Early December 2006

[KentGardener]

thanks Anne

very nice indeed - I can't wait for the daylight now so that I can pop outside and have a look at my garden.  Very inspiring photographs - thank you.

with my best wishes

John

[Joakim B]

Dear all
From Portugal I can report that in Lisbon the iris is flowering in the public places (only 1 out of 10). I do not know if it is a pre-bloom or a re-bloom.
I do not have any picture , but I will try to describe it. It is 50 cm high and dark pourpor almost black and the type are the "bearded" irises.
Also flowering now are the cymbidium orchids in the pots but the last two weeks of cold have stopped new flowers from open and the alredy open ones have got some stains but it is lovly. The camelias are also starting to flower.
Hope it was Ok to report on non alpines but that is what I think of on flowering now.
Merry Christmas
Joakim

[mark smyth]

We had a heavy frost yesterday so here are my frosty pics

Geranium 'Rozanne', Some frosted Geranium leaves and a poppy that has appeared in the garden. Can anyone ID it. It nearly always has water on its hairy leaves

[mark smyth]

Following the frost we had a brilliant day until about 2.30 when a thick fog appeared. Apparently it's caused when the air temperature is lower than ground temperature. The fog helped me get a shot of baubels hanging on my Jacquemontii Birch.

[annew]

Don't know what it is but it looks wonderful wet!

[mark smyth]

balls of ice, Anne.

The strange thing is the only other poppy in the garden is the small yellowed flowered one whose name evades me just now

[Joakim B]

Dear all
I will try to post my first picture so hopfully it will work.

My mother-in-law has this cyclamen persicum almost blooming now.
The funny thing is that it is dark pink but the new buds are white and the older ones get a pink tip that later colours the rest of the flower. Is that the comon thing not to have the colour in the beginning? The plant is grown outside in Portugal but we have had down to 0C and maybe below, so that might be good news for anyone that likes to test in slightly colder climate.

Kind regards
Joakim

[Joakim B]

I managed
It is simple as soon as one sees the additional options and there attach
Now there is a risk of more pics from me.
Joakim

[Paddy Tobin]

Two  Cyclamen coum in flower in the garden today.

Paddy

[Tim Murphy]

Joakim, the immature buds on my plants of Cyclamen purpurascens are also white, turning darker as they mature, so it does definitely occur on other species besides persicum. In contrast, immature buds on my C. alpinum are already showing a deep pink colour.

Your coum are a little ahead of mine, Paddy. I have a few flowers but it will be a fortnight at least before things really get going here.

[Paddy Tobin]

Tim,

For some reason this particular bed of cyclamen coum is ahead of others in the garden. Cyclamen coum pewter group plants are just in bud at the moment but none is open yet. These cyclamen in the photographs are relatively new plants, purchased only two years ago and the variety of tones was interesting, I thought.

[Joakim B]

Tim and Paddy it seems as if Coum also has cpolour from the begining judgeing from Paddys pics. Let me know if I have interpreted the pics right. Thanks for the input Tim.

Joakim

[Tim Murphy]

Joakim, yes, coum does have coloured immature buds. Interestingly, I have observed the opposite effect on some plants of Cyclamen coum.

In bud, the unopened flowers can be incredibly dark, only to lighten when the flower actually opens. So, initial excitement at the prospect of having something a little different nearly always leads to disappointment!

[Paddy Tobin]

Joakim,

Tim has described exactly my reaction to this bed of cyclamen coum. They started in bud in the most beautiful dark and desirable red/purple/wine/burgundy but as they opened more and more they faded to lighter colours. Some opened in a darker colour and held it for some time. I have found these plants are in general darker than cyclamen coum I had grown in the garden up to this but these were all cyclamen coum pewter group plants and this may account for the differences.

Whichever, they are lovely plants and add colour at this otherwise rather bare time of year.

Paddy

[Joakim B]

Paddy interesting to here about the colourings of the flower. Maybe You (or any one else) can elaborate about the pewter group. I must admit my ignorance regarding that. Is it a seed collection or a sub group or a cultivar?
May I make a question since we have come into cyclamen?
I noticed today that the seedlings that just have got the first leaf are mostly green but with the scond and third leaf they show much more pattern. Yet the parent seems to have even more patterns. Will the patterns evolve more with time or is just the first leaf special and the rest is the type of leaf the plant is goingto have "for ever"?
Below it is hopefully seen that the first leaf have different shape and patterns that the next pair and the new pair have less than the mother as seen in a post above.

Kind regards
Joakim