October 2012 in the Northern Hemisphere

[Casalima]

Super Acer, Rob!!

And further congratulations, Paddy and Mary!

[Paddy Tobin]

Thank you, Chloe.

[meanie]

Lovely everyone, especially the Arum on the first page!

I feel a little cheeky posting my pics here as I've neglected this forum for a goodly while, but when you move to a garden that is full of Japanese anenomes, Hemorcallis, Teasel etc you are left with little time! The Japanese anenomes in particular are a constant bane despite having sieved the soil

Anyway...............

Passiflora alata was bought as one of the cheap Dutch shed cuttings. Grown well in the greenhouse, but just the two blooms over the last few weeks. Happy anyway.


Passiflora "Amethyst" was a rescue from Sainsburys (I'm embarrassed to say) for a couple of quid. Been a total success!


Polygala myrtifolia has bloomed all summer and continues to produce lots of fresh blooms..................


Fuchsia procumbens from Kims seed (thanks!)


Grevillea juniperina had a torrid time earlier in the year producing lots of buds which blasted. Looks fantastic now though!




A few of my Tricyrtis have struggled this year, partly due to poor positioning on my part I suspect. "Taiwan Adbane" has only just started to bloom..............


Saving the best till last, my plant of the year is Bomarea hirtella. Still in bloom in the greenhouse, it went from seed to bloom in less than a year and has produced a good number of flowers.

[daveyp1970]

Very nice love the P.alata only if i had a bigger greenhouse 

[meanie]

Very nice love the P.alata only if i had a bigger greenhouse 

Had a nice surprise today when I was unravelling the greenhouse climbers to bubble wrap it for the winter - a third one that I hadn't seen coming!

[Hoy]

You have some nice plants, meanie!

Here are a few from my garden, pictures taken yesterday when we had some sun for the first time in weeks! Some are still in flower, some have draped themselves in the autumn colours. The last one is inside now after a summer outside and in the greenhouse.

Cyclamen hederifolium, Enkianthus campanulatus, Euonymus elata, Impatiens sp., Lilium poilanei, Primula capitata, Vanda.

[meanie]

Hoy - that is a lovely Impatiens, but I am totally green with envy over your Vanda! It is truly fantastic!

[meanie]

Here are a few more that are still blooming today. None of the photos were taken today (sorry!) as it's raining. I appreciate that most are outside of the majority of members interest but I'm rather pleased with these.

Cerinthe palestina from seed sent to me by Miriam in Isreal.............


A couple of climbers;
Seed grown Rhodochiton astrosanguineum (spelling?) has bloomed terrifically this year................


One of my favourite climbers, Sollya heterophylla..................


Leonotis nepetifolia has struggled this summer and only started blooming over the last few weeks at a metre and a half or so.................


Seed grown Abutilon (x hybridum?) has produced a steady number of flowers all summer in its first year...............


Iochroma cyanea................


And finally one of my "Desert Island Plants" - Clerodendrum ugandense. Very definitely the last of this years flowers, the foliage is looking rather distressed and begging me to put it under cover!

 

[meanie]

At the risk of boring you the last few (same applies as last time - it's too wet today to take fresh photos).

Salvia "Wendys Wish" has burst back into bloom since I lifted it!


Alstromeria psittacina................


Impatiens niamniamensis has thrived since I planted it out in the main bed this summer! Now being steadily chopped up for cuttings, but what's left is still flowering profusely. These pics were taken on Sunday.

[Paul T]

Meanie,

Excellent pictures, all of them.  Some wonderful stuff in there.  I love that last Impatiens.... what a beauty.  Never seen anything like that here.  Is the Cerinthe distinct from the "yellow" forms of Cerinthe major, or is that just what the yellow ones are commonly known as when they're actually you're species?  How does the Leonotis differ from Leonotis leonurus?  I didn't realise until now that there were different species in that genus.  I keep wanting to track down the other colour forms of leonurus but never manage to find them.  I grow the orange and love it, but know of a yellow and a white form as well.  Now you've got me wondering how many others there are out there. 

Thanks again for the excellent photos.  So clear and precise. 

[meanie]

Meanie,

Excellent pictures, all of them.  Some wonderful stuff in there.  I love that last Impatiens.... what a beauty.  Never seen anything like that here.

Had this little beauty blooming in a pot outdoors all summer - Impatiens kilimanjari..................

Is the Cerinthe distinct from the "yellow" forms of Cerinthe major, or is that just what the yellow ones are commonly known as when they're actually you're species?

Sorry - the correct spelling is C.palaestina. It's a distinct species native to Isreal. I had seeds for the yellow form of C.major (Yellow Gem?) but they failed to germinate.

How does the Leonotis differ from Leonotis leonurus?  I didn't realise until now that there were different species in that genus.  I keep wanting to track down the other colour forms of leonurus but never manage to find them.  I grow the orange and love it, but know of a yellow and a white form as well.  Now you've got me wondering how many others there are out there. 

Thanks again for the excellent photos.  So clear and precise. 

Mostly the foliage. Nepetifolia is shield shaped, whereas leonotis is lance shaped.................

Not sure if Chilterns can supply you guys down there but here are the seeds for the white form............
http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item.php?id=775G

[Maggi Young]

Super photos, meanie.

We use to have the Solleya, which we knew by the name Billardiera heterophylla growing on a south facing wall for quite a few years. It was one of the really bad, long spells of minus 19 degrees or so that killed it.   

[meanie]

That would do for it Maggi! It's quite happy in a shed frost free, but certainly not -19!

There still seems to be some confusion over the Sollya/Billardiera thing.

[Leon]

We escaped a threat of freeze a couple of weeks ago.  Tonight we are suppose to drop into the upper 20s(°F).   We will see if we survive this one too.   Passiflora belotii has been opening 3 to 6 blooms each day and the plant is loaded with buds that will continue to open if weather permits.  This Passiflora has been most reliable for me each year.   The flowers are sterile and the plant uses all of its energy to set new blossoms rather than using it to ripen fruit.   I picked my original plant up at a garden show 9 years ago. 



Passiflora belotii

[Paul T]

There is the most amazing architecture in a passiflora flower.  Thanks for showing us.  In combo with Meanie's pics at the start of this page, they are a beautiful range of them.