Early spring in the Southern Hemisphere

[Lesley Cox]

Paul that colour for `Atlas Gold' is pretty true, much richer than the other romieuxii forms. It's a great little doer too. I've over 100 buds poking through so far. A week or so behind Fermi's.

[Paul T]

Wow.  Both on colour AND number of buds you have.  Would love to see a pic of that "patch" when they're in flower.  Please?? 

[David Nicholson]

Lesley,
the potentilla is only silvery because of the frost! fermi

Fermi, didn't you notice the cheesy grin?
Shouldn't clusii be whiter than that? Whatever, it's very nice.

I've filled in and returned my Study Weekend form. Have you? I hope the Aussies will do the Mt Hutt field trip. It's a super area and cars can go all the way up to the the veg sheep and higher (I'm thinking of Otto's hips - not that I spend a lot of time thinking of Otto's hips )

Lesley, what's a 'veg sheep' ? I have a vision of a white woolly cabbage!!
Lesley, what's a 'veg sheep'

[Maggi Young]

Given the time difference, it'll be a while before Lesley is back online, David, so I'll jump in here...
a veg ( vegetable ) sheep is the nickname given to the large plants... probably hundreds of years old, of various Raoulia and  even Haastia species growing in the New Zealand mountains... lots of these have a very silvery foliage and the large cushions/mounds of these venerable plants look, from a distance, like sheep on the hillside, hence the soubriquet. Some can be even larger than real sheep, I have seen photos of fabulous plants that were more like white vegetable cows!

[Paul T]

I too am glad you explained it.  I had no idea myself.  I will carefully refrain from making any comments about New Zealanders and sheep!!    They'd after all be very baaaa-d jokes!! 

[Maggi Young]

Tee Hee! 

[David Nicholson]

I too am glad you explained it.  I had no idea myself.  I will carefully refrain from making any comments about New Zealanders and sheep!!    They'd after all be very baaaa-d jokes!! 

Paul, it's the Welsh here who have 'strong affinities' to sheep.

[David Nicholson]

Given the time difference, it'll be a while before Lesley is back online, David, so I'll jump in here...
a veg ( vegetable ) sheep is the nickname given to the large plants... probably hundreds of years old, of various Raoulia and  even Haastia species growing in the New Zealand mountains... lots of these have a very silvery foliage and the large cushions/mounds of these venerable plants look, from a distance, like sheep on the hillside, hence the soubriquet. Some can be even larger than real sheep, I have seen photos of fabulous plants that were more like white vegetable cows!

Ah! I see, so I was pretty close with my cabbage then?

[Lesley Cox]

I only have digital pics of very small sheep at present (lambs?) but hopefully after the Lincoln weekend will have something worth posting. You all know the story about the late great Harold Esselmont who proudly showed a Raoulia eximia for several years, softly brown and woolly? Until someone pointed out that it was dead (and had been apparently for months if not years). A live vegetable sheep is a beautiful silvery blue shade, no doubt about it's being alive. Surprisingly, Harold's apparently didn't smell bad. Ever smelt a dead sheep? Not easily forgotten !!!

[fermi de Sousa]

New Film from NZ now on DVD "Black Sheep" - only for fans of movies like "Shaun of the Dead"!
Here are two pics taken this morning in the rock garden.
A nice dark purple Dwarf Bearded Iris
Bulbinella cauda-felis
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

On the news just now they were talking about a new movie that is coming out soon..... called "Black Sheep".  It is apparently set in New Zealand (or I guess is just applicable to Wales then?) and is about genetic ezperiments that go horribly wrong and sheep rampage, killing everyone.  Blood, guts, gore etc.  It's been nicknamed already..... Violence of the Lambs.  I am not making this up.  I could barely believe it when I saw the news item.  Given the recent allusions to sheep here I just had to mention it. 

Back to plants...... Narcissus cyclmineus opened a first flower yesterday.  As did my second ever crocus flowering from sown seed (as opposed to naturally sown in the garden) which was C. olivieri ssp balansae.  The first ever to flower for me was C. olivieri ssp olivieri a fortnight ago.  Very chuffed, to put it mildly!!  The flowers were minuscule, but I am assuming this is just a feature of first flowering, and not the true size of them.  Or are the olivieris all teeny tiny little flowers?  Both of these were about 1cm across, so I am assuming that isn't their adult specifications?

Added immediately after posting....  HA.  Obviously Fermi saw the same news bulletin and posted his comment while I was composing mine!!  Great minds think alike?  Or is just fools never differing!!  I know which one I am, but I don't want to be insulting to Fermi!! 

Love the Bulbinella Fermi.  Lovely.  I just have the nutans which is such a lovely strong yellow.  Must find the other colours one of these years as they are such a wonderfully strong plant and flower so prolifically.

[Lesley Cox]

I haven't seen "Black Sheep" nor do I know "Shaun of the Dead" but I understand "Black Sheep" falls into the category of black comedy, not really a horror film, or only in the nicest possible way like when that poor little dog fell from an upstairs window in "A Fish Called Wanda" and went splat on the footpath. It was ghastly but I still laugh like crazy when I think of it.

Crocus olivier ssp balansae is naturally very small Paul. Intense colour but small size. A little stunner.

[SueG]

That bulbinella is wonderful - any ideas if it will grow outside/under glass here in northern England? I have one of the yellow bulbinellas which will grow seed and sprout in a year but the seedlings don't survive outside in my garden.
Sue

[Paul T]

Lesley,

They were talking about sheep pulling entrails out through a man's chest, so perhaps not in the "nicest" possible way!!    Hmmmmm... tiny dogs splattering on pavement is uproariously funny to you.... we're getting a whole knew insight to you my dear Lesley. 

So are all olivieri that small?  I was wondering as both ssp were tiny, but it was the first seedlings I'd flowered from seed so I thought it might just have been the conditions.  They're really only a cm or so across?  They look like someone dwarfed them or something?

Sue,

How cold do you get?  They do fine here, where we get to -8 or -9, but I realise you may be somewhat colder than that depending where you are.  I really am not sure what temps are where in England, be they north or south.  Sorry.

[SueG]

I think the lowest temperature I've had for the past few years is about -6 as I'm not very far from the coast, but winter is often damp/wet and I'm on a relatively heavy soil. Most penstemons don't make it through the winter, tulips are a disaster - so anything like that has to been grown in a pot or my raised bed.
Sue