November 2010 in the Northern Hemispere

[Roma]

Not much colour here compared with the Southern Hemisphere.  I still have plenty Cyclamen flowering in white and pink shades but the following plants brighten up the day.
Armeria maritima rubrifolia with autumn gentians
Oxalis massoniana in the greenhouse unfortunately only opens when the sun shines

[Gail]

In my garden;
Autumn colour from Viburnum carlesii 'Aurora'
Brugmansia - this plant, a hybrid of B. sanguinea ((Rosa Lila x sanguinea) x Mobisu), grown from seed sent by a friend and sown in March, is the plant that non-gardeners comment on most.  Sadly unscented, unlike that in the last photo B. 'Wuppergold' - a lovely and very fragrant hose-in-hose double flower raised by Dorothea Langenberg in Germany http://www.engelstrompeten.de/index.html

[angie]

Gail that's wonderful for a minute I was thinking you were in a tropical country, those Brugmansia are amazing.

Angie

[David Nicholson]

Very nice indeed Gail. I particularly liked the Viburnam, how tall does it grow please Im looking to replace V. tinus which I don't like at all.

[Gail]

Very nice indeed Gail. I particularly liked the Viburnam, how tall does it grow please Im looking to replace V. tinus which I don't like at all.

V. carlesii is a much more sedate plant than V. tinus - the plant pictured has been there about 15 years and is about 6ft tall (I've trimmed the sides back a bit from time to time but don't think I've reduced the height.  Also has the bonus of beautifully fragrant flowers in May.  It is one of my favourite shrubs; I also have the straight species and cultivars Diane and Charis.  There is not much to choose between them but Aurora is probably the most floriferous.

Angie - the brugmansias look tropical but are surprisingly easy.  I overwintered several in my lean-to which got down to -4 C last winter and a friend's sanguinea is cut down to the ground each year by frost but regrows from the root.  I'm going to leave the one near the front door out this winter to see how it does....

[johnw]

Two Enkianthus blazing away here, it certainly isn't the sun:

Enkianthus perrulatus Compactus

and

E. campanulatus (grown as 'Red Bells' but think that name means nothing)

Very wet here, well over 100m since Friday and another 80mm to go tonight. Others have received double this. Meanwhile no sun until Thursday. Season of mists and botrytisness. 18c yesterday, 17 today. 

johnw

[angie]

Gail that's interesting I never would have thought that either of those would be able to withstand cold temperatures.
Thanks for the information.

Angie 

[johnw]

Just to show you the colour change in the Enkianthus perrulatus 'Compactus' in 5 days.

johnw

[Gail]

Lovely John, am I right in thinking they need acid soil?

[johnw]

Lovely John, am I right in thinking they need acid soil?

Gail - I thionk they prefer acid soil but I think they will alos take close to neutral and even a bit more.  Worth a try.  This one rarely flowers but the others are prolific seed producers.

johnw

[johnw]

Some autumn foliage on evergreen azaleas here.  Many give a good show well into December and the new year.

a) the prostrate North Tisbury hybrid "Michael Hill' - still green
b) a very dwarf kiusianum, again still green
c) poukhanense v. roseum
d) another North Tisbury, 'Late Love'
e) the old standby, always giving a great show, 'Stewartstonian'
f) Finally my favourite lepidote Rhododendron, 'Wren' still to turn a rich burgundy.
g) Measuring 4.5 feet across, while prostrate it is hardly a dwarf. Planted in the early 1980's

johnw

[mark smyth]

variation in flowering time of  Prunus autumnalis -

out for a walk this evening I walked past a garden that has two Prunus autumnalis one on either side of the path. One was covered in flowers while the other had only a few

[Brian Ellis]

Lovely John, am I right in thinking they need acid soil?

Gail - I think they prefer acid soil but I think they will alos take close to neutral and even a bit more.  Worth a try.  This one rarely flowers but the others are prolific seed producers.

johnw

We have one on neutral soil Gail, but it gets a dose of sequestrine now and then, flowers well though

[Gail]

Thanks John and Brian - I think I need a trip to the nursery!

[Rodger Whitlock]

When I was a graduate student at the University of Rochester, New York, the beds in front of the main buildings around had specimens of V. carlesii in them. Every year these would flower about March and fill the air with a marvelously spicy aroma even though there was still plenty of snow on the ground and the weather was cold and raw.

I've never found a specimen for sale here (Victoria, BC) that has the same powerful scent. Weather perhaps not cold enough? Who knows?

BTW, it's my observation that at least some viburnums dislike dry soil. Both my pathetic V. carlesii and V. farreri 'Album' are distinctly unhappy unless I give them regular summer water.