Northern Hemisphere August 2010

[pehe]

Suddenly, a number of late summer species are in bloom, but what happened to summer 

1. Tropaeolum tuberosum "Ken Aslet", grown for its edible tubers, one of the Lost Crops of the Incas...

Nice pics Stephen!

In Denmark we had a nice warm summer, but my Ken Aslet did not flower yet. Do you really eat the tubers?

Poul

[pehe]

Gail, what a wonderful Hibiscus!

I had some welcome visitors in my garden yesterday.

Poul

[Ragged Robin]

Gail, a perfect name too - one couldn't help but have a good day seeing such a happy looking Hibiscus 

Poul your visitors really like you Dahlia!  Which one is it?  Lovely plants in your rockery.....and your Scilla numidica is gorgeous  

[illingworth]

<<This blue flowered Impatiens with the tongue-twisting name namchabarwensis ( did I spell it right ? ) is flowering for me now. It was really hard to germinate the seeds and I only got one plant, but sometimes you are lucky, and one seed germinates, that is all that is needed, and now I will be having plenty of seed. There seems to be quite a bit of "mystery" associated with this plant if you google it. Does anyone here know the true story regarding this species ?>>

Paul, I have just been looking at John Grimshaw's garden diary, and a few days ago he mentioned this and other impatiens. You might want to have a look here.

http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.com/

Sharon

[cohan]

Cohan,

here are some pictures of the Chlorophytum and Commelina, a bit difficult to take good pictures because the plant is more an elegant one with fine branches.
Also some other pics of Commelina variegata and Setrcreasea purpurea `Variegata´, formerly a Tradescantia and sometimes called Setcreasea or Tradescantia pallida `Variegata´ but as I know the name S.purp. `Var.´is valid and S.pallida is an other species.

thanks for these--i like this chlorophytum a lot--it has stolons with offsets like the common houseplant? i think i see the stems going away from the rosette.. did you grow this from seed? i have looked for sources of interesting tropical/potential house plants, and have not yet found any... i am assuming this is tender?
i like the others too, setcreaseas are an old fave too--i loved seeing them as groundcover in miami...

[Gail]

Gorgeous planting of your Acis and Scillas Poul and lovely to see your winged visitors!

[Stephenb]

Nice pics Stephen!

In Denmark we had a nice warm summer, but my Ken Aslet did not flower yet. Do you really eat the tubers?

Poul

Poul: Well, I don’t grow a lot of Mashua, but put a few tubers aside for Xmas dinner. Tropaeolum tuberosum or Mashua as it’s known in its homeland was the 4th most important root crop in the Andes behind potato, oca (Oxalis tuberosa), and ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus). I prepare all 4 for Xmas dinner in most years and it makes for a very colourful dinner as you can see below. You can read more about Mashua in the on-line book Lost Crops of the Incas: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1398&page=67

I also use the flowers in salads (they are milder than common nasturtiums).

An interesting point to bear in mind is that Andean men apparently refuse to eat Mashua as they believe that it is an anaphrodisiac. Therefore this a food reserved for women and children..

So this is definitely a food that should be promoted in areas wanting to curb population growth!

If your Ken Aslet isn’t in flower now I would suspect that you have one of the imposters doing the rounds! I can send you a tuber of the real Ken Aslet if you wish – remind me mid-October.

The first picture shows the attractive tubers from Ken Aslet.

The second picture shows assorted Ullucos (yellow, green – there are a whole range of colours), Ocas (reds) and a long white variety of Mashua (ready for the pot for Xmas dinner). The white variety doesn't flower.

(I would also eat your surplus Dahlia tubers, another American root vegetable!)

[angie]

Suddenly, a number of late summer species are in bloom, but what happened to summer 

1. Tropaeolum tuberosum "Ken Aslet", grown for its edible tubers, one of the Lost Crops of the Incas...

Nice pics Stephen!

In Denmark we had a nice warm summer, but my Ken Aslet did not flower yet. Do you really eat the tubers?

Poul

Boy you learn something everyday on this forum, eating Ken Aslet  well if mine doesn't flower in the next two years I will eat mine 

Angie

[pehe]

Gail, a perfect name too - one couldn't help but have a good day seeing such a happy looking Hibiscus 

Poul your visitors really like you Dahlia! Which one is it? Lovely plants in your rockery.....and your Scilla numidica is gorgeous  

Thanks Robin!
The Dahlia is 'Night Butterfly'. Maybee that's why the day butterflies find it so attractive.

Poul

[pehe]

Gorgeous planting of your Acis and Scillas Poul and lovely to see your winged visitors!

Yes nature is gorgeous. Some years ago I planted 2 bulbs of each species, and now they have spread by self sowing to an area of 0.5 X 0.5 meter.

Poul

[pehe]

If your Ken Aslet isn’t in flower now I would suspect that you have one of the imposters doing the rounds! I can send you a tuber of the real Ken Aslet if you wish – remind me mid-October.

Stephen,

There are no signs of flowers yet, so I will be delighted to try one of yours. (But only if you have enough for your Christmas diner )
I will PM you in October. Let me hear if I have some plants of interest to you.
Very interesting to hear about these edible bulbs. Have you specialized in south American bulbs?


Poul

[Stephenb]

No, I specialise on anything that is edible and perennial that has a chance to survive my winters (whether it tastes good or not....), although I have some non-hardy perennials that I overwinter indoors as tubers (like these South Americans).   

I'll let you know if I see something that I like 

[pehe]

Stephen,

If you are interested I grow Stachys affinis.

Poul

[Renate Brinkers]

Cohan,

yes, it is a tender but extremly easy to care for.
C.macrophyllum makes rarely stolones and if, then always a single one at the end of the flower stalk when the seed ripens. The flower stems are about 40cm high, they are thick and hard and grow straight upwards, not long, thin and hanging down as the stalks of the usual Chlorophytum commosum. It grows not as fast as C.commosum und rarely builds a second or third plant in the pot.
I have it in the house in winter where it needs not much watering and also grows happy without much light.

[Renate Brinkers]

Stephen,

nice pictures but are you sure that they are dead? They do look as they want to walk away soon to be far away until Christmas...