April 2011 in the Southern Hemisphere

[cohan]

Great colour in the south, flowers and foliage!
Love the Rhus, Lesley.. I'm thinking about one here, haven't decided which species to try from seed-- I grew fond of them in Toronto..
(shockingly, I still have a few packets of seed to send off, including the Cornus seed for you, packed and waiting to be mailed!)

[Maggi Young]

Today, the 12th, is the day that Roger officially becomes an OAP !

 Lesley, please pass our very best Birthday Wishes to Roger...... pour him a glass and raise a toast from the Forumists, please!
Many Happy Returns of the Day , Roger!

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Maggi. The card I gave him said that although he had never been as old as he is now, he will never be as young again as he is now. Not sure that he appreciated it though!

Our colours this year are really wonderful and happening all at once for maximum impact. The few maples I have are also very good but have been wind damaged a bit so not so good-looking. The copper beech is hardly touched yet though some on the road up near Susan's house are changing to a magnificent rich crimson. Poplars, on the other hand are rusty grey/brown instead of gold. It happens about one year in 4 and is disappointing.

Alberto, I perhaps should dig the saffron and plant even deeper? I've also been advised by someone who sells a small crop at my farmers' market each year, to fork in a cowpat when they die down. Plenty cows about so I might do that. (She is the mother (or rather the owner) of our Teddy's mother and father. )

[Ezeiza]

Lesley, not now as they have their new roots. I have had them for years in the same large bed and foliar fertilize them. No sign of problems so far. Adding organic material to a bed in which bulbs are to be planted must be done one year in advance. Just to be sure, if one lose them, a healthy vigorous strain is not easy to obtain,

[Lesley Cox]

Oh yes, I wasn't thinking of digging them now. Perhaps next early summer when they should be dormant. Maybe I'll dig in the cowpat now in a nearby place and let it stew until next planting time. They seem vigorous enough with each single corm last year, making 2 or 3 side growths this year. I've previously grown them in pots with nil results.

[Ezeiza]

You will be surprised at the huge flowers when plant them in the ground/raised bed.

I grow immature corms in 40 cm. deep buckets and they fatten well enough.

[Ray]

Some Oxalis flowering now,bye Ray
Oxalis massoniana
Oxalis hirta
Oxalis purpurea alba

[arillady]

An oxalis flowering now in the sun. Lovely large leaves

[Ezeiza]

Oxalis bowiei, Pat.

[arillady]

Thanks Alberto. This oxalis is found in a few cemeteries. I love the size and colour of flowers and leaves. It stays a lovely compact clump - so far.
Where does it come from originally?

[anita]

There’s been a paucity of pics on the Southern Hemisphere thread with our stalwarts off conferencing and I’ve been swamped at work and haven’t had the leisure to post. But the garden has been into full autumn mode.

The highlight for me has been the flowering of C pulchellus planted from seed in May 09. Pic attached, C. boryi planted that year has flowered too but I was away interstate and came home to find the flower blown… Oh well .. more next year, lots of promising leaves on the other seedlings!

In the few days I have been at home I’ve been capturing the highlights of April to date  – Nerines – fothergilli major, I suspect, Colchicum, no idea what species they are .. but colonies are still to be found in old Adelaide gardens. Sternbergia lutea? I got these bulbs from an old garden at Rhynie about an hour’s drive north of Adelaide, they are particularly vigorous. The leaves, which emerged with the flowers are now close to 30 cm high and look much broader than the Sternbergia I have purchased from various suppliers.

The additional rain we’ve had this summer (record summer rain this season over 170mm since December – amazing by Adelaide standards) has brought a few things out that have been growing but not blooming – Amarine tubergenii for instance – it’s such a hot pink the camera really struggled, and Z candida – I squeezed a couple of bulbs into cracks in the rocks of our stone steps and the delicacy of the white blooms against the sandstone is just the effect I was after.

And the autumn Crocus season is in full spate – C. mathewsii, C goulimyi – straight and the lovely white Mani form..  (I think I’ll divide the clump up a bit this summer). C. niveus – my form isn’t a true white just a little lilac on the outer sepals, C. serotinus ssp clusii (which hasn’t flowered for a couple of years – suspect it liked the extra water this summer and C imperati spp imperati (edit 24/04 double checked my references - imperati is spring so obviously the blackbirds have swapped my labels.. should  be C. goulimyi var leucantha. Pics continued in next post

Cheers Anita

[anita]

Additional pics to go with previous post.

Anita

[Lesley Cox]

Some beautiful things there Anita, especially the clump of c. goulimyi 'Mani White.' It obviously likes you very much.

[Maggi Young]

I think I can safely say that the Aussies and NZers seem to be having a good time over here - we are certainly enjoying their company very much. ( They can give you their version when they get back!!   )

Thanks for your fine selection, Anita.... your garden must be looking good right now.... so pleased you found time to share it with us  

[Ezeiza]

South Africa, Pat. There are many cushion like fantastic oxalises in South Africa, but very few look like "garden plants". O. bowiei is one of them. Yes, it remains compact, like a half ball. Produces lots of offsets that are better removed each year to keep the plant tidy, otherwise it will be a mass of new plants struggling for space. Bulbs are fang like and large, somewhat curved.