Early spring in the Southern Hemisphere

[ranunculus]

Who is the star Paul....RAM..bo?
Did it get a EWE certificate?
Will people flock to see it and be fleeced at the box office?
Baa.....some of these are just shear silly!

[Tim Orpin]

Hi All,

Otto has asked me to post a question to the Forum. I suspect in part this is driven by his desire to get me back onto the Forum - Apologies for being so slack lately.

Otto would like to know if someone can identify this Corydalis (in the Leonticoides section) that he received as Corydalis ledebouriana. Any opinions on what species it may be or if it could be a hybrid between C. ledebouriana and C. popovii?

[Paul T]

Geez Cliff.  I thought MY jokes were bad!! 

 

Tim,

Otto's Corydalis is fascinating.  Looks very delicate but is it?

[hadacekf]

Tim,
Otto's Corydalis is C. popovii!

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Some more flowering bits and pieces in my garden.  I'll post some more pics down in the Galanthus thread as well like the other day..... although I may not get them posted until tomorrow (my time, not yours.  Currently 10:30pm here)

For starters here are some Crocus in flower now.  I can put these down in the Crocus threads as well if they're wanted?  Or can a copy of this posting be placed there?

Paul,I have posted a link to this post in the Crocus pages.. Maggi




Crocus 'Cinderella' has virtually done a lazarus and come back from the dead.  Nearly died out and is now back into flower in under 18 months.  Very nice!!  Seems a bit paler this year than I recall in the past..... not quite as blue.






Crocus 'Skyline' is actually in a friends garden in the next suburb.   I took pics to compare with 'Cinderella' after last years discussion we had as to how similar or different they were.  The yellow throat is very noticeable once pointed out (by Thomas in an email) but prior to that I hadn't really noticed it!  'Skyline' is also much bluer than 'Cinderella', although I think that is a bit paler for some reason this year.

The following are my two seedlings, flowering for the first time this year.  Please lte me know if either or both appear to be incorrect



Crocus olivieri ssp olivieri was my first ever crocus to flower from sown seed (I'd had others in the garden, but never that I had actually sown in a pot)  It was about a fortnight or so ago.  This has fine markings predominantly at the outer base of the petals.

12-Aug : I initially had these two pics reversed, I've just fixed them so the two Crocus olivieri are correct!!  Thanks Ibrahim!!



Crocus olivieri ssp balansae is flowering now.  Both of them are tiny, with them never even reaching an inch across even after they're a few days old and have fully expanded.  I'm glad that Lesley mentioned they're supposed to be so small.  This has darker markings than the previous one, extending further up the outside of the outer 3 petals than the previous.

[Paul T]

I have these two witchhazels out at the moment.....



'Ruby Glow' on the left and 'Diane' on the right.




A rather delightful picotee type hellebore, striped nicely on the outside.  Given that the outside is predominantly what you see I am very happy with this plant, as it is beautiful even without looking into the flower.



And the inside is pretty striking too!!

And I know it isn't a plant but I thought I'd post a pic of an inhabitant the other morning of our large Photinia.  This King parrot and it's mate were sitting there for quite a while during the morning.  We don't get the kings into our garden much as we don't put out food.  They don't seem to come for the water like the other parrots do.  Always a treat to find one of them here.

[Maggi Young]

Re Otto's Corydalis:
 I too would agree that it is a C. popovii... only the fact that the spur is quite pink would make me think there was any other species involved, although I am aware that hybrids of the two species occur, I do not think this is one: it is a popovii form.

[t00lie]

Nice Crocus pics Paul

Here are a couple from this side of the ditch--

Crocus sps.Although it's fairly common can i remember the name for the moment??.--- no i can't.

Crocus gargaricus ssp herbertii

Various Cyclamen coum are starting to come into flower--such a variation in the leaf patterns.

Raised from NZAGS seed 9/2002 as Cyclamen coum ssp caucasicum

Plain leafed C. coum

Cyc. coum cherry red --again raised from NZAGS seed -- sown 9/2004

Close up of Narcissus rom. atlas gold . Surprisingly no one has mentioned it's scented.

Finally a double Helleborus raised from Otago Alpine Garden Group seed 8/2003 as red with yellow spots .
A few years back doubles were going for about $70 NZ.This one success is the result of a rather amateur attempt to raise a multitude of plants and cash in on the market.Smile !!!!!.In any case the prices have dropped to well under half of that previously asked so in any case i wasn't going to end up making a fortune.wink!!.

Cheers Dave.

[Lesley Cox]

Well, if that's Corydalis popovii, I'll look forward all the more, to the first blooming of my seedlings from Franz' seed. They're doing well and the little bit of seed I saved and sowed very late, is coming up, a dozen or so, so at least SOME species germinate well from far from fresh seed. Thanks Franz.

Paul, In saying C. balansae was naturally very small, I was relying on a far from perfect (in the event,) memory, and the illustrations in Patrick M. Synge's book, "Collins' Guide to Bulbs" if you can get hold of it from somewhere. In fact, what I thought was C. balansae was actually C. suterianus. And the other very small one there, is C. korolkowii, though the ACTUAL C. korolkowii (as imported from Marcus Harvery) have quite large flowers, not small at all. So maybe your small ones are just because it is blooming for the first time. But I don't think they'll be VERY large, all the same.

I see that Mathew gives C. suterianus as a synonym for C. olivieri ssp. olivieri. It too, is smallish compared with many but very brilliant orangey colour and one of my favourites. I would have taken its pic today but the gales we had over the last couple of days flattened every crocus that was out and today we're having a light snow fall. At lunchtime the temp was 1 degC here. What did I say at the top of this thread about early spring?

[Lesley Cox]

Dave, re your Hellebore ex red with yellow spots. I have a single seedling from the same donation, as H. ex yellow with red spots. It will flower soon.

[Lesley Cox]

Paul, it's great to see a pic of you at last in your left hand profile but I'm surprised how old you are (all that white hair), and also how much there is of it. Not merely a hairy chest, but back, legs and ears as well. I'd imagined you as clean shaven for some reason.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Depends whether it's a full moon or not.  I am a were-Maltese after all!! 

In the introductions thread I actually put a larger version and explained the pics.  I figure you've already seen it but wanted to take the mickey anyway!! 

    

[Otto Fauser]

Thank you Franz & Maggi for the identification of my Corydalis popovii which flowers about one month earlier than my other plants of C. popovii, also it is a more robust plant.I received it ( one tuber only) in 2001 ,labelled C. ledebouriana from Norman Stevens of Cambridge Bulbs so did not question its name. From experience some species in the Leonticoides section live to a ripe old age: I grew one tuber of C. popovii for 34 years !!( that makes me ancient) before it died. I received it in 1961 from my late friend Wilhelm Schacht ,Munich Botanic Garden, (who in turn received it 2 years earlier from Prof. Dr. Otto Schwarz, Jena Bot. Gard.,(of Cyclamen fame ).In old age the tuber was larger than a tennis ball!
   Paul-I just measured a fully open bloom of Crocus olivieri ssp. balansae yes it tiny only 3cm across
         ciao   Otto.

[Paul T]

Otto,

Thanks.  Mine may be up close to that size by now as it has flattened somewhat over the last couple of days.  Certainly are tiny little things aren't they?  Not quite what I was expecting, but I would imagine that once the rest of the seedlings in the pot start flowering (+ offsets assuming they offset) it should produce a rather delightful display.  Thanks for the info.

[t00lie]

"Dave, re your Hellebore ex red with yellow spots. I have a single seedling from the same donation, as H. ex yellow with red spots. It will flower soon."

Lesley you maybe correct.The writing on my label was very very faded and i'm sure not going out in the cold pitch black night right now to check----smile.
When yours flowers it'll be interesting to see if there is any variation.Hope you post pics .

Cheers Dave.