Flowering now in the Southern Hemisphere

Just a little taste of what we have seen here at our trip to Argentina. Have been an interesting and adventurous tour so far. Still 4 days left! So far we have seen more than 10 species of rosulate violas.

Viola vulcanica Viola columnaris or a similar species

Steve Newall (not verified)

Hope we get a full report

Sun, 12/15/2013 - 10:20am

Hope we get a full report Trond . Shame you couldn't stay down south for a traditional southern hemisphere Christmas - BBQ , sunscreen , jandals and cold beer

Hi Steve, Claire has as you

Thu, 12/19/2013 - 2:20pm

Hi Steve, Claire has as you probably have seen, already started a topic on Argentina. I have joined in. During the next days (weeks??) you will get a taste of the trip!

Regarding Xmas I prefer cold weather at that time but during the trip I tasted the beer (and excellent wine) at several occations and used my jandals a lot! We even had a BBQ at the last evening in Chos Malal.

cohan (not verified)

Lots of beauties everyone-

Sun, 12/22/2013 - 11:23am

Lots of beauties everyone- thanks for keeping us supplied with living colour! Trond- the Argentina trip looks great! Were i to find myself in the southern hemisphere, or anywhere warm! for Christmas, I would not miss the snow or cold, no matter how scenic it is...lol

Toole (not verified)

cohan wrote:

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 1:25pm

[quote=cohan]

Were i to find myself in the southern hemisphere, or anywhere warm! for Christmas, I would not miss the snow or cold, no matter how scenic it is...lol

[/quote]

Some xmas cheer .

Here's a couple of Martagon Lilies .

Arisaema jacquemontii raised from seed.

Heuchera ,(or is it x Heucherella ? --I can't remember ), have such a long flowering period --they just go on and on........

A couple of late flowers on Cornus canadensis.

Cheers Dave.

Not the plants I connect with

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 1:46pm

Not the plants I connect with Christmas but very nice and homely - in 6 months I can see them in my own garden!

Just a shrub or two in flower here at home now although the weather is very mild for the season. A storm is brewing and expected to hit tomorrow!

Cohan, here you can see the

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 1:51pm

Cohan, here you can see the weather we had for 3 weeks

Toole (not verified)

Arisaema consanguineum

Tue, 12/31/2013 - 11:07am

Arisaema consanguineum

Lilium pardalinum .Looks like the clump needs dividing as there is a mass of vegetation and only a couple of blooms .

Happy New Year everyone.

Cheers Dave.

This Zauschneria came from a

Wed, 01/08/2014 - 6:50pm

This Zauschneria came from a friend who couldn't give it a full botanical name but did recommend it for a hot spot in the garden where it's doing very well!

cheers

fermi

Really nice one Fermi, I'm

Sat, 01/04/2014 - 7:42am

Really nice one Fermi, I'm not expert in the Zauschneria species (now Epilobium, although most everyone still calls them Zauschneria), but this one might be Z. canum, judging from the very silvery foliage. Lovely plant, but keep an eye on it for spreading tendencies.

In my attempt to overhaul parts of my garden this past summer and fall, I made a half-hearted attempt to rip out Z. garrettii; just too much spread (it romped to about 2 meters x 2 meters), smothering everything around it. I noticed several weeks later billions of fresh shoots coming up, oh my! This one can be nice if given enough room, with soft greyish green foliage, but often stingy with its orangish-red flowers in late summer and autumn.

Thanks, Dave and Mark,

Sat, 01/04/2014 - 10:00pm

Thanks, Dave and Mark,

I'm well aware of its spreading abilities, having had one "colonize" an entire (1m x 2m) rock mound in a previous garden!

This one has only been in the ground 2 years and has not yet shown any tendency to sucker.

Yesterday while driving home on the "back road" (the Burke & Wills Track) we saw a patch of vibrant blue which we knew would be the native "Blue Devil", Eryngium ovinum. I didn't have the camera but plucked a couple of spikey stems to bring home (hopefully some seed will ripen!) and I got a pic this morning against the cultivated E. planum (or is it E. maritimum?) - the more vivid amethyst coloring of the wilding is quite eye-catching and I hope we can establish it despite the risk to finger-tips when weeding around it!

cheers

fermi

Hi Fermi, so which is which,

Tue, 01/07/2014 - 6:56pm

Hi Fermi, so which is which, I can't tell which photo is E. ovinum and which is E. planum, they're not identified.

Lori S. (not verified)

Looks like <i>E. planum</i>

Tue, 01/07/2014 - 9:07pm

Looks like E. planum is in the background of the first photo, with a cut stem of the other one in the foreground, no?

Lori S. wrote:

Wed, 01/08/2014 - 3:35am

[quote=Lori S.]

Looks like E. planum is in the background of the first photo, with a cut stem of the other one in the foreground, no?

[/quote]

Yes, Lori, the E.ovinum is the bright amethyst color in the foreground of the first pic and by itself in the second pic.

Mark,

for some reason when I post pics from the home PC the labels don't appear when you hover the mouse over the pic! I think it has something to do with the server we use as you suggested on another thread. (labels now added!)

cheers

fermi

Lori S. (not verified)

Fermi, in order for that

Wed, 01/08/2014 - 5:55am

Fermi, in order for that feature to work, you have to fill the plant name into the "Title" slot when loading the photo (or you can go back and "Edit" to do it - with my moderator superpowers, I can see that it was not done in your posting).

Fermi, if I remember

Wed, 01/08/2014 - 2:08pm

Fermi, if I remember correctly, I think it might have something to do with what internet Browser you're using, and what version. Are you using a different internet browsers (and/or different versions) on your home PC? That might account for the "title text" not showing up as "mouse-over titles".

And thanks Lori for spotting what I failed to spot, in seeing both Eryngium species, I'm going to blame it on aging eyes.

Lori S. (not verified)

But Mark, doesn't the plant

Wed, 01/08/2014 - 5:42pm

But Mark, doesn't the plant name have to be typed into the "Title" slot for the "mousing-over" to work? (If not, where is it reading the plant name from?)

Toole (not verified)

Hope those of you folks who

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 12:57am

Hope those of you folks who are in the Mid States and Eastern seaboard are coping okay with the big chill.

Here's a bit of colour from the garden this afternoon.

Freesia ,(Syn Anomatheca ), laxa' Joan Evans and close up.

A repeat blooming on Pulsatilla 'pink denim' which I understand comes true from seed.

I moved a bulb of Lilium duchartrei last year ? and promptly forgot where I planted it .Probably needs moved again as it's leaning out from behind a Paeony ......

Arisaema candidissimum.

Unknown Lilium.

Lovely plants Dave, they are

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 5:46am

Lovely plants Dave, they are indeed nice to see given that we are in a prolonged deep freeze, with nights going down to 0 F (-17 C) and days only getting up to about 10 F (-12 F), and a glacier-like crust of rock hard snow and ice.

The pink Pulsatilla is a lovely color, and I always enjoy the silky-haired leaves on these, must grow more of them. I do have a wonderful true red form of vulgaris, although it doesn't have the degree of silkiness found in so many Pulsatilla species and cultivars. Your photo series also reminds me that I'm remiss in not yet growing Arisaema candidissimum, such a beauty.

Toole (not verified)

I've never experienced temps

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 12:29pm

Thanks Mark.

I've never experienced temps where the high for the day is -12C Brrr.The open farm areas around here might reach -8 overnight however temps climb quickly and the ground frost is gone by late morning with day highs of 9C.

Interestingly the Arisaema I've shown comes into bloom well after others elsewhere in the garden with flowers appearing to be larger especially wider in the spathe --not sure whether it's because I tend to hand feed the trough that it is in with sheep manure pellets.

On another matter I see i have doubled up on the close up pictures of Freesia laxa.I thought I had deleted the second pic with the spelling errors .Would one of the Moderators delete that pic please.

Toole wrote:

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 11:11pm

[quote=Toole]

A repeat blooming on Pulsatilla 'pink denim' which I understand comes true from seed

[/quote]

Some nice stuff there, Dave.

And you say this Pulsatilla comes true from seed? How interesting

Your Lilium duchartrei looks true and is a delight! The unknown Asiatic is one of the "brushmark" types but not one that I know,

cheers

fermi

Lori S. wrote:

Thu, 01/09/2014 - 5:39am

[quote=Lori S.]

But Mark, doesn't the plant name have to be typed into the "Title" slot for the "mousing-over" to work? (If not, where is it reading the plant name from?)

[/quote]

Yes Lori, but maybe the typed in text just isn't making it into the "published" message. I have also gone into Edit Mode on user's messages, their photos do have "mouse-over" titles working, but in Edit Mode they don't show up in the Title Text or Alternate Text fields, so they are "cached" into the posted image but not showing as such when in Edit Mode. We'll just have to add these anomalies to the list.

Another thing to take note of, if one forgets to add Title Text, getting back into Edit Mode and adding the forgotten Title Text, will not by itself update the photo. To actually get the change to take effect, one adds the Title Text (or edits the field to make a change, or whatever), then go back to the text window, find the image, highlight and delete it, make sure cursor is positioned where you want the updated version of the image to appear, and hit Insert to place the image with the associated Title text.

David L (not verified)

We have had a few warm days

Fri, 08/02/2013 - 3:43am

We have had a few warm days here at the end of July and the garden has begun to move. I took a walk round with my camera and took a few pictures.

Heleborus niger

Helleborus foetidus

Helleborus x sternii This originally came from a seedlist as Helleborus viridus but is possibly just a form of Helleborus argutifolius. I did not particularly care for it at first but the contrasting green of the foliage and flowers are quite attractive

Helleborus hybridus dark and white forms The dark form has been in the garden forever and has survived being grazed by sheep and cattle - not that I imagine hellebores would taste very nice. I bought the white form about 20 years ago and it has proved to be hardy and reliable increasing well from seed.

Helleborus hybridus seedling from seed supplied by Dave Toole. He will probably want it back now it has flowered.

Crocus It is a hybrid cultivar but I have forgotten its name.

Lori S. (not verified)

A nice remembrance of or

Sat, 08/03/2013 - 8:08am

A nice remembrance of or forecast for spring (depending on a northern hemispherite's point of view!) Everything is looking lovely and fresh.

I am not sure I like it - I

Sat, 08/03/2013 - 1:48pm

I am not sure I like it - I do not mean your flowers but that is a sign it is going the wrong way here!

On the other hand, I am looking forward to the spring flowers!

stuartmurray@xt... (not verified)

The above two gentlemen who

Mon, 08/05/2013 - 2:21pm

The above two gentlemen who live south of here seem to have spring earlier, which is not right in this hemisphere. Dave your Scoliopus had me out searching to see if mine were ok. They are, but their noses are not through the mulch yet. And David that last Heleborus seedling had Elaine suggesting you are really in for a cooking treat on your next visit. Certainly good bargaining material there. Have a bit of colour here still, mainly from winter flowering plants. Below a shot of an uncovered outdoor plunge.

Senecio 2, very nice! My

Tue, 08/06/2013 - 12:27am

Senecio 2, very nice! My plants don't look like that in February!

Dave and Stuart,

Thu, 08/08/2013 - 4:27pm

Dave, David and Stuart,

nice pics - we can't grow some of those things here - way too hot and dry!

Here are a few things in bloom this week.

Narcissus Thirty 'O; A dwarf shrub in a sand bed - An Aussie Native Plant, Pomaderris obcordata;

Retic Irises Harmony, Pauline, Cantab;

cheers

fermi

David L (not verified)

Hi Fermi,

Fri, 08/09/2013 - 12:53am

Hi Fermi,

I like your little Pomaderris. It is a nice compact shrub. We have eight indigenous species one of which (Pomaderris phylicifolia) we share with you.

I like Pomaderris too but

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 12:42pm

I like Pomaderris too but have no hope of growing any of the 70 species although an Australian tree, the Wollemi pine, has survived for 3 years now! It suffered badly in the last cold and dry winter.

Hoy wrote:

Sun, 08/11/2013 - 7:13pm

[quote=Hoy]

... an Australian tree, the Wollemi pine, has survived for 3 years now! It suffered badly in the last cold and dry winter.

[/quote]

Well, it has survived for a few million years apparently, so it's good to know you're helping to keep it alive, Trond!

Here are a few more pics:

Narcissus Jessamy and Lachenalia aloides in the garden;

Anemone coronaria - a little sweetie - ex Iraq via Goteborg;

Mixed Hybrid hoops - in the rock garden;

cheers

fermi

Toole (not verified)

Thanks Hoy .

Mon, 08/12/2013 - 2:56am

Thanks Hoy .

Fermi some of your Narcissus are at the same stage as mine ie N. Jessamy. Nice looking Anemone by the way .

With your increased light levels you 'do' natives far better than I can David .

Here's a few more 'weeds'.

NARGS seedex sown 2009 .Crocus sieberii ssp atticus .I understand C.'Firefly' is a related cultivar however I think the species is more attractive .......

Just to prove i grow a few things other than bulbs ,(Smile),Hepatica nobilis ,deep pink, in one of the troughs..

I love the results you get when photographing Hellebores using the light to show up the subtle shadows over the partially overlapping petals.

The first of the various coloured Corydalis solida forms is well advanced.

It's just about Trillium time.Most have noses in various stages of growth.I counted 4 plants today where the buds are starting to open.Here's Trillium angustipetalum just waiting for a little more heat .

This plant was affected by a fungal attack last season and looked very sick.While it has improved a lot this year you can see a smaller white bud which in my experience might open to a deformed flower.

I 'nuked' all the plants a couple of weeks ago with 'Octave ' and will spray again in a few weeks .

Rightio that's enough from me tonight.

A big thank you to Lori for giving a brief explanation on another topic on how to use embedded images .

Cheers Dave.

Toole (not verified)

Peak flowering time for

Tue, 08/13/2013 - 12:54am

Peak flowering time for Hellebores.

Here's a few showing the wonderful variation.

I'll see if i can post the 13 pics ,(roll eyes--grin ),in one go......

Spring is nearly here and the

Thu, 08/15/2013 - 10:39pm

Spring is nearly here and the little bulbs are in full swing:

A new Div 6 daff from Keira Bulbs in Canberra

A different form of Iris histrioides ssp aintabensis collected by Brian Mathew in Turkey;

my original clump of Babiana odorata has been infiltrated by a seedling - crossed with Babiana pygmaea I'd say!

cheers

fermi

Toole (not verified)

Some of the South African

Sun, 08/18/2013 - 2:08am

Some of the South African Romulea's provide colour at this time of the year .

Yellow R. diversiformis on Lewisia foliage.

Another yellow this time R.hirta .

However I understand that R.sabulosa is considered by some to be the king,( or is it queen?--smile ), of the lot.

A few like Romulea rosea can be a bit weedy in our conditions so any species I grow from seed I trial in pots before deciding whether to plant out in troughs or garden proper.

Hi Dave,

Sun, 08/25/2013 - 5:00am

Hi Dave,

We've now got Romulea sabulosa in bloom as well, but a different clone as the markings are slightly different. I'll try to post a pic when I get to work tomorrow.

Romulea rosea is I think the one that is a huge pest here - entire paddocks are covered in it and it is murder to cut with a hand mower! We also have what looks like the Romulea hirta you posted, though it came labeled as R. cruciata. One of the European species, R. hartungii is also in bloom - not sure if they are compatible but I tried a bit of pollen from R. sabulosa on it!

cheers

fermi

Richard T. Rodich

It's like your own private

Mon, 08/05/2013 - 10:35pm

It's like your own private flower show!

What are you using for plunge material...

sphagnum moss?

stuartmurray@xt... (not verified)

What are you using for plunge

Tue, 08/06/2013 - 12:38pm

What are you using for plunge material...

sphagnum moss?

I use wood shavings. They are good for insulation, lighter than sand, and if kept well soaked in summer they keep the root zone cool with the resultant evaporation.

Below Asphodelus acaulis, this has been flowering for weeks now.

Toole (not verified)

Thanks Lori and Hoy.

Mon, 08/05/2013 - 11:21pm

Thanks Lori and Hoy.

Winter here was a non event and now we are getting some more warmth with extended day time hours ,plants are popping up everywhere.I even have a couple of trilliums in bloom,pics later this weekend.

Nice Hellebores David.I was up your way on Saturday south of Waihola pig hunting ,(successfully),with my brother and it did enter my mind to pop around and 'offer' to take your seedling under some sort of ancestral claim ....wink.

Stuart your frame looks great .I have another clump of Scoliopus bigelovii at the same stage as yours .It normally flowers at the end of the month.

Tell Elaine i have a multitude of one year seedlings beside the doubles and others like David's seedling.She is most welcome to a few although it will be pot luck as they are all growing together in the same bed.I can pot up some and bring them up to Christchurch next month.Just let me know .No cooking required --smile.

Here's some colour from Sunday .

Romulea clusiana.

Narcissus cyclamineus .

Crocus biflorus ssp biflorus has such wonderful strong outside feathering that can also be seen from inside the cup.

Cheers Dave.

Toole (not verified)

Plants

Mon, 08/05/2013 - 11:29pm

Plants

Dave, some very nice bulbs

Tue, 08/06/2013 - 10:58pm

Dave, some very nice bulbs you have!

Although I am not quite ready for winter yet, I already look forward to see my spring bulbs. In the meantime I can admire yours!

Senecio 2, Nice Asphodelus! I do grow a big white one but not this.

David L (not verified)

Hello all,

Thu, 08/08/2013 - 1:51am

Hello all,

As odd as it may seem to all our Northern hemisphere friends spring is certainly on its way here. According to our local newspaper we have had the warmest July on record though some days have been quite cold.

I am not sure I can compete with Dave's and Stuart's horticultural efforts. Stuart in particular has been known to show the odd plant and win a few prizes at various shows. However I will post a few pictures of shrubs flowering in my garden.

Camillia transnokoensis

Chaenomeles,red cultivar

Kowhai (Sophora "Stuart's Gold") This is a New Zealand native There are 7 species and numerous selected varieties. In the last few days they have come into flower all over the city and look truly magnificent. This one is my own selection and I have named it after my great-uncle who promoted my early interest in New Zealand native plants

Hazel catkins Those of you with sharp eyes may see a female flower above the right hand male catkins

Last, Southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata) This species is normally summer-flowering (December- January) but I found a plant that produced a few flowers in winter so I propagated it. As New Zealand is an island set in a large ocean the seasons as delineated in the northern hemisphere are do not follow in the same way here. Trees can flower sporadically at odd times of the year when conditions are favourable.

David L wrote:

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 12:34pm

[quote=David L]

Hello all,

[/quote]

We have had one of the warmest Julys too! A good 2C warmer than normal!

David, I have tried some NZ Sophora species without luck so far. Which one would you recommend in my climate? I have no hope in success with any Metrosideros though!

David L (not verified)

Hoy wrote:

Sun, 08/11/2013 - 4:09pm

[quote=Hoy]

David, I have tried some NZ Sophora species without luck so far. Which one would you recommend in my climate? I have no hope in success with any Metrosideros though!

[/quote]

Hello Trond,

I am not entirely sure if Sophora would survive in your climate. However, you could try Sophora microphylla, the most wide-spread and hardy species. There are some provisos. It requires good fertile soils to grow well. It would not be happy on poorly-drained, low-nutrient acid soils. This species goes through an extended juvenile stage and may take 10 -15 years to flower. There is a lot of diversity in Sophora microphylla in terms of climatic adaptation, flowering times etc. Winter temperature would be the limiting factor (less then -5 degrees of frost). A lot of the forms sold commercially are the earlier maturing species ie Sophora tetraptera, Sophora molloyi ('Dragon's Gold'), Sophora howinsula ('Gnome') and are not as hardy.

Metrosideros umbellata (Southern rata) grows on the Auckland Islands (50 degrees 30 minutes south) so you could try that species as well.

David L wrote:

Tue, 08/13/2013 - 1:13am

[quote=David L]

Hoy wrote:

David, I have tried some NZ Sophora species without luck so far. Which one would you recommend in my climate? I have no hope in success with any Metrosideros though!

Hello Trond,

Metrosideros umbellata (Southern rata) grows on the Auckland Islands (50 degrees 30 minutes south) so you could try that species as well.

[/quote]

Thank you David!

I am encouraged to try both Sophora microphylla (in fact I have tried it once before - but it seems that the provenience wasn't the best) and Metrosideros umbellata. Have to look for seed though as plants are probably impossible to find in any nursery here.

Margaret Young

David L wrote:

Wed, 08/14/2013 - 4:28am

[quote=David L]

Hello all,

Camillia transnokoensis

[/quote]

We've had the warmest July in a long time in the UK too, David! ;.)

That Camellia is really lovely - I wonder if it would survive in NE Scotland? - Must see if anyone is offering it over here.

Maggi

Edit later : Hmm, yes it is available and no, the opinion given is that it won't cope up here without more winter protection than I can give it - rats!