Wisley LOG 7/11

[mark smyth]

I want sorry would like Massonias. What stunning plants.

How do I get to Wisley for the Hepatica day? Nearest airport and tube/bus please

[mark smyth]

sorry of course it's November

[heinz tessner]

what fantastic pictures: love this bulbs. A "must-see"
Many thanks for sharing. Now I "must" try to get more

Regards

Heinz

[Andrew]

Just two suppliers listed here in the UK and no listing for P. pygmaea which I saw when I visited in October .

[Maggi Young]

Andrew, do you mean only two suppliers of Massonia? 

What is the P. in P. pygmaea, please?
There was talk elswhere of Polyxena pygmaea, but do you mean MASSONIA pygmaea?

[mark smyth]

Ones the masked robber that I sometimes use!

[Paul Cumbleton]

There are indeed few suppliers of Massonia. Don't know which ones you already saw, but Terry Smale often has some ( see www.smale1.demon.co.uk/  -  though too late for this year of course). The best thing is to grow them from seed - they only take two to three years to flowering size. Details of technique on my next Wisley Log (due about 22 Nov). Good sources of supply are Gordon Summerfield or Silverhill Seeds. Another good option is to join the South African Bulb Group ( see http://biodiversity.cs.cf.ac.uk/sabg/ for details). Although this is essentially a group for those living in the South East of England, so getting to meetings is out for many of you, we nevertheless have our own seed and bulb exchange, which this year did include quite a few Massonias so you could have got some for almost no cost.

As for getting to Wisley for next year's Hepatica event Mark, Heathrow is the nearest airport. For further details of exactly how to locate and get to Wisley, see the RHS website's pages on Wisley starting at www.rhs.org.uk/WhatsOn/Gardens/wisley/

[mark smyth]

How to Reach RHS Garden Wisley

By road
The garden lies between Cobham and Ripley in Surrey, off the main London to Portsmouth road (A3) south of Junction 10 of the M25.

Follow the brown tourist flower signs on the A3 and M25 to RHS Garden. Car parking is free.
 
By bus
515 Kingston to Guildford via Surbiton and Wisley. For details call National Traveline on 0870 608 2608.

By rail
Waterloo to Portsmouth line.
Nearest Railway Stations: West Byfleet BR (3 miles) or Woking BR (4 miles) and then by taxi.
NB: There are no taxis on standby at West Byfleet.
Guildford BR station (10 miles) and then by 515 bus to Kingston stopping at Wisley Garden.

The Surrey Parks and Gardens Explorer Bus
This bus (service 515) runs once an hour Monday to Saturday, and four times a day on Sundays (service 515A). It stops at Surbiton, Esher, Claremont Gardens, Painshill Park, RHS Garden Wisley and Guildford.
For details call National Traveline on 0870 608 2608.
Show your 515 bus ticket and get the reduced entry rate of £5.50 (normal rate £7.50) into the garden.

RHS Wisley Bus
The Wisley Bus operates from Woking Railway Station to RHS Garden Wisley, from Monday 30 April to Friday 28 September 2007; Monday to Friday only, including bank holidays.
It leaves Woking Railway Station at 11.15am (pick-up point at the Wisley Bus Stop on The Broadway; on the town side of the station).
It leaves Wisley at 4.30pm to return to Woking Railway Station.
Return fares: adults £5, children £2.50, payable to the bus driver.
There will be a 'Wisley Gardens' sign with an RHS logo on the bus’ destination board to identify it.

Go by public transport
Visitors who produce their train or bus ticket on the day of their visit will gain entry at the Group Rate.

[SueG]

Great to see the Massonias, I've just joined the SA bulb group and have kindly been given some massonia seed, so can't wait for the next installment on how to grow them. What good news that they are so quick to flower too!
Sue

[Maggi Young]

What good news that they (Massonias) are so quick to flower too!

I'm impressed by that timescale, never having grown them from seed I somehow thought they would take longer. Perhaps I am just so used to so many of the things we grow taking umpteen years to flower that I am broken down to expect that from everything!
Perhaps I should sprout some mung beans to cheer myself up?

[Andrew]

Andrew, do you mean only two suppliers of Massonia? 

Yes, as listed by the RHS plant finder.

What is the P. in P. pygmaea, please?

There was talk elswhere of Polyxena pygmaea, but do you mean MASSONIA pygmaea?

Yes, Senior moment

[Hans J]

Hi all ,

I have in this time still seeds of Massonia pustulata from my own plants -if anybody is interestet to swap .....please PM me !
I have grown my plants from seeds ( bougth from a german Cacti Nursery ) -they need from sowing till flowering araound 10 years - but I think it is possibly to make it faster....

Greetings
Hans

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hans I am really surprised that your seeds took 10 years to flower - Massonias are usually very quick to flower from seed. I have grown all the species this way and nearly all have flowered in their 3rd year. Perhaps you were unlucky and got a form that behaves differently. How did you grow them?

[Hans J]

Hi Paul ,

Yes - I think also I make a lot wrong - but in this time I had really no knowlwgde for this plants .
I have read one article about in a german Cacti bulletin and with a lot of luck I have get this seeds .
I had treat them like my cacti - this was not so good - they all summergrowers . After some years I had realized that they growing in winter and they like in summer dry .....
That was really learning by doing ! ( from all this seedlings have survived two ....) but now they grow happy !
I'm a patient grower - my Erytrina christa - galli has flowered after sowing first in 12 years !
A cacti ( Lobivia bruchii ) that I have growing from seeds ( w.c. in year 1986 ) shows his first buds last year.....

[Loripep]

Any chance there will be some sort of publication of the hepatica presentations given at Wisley for us international folk?

Lori