October 2012 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Lesley Cox]

So you did that cross yourself Lesley? Not a wild one. Very well done. It seems that may be the only way we are to get new plants in Australia and New Zealand, i.e. make them ourselves from what is already here. The only reason I wish I were 40 years younger. Well, perhaps there are a couple of other reasons too, like arthritis yet to come instead of being well established.

You won't be enjoying today's weather I guess. I've gone back to thermal shirt and longjohns under everything else.

Last night at OAGG we had an excellent talk from Otago University botanist Janice Lord, about a trip she and 3 others took in the early summer of 2010 to Campbell Island. It was an excellent talk with brilliant images and I went to sleep later dreaming of Bulbinella rossii, Pleurophyllum speciosum and the other fabulous megaherbs. Janice and her colleagues discovered much new information about several aspects of these plants but especially of their pollination characteristics. It seems the plants conserve the little heat there is from the sun, to ripen their pollen at just the right moment for the pollinators  and the flowers remain warm after the leaves and stems have cooled. It was all quite complicated and I haven't explained it well but was easily seen from the use of thermal imaging cameras alongside their digital models. Janice's own special interest was in Stilbocarpa and she had several stouches with the true Lords of the Island, the great bull sea elephants who were, it seemed, determined to keep her away from her target plants. We (the Group) are wondering how we can wangle a field trip to Campbell Island.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Folks,


Just a quick post of some Australian natives flowering where I was working yesterday.

Telopea truncata - The Tasmanian waratah in bud
Telopea hybrid - I think its a hybrid between T. speciosissima and T. oreades but I'm no expert.
Banksia marginata - Virtually our only native banksia here, except for one population of B. serrata in the north.

Cheers, Marcus

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the heads up on orchid growing Stephen. It would be great if you followed up with answers to Paul's excellent questions. I will be reading them for sure .

Just a few more pics for today:

3 forms of Fritillaria meleagris.
Bellevalia pycnantha - I LOVE this plant! (so do the slugs)

Cheers, Marcus

[fermi de Sousa]

This morning I wasn't the only one to enjoy this seedling Peony!
And I'm afraid that there's been some "vulgarising" of the Aquilegia fragrans - nevermind, it's still alovely thing.
cheers
fermi

[angie]

Really like those Telopea 

Angie 

[Stephen Vella]

Hi Paul and Marcus.... About the dact seed raising mix.. It's a mix that I make for raising seedlings in general. 1 part fine quarts sand ,4 parts bark fines, 1/2 parts coco peat and a little perlite and pasturize. the bark fines are like the ones found in general potting mix for indoor plants and not cymbidium orchid mixes which are too big.. Terrestrial orchids like general gritty mixed with a little coco fibre.
The seed is sown straight away in spring when it arrives from os and the first " grass" like leaves appear late September a year later after a cold winter. I place my pots in the shade and keep cool with a few hours of morning sun and fert at 1/4 strength a few times. I've seen these pots dry out and no harm was done, they are tough little things and their roots hold plenty of reserves.
Hope this helps
Cheers

[Lesley Cox]

These few are in flower (or good colour) now, everything struggling against almost constant rain and frequent high winds. I don't think I've ever known an October like this one. Usually it's a beautiful month in the south.

Two pics of one of my most favourite things, Rubus x Tridel 'Benendon.'

Cytisus x Kewensis, a weeping shrublet but for now potted and sprawling over others in a tray. The white is Ranunculus amplexicaulis



Hosta 'Kabitan,' a real dwarf of brilliant colour and a recent gift from a friend when I mentioned I lost mine a few years back.

And a cut-leaved elder which I have as Sambucus racemosa aurea, from a stall at the market.

Daphne  'Persabee,' one of two bought at the last NZAGS Study Weekend. I hope the coming event yields as good plants.

Everything here is in pots and trays, awaiting a major move in February 2013.

[Lvandelft]

Two pics of one of my most favourite things, Rubus x Tridel 'Benendon.'

One of my favorites too, but tried it many years ago. Planted two times and lost it as many times. Though near the coast but probably too cold here ?

[Lesley Cox]

That's a shame Luit as it is a real beauty and so well behaved considering it's a blackberry. But for unknown reasons I'm now finding it very hard to propagate. For years (I had it first in 1981) I did many cuttings each year, mostly of soft wood after flowering and had every one root. For the last 3 years, I've lost every cutting I've taken, at the same time and later ones when the wood has ripened a little, say early autumn. Why is this? It's important now too as I want a lot of little plants - or at least one - to move in February. I'm continually asked for it but can oblige recently.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

Have you tried layering it?  Knicking the stem underside and pegging down and covering it (you can even put a bit of hormone onto the knick if you want) may get you a piece or two in time?

[Lesley Cox]

No I haven't tried that Paul. It would be worth a go, but I can't understand why it was so easy and now it is so difficult.

[rob krejzl]

There is an article in the March 2011 edition of The Plantsman "Plant ageing and its effect on stem cuttings", which says in general terms that the ability of a woody plant to produce roots from it's stems declines with the chronological/physiological age of the cultivar (each generation of cuttings shares the age of their ultimate parent). If the cuttings taken include the basal swelling at the bottom of a shoot they will have greater vigour than those taken from the upper part of a shoot, and therefore a greater chance of success.

[Tim Ingram]

That is a wonderful plant of Daphne Lesley. I have a form of this on my sand bed which grows well but just won't flower, and I think many people find they flower better when grafted or grown in tufa. I have found the same with D. arbuscula which is now probably 2ft across in a gritty bed but only flowers sparsely, and yet plants in pots in a greenhouse have flowered really well in the past. Plants can test your patience!

[Hoy]

One of my favorites too, but tried it many years ago. Planted two times and lost it as many times. Though near the coast but probably too cold here ?

Should be hardy at your place, as Phillips & Rix report it hardy down to -20C. I grew it for several years but had to move it and it died of neglect 
According to P & R the name is 'Tridel Benenden' from Benenden in Kent.

[Lvandelft]

and it died of neglect 

Thanks for the information. Don't remember exactly because too many years ago. Thought it was hardy enough, so thinking of "just a bramble"
I am afraid that I have lost it by neglect?