Flowering Now October 2007

[Lesley Cox]

Which sea is this then, Lesley?

Well you know the kind I mean, in places like the Caribbean and the Great Barrier Reef. But perhaps they catch seafood rather than what I'd be looking for with my own tentacles.

[Gerdk]

Here are some pics made during a visit at Schloss Dyck (castle of Dyck)
near Cologne/Düsseldorf. There is an old English style landscaped garden built during the l8th century. Within the park there is a large collection of rare trees collected by Prince Joseph of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck who wrote 'Hortus Dyckensis', a recapitulation of all plants which were cultivated there formerly.

1. Miscanthus sinensis, cultivated as a natural resource
2. Dog Station (bags for dog dirt) at the enctrance - a good example for
    the modern German-English mix we use nowadays
3. and 4.  old and young trees in the park
5. Trachycarpus fortunei - not in containers!
6. Large bamboo, part of a  comprehensive collection
7. Taxodium
8. Schloß Dyck

Gerd

[Gerdk]

The rest

1. Orangery
2. inside the orangery
3. Sempervivum species; cultivated on a table 4.
5. Old Liriodendron tulipifera

Gerd

[hadacekf]

Tony, I am happy to see your wonderful and true Sternbergia greuteriana.

[Anthony Darby]

Tony, there seems to me to be a greater difference between greuteriana I bought from PC and one form of sicula (#2) from IY than between this sicula and my other form of sicula (#3) from IY?

[tonyg]

Tony D - I am confused .... is my sternbergia also confused?  BTW mine did not come from IY but from much further south!

..... looks down earlier pages in this thread .... and you have posted a new reply while I am typing this

Aha!  Now I see what you mean!  You do seem to have a plant very similar to mine amongst your collection, you also have something with the same name which looks like sicula/lutea in its flower.  To add extra spice I have a plant which was supplied as S greuteriana which  is half the size of S sicula (as I have been sold it) but otherwise looks like the 'larger' sternbergias.  This latest offering (OK - it came from Alan Edwards) is quite different in form.  The flowers are not displayed on vertical stems, rather they curve upwards.  The petals are much more 'gappy' than my other sternbergias and it is really quite small in comparison.  I dont have time to pursue Ians comments in the Bulb Log right now as Half Term duties loom but I will have a look when we get back.  Hopefully you will have it all sorted out by then

[Anthony Darby]

So am I Tony G - see http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=856.15 and you will see what I mean. One post with greuteriana and a later post with two forms of sicula. Both the three of them have a light stripe down the middle of the leaf. Only one has the very pointed 'petals' and this one has quite long leaves present when flowering.

[Lesley Cox]

Gerd, thanks for these beautiful pictures. What a lovely place the Schloss is. Elegant and simple but with great strength in its lines. I like it very much and am very pleased to have seen it. 

The red flowered plant in the orangery looks like a relative of Mandevilla suaveolens but I can't remember its name. There are several grown in the warmer parts of NZ, not quite so deep I think but in shades of pink. A gorgeous thing anyway.

Please tell me about the German letter that looks like a B but apparently is written in English as SS. How is it pronounced? I've often seen it and wondered.

[JPB]

I ADORE the Conophytum.  Looks like one of those beautiful sea anemones which exert little tentacles and wave them around to catch passing morsels of pasta and chocolate cake (well not together, of course

Lesley, here it is: Conophytum barnaculoides

[Gerdk]

Gerd, thanks for these beautiful pictures. What a lovely place the Schloss is. Elegant and simple but with great strength in its lines. I like it very much and am very pleased to have seen it. 

The red flowered plant in the orangery looks like a relative of Mandevilla suaveolens but I can't remember its name. There are several grown in the warmer parts of NZ, not quite so deep I think but in shades of pink. A gorgeous thing anyway.

Please tell me about the German letter that looks like a B but apparently is written in English as SS. How is it pronounced? I've often seen it and wondered.

Lesley,
Thank you for your kind comments. You are right, the plant inside the orangery is a Mandevilla - maybe  M. sanderi. Now I remember the name and had a confirmation via Google.
The ' ß ' is called 'sz' and spoken just like a double ' s '. It results from the very ancient ' hs '. We use the ' ß ' when a vocal is spoken long - for instance in the word ' Maße ' (measures, sizes). When you pronounce the ' a ' in the same word short it will mean ' Masse '  which is mass in English. Much more tricky is ' das ' and ' daß ' , but this is  something which even a lot of Germans are unable to distinguish. Thanks god there are pc - correction programs.
So - that's enough for a first German lesson. Please forgive me for being always so excessive.
Gerd
 

[Otto Fauser]

Lesley,next time you come over to Melbourne I will give some private German lessons
Ciao from Otto.

[Gerdk]

Lesley,next time you come over to Melbourne I will give some private German lessons
Ciao from Otto.

Lesley, take care, Otto is Bavarian - they are known for speaking a very unusual kind of German.
Otto, please remember what Mr. Steuber told about the train  to the Airport.   

Gerd

[Hans J]

Gerd ,

Be carefull about speaking about Bavarians .....as you know : I'm a Bavarian too !!!
And dont forget : The name is STOIBER !
If anybody is interestet so I will send the talk from E.Stoiber about the train from Head rail station and the Airport ....

Servus
Hans

[Maggi Young]

 You say Steuber and I say Stoiber, eh?


One of our oldest friends is married to a Bavarian and the mother to two little ( well they are fully grown, now) little Bavarians !

Hans, i think we would love to hear about Mr Steuber and the train!

Thomas, I know that Martin has his books translated into many languages, are you reading yours in English or German?  It will be good  to help the children with their English if it is an English version.
It is a super book, lots of fun for children, but these old Scots folks enjoyed it too!
Martin's other new book, "Calm Down!" A stress survival guide, is even funnier. I think it should be available on the National Health Service!

[Hans J]

Maggi : the MP3 file is underway to you !