June 2011 in the Northern Hemisphere

[WimB]

A couple of plants flowering in the garden now:

Allium cernuum
Anemonopsis macrophylla (white form)
Deinanthe caerulea
Lysimachia paridiformis var. stenophylla
Origanum microphyllum
Origanum rotundifolia 'Kent Beauty'
and Primula florindae

[meanie]

Love that Allium Wim (and I don't usually go for pink blooms).

A couple more from me. First one is Salvia patens "Dots Delight", with the second being another (unknown)S.patens too. Both grown from seed sent to me last year.

[meanie]

Two more;
First one is a new purchase, again from Hill House Nursery, Iochroma grandiflora. Standing a metre high, it cost just a fiver (which is less than we pay for run of the mill perennials around this area.
The second is my ever (well almost) reliable Monarda didyma, which is not performing so well this year. Lots of growth, but a lot of it is stunted.

[meanie]

Two final offerings, both real favourites of mine.
Gloriosa superba - gives fantastic rewards for very little effort.
The second to be fair is a house plant - Aeschynanthus marmoratus. I love the unusual small green blooms!

[cohan]

Nice leaves on the Aeschynanthus it seems--does it have a lot of red markings?

[meanie]

Nice leaves on the Aeschynanthus it seems--does it have a lot of red markings?

It does - the common name is Zebra Basket Vine.

[Knud]

I visited Lom in central southern Norway recently, and went for a walk along one of their impressive waterways. This one, Bordvassvegen, goes through forest and I came across these beauties; Monese uniflora (pictures 1 and 2) and Linnea borealis (picture 3).

Knud

[Lesley Cox]

Wim, are you absolutely sure about Origanum microphyllum? I think it looks very like O. amanum or maybe a hybrid of it. Microphyllum as I have it has very tiny, quite grey leaves and equally small flowers of strong magenta colour. The long tubes on your flowers are typical of amanum. O. microphyllum has a really good herby scent and I sometimes use it in the kitchen if my herb garden plants have had too much taken from them. It has a good strong flavour.

Lovely to see Deinanthe caerulea. I have 3 seedlings which I'm hoping are D. bifida, the white one. They're too small for me to be sure yet. From SRGC seed. And yes, when the (slow) Asteranthera seed is ready, you shall have some.

[WimB]

Wim, are you absolutely sure about Origanum microphyllum? I think it looks very like O. amanum or maybe a hybrid of it. Microphyllum as I have it has very tiny, quite grey leaves and equally small flowers of strong magenta colour. The long tubes on your flowers are typical of amanum. O. microphyllum has a really good herby scent and I sometimes use it in the kitchen if my herb garden plants have had too much taken from them. It has a good strong flavour.

Not sure, no. I bought it from a nursery which I trust with naming but even they can make mistakes. I had a look on the web and your right off course, it's probably amanum. Thanks for pointing that out, Lesley  .

Lovely to see Deinanthe caerulea. I have 3 seedlings which I'm hoping are D. bifida, the white one. They're too small for me to be sure yet. From SRGC seed. And yes, when the (slow) Asteranthera seed is ready, you shall have some.

I have the pink form of D. bifida here too...if it sets seed I'll send you some if you like. Did I ask you about the Asteranthera seed ?? I don't remember that.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Some more late flowering in the garden here :

1-2 : Campanula x stansfieldii
3-4 : Fuchsia magellanica pumila
5-6 : Origanum amanum
7-8 : Silene hookeri ssp bollanderi
9 : Silene elisabethae
10) Silene hookeri ingramii

[Knud]

Very nice plants and photos, Luc. Useful for me to see the S. elisabethae, I have a potful of seedlings that don't look quite like the plant in you picture, - and I was already a bit suspicious.

On our trip to Lom two weeks ago we visited the Juvass area in the Jotunheimen National Park. The road goes to an elevation of 1850 m (just over 6000') where there is permafrost to 300 m. The annual melting of the top layer of permafrost has organised this layer into what is called a polygon field, essentially pads of fine particles or "soil" surrounded by a polygonal network of coarse particles, i.e. stones, rocks, and boulders. The pads were typically 1-5 m (3-15') across, and had many alpines growing on them. When we were there Ranunculus glacialis dominated (you had to watch your step!), but Saxifraga oppositifolia, s. cespitosa, and a draba were also blooming.

Pictures 1 and 2 show R. glacialis in its polygon field landscape, and picture 3 a particularly fine specimen. R. glacialis does not benefit from the high levels of toxins that keep most of its relatives from beeing eaten in fields by livestock. The reindeer is quite happy to graze these plants to the ground, as is seen in picture 4. In fact, hunters today, like those that hunted reindeer at Juvass 1000-2000-3000 years ago, look for freshly grazed plants as signs of reindeer in the area. The local name "reinblom" for R. glacialis points to its close relation with reindeer in local culture.

A interesting plant, apparently requiring as little as six weeks to complete its cycle during summer.

Knud

[cohan]

Very nice plants and photos, Luc. Useful for me to see the S. elisabethae, I have a potful of seedlings that don't look quite like the plant in you picture, - and I was already a bit suspicious.

On our trip to Lom two weeks ago we visited the Juvass area in the Jotunheimen National Park. The road goes to an elevation of 1850 m (just over 6000') where there is permafrost to 300 m. The annual melting of the top layer of permafrost has organised this layer into what is called a polygon field, essentially pads of fine particles or "soil" surrounded by a polygonal network of coarse particles, i.e. stones, rocks, and boulders. The pads were typically 1-5 m (3-15') across, and had many alpines growing on them. When we were there Ranunculus glacialis dominated (you had to watch your step!), but Saxifraga oppositifolia, s. cespitosa, and a draba were also blooming.

Pictures 1 and 2 show R. glacialis in its polygon field landscape, and picture 3 a particularly fine specimen. R. glacialis does not benefit from the high levels of toxins that keep most of its relatives from beeing eaten in fields by livestock. The reindeer is quite happy to graze these plants to the ground, as is seen in picture 4. In fact, hunters today, like those that hunted reindeer at Juvass 1000-2000-3000 years ago, look for freshly grazed plants as signs of reindeer in the area. The local name "reinblom" for R. glacialis points to its close relation with reindeer in local culture.

A interesting plant, apparently requiring as little as six weeks to complete its cycle during summer.

Knud

Nice to see your travel pics, Knud! Linnaea is blooming now here in some spots, though not all; Moneses I don't think has started, though I haven't looked in a while...lol
The R glacialis is an interesting plant in an interesting place!

[cohan]

Luc, somehow at first I thought your message was from Oleg (Moscow), and I was quite shocked to see the Fuchsia in the ground...lol

[Lesley Cox]

Did I ask you about the Asteranthera seed ?? I don't remember that.

Well someone did. I'd better check back. And no the Pinguicula seed hasn't arrived yet. Probably having a little sojourn with MAF. I'll let you know.

[WimB]

Did I ask you about the Asteranthera seed ?? I don't remember that.

Well someone did. I'd better check back. And no the Pinguibula seed hasn't arrived yet. Probably having a little sojourn with MAF. I'll let you know.

It was a Wim who asked for the seeds, but not me      : http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6761.msg187420#msg187420