September 2012 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Lesley Cox]

Marcus, do you have a picture from this year or any other year of what I had from you (seed) as Iris unguicularia cretica?  I'd like to confirm if it was the same plant at The Ferny Creek Hort Soc garden last time I was there with Otto, a couple of years maybe. It looked like unguicularis but as a quite dwarf form both in foliage and in flower. Of course I couldn't bring a plant home and I didn't have my camera with me (will I ever learn?)

Why I ask is because members of NZ Iris Soc say that cretica (or what they call Cretan Form) and ssp cretensis are the same thing. My cretensis is visually quite different from unguicularis though obviously related. My babies from your seed don't look like cretensis at all, being quite upright in the foliage and not the really tough material that is the leaf of cretensis.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Lesley,

I don't think I have a photo but I will follow this up.

The iris in question grows in Crete and the Peleponnese. It has narrow leaves and smaller, usually more intensely coloured flowers. It can grow into quite large clumps, so in my eyes it is not a dwarf plant, just the leaves are narrower and the flowers smaller than the North African plant. If you obtained seed from me then it was either collected at Kedros in Crete 2008 or Stavropigia, Peleponnese, 2010.

Cheers, Marcus

[fermi de Sousa]

Anemone pavonina is just starting.

Tulipa bakeri

Iris taochia

cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Fermi,

I'm seriously thinking of giving it away - this current bout of weather has almost convinced me!!

Cheers, Marcus

Hopefully this was just the illnesss and bad weather "talking", Marcus We'd be seriously bereft if you were to close up shop!
 
Here's some flowers to cheer you up,
the tiny tazetta 'Canasuez' - GBF: Narcissus canaliculatus x N. watieri

Gladiolus abbreviatus x 2

Scilla melaina

Tulipa eichleri

cheers
fermi

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Fermi,

I am very envious of your clump of Iris taochia. I have always struggled a bit with this one but maybe it was poor plantsmanship on my behalf at the begining. Do you ever have any problems with rust where you are? I also like your while anemone pavonina and look forward to seeing it eventually growing here from your generous gift of seeds.

I have Rod Barwick's N. canaliculatus series (at great expense) - do you have the others as well?

I am going to put out a seed list from my latest trip in the next couple of weeks but from then ... ? Who knows?

Cheers, Marcus

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Folks,

A few more for today:

Ranunculus ficaria Collarette - wierd but interesting.
Cyclamen pseudibericum - lovely thing - alas I don't have the pale form anymore.
Narcissus alpestris - always reminds me of one Snow White's dwarfs, Droopy I suppose
Bellevalia pycnantha - Fermi has already posted this - I love its inky black crumpled bells

Cheers, Marcus

PS Fermi - How is Iris retic Snow White going?

[Stephen Vella]

Nice lot of picks

Marcus I love that Ranunculus collarette..very differant...and I Hope your feeling better.

Fermi the Anemone pavonina is very nice...something you dont see much of..nice colour. have you any other colours?

cheers

[Stephen Vella]

One of my attempts of hybridising...

[fleurbleue]

Well done Stephen, 

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Stephen,

I am feeling better thanks. What did you use to create the picotee or did you start with one?

Lesley, I have some pictures of Iris unguicularis from my seed. I gave David Glenn of Lambley Nursery a load of seed and he is currently growing over 200! He says there has been considerable variation and they don't conform to the expected purple/central orange stripe. The ones from Kedros in Crete appear to be a better match. But all are included in the subspecies.

Anyway here are a few of his pictures (note the upright habit of these plants).

Cheers, Marcus

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Again,

Weather going crazy again

Three fritillaria from Hill View:

Fritillaria thessala Yellow(ish) - nice contrasting rusty red edging
Fritillaria amana - standard commercial clone - did have Goksan Gold but seems to have gone AWOL
Fritillaria moggerridgei - Long haul to flowering from Gotenborg seed - lost the provinence details - thats how long it took!

Cheers, Marcus

[Hillview croconut]

Hi again,

Bits and bobs:

Narcissus cordubensis - pale form from Rannweig and Bob Wallis
Narcissus bulbocodium ssp praecox
Muscari Sky Blue - one of Janis' suite of offerings

Cheers, Marcus

[fermi de Sousa]

I'll be waiting for that seedlist, Marcus!
here are more spring offerings from the garden
A DBI which might be 'Raspberry Jam'
And some tulips in bud:
T. greiggii
T.aitchisonii ssp. clusioides
T.eichleri
and T. cretica
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Seed list for me too please Marcus. I need more seed at this time like I need a hole in the head but being addicted..... A very kindly Forumist who has been sending me seed recently and who is aware of mt addiction, says he feels like a drug pusher

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi the Anemone pavonina is very nice...something you dont see much of..nice colour. have you any other colours?

Hi Stephen,
this group was from seed and mainly are white +/- reddish shades; we also have a bright red one from Garry Reid; we did have a white with blue shading to it from Viv years ago but it doesn't look like it's still with us.
Lesley,
addiction is addiction! Will keeps threatening to run an intervention whenever I cover all the work areas in the kitchen/dining room with boxes of envelopes, seed packets, labels, etc!
cheers
fermi