September 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere

[TheOnionMan]

Just thought that this was a good point to say that  there are some great ID records on Laurence Hill's Fritillaria Icones site :
http://www.fritillariaicones.com/

Excellent resource Maggi, I'll bookmark this one.  And I'll stand by my original suggestion, thus second the opinion, that Bill's frit is F. liliacea 

[Maggi Young]

 Thought some ofyou might be interested to see what Sandy Leven wrote about F. liliacea when Fred Hunt won a Forrest medal with the plant at the  Perth SRGC Show in 2007..... (The link is to the page for all the 2007 FM winners)

http://www.srgc.org.uk/shows/forrest2007/forrest.html

Perth Show 2007

"Fred Hunt's Fritillaria liliaceae won the Forrest medal [ again! I am sure that in the past his F. liliaceae has had a Forrest at Perth] in a show packed with good plants. It is even more of a triumph at a show when the winning exhibitor is a local member. Fred lives in Invergowrie which is as close to Dundee as you can get but still be in Perthshire. For many years he has grown pans of Fritillarias to a standard of perfection which was unseen 20 years ago. This magnificent exhibit illustrates his standard. Fred tells me this is his 25th Forrest Medal, the highest number won by any living exhibitor.

Fritillaria liliaceae is one of about 20 American Frit species, one of many popularised in British gardens by the late Wayne Roderick of San Francisco. Wayne attended several SRGC shows and would have been overjoyed to see this immaculate American frit win the top award. Fritillaria liliaceae is known colloquially in the USA as 'The Fragrant Lily' and as 'Prairie Bells'. It is native to Northern California, mainly in the San Francisco Bay area, near the coast. It grows in open grassland on clay soil, often derived from serpentine rock. Non-native plants rarely tolerate these serpentine soils, so that their plant communities are quite distinct and such areas form natural preserves of native plants and the animals which they support.

Fritillaria liliaceae is under threat in California due to habitat loss and is described as having a 'limited distribution' and 'declining numbers'. Hopefully it is secure in cultivation and no more will be taken from the wild. I hope it grows as successfully in Californian nurseries as it does in Invergowrie. " Sandy Leven

I'll repeat the photo of Fred with the plant....

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks for that post Maggi, what a splendid little frit; an amazing pan.  Checking out the Forrest Medal link, looks like Cyril Lafong has captured a monopoly, just look at that Silene hookeri ssp. bolanderi

[Otto Fauser]

Howdy All,

This isn't Otto!!  It is actually a veritable Stranger called Paul (from Canberra) who is currently down visiting with Otto (and Lesley is over here as well, as you know).  Yes, I know I have been extremely slack with not posting, but I shall try to be better in the future and not let work etc get on top of me and not catch up with my forum friends.

We've been taking some lovely photos today, which will be forthcoming tomorrow when I have my camera access cord with me.... otherwise when I get back to Canberra I'll upload some.  We even have picture of the three of us.    Miserable weather, so don't expect bright and sunny picture.  

I'd best leave it there for now.  Take care everyone.

Paul T.

[arillady]

Nice to see at Otto's. Otto I have the seeds from Jillik and will send your majority share on Monday. Still have to work out how to pay.
The Australian dollar is good against the Euro at present so it will be better than usual.

[angie]

Hi Paul

Looking forward to see some lovely pictures of the three of you and off course some lovely scenery ones as well. Say hi to the others from me. Maybe one day I will be ale to meet you all in person, but till then seeing and hearing from you all is great. Enjoy yourselves.

Angie

[Tecophilaea King]

Wow, what a magnificent pot full of Fritillaria liliacea, I will never be able to grow them to this standard  of perfection like Fred Hunt does, perhaps I'd better stick to growing Moraea's, much easier.
Moraea is a very large genus, most species are natives from South Africa, and most of them go dormant in the summer.
The flowers are often large and and brilliantly coloured, and some are scented, and the individual flowers can last from only a few hours to several days.
The smaller species are best grown in pots/containers of sandy mix and some larger species are suitable for use in the garden.
Some of the species flowering right now are the Moraea aristata, Moraea elegans (syn.Homeria elegans), Moraea miniata (syn.Homeria miniata) and a Moraea variety called "Zoe" , possibly a hybrid between Moraea aristata and Moraea villosa.

[Tecophilaea King]

Hi Paul
Looking forward to see some lovely pictures of the three of you and off course some lovely scenery ones as well. Say hi to the others from me. Maybe one day I will be ale to meet you all in person, but till then seeing and hearing from you all is great. Enjoy yourselves.
Angie

Yes I am also looking forward to some mug shots of those bulbophiles.
and while they're at it, some nice pictures of the local scenery and flowers.

[Otto Fauser]

Howdy again All,

Here's a few pics of us..... well not so many of me thankfully!  

Please click on the pic for a larger version.



Otto taking the bull by the horns in Olinda.



Little Bo Lesley feeling at home with her sheep!  



The whole group at dinner last night.  5 in the picture are forumists, albeit some of them somewhat more transient than others.  Viv Condon is on the left, Tim Orpin on the right, accompanied by the lovely Lesley.  The ugly almost bald thing in the back right is me, then the handsome Otto is the stately gentleman on the left.

Enjoy.

Paul T.

[Brian Ellis]

Bill, those Moraea are absolutely lovely, particularly the first two.

Thanks for posting Paul's picture of the groupshot Otto, good to see such a happy crowd of forumists

[TheOnionMan]

Bill, those Moraea are absolutely lovely, particularly the first two.

Thanks for posting Paul's picture of the group shot Otto, good to see such a happy crowd of forumists

I agree, those Moraea are out of this world, fantastic markings, like stemless Calochortus!  It is good to see shots of forumists together, particularly those that never show a picture of themselves in their avatars   Lesley, standing next to that sheep sculpture, I am reminded of characters from the Wallace & Gromit animated short "A Close Shave"; namely the iconic Shaun and Wendolene
http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/films/acloseshave/characters.html

[cohan]

nice to see some forumists--esp the unreasonably shy paul
i may have missed the context--was there an event that everyone gathered for, or just a private get together?

[angie]

Nice to see the group picture , you all look as if you are having a great time.
Hope to see some more.
Paul that's an awful way to describe yourself ( the ugly almost bald thing ) not true
The avatars are fun but nothing beats seeing the real thing

Angie

[Otto Fauser]

Hi Angie and all. Lesley online this time, still on Otto's computer. Paul is very nice looking and is, I agree with you Cohan, unreasonably shy about his appearance. I think Fermi has a pic or two still to be uploaded in time.

No "event" as such, but as I was planning a visit with Otto which I do every 18 months or so (to get different seasons), Paul was also able to come down from Canberra and as some book or other says..."when two or three are gathered together..." the local rock gardeners get together. There was a garden walk plus Trillium talk at Tim and Angie's house on Saturday (that's Angie on the left back in the above pic) and various combinations of us have been to super gardens, out to lunch, visiting gardens of local AGS members and so on.

Yesterday we went inland to the Mt Macedon Plant Fair and then to Fermi's place at Redesdale, so very different in style and climate from Tim's and Otto's in the south east where there is more rain and this week especially, thick mist and drizzle. My camera has given up for now so I'll wait until I'm home later in the week and see what I can retrieve.

I'm missing my daily dose of Forumitis but will catch up soon I hope. Best regards to all.

[fermi de Sousa]

..Lesley online this time, still on Otto's computer. ... I think Fermi has a pic or two still to be uploaded in time.

Here are the five forumists at our garden in Redesdale: Lesley in front of Paul, Otto, Cynthia and Fermi.

cheers
fermi