August 2011 in the Northern Hemisphere

[PaulM]

Hi Tim ! I grow Asclepias speciosa too, and it has nice big flowers. It spreads some, but not quite as much as A. syriaca. Asclepias stenophylla is flowering for me this year as well, also A. exaltata, viridis and A variegata. I have A. quadrifolia, ovalifolia, cordifolia, purpurascens, hirtella, obovata, cryptoceras, sullivantii and fascicularis, but they have not flowered yet.

[PaulM]

Here are some more flowers which are flowering now:

Iliamna remota is a nice mallow with pink flowers.

Lophospermum erubescens. It doesn't survive outdoors here in Sweden, so I will try to overwinter it this year. Anyone else in a nothern climate who has tried ?

Some more pictures of Dianthus libanotis, which really puts on a nice display.

I like Gaillardias and here is a picture of Gaillardia pinnatifida, which likes desert like conditions, which are hard to mimic here.

Saponaria pamphylica

[PaulM]

...and a few more

Sanguisorba canadensis

Salvia campanulata, which is very similar to Salvia castanea, besides for the cream colored flowers


When I was out picking blueberries and mushrooms on Thursday I ran into this peculiar looking mushroom, which is called stink-mushroom or corpse-mushroom in Swedish. It can be detected from up to 10m away by its odour. As young it's burried in the ground looking much like an egg ( also called witch egg ), when it becomes ripe, usually at dusk, the egg cracks open and out rises this penis looking receptacle, and it can grow to its full length ( 15- 20 cm ) in 1,5 to 2hrs, so you can practically see it growíng. The spores are spread by flies and slugs. It looks like its suffering from multiple and severe forms of STD:s
Nature is pretty amazing.

[fleurbleue]

Paul, on summer 2010 I have grown in a big pot Lophospermum purpusii 'Victoria Falls' and Pelargonium Voodoo I have kept frost free during winter. Lophospermum had produced as a tuber which have grown up again this spring, better display than last year 
It could be the same for your erubescens...

[PaulM]

Thank you Nicole ! I will keep in in a pot indoors, and see if it will survive. I will not be able to keep it cool, but maybe it can be cut back if it grows too big.

[Giles]

Assorted garden pinks by greenhouse.

[Giles]

Baileys Celebration
Devon Cream
Haytor Rock

[David Nicholson]

Good value plants Giles, very pretty. Haytor is only about ten miles from where we live
http://www.haytorrock.co.uk/

[Giles]

- I got them from Whetman's, David, £1.50 each, and guaranteed virus free (I know of no better place to get pinks).

[David Nicholson]

- I got them from Whetman's, David, £1.50 each, and guaranteed virus free (I know of no better place to get pinks).

Agreed Giles, although Mark's plants bought from Allwood's looked OK

[daveyp1970]

Giles do you grow any Pinks with the prefix Oakwood,a chap i know from Ollerton a little mining village near me bred them,they are usually show blooms.

[Giles]

Yes, I grow 'Oakwood Billy Boole'.
The Oakwood pinks (and other show pinks) are available from http://newportmillsnursery.farming.officelive.com/Pinks.aspx

[Knud]

There are times when a strong,  or acid yellow does give a cheery jolt but that restrained yellow is both rlaxing and cheering. Marvelous what we can achieve with our flowers, isn't it?

A cheery jolt for your birthday, Maggi, and all the very best for your new year. A 'King's candle', as we call verbascum, for the leading light of the forum. I am not sure if it is Verbascum olympicum or V. densiflorum. It is a biennial, and self-seeds in the garden. We normally have two-three plants each year, and they grow to just under 2 m (6'+).

The Clematis integrifolia has been blooming for a month now.  It still has a few buds, and they are very attractive. We received this plant as seedling about 10 years ago, seeds apparently from near Lake Baikal, Russia.

Knud

[Maggi Young]

Thank you, Knud,
 your Verbascum has made an excellent replacement for the sun which has just disappeared here!

Your photos of the Clematis buds are delightful. The shapes are so sinuous and the delicate bud is just the most sumptuous colour..... very nice indeed.

[shelagh]

Two lovely little Cyclamen are colouring up the alpine-house today.

We have 2 pots of Cyclamen africanum one comes with leaves and one without.  The third picture is not upside down this is the pot without leaves and it's mother has not taught it deportment all the flowers are lying flat and thus difficult to photograph.

The Cyclamen intaminatum has the most delicate of veining on the flowers and I think I have managed to capture this so you can all see.