October 2010 in the Northern Hemisphere

[krisderaeymaeker]

Some very pretty violets everybody !
Here today in flower : Oxytropis multiceps (did'nt expect it this time of the year)
Also flowering  : Pinguicula 'Weser' .

[YT]

Nice plant, interesting colour! Viola eizanensis is an easy growing species here, although flowers are very rare, even in spring. Seed is built frequently but only from cleistogamic flowers.

Hello, Gerd! Thank you for your interesting information about V. eizanensis behaviour at your place. V. eizanensis blooming (chasmogamic flower) period is shorter and number of flowers is less than some other Japanese native violas here even in spring. I think the requiring condition (temperature and day-length) for V. eizanensis chasmogamic flower initiating is more restricted than the others.

The original plant of my V. eizanensis is selected from a wild population at Tanzawa Mts., Kanagawa prefecture, for its round petals and deep flower colour and propagated by seeds from cleistogamic flowers. Probably I will show you normal blooming flowers next spring.

[YT]

Viola eizanensis has bloomed in April in 2009 and last spring for me. And I had a few seed pods on it whent I bought it in 2008.
Interesting, that cleistogamic feature!
Do you know if Viola 'Silver Samourai' behaves similarly? I don't know its exact parentage, though some say it could have some V. koreana origin...
And their foliage alone is well worth cultivating them.

Hi, zephirine! How nice you found small buds on your plants and I hope you enjoy their blooming! I suppose your 'V. eizanensis' looks V. chaerophylloides. Both are very similar but V. chaerophylloides has almost pentafoliolate leaves all year round, and V. eizanensis has rather pedate leaves especially during summer.

I think Viola 'Silver Samourai' is a horticultural interspecific hybrid between V. koreana and V. chaerophylloides (probably deep flower colour plant). Both parents are vigorous and you grow it easier!

[Knud]

great images and places, knud! very interesting to see alpines at my altitude (i am a little under 1000m) when we are still so far from alpines!..of course i know there are other conditions of exposure, etc..

Thanks all for kind comments on pictures.  And Cohan, the main other condition is northern exposure, the regions pictured fall between 59 and 61 degrees north, which is about the northern boundary of your province Alberta? The climate on the west coast of Norway, right up north, is tempered by the Gulf Stream, hence our zone 8 garden here in Stavanger, only about 30 km from the Ryfylke hills where the treeline is at about 600 m elevation.

Knud

[Lesley Cox]

Lovely to see the Empetrum in fruit Knud. I have plants of both that one and E. rubrum but neither has set fruit. Maybe not cold enought here?

[cohan]

great images and places, knud! very interesting to see alpines at my altitude (i am a little under 1000m) when we are still so far from alpines!..of course i know there are other conditions of exposure, etc..

Thanks all for kind comments on pictures.  And Cohan, the main other condition is northern exposure, the regions pictured fall between 59 and 61 degrees north, which is about the northern boundary of your province Alberta? The climate on the west coast of Norway, right up north, is tempered by the Gulf Stream, hence our zone 8 garden here in Stavanger, only about 30 km from the Ryfylke hills where the treeline is at about 600 m elevation.

Knud

thank goodness for the gulf stream zone 8 is tropical to me
i just checked, and in southern alberta, the treeline is around 2135m, in the northern rockies around 1980m; the far north of alberta is mostly white spruce forest, ranging from 300-500m-the lowest part of the province! with a few areas that are 500 -700m (1000 highest) and these areas have subarctic open black spruce forest with permafrost below 50cm--amazing that there is still forest with permafrost!
i know someone in hay river, in the northwest territories, north of alberta, and he has a thriving garden, with many species of lilies in particular, and many other things; his zone is still vigorously forested--we were just talking about having to fight to keep our gardens forest free 

[zephirine]

I suppose your 'V. eizanensis' looks V. chaerophylloides. Both are very similar but V. chaerophylloides has almost pentafoliolate leaves all year round, and V. eizanensis has rather pedate leaves especially during summer.

Thank you for clarifying, Tatsuo! Though the nurseryman I bought it from is usually a fine botanist, he may not be familiar with such subtle differences. I'll discuss the subject with him on the next occasion, and I'm sure he'll appreciate and correct the plant's name if need be. Maybe he can also tell me where this plant came from? Thanks again!

[Lori S.]

These might well be the last for the year, so here goes with some recent and current ones:
1) Late flowers on Tanacetum tibeticum, from seed this year.
2) Finally managed to winter-over Ipomopsis rubra, and it is blooming just in the nick of time... This is about all it will manage though, as time is against it, and it will certainly not be able to set seed.  (Aargh, damned biennials!)  The second photo shows frost-bitten flowers, looking quite red.
3) From seed this year, Marmoritis complanatum (was Phyllophyton complanatum)... I realize my soil conditions are much too rich, and assuming these plants survive, I will be attempting to starve them into character next year... see attached:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=88858&flora_id=800
4) Attractive furry silver foliage (but insignificant flowers) on Nepeta phyllochlamys
5) Aster sedifolius
6) Most of the trees are bare here... sour cherry, Prunus cerasus 'Evans' still has colour.

[cohan]

These might well be the last for the year, so here goes with some recent and current ones:
1) Late flowers on Tanacetum tibeticum, from seed this year.

lots of good stuff, but i especially like this one!
light rain has changed to snow here, expecting 2-4cm over night....

[Diane Whitehead]

 I will be attempting to starve them into character next year...

I'm trying to decide whether that blue-eyed creature is furry or feathery. 
Maybe both. I've always avoided buying seeds of plants described as very hairy.
I think your lush leafy version would survive my wet winters better
than the classic one would.  I think I'll try it.

[YT]

Another curiosity -Anemone coronaria 'De Caen' in flower.

Here today in flower : Oxytropis multiceps (did'nt expect it this time of the year)
Also flowering  : Pinguicula 'Weser' .

Hello, Armin and Kris! Both you are enjoying unexpected and unseasonable flowers now! But this unusual climate also has negative effects. Today, the temperature suddenly rose to 29ºC here and some of my young plants got fatal sunscald, and no autumn crocuses have flowered even now...

[TheOnionMan]

3) From seed this year, Marmoritis complanatum (was Phyllophyton complanatum)... I realize my soil conditions are much too rich, and assuming these plants survive, I will be attempting to starve them into character next year... see attached:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=88858&flora_id=800

    In that photo link, it looks like some little man-like creature, wearing a snow hat with ear flaps, snow jacket, and little furry booties!  What a remarkable plant manifestation!

[cohan]

lori, i have to agree that is a pretty cool little plant--he may have been dressed for the weather i have today, not sure if this snow reached you--
no danger of sunscald here at the moment (though the sun is starting to come out now, and it is hard on the eyes!)
some shots from this morning here at home...
i'll put a few in the trees thread, and alberta wanderings...

[TheOnionMan]

Brrrr. Cohan, I'm not ready for the snow yet.  It's almost 60 F here today, soft and overcast, with an incredible autumn glow.  Depending on the weather, it could be gone in a day, but so far it remains on the mild side.

[Maggi Young]

I realize my soil conditions are much too rich, and assuming these plants survive, I will be attempting to starve them into character next year... see attached:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=88858&flora_id=800

In that photo link, it looks like some little man-like creature, wearing a snow hat with ear flaps, snow jacket, and little furry booties!  What a remarkable plant manifestation!

 For me, 'he' was looking  like a Mandrill..... but one in a good mood!

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com