July 2012 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Tim Ingram]

A couple of wonderful alstroemerias originally grown from seed from Jim and Jenny Archibald:-

Alstroemeria garavantae - (Chile, V, Cerro Vizcacha. Ex. a J. Watson coll.). This has done well and self     
                                        seeded on a raised bed over many years, growing to around 30cm).

Alstroemeria pulchra      - (Chile, V, Valparaiso, Con Con. Ex. Beckett, Cheese and Watson 4762). A more 
                                        tenuous plant which by accident has seeded into a peat/bark raised bed!

In Jim & Jenny Archibald's seed list for August 2006 are 25 Alstroemeria of which I have grown 8 or 9, at least for several years, which shows what potentially good plants they can be for the garden once growing conditions have been mastered.

[Rafa]

fantastic!! Tim, some more piectures to Jim's picture project. Here are som recent blooms in my little garden. I received this neomarica as neomarica sp# aftr several years it has bloomed and I though it was N. coerulea, but now I am not sure and I think it could be N. sabini.

[Tim Ingram]

I've tried Alstroemeria psitticina in the garden but it has never flowered. In pots under glass it flowers well - a 'Mediterranean' greenhouse would be a useful adjunct to the garden! (Good for a lot of other dryland plants too).

Alstroemerias are great cut flowers and this is a 'Summer Miscellany' from the garden with, in addition, Macleaya, Eryngium bourgatii, Origanum 'Kent Beauty', Bupleurum fruticosum and Euphorbia ceratocarpa. Now I see them together in a vase the garden needs to be replanted accordingly!

[Lori S.]

Taking a minute to post a few shots...
Telesonix jamesii v. heucheriformis:
 

Monardella odoratissima v. odoratissima:


First flowers on Saxifraga cochlearis minor:


Stachys lavandulifolia, a rather spreading one that I will likely have to control or move (like the Monardella):


Repeat bloom on Dryas octopetala:


Flowers developing on Ajuga lupulina:


And a flower stalk on this teensy Saxifraga umbellulata v. pectinata... the basal rosette is slightly over a cm across:


Jurinea cadmea:


Delphinium beesianum:

[Lori S.]

Another dwarf delphinium blooming in its first year from seed. Is it also D. beesianum? 


Cancrinia tianshanica, adapting to the outdoors with foliage becoming nice and tight:


Silene saxifraga:


Lots of bloom in the perennial garden in this short but intense season, though things are not so photogenic as I would like after lots of rain (and resultant flopping!) and two hailstorms in a week!
Lindelofia anchusoides and the very similar Lindelofia longiflora:
 

Eryngium alpinum; Scutellaria orientalis v. alpina with Geranium cinereum subcaulescens and G. sanguineum ; Scutellaria alpina:
   

Lychnis chalceonica cv. with Veronicastrum sibiricum and Persicaria polymorpha:


Paeonia cv. and Verbascum:

[David Nicholson]

Lovely selection there Lori. I liked the Telesonix jamesii, one I hadn't heard of before so I looked it up in Graham Nicholls' book, must give it a try.

[Lori S.]

Another of the Verbascum x 'Helen Johnson'; Delphinium nudicaule 'Fox', bought this year; another Scutellaria alpina; Lupinus argenteus:
     

Dianthus monspessulanus - rather messy, irregular flowers but a wonderful perfumey (not spice) scent; another dianthus - this one may induce migraines, sorry!  :
 

The neighbor's bachelor buttons, coming up wherever the wind has blown them; Linum flavum compactum; Lilium 'Painted Pixie'; Allium sp.:
     

[Tim Ingram]

Lori - what a wonderful selection of plants! Your garden becomes more and more remarkable, especially with all the pictures you post on the NARGS Forum. I particularly like the Stachys lavandulifolia (I've tried this in the past and lost it, but definitely must establish it in the garden in the future) and that curious Ajuga lupulina, as well as the charming little Jurinea. I shall look out for seed of all these.

[Stephen Vella]

Lori,
nice combination of pastels in the Lychnis chalceonica cv. with Veronicastrum sibiricum and Persicaria polymorpha combination

cheers

[Lori S.]

Lovely selection there Lori. I liked the Telesonix jamesii, one I hadn't heard of before so I looked it up in Graham Nicholls' book, must give it a try.

Thanks, David.  The Telesonix has bloomed nicely this year, so I'll see if I can collect seeds.

Thanks, Tim and Stephen!  The benefit (if there is one  ) of this brief season is that a lot of things bloom at once.

[Martinr]

Lovely selection there Lori. I liked the Telesonix jamesii, one I hadn't heard of before so I looked it up in Graham Nicholls' book, must give it a try.

Definitely worth a try David but getting it to flower well is not easy.

[David Nicholson]

According to Graham Nicholls it needs a crevice if grown outside and if in a pot a smaller pot than normal so that it becomes pot-bound. He says it will cope with wet winter conditions (I can give it that-in spades!).

[johnw]

Flowering yesterday Phormium 'Sea Jade'.

Amazing how quickly those flowering stalks seemingly rise up from nowhere.

johnw  - a more civilized +18c and cloudy today.

[johnw]

A climbing Dicentra that Ken grows - name escapes me - but it grows like a fiend.

johnw

[Stephen Vella]

John its Dicentra scandens, I like the way it scrambles everywhere but is cut down by the frost