May 2012 in the Northern Hemisphere

[WimB]

Very nice, Tatsuo. Lovely plant! Is it easy to grow?

[Maggi Young]

Sanicula lamelligera var. wakayamensis is blooming

I love this blue flowering dwarf saniculas

I think you are the only person I know who grows this sweet plant, Tatsuo!

[Tim Ingram]

Tatsuo - years ago I was sent a picture of a blue sanicle labelled caerulescens? But it looks identical to your plant. Very lovely. Do you have any information on its origins? I am collating details on umbellifers for a book on the family and this really is such a distinctive plant. I know there are many intriguing umbels native and grown in Japan and must learn more about them.

[ronm]

Nothing of particular "species" interest ( although if anyone can ID the Penstemon I would be very grateful ), just some colour and form from the garden today. A very overcast / black day, with heavy rain imminent.

[KK-Ann Arbor]

Tatsuo-san

A plant I have never seen with blue flowers!!!  Could you tell me its Japanese name?

koko

[David King]

A few from our garden today.  First dry, pleasant day for some time.

1.  Iris 'Gingerbread Man'

2.  Euphorbia fragifera.  Comes from the Balkans and is botanically related to polychroma which it resembles but has a more starry shaped flower (very pretty). The fruit pods also differ and are supposed to resemble a strawberry, hence the specific name.

3.  Double white Lilac.
4.  Double white Tree Peony
5.  Iris 'Cream Cups'
6.  Hibiscus
7.  Hibiscus 2

[Natalia]

Rhododendron dauricum April Snow

[WimB]

I love the Iris 'Gingerbread Boy', David. Simply wonderful!

Some plants in flower here today:

Cypripedium 'Emil'
Epimedium 'Domino'
Epimedium grandiflorum 'Yellow Princess'
Haberlea ferdinandi-coburgi
Iris 'Cat's Eye'
Iris cristata
Iris 'Dot Com'
Primula japonica 'Miller's Crimson'
Ramonda myconi 'Alba'
Trillium recurvatum

[Michael J Campbell]

WOW! Iris 'Gingerbread Boy' is just delightful.

[YT]

Thank you for all comments to the blue sanicula

This sanicula is an evergreen perennial and frost hardy undergrowth in temperate rain forests. It grows naturally at only few spots around Kainan City in northern part of Wakayama prefecture in Japan. It has abruptly been listed as an extinct species in the wild in the Red Data Book of Japan 2007 edition, but is still alive in wild habitats even now

In my experience, it is very easy to grow in shade gardens, and sets seeds and propagates freely by itself.

Here is a good website with further details in English:
Sanicula lamelligera var. wakayamensis
http://flowers.la.coocan.jp/Umbelliferae/Sanicula%20lamelligera%20wakayamensis.htm

[Hoy]

Well, YT, now you have started a rush to get that plant! And I'm in that queue
Do you know whether it is easy from seed? Or obtainable from somewhere?

[Stephen Vella]

interesting to see the blue Sanicula lamelligera var. wakayamensis, there is S caerulescens which is just as blue and easily avaliable and self seeds in a woodland condition. C europeans has creamy flowers and acts the same way.

It would be nice to see the japanese sp freely available

thanks for showing Tatsuo

[WimB]

Thank you for all comments to the blue sanicula

This sanicula is an evergreen perennial and frost hardy undergrowth in temperate rain forests. It grows naturally at only few spots around Kainan City in northern part of Wakayama prefecture in Japan. It has abruptly been listed as an extinct species in the wild in the Red Data Book of Japan 2007 edition, but is still alive in wild habitats even now

In my experience, it is very easy to grow in shade gardens, and sets seeds and propagates freely by itself.

Here is a good website with further details in English:
Sanicula lamelligera var. wakayamensis
http://flowers.la.coocan.jp/Umbelliferae/Sanicula%20lamelligera%20wakayamensis.htm

Well, YT, now you have started a rush to get that plant! And I'm in that queue
Do you know whether it is easy from seed? Or obtainable from somewhere?

Yeah, put me in that queue also   

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Some eyecatchers in the garden at the moment :

1) Veronica "Blue sheen"
2) Ramonda myconi "Jim's Shadow"
3) same
4) Oxalis x "Ridgeway Sapphire"
5) Oxalis laciniata "Joe Elliott"
6) Oxalis enneaphylla "Sheffield Swan"
7) Oxalis enneaphylla - dark veines
8 ) Meconopsis "Huntfield"
9) Linum perenne ssp. alpinum "Alice Blue"
10) Linum elegans

[Lesley Cox]

Lovely things there. I've never had or even seen a Sanicula but the name Sanicula arctopoides, is ringing a small bell in my memory. Or am I thinking of something altogether different?

Without my doing anything at all, a spell check has just started as I type here. I usually proofread before I post but now I find a dozen red squiggles even in this small bit.