Flowers and foliage- Now- November 2007

[ChrisB]

My schizostylis do well in very sandy, dry, free draining soil.  If they like water, I'd hate to think how they would spread in a shallow pond because in these conditions they don't hold back on travelling.  They bulk up in no time, taking up a lot of my valuable space, so I'm forever pulling them out and potting them up.  Have pink red and white forms.

[Gerdk]

Lovely plants indeed, Gerd!
Is there any autumn-flowering narcissus species which would be hardy to USDA zone 7, max 8? I'd love to grow some!
Thank you for the report, anyway!
Zephirine

Thank you Zephirine,
No, I don't believe that you can grow any of the autumn-flowering daffs in your zone. The cold-resistance is not the only problem - all these plants need a dry and hot summer rest.

Gerd

[Gerdk]

Welcome back Gerd!

Looks like you had a wonderful trip!!
Any crocus-photos?

Thomas,
You are right, it was a successful and nice journey, one week of sunshine and temperatures above 20 ° C - but,  sitting alone in a hotel room after sunset only in company of ' una botella de cerveza ' is something which I would not like to repeat too often.
Sorry, this year I found no flowering crocus - look at the Mandragora pics. 

Gerd

[Gerdk]

Gerd,

Love those unusual autumn Narcissus.  Lovely to see them all "together" in one place to compare.  The Mandragora looks fascinating as well.  How big are the flowers?  I've heard of the genus but never read anything specific about it and have no idea whether your pic shows large flowers or something where the whole plant is a couple of inches across?  Lovely flowers and great colour, whatever size it is.  Thanks for taking the time to post the pics. 

Paul,
Thank you. A single flower of the Mandragora is about the size of an autumnal flowering Crocus, C. banaticus for instance. Unfortunately  the leaves are comparatively large and not very showy. Not all plants flower leafless and I found some species with a diameter of more than 40 cm.
Nevertheless, I believe in your climate it will be worth to grow it outside.

Gerd

[Maggi Young]

sitting alone in a hotel room after sunset only in company of ' una botella de cerveza ' is something which I would not like to repeat too often.

You should have told us you were going, Gerd, surely one of us would have come with you?
Such flowers to see and the bottle to share.....

[Lesley Cox]

Add my thanks as well Gerd, for all these lovely images. I really love those autumn-flowering Narcissus species. Hopefully some seed will become available through the seedlists, sometime. The Ranunculus is a beauty too but I am especially pleased to see the Mandrake as I was very recently able to buy a plant (a month ago, at out Trillium weekend) of that species. Mine is a bit small to flower yet but maybe next autumn. The flowers look gorgeous.

[Gerdk]

Gerdk, it is great to see this flowers in nature. Sometimes I go to see some.
I've already seen Scilla Autumnalis, Narcisus, and have some Leucojum Autumnale. By now, its growing a new flower and some seed pods are maturing.

Cris, I agree - much better to see them in nature than in a pot. I am curious, which of the autumn flowering Narcissus species did you see and in which region?


Thanks for the nice comments of the others.

Gerd
Gerd

[Lesley Cox]

Paul, the Mandrake (Mandragora officinalis syn. officinarum) is a medicinal herb, the root (says legend) shaped like a man. Gerard in his Herball says (in effect) that this is rubbish and the root is just like a carrot's or parsnip's, sometimes divided. Legend also says that the mandrake must be pulled out be a dog which will shriek madly (this is, of course, why I wanted a plant), because if a man pulls it, he will die soon after. I'd love to include here, Gerard's comments on that - wonderfully scathing - but there's too much for this thread. Find the Herball if you don't have it already and read it. Very salutory.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Yeah, that is sort of what I knew about it, nothing much more (or even what it looked like).  Apparently useful in witchcraft too, if you're into that sort of thing! 

Gerd,

Thanks for the info.  I'll keep it in mind. 

[zephirine]

Lovely Selaginella involvens in its fall cloak of iridescent olive green...
...and Viburnum prunifolium in its red suit : this particular shade of red is called : "10-days-old-grand-daughter-protesting-against-having-a-bath" 

[Anthony Darby]

Gerd, you are so lucky to be able to see these plants flowering. I have an ambition to see Narcissus viridiflorus flowering in the wild, but alas our Autumn holiday is usually the end of the first or second week of October which is a wee bitty early? My bulbs in the greenhouse are only now just starting to show shoots. Do you have a pic of the viridiflorus habitat?

[SueG]

I believe that all parts of mandrake are full of alkanoids, which may be one of the reasons why witches thought they could fly if they used mandrake in their potions and such like. May also be an underlying reason for the belief that if you pulled one up you'd die.

Sue

[Anthony Darby]

I've seen Mandrake in flower in Spain. I think the last thing I'd do is pull one up

[Maggi Young]

I thought the blue colour of the Mandragora flowers was pretty... the spring types we have ( M. officinarum) are rather subdued and while I am fond of browny /black/ greenish flowers, I was taken by the thought of this rather good blue.

Oh, yes, and have I told you I adore narcissus?

[Gerdk]

Gerd, you are so lucky to be able to see these plants flowering. I have an ambition to see Narcissus viridiflorus flowering in the wild, but alas our Autumn holiday is usually the end of the first or second week of October which is a wee bitty early? My bulbs in the greenhouse are only now just starting to show shoots. Do you have a pic of the viridiflorus habitat?

Anthony,
Here are two photos of one of the few places where I saw N. viridiflorus.
Most sites are rather disappointing. The pics shown were made within an
'urbanización' in 2006 and it seems the plants there are not safe for the future. Another place is 50 cm from the rim of a small road and just 1 m beside a depot with containers for litter - not very romantic.
Please tell me when your plants flower and I would be glad if you'll let me know your cultivation method  for this difficult daffodil.

Gerd