November 2011 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Michael J Campbell]

Thanks folks.

[johnw]

Back in August 2010 a friend ordered Adenium seed from Thailand. it seems it was very expensive seed from selfed named plants and promised to come true.  He insisted I try some - 5 to be exact and they were tiny. I repotted them, they sulked and shrivelled. In late autumn they were moved to another greenhouse and kept dry until February.  This greenhouse had a venting probalem and temps from then on routinely reached 40-50c. I kept them in there but watered them when dry.  They neither missed a beat nor had any bug issues.

Suddenly they plumped up and took off like a shot, even the sickliest one.  Awaiting those exquisite flowers.

John Grimshaw's Blog recently had an article on them. Big ones are quite wild-looking when they get very old. Native to Yemen (Frazer!) or Socotra (?) so heat should not be an issue though I would have thought humidity might be.

These are in 11cm pots. And now the onus is on me to see if they come true to name as my friend's light stand with several hundred plants collapsed sending the labels every which way. He did rescue the plants though.

Now this was an eye-opener. Why am I finding this just now?  http://adenium.tucsoncactus.org/large.html
 
johnw

[Paul T]

Damn, if sulking and shrivelling produced those results in other things..... I'd give it a go!!    They look brilliant.

[cohan]

Here probably the last flowers of  this year ? Stil some buds of Pyrethrum leontopodium opens and Androsace sericea wich always flower in the autumn .

Always great to see all the great stuff here
Kris, love that Pyrethrum! I'm developing a bit of an obsession with interesting Compositae!

[cohan]

petrocosmea grandiflora

Love these, Michael I've been watching for Petrocosmea since seeing yours a year or two back, have you seen seed available anywhere?

[Michael J Campbell]

No idea where you might get seed, but my plant of begonifolia produced seed last year, and I have a nice tray of seedlings.It was  the first time any of them produced seed, and I will be keeping a careful watch this year for  seed capsules. If they set any I will keep you in mind.

Cheers.
 

[cohan]

Thanks, Michael
Congrats, John on your Adenium success thus far Although they come from some rather harsh looking places ( and they do love full sun even in warm climates) they appreciate a lot of water while actively growing, as well as regular uppotting and feeding..
I have just one, which lives on my windowsill all year, where it doesn't get the heat or sun it would prefer for most of the year, so is kept dryish to dry when its not getting those things, thus, progress is slow!
I like the variety of leaf and body shapes, though have to say I much prefer the species flowers to the hybrids-- but they are a fascinating example of what can be pulled from a genome!

[Menai]

We've heard a lot about unseasonable flowering recently but my Oncostema (Scilla) peruviana, after 4 unproductive years, decided to flower this autumn! Inflorescence first noticed at the beginning of October as I was cutting back the lavender around it, fully out 21st November. I lifted it from the bed (it was in a basket like most of my bulbs) and plunged it in a larger pot so we could admire it but now what should I do? Feed it, try and force it into dormancy, or just let it do its own thing?
This my first post here after 'lurking' for a number of years. I have a waterside garden on the Menai Strait so looking forward to several months of damp dark with occasional frost.
Erle Randall

[Maggi Young]

Hello Erle,
It's great to have you emerge from the bushes!

I'd give it some feeding and let it keep going as long as it wants to.... I'm not a great fan of trying to impose my will on the plants if I can help it.... I reckon they mostly have a pretty  good reason for what they do..... at least, I hope that's the case.  

I have a waterside garden on the Menai Strait so looking forward to several months of damp dark with occasional frost.

We're towards  the opposite end   and other side of the country... so you have our sympathies... though here we expect  damp  dark and lots of frost  

[fleurbleue]

Thanks for the link John   A friend has just sent some Adenium obesum seeds to me and advices are really welcome  

[cohan]

Thanks for the link John   A friend has just sent some Adenium obesum seeds to me and advices are really welcome  

Nicole, Adenium are naturally winter dormant, but they will grow anytime you can give them lots of warmth, strong light and water.. seedlings are very cute...

[Paddy Tobin]

A few things in the garden. Paddy

Callicarpa  'Profusion' berries
Argemone mexicana
Iris unguicularis 'Kilbroney Marble'
Galactites tomentosa
Fuchsia 'Mrs. Popple'

[Paddy Tobin]

Erie,

Welcome to the forum. By coincidence, we were talking last night about your area, the beautiful Menai Straits and north Wales in general. Bodnant Gardens are a treasure, Beau Maris is a delight and there are many other places we love there.

Paddy

[Lvandelft]

A few things in the garden. Paddy

Callicarpa  'Profusion' berries
Argemone mexicana
Iris unguicularis 'Kilbroney Marble'
Galactites tomentosa
Fuchsia 'Mrs. Popple'

Still summer over there Paddy? 
We had our first moderate autumn gale today, so not much left in flower after this.

[cohan]

A few things in the garden. Paddy

Callicarpa  'Profusion' berries
Argemone mexicana
Iris unguicularis 'Kilbroney Marble'
Galactites tomentosa
Fuchsia 'Mrs. Popple'

Wow, Paddy- impressive! Today was warm- up to 12C or more! -and greatly reduced the snow on the ground, but its far from gone all over, and still piles where its been shovelled.. no mistaking this for anything but winter! Flowers (outdoors) are a distant memory!
Great colour on the berries