October 2012 in the Southern Hemisphere

[Lesley Cox]

I'm not really into bumping people off Paul, either literally or verbally.

[Paul T]

Apologies for my attempt at humour, Lesley.

[Lesley Cox]

Hey Paul, we need more laughs.

[Hillview croconut]

Hi Folks,

Thanks Stephen for your suggestions regarding orchid raising mix, etc.

Lesley, who imported the Daphne petraea forms into NZ in the first place? I have lost my one and only one and my one and only D. jasminea . Read the signs too late - desperately tried to graft and root cuttings but the b ... ers were already on the way out. On the upside I do now have 3 plants of D. blagyana from layerings .

A bit of a ragbag to post:

Paeonia peregrina - I've seen this in northern Greece. Big tomato sauce red for me but I like the celery-like leaves
Calochortus albus  - easy here as is rubellus and I have just flowered C. amoenus which is a star!
Ornithogalum ?  - Found in the middle of the Peleponnese just east of Tripolis. I like it but does anyone have a name?

Cheers, Marcus

[Hillview croconut]

Hello again,

I saw that Lesley was complaining about her horrible October. We have had very cool and clammy conditions  throughout this month and botrytis is starting to rear its ugly head. Seen here in the first picture of Tulipa vvedenskyi/crosses. Little pitted marks on the leaves and flowers.

The next is a good old stalwart that never bats an eye at the dreaded bot. Only wish it was a little bit more spectacular - Tulipa urumiensis.

One more straggling corydalis - Corydalis allenii. All the leaves on C. solida ssp transsylvanica eaten off by rabbits!!


Cheers, Marcus

[fermi de Sousa]

Marcus,
you might need to move to a drier climate - nice place up the street for sale!

I'm thrilled to see this little "grass" burst into bloom! Of course, it is Aphyllanthes monspeliensis, but when out of bloom could be mistalen for blue fescue!
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Marcus,

I like the Tulip..... I think I'd be happy with that little burst of sunshine in my garden in spring, particularly if it was cold and clammy.    Definitely not the case here at the moment.... wild and windy, with 27'C and things wilting in the garden from the warmth and the wind stripping moisture out of everything.  Horticultural Society Show this weekend, so this will wreck a lot of potential entries in gardens around Canberra. 

Fermi,

I love that Aphyllanthes monspeliensis?  I love the flower and such a good colour.  Is it something you grew from seed, or is it available somewhere?  I'm guessing that looks are deceptive and that it isn't a bulb or as grassy as it looks at first glance.  Are the green bits actually stems, because they look like they've got the potential for flowers at the end of each stem?  How big are the flowers?

Thanks for the excellent pics folks.

[Lesley Cox]

Glad to see you have the Aphyllanthes Fermi. It's rare, here at any rate. So far as I know it belongs to Liliaceae Paul and comes from Spain and thereabouts znd the flower is perhaps 1.5 to 2cms across. An English guest speaker showed a poor wild picture of it here some years ago, saying "here's a very rare plant you will never have seen before." A member of the audience stood and said she and her sister-in-law had bought plants of it that very morning from me.

[kiwi]

An interesting intergeneric hybrid flowering for me at the moment, Celmisia's starting to flower also.
A first flower on my Ranunculus lyallii from seed - not the best bloom, but I'm stoked to have it!
My multi talented wife cleaning up our new driveway.
The new planting, watch this space.........

    Anaphaloides bellidioides × Helichrysum lanceolatum.1.JPG
    Anaphaloides bellidioides × Helichrysum lanceolatum.2.JPG
    Celmisia hectori.JPG
    Celmisia hieracifolia.JPG
    pittosporum divaricatum.JPG
    Ranunculus lyallii.JPG
    DSC_4654.JPG
    DSC_4655.JPG

[Maggi Young]

Lots happening there, Doug - plant wise and in hard landscaping too. Good to see how you are getting on.  Congratulations, by the way, to your Lady Wife for her  sterling efforts in the project!

P.S. I've added the photo file names to your post to allow the search facility to find the pix.

[Paul T]

Here's a couple of things in flower at present.

Geissorhiza monanthos has a wonderful satiny sheen to the flowers.

Camellia 'Dahlonega' is flowering for me for the first time now.  I don't think it is quite as yellow as in the pic, but it is definitely the yellowest formal double I've seen.  It is gorgeous.

Please click on the pic for a larger version.

[Lesley Cox]

Maggi, that was a really nice idea to use photos of various Forumists in the latest IRG issue. I feel greatly honoured that a few of mine are used and yes, you certainly have permission to use anything you want.

[kiwi]

Got to love Celmisia.
Celmisia allanii, C. dallii, C. X hybrid, and C. bellidioides.

[kiwi]

A few more NZ natives Ranunculus insignis, R. ensyii, R. multiscapus.
Leucogenes leontopodium.

The last shot is my first ever buds on Meconopsis horridula, I can't wait.....

[ranunculus]

Excellent pic's, Doug ... especially the buttercups, of course!!!