bicolor looks great now.
5. Here the same 2 weeks earlier
6. Eucomis autumnalis
7. Roscoea humeana has increased well this year - both vegetatively and by self seeding
8. Roscoea auriculata var. beesiana (I believe)
9. Rhodohypoxis is allmost done - here a pot I bought from the local garden center

Poul

[pehe]

In the green house I had an accident when I was on a 2 week vacation. Some of the plants here needs regularly watering so I have made an automatic watering system. Unfortunately one of the water hoses was leaking just over some of my Mediterranean bulbs.
So they got the first "storm" in July. And they responded promptly:

1. Scilla numidica
2. Scilla intermedia
3. Sternbergia sicula. These are some of a generous gift from a forum-friend. The rest of them (about 50 bulbs) didn't get any water and they are still dormant. Some of the pots will be watered September the 1st while other somewhat later, to see if I can get them to flower without leaves.
4. Romulea thodei was watered intendedly and have been flowering for some time now

Poul