October 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Tecophilaea King]

October 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere.   trying to organise a new topic/subject for the month of October.

[Tecophilaea King]

Yesterday on my way to Auckland to attend a national Clivia show, I was passing through the Karangahake gorge, a site of the original gold rush in 1875 and steeped in gold mining history.
When I stopped at a picnic place for a well-earned cappuccino fix, I could not help but notice these vast area's of Allium triquetrum which streched for miles on either site of the river and the roadsites.
To many people, to see all these pure white pendulous flowers striped with green, may be a  pretty sight and experience, but in our temperate climate this onion weed has the potantial and tendencies to invade large area's of land and become a problem.
Anyway, I could not resist to take a few pictures to show you these sites, and was thinking that Mark our OnionMan might have been impressed and enjoyed the experience.
Would you like me to dig up a few bulbs for you Mark? There will only be a few trillion bulbs left.

[Paul T]

Bill,

There is a lot of this in the Dandenongs, near Otto's place.  I hadn't seen it up here.  Our "Onion Weed" is a very different thing.

You might also want to add to the subject of this topic to make it "October 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere", to save future confusion.

[Tecophilaea King]

Bill,
You might also want to add to the subject of this topic to make it "October 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere", to save future confusion.

Good idea: Paul do you know how/where to modify/edit the subject and changed it to "October 2010 in the Southern Hemisphere"
Otherwise we might need our beloved Maggi to do it for us  Thanks.

[Paul T]

If you hit "Modify" on your original message I think you can change the subject line there?

[Tecophilaea King]

If you hit "Modify" on your original message I think you can change the subject line there?

Think I managed Paul, Thanks

[Paul T]

All good, Bill.  All good!

[Tecophilaea King]

How does the Bulbine handle frost?  If it is so good for cuts and burns etc, and it were frost hardy, then it might be a good alternative to Aloe Vera in colder climates?  Or is it tender as well?

Paul, Bulbine frutescens is frost hardy, the container has been sitting outside all winter.
In addition, someone mentioned that test done with the plants chemical substances on bald people looks promising and possibly promote new hair growth.
Another theory goes that if applied liberally for cosmetic reasons, could make you look 10 years younger   .  How about that?

[Tecophilaea King]

This colourful, little Geissorhiza radians aka winecups, is always welcome, and never fails to brighten up someone's day

[Tecophilaea King]

The last posting for the day, this charming miniature Iris gracilipes, with its lilac-blue flowers is one of my favourite species in the Iris genus.

[TheOnionMan]

Yesterday on my way to Auckland to attend a national Clivia show, I was passing through the Karangahake gorge, a site of the original gold rush in 1875 and steeped in gold mining history.
When I stopped at a picnic place for a well-earned cappuccino fix, I could not help but notice these vast area's of Allium triquetrum which streched for miles on either site of the river and the roadsites.
To many people, to see all these pure white pendulous flowers striped with green, may be a  pretty sight and experience, but in our temperate climate this onion weed has the potantial and tendencies to invade large area's of land and become a problem.
Anyway, I could not resist to take a few pictures to show you these sites, and was thinking that Mark our OnionMan might have been impressed and enjoyed the experience.
Would you like me to dig up a few bulbs for you Mark? There will only be a few trillion bulbs left.

Thanks for thinking of me Bill   Wow, there's certainly a bazillion Allium triquetrum; a good example of invasiveness.  I don't grow this one, I need not tell you why   The scenery is fascinating yet somewhat incongruous to my eyes, to see such herbaceous lush growth and then items that look tropical to me, is that a cycad in the first photo, and a giant Cordyline in another view.  Very pretty to see such flowering masses, but I'm glad its not here, also glad the invader is not an American species

By the way, love Iris gracilipes, one of the most elegant species!

[Armin]

Bill,
your images of invasive A. triquetrum are amazing. I'm happy that I have now a 'small clump' in my garden after the first trials ended up in rotted bulbs after strong frosts... Unlike many muscari who are sprouting leaves in NH autuum too, A. triquetrum leaves are not strong frost-hard in my continental climate.

Your Geissorhiza radians are pretty nice.

[Lesley Cox]

A cycad, yes Mark, we have a few native species and in general they are hardy and tough as old boots, especially the south Island species. Likewise the Cordyline (australis) aka cabbage tree. It will take any snow or rost that our climate can provide. We have so many of them around that we take them for granted. There are thousands of the Corrdyline growing on the hills near me, with kowhai, Sophora tetraptera.

I smell onions every time I drive into my nearby town of Mosgiel and hated the Allium triquetrum for polluting the atmosphere but then realized - when it wasn't in bloom - that the smell was coming from a nearby factory which only makes salads for local hotels and the like.

[Stephenb]

Bill: Thanks from me too for these great images of mass three-cornered leeks! Brought back memories to of a trip to NZ in 2002 (conference in Auckland) about this time of year. I may even have been at the same spot as I have similar pictures (on slides so not easily accessible) of masses of triquetrum! Not hardy here although I can keep them going a few years, covered in winter.

[Otto Fauser]

As I'm 'snowed under' with this white menace at the moment , perhaps I should use it as a substitute in French Onion Soup' and feed the poor ?