Image of the day - 2012

That Orthosiphon (never heard of the genus though) reminds me of a Cleome  :o Very nice!

You seem to have some great colours yourself, Cohan ;)

Lori, nice view and walk! We have no native laches in Norway but several species are planted. It is a small larch wood not far from here. It always gets nice yellow colour in fall - but later!

Whitish colours are rare here although I have seen it. The commonest colours are yellow-brown.
Cohan are you sure it isn't caterpillars or beetles gnawing on the leaves in the wood?

Cohan, that forest floor looks very alien! But it makes me think of a song by Mike Oldfield: "Moonlight shadow" ;D

Which species of horsetail is it?
The butterbur seems to have a spreading habit but I like the ground covering effect of it. Have you showed the inflorescence somewhere?

Smilacina racemosa spreads into sizeable colonies, making gorgeous clusters of fruit on cascading stems.  When the berrirs first color up, they are richly speckled.  These photos were taken mid September, a couple weeks ago, now the fruits are blood red.  I pull out lots of seedlings as they spread a bit too easily, but since they're slow to get establish and grow to any significant size, they don't pose any real risk of weediness.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MARAR

I really like the speckled stage of the berries.  They were common in the woods where I grew up and survived in the soil between the forks of the root flares of old trees in the yard... With his lawn mower, Dad couldn't get them there! ;D

RickR wrote:

I really like the speckled stage of the berries.  They were common in the woods where I grew up and survived in the soil between the forks of the root flares of old trees in the yard... With his lawn mower, Dad couldn't get them there! ;D

Too funny... this species can be considered weedy, and can flourish even in very dry root-ridden shade, but when one considers its overall attributes, it really is a fine plant, one of those that will grow, flower, and fruit in dry shade, conditions that are normally considered hopeless by the general public.

Smilacina racemosa/Maianthemum racemosum is a favorite of mine! I have two clones but neither get berries :-\ Not strange though as on colony has dwindled and not flowered the last years, seems it doesn't like competition from Ichtyoselmis macrantha (Dicentra m.) and Impatiens omeiana.
Maybe I should try to increase the genetic diversity! Anybody who has berries to spare ;)

Cohan, I am interested in all 3 species!

Here is a picture taken today of the Impatiens omeiana, swamping its neighbours! It is very late flowering and buds have barely formed. Usually they open in October. This year it is very late due to the rainy and cool weather we have had the last months.

Lori wrote:

Symmetry... Carduncellus pinnatus:

Symmetry - and very disadvantageous for the any neighbours ;)

Tim wrote:

Trond, that Impatiens is a tremendous sight - it seems to be all the while wilting with us. It really doesn't look as though it would be hardy. I have grown Dicentra macrantha fleetingly; it is a very beautiful plant but again needs more moisture than we can give it - its new name makes it sound like a dinosaur!

It is quite hardy but very late flowering! Some years it don't reach to open the flower buds before the onset of winter.
- and Ichtyoselmis sounds very fishy in my opinion!

Cohan, hope you find some ;)
Thank you for the info about the Petasites. I have been afraid of that genus as the species I know get too big and invasive, but your species seems to behave itself!

Here is the fishy plant now - or some of it, among ferns:

I'm watching the seed "cone" development on Arisaema sikokianum carefully, as my two largest plants set impressive spires of developing seed. These plants miraculously survived the storm-induced felling of an enormous sugar maple tree that caused considerable damage of nearly trees and plants, additional damage from unavoidable trampling by expert tree cutters.  But now I have a new fear, with the demise of this tree, and a whole swath of screen plants and younger trees alongside the country road where I live, these plants are now plainly in view from the street.

This afternoon I noticed some people who were walking by, they stopped and were pointing to something in the garden; when I approached they quickly continued on their walk; when I looked around to see what might be catching their attention, surely it is these large corn-like fruit structures, plainly visible now that the foliage is dying off.  Once these turn brilliant red, my worry is someone will help themselves.

One whole cone is allocated to my friend who gave me this species in the first place. She became ill and gave away most of her plants when she planned to move away, but fortunately she recovered, decided to stay where she is, and now would like to grow these plants again; she's a terrific grower of woodland plants including Arisaema.  Myself, I am going to make a dedicated sowing on the other seed "cone" to make a major increase in how many plants I have, a one-time push for significant plant increase.

Those fruit cones certainly are impressive, Mark.  I think your fear is well founded.  It just amazes me that people think that picking flowers out of someone else's yard is not stealing, let alone a woodland garden.

You'll never stop people who really want to steal, but I think your only option is to cage them in with chicken wire (over the top, too) to show that they are for you only.

RickR wrote:

Those fruit cones certainly are impressive, Mark.  I think your fear is well founded.  It just amazes me that people think that picking flowers out of someone else's yard is not stealing, let alone a woodland garden.

You'll never stop people who really want to steal, but I think your only option is to cage them in with chicken wire (over the top, too) to show that they are for you only.

I think you're right... this afternoon I was totally out of wire-fabric, need to buy more.  I definitely will do exactly that, wire them in to show they are protected and not for general picking.

Mark, are the two plants one clone or different specimens? If they are different I would keep half of each cone and give away the other half of each to increase genetic diversity.
Hopefully nobody steals any!
Occasionally kids pick flowers along the road but only once to my knowledge, did somebody pick seed. And those were from a special peony; they weren't ripe either :-\

Mark-A. consanguinium grows quite well in full sun so no worry there, also you will find that they produce copious numbers of side bulbs , more than enough to replenish your needs and those of friends and family.

Harold wrote:

Mark-A. consanguinium grows quite well in full sun so no worry there, also you will find that they produce copious numbers of side bulbs , more than enough to replenish your needs and those of friends and family.

Harold, sadly I can't grow Arisaema consanguineum (thus far), I tried several times, both from seed and as tubers.  In my latest experiment, I planted out about 50-60 seedlings in 2011, and this spring just 3-4 seedlings showed up very late (in late June or July), and quickly either went dormant or died off.  Maybe as you suggest, I should try them in full sun, I had planted them in shade.

A. consanguinium emerge late here also, but immediately reach full size, often four feet or more.  They remain green and handsome up to hard frost.  I have them in a variety of situations as they reproduce so rapidly I always have many to give away.  They seem to thrive in average garden soil with decent drainage, not particularly well drained necessarily-good luck.  I always have corms to spare so if we cross paths sometime I will gladly pass a few on-I attended one BNARGS  meeting this year and plan to attend a few next year also- will let you know and perhaps we can meet there.

Definitely more artistic, and a perfect image of the day!
Great color hue.

I really like photos that show clearly parts of the plant, too, and this one is both. :)

As an antidote to the snow ... Gran Paradiso Alpine Garden, Italy this summer.

Leontopodium alpinum

And the Edelweiss photo has such detail.

  I've never looked "into" one before...

Thanks, Cliff!

Thanks guys.

Ranunculus glacialis and Myosotis alpestris co-habiting on an exposed ridge overlooking the Marmolada glacier and Lake Fedai at Porta Vescova, Arabba, Dolomites. Italy.

Excellent pictures as usual, Cliff! Make me long for summer :)

Got some hail and sleet last night and I was awakened by thunder early this morning.
Some plants still keep going though like this Fuchsia 'Mrs Popple'.

I wish Fuchsia were hardy here...I tried magellanica one year but no go.

Campanula makaschavilii is still blooming....we still have not had a frost or any sort so many spring bloomers are starting to flower again...not good.

A pot of Crocus tournefortii at our Botanical Garden

Very fine pot full of C. tournefortii there Todd!

Trollius Europaeus (Globe Flower) at Cinque Torre in the Dolomites.

Tiny gentian in a hollow in a limestone boulder, Dolomites.

Frances, nice to have such a pretty wand of campanula bloom so late in the season. Not familiar with the name Campanula makaschvilii, I looked it up; listed as a species from the Caucasus in Graham Nicholls "Dwarf Campanulas" book, stating "it resembles a smaller less hairy C. alliariifolia", and The Plant List considers it a synonym of C. alliariifolia.  Here are a few links to photos of C. alliariifolia.

http://www.robsplants.com/plants/CampaAllia
http://jardinsmichelcorbeil.com/images/camp.%20alliar.jpg
http://luirig.altervista.org/cpm/albums/bot-units04/campanula-alliariifo...

My guess is your plant is actually Campanula punctata, particularly the form going around as C. takesimana, considered a synonym of C. punctata by both Graham Nicholls and The Plant List.  I've grown many forms of C. punctata, which took me a decade to eradicate (mostly), but I fear I have lost the battle with C. "takesimana"; the only way to deal with it invading my lawn and garden and surrounding woods, will be to move to a new location.  It is most floriferous, with voluminous showers of big white pink-tinged bells, a beautiful plant but an aggressive invader all the same.  I consider this the most invasive plant I have ever witnessed in my near half century gardening in New England.  The slightest piece of the stringy white roots and runners left behind when digging out the plant, gleefully sprout many new plants. The dust like seed wind-disperse far and wide, germinating most anywhere too. So watch your plant very carefully for signs of spreading, you might want to take drastic action.

Campanula "takesimana" seeded into a lawn area, then spread into an are under a large Katsura tree.  I've not been able to eradicate it once it gets into the lawn, it has been impossible to remove when entwined through the tough surface roots of the Katsura tree.

Campanula "takesimana" will show some variation in color (white through pinkish and lavender shades), degree of color spotting, flower shape and degree of petal tip flaring. Beautiful in flower, but I shudder when I see the wands of bloom, and all the seed and runners it'll be making.

Campanula punctata alba, that sowed itself in front of the stone wall that fronts my property and the street.  There are numerous color deep forms of punctata, all are beautiful, all are to be avoided.  Even when grown in pots, the roots will come out of the drainage holes and invade any nearly soil medium.