January 2011 - Southern Hemisphere

[Paul T]

Howdy Marcus,

The pics came through well.  Good stuff! 

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Guys,

I am offering another eclectic mix of flowers.

The first is another origanum, not sure if its "straight" O. rotundifolium but its a lovely thing.

Next is a lilium seedling I have grown from Blackheart seed.

Next is a beaut little dianthus I snagged from Otto Fauser when I visited him a while ago.

And finally the little Eryngium bouragtii "Picos Blue"

I love the sea hollies they positively drip drama and their bold statements go on for such a long time.

Anyway, I'm not writing a catalogue ...

Marcus

[Maggi Young]

Hello Marcus..... it's great to have some pictures from you, though your "guerilla" posts, nipping in and out of threads, have been appreciated, it's good to have you make a more concerted intro! 

[Paul T]

Marcus,

Oh, I love that blackheart lilium seedling.  Very, very nice!!

[Lesley Cox]

The Origanum looks like straight rotundifolium, no pinkish colour in it. I love the eryngium, from seed you send to me a few years back. Love the steely blue colour.

[Lesley Cox]

I hope Anthony and family are OK. Top of the N.I. has had massive rain and flooding in Auckland city, especially along the beachfront with high tides, right along to Bucklands Beach according to the news last night. The Darbys were booked into the Bucklands Beach Waterfront Motel for their first two nights. I hope they didn't have to be evacuated to elsewhere. Not a good intro to a new country.

[Paul T]

Not good.  Anthony, I hope you're alright.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Maggie,

Thanks, I hope I can maintain more consistent contact into the future. I am taking an enforced break while the Australian Open Tennis is on. I have also peeled the skin from my heal by not wearing sox whilst bushwalking so I am unusually inert right now and the computer is close by.
Lesley's report on the North Island echos our own sorry, soaking mess of a summer here on the eastern seaboard, while Perth and SW Western Australia fry. Baking droughts and sodden plains ... .

I am posting a few more pics from the garden. The first is a sister of the last lilium I posted, no blackeart, but still a pretty thing. Interesting only one had the black area around the nectaries all the rest are of this type.
The bloomeria (is it called that now?) is a difficult thing to photograph well because of its delicate airiness of its blooms but its what makes it attractive and they carry the season well into summer.
The last two are late flowering calochortus, the strange, spidery C. obispoensis, which positively thrives here, and C. clavatus, I'm not sure if this is the subspecies and I'm too lazy to check my references now. Maybe someone can tell me?
 

[rob krejzl]

Opened today; the closest I currently have to a respectable-looking flower on a lily. Too much rain is bad for the soul.

[John Kitt]

Still looks impressive Rob.
Mine have been extremely disappointing this year. Thought it might have been my cultural practices.

[rob krejzl]

Thanks John,

For various reasons, not just La Nina, my garden looks a mess. The rain and wind have been excessive this year - during the winter I had standing water on my flat, sandy plot, and it hasn't improved much since. Just the year to start growing more summer dormant things because I was tired of irrigating everything in the drought.

[Otto Fauser]

Opened today; the closest I currently have to a respectable-looking flower on a lily. Too much rain is bad for the soul.

Rob and John , my lilies have never looked better than this season . they have thrived in our wettest and coolest spring for
35 years , specially L canadense and drifts of martagons. All that rain wasn't bad for my soul , mine must have stored much sunshine in all those previous years of too much sun .

[Paul T]

Wow, Rob.  Is that contrast really as strong as in the photo?  That just looks so dark on white.  Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's been quite a good year here for Lilium, although our temps over New Years that were around 35'C were a bit of a shock to everything and damaged some bits and pieces (we'd had no warm weather to speak of before that, so nothing was prepared).  Certainly the coolest and wettest summer in a very long time here.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi guys,

I think you guys on the mainland must be feeding your lilies on unicorn dung?? Like Rob and John, my lilies have been hit hard and many of the species have been reduced to mush. The trumpets and late orientals always have enough heft to muscle their way through but overall it has been disappointing. On the other hand Lilium canadense, L. rubellum and L. japonicum have been fabulous in my partner's own garden. Maybe she hasn't the same level of evil botrytis floating about.

Perhaps we just get a greater share of shredding wind down here on our island and that plus high humidity, low sunlight plus fungus spores equals disaster.

On a lighter side, over the past few years there has been a sort of uncontrolled experiment between a few growers to breed a green trumpet lily. The late Essie Huxley's set the standard with a green backed/green throat plant and now the first of a new crop of seedlings are beginning to flower but I can't see much in the way of progress from any quarter. Does anyone know of such a plant or actually seen one?
Cheers, Marcus

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Marcus,
nice to see you posting here.
Here's the last flower open on Calochortus fimbriatus (on your list as C. weedii ssp vestus)


And a bit of a surprise as we aren't finished with summer yet, the first Autumn Snowflake, Acis autumnalis!


cheers
fermi