Flowering Now Mid November 2006

[Maggi Young]

Oh, Paddy, forgot to say:  your Rhodophilia should be RHODOPHIALA. It is lovely, great photo. 

[Paddy Tobin]

Maggi,

I stand corrected, penitent and committed to greater diligence and care with my spellings in future.

Being Scottish, you may not be partial to Irish whiskey, preferring your own vastly inferior blends, but I recommend a large and strong hot toddy to relieve your symptoms. We say that while it may not cure your illnesses, it certainly will make you feel much better.

Many thanks for comments on photography - you may remember my contacting Ian re his then new camera. I went on to purchase the same model and have made great use of it in the meantime.

Who is John F.?

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

Paddy, the white spots at the tips of the petals of Narcissus viridiflorus are part of the plant. It is only the splashes on the leaf that are the fungicide.

[Maggi Young]

Paddy, John F. is John Forrest, nickname jof, who was posting on the forum this afternoon when you and I were.

[Paddy Tobin]

Anthony,

Yes, I had spotted the comments earlier on the white spotting and realised that those on the petals were natural to the plant. They add a lovely touch.

Apologies, John F. I do now realise who you are and have seen many, many of the beautiful plants you have cultivated, absolutely fabulous and a great testiment to  your cultivation skills. I wish I could be as diligent.

Maggi, Did you try that Irish cure?

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

 What can I say, Paddy, I'm posting this reply to you then retreating to lie down in a darkened room..... Hic!!

[John Forrest]

Thanks for those kind words Paddy. Obviously a night owl like 'she who never sleeps'. I think you should try Horlicks Maggi and give your liver a shock. 

[Rafa]

Hello,

I am little confused, well,  here two autum flowering Narcissus: Narcissus papyraceus ssp. panizzianus and Narcissus albidus var. foliosus

Regards

[Maggi Young]

Hi, Rafa, thanks for these pix. You had posted them in the Australasian page at first! Thanks for re-posting them here!
The Narcissus papyraceus ssp. panizzianus is exquisite.. I can almost smell it!

[KentGardener]

Hi All

this would definately not survive on a Scottish Rock garden! - but I was so impressed that I wanted to share this 'Moon Flower' with you.  It came out after 9pm and unfortunately will be dead by 3am - the scent is fantastic. 

John

[Maggi Young]

Wouldn't survive in an English Rock Garden either, not even if you wrapped it in the shirt! A thing of considerable beauty, nonetheless... and I refer to the Moon flower!  I do wish we could add scent to the forum!
 Also, Thanks for the address you've just given in the Ferny page, John

[KentGardener]

Hi Maggi

have just woken up and it is completely shrivled (the flower!).  I knew I needed to add some scale to the picture and it looked about the same size as my mates big head - I shall show him your 'thing of beauty' comment - see if it makes him laugh as much as it did me.

Not sure what the moon flower thinks it is doing flowering now.  It is grown in a warm consrvatory and tried flowering a few months ago but aborted when I went away for a week and it got very dry (I forgot to move it to somewhere cooler) - when I returned home there were 5 buds all laying on the floor.   Guess this time was a last ditch attempt to procreate this year.

John

[Anthony Darby]

Is the moonflower one of the climbing tropical cacti related to Selenicereus grandiflora [Queen of the night]?

[KentGardener]

Hi Anthony

this plant is an epiphytic cactus.  (I used to grow the Selenicereus in my greenhouse before I sold the complete cactus collection to a nursery).  The flower is of comparable size (and almost almost as good in scent).  This cactus is at its happiest hanging rather than climbing.

It was fascinating to watch the flower develop in its final stages.  The bud rapidly (over the course of a few hours) changed angle, from hanging at 160 degrees to being at a definite 90 degree angle.  It opened by 9pm when we first took photos - and then at about midnight it was really at its best with petals stretched as wide as possible (the posted pic).  A few hours later it was hanging limp. 

Such a shame that it is over so soon...

I shall try to stick to the more cold hardy plants for future posts (just couldn't resist this one as I have been waiting so long to see it flower).

regards

John

[Anthony Darby]

We are an eclectic bunch John, so keep posting whatever you have flowering. I have tried to get these big night flowering cacti to flower for years, ever since I saw Hylocereus sp. flowering in Jamaica in 1983. I have a vanilla orchid which I hope to have flowering one day. It has grown up a five foot pole, down again, and now back up, so it should be mature enough now? My Selenicereus is still minute, so a long way to go (doesn't selene mean 'Moon' and 'cereus' mean wax?).