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1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Thu, 14 Mar 2024 04:03:30 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>btg  6</category><title>Rooftop botany goes to ground - my plant nursery</title><description>The roof garden dream is over: but I&#39;ve taken redundancy and I&#39;m starting a plant nursery!</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>85</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-306047787131833388</guid><pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:05:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-10-24T12:05:32.221-07:00</atom:updated><title>Glad All Over (well, soon, anyway)</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;
2. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
3. <a href="http://florini.pl/allegro/produkty/1byliny/Tricyrtis-hirta-Masamunei/Tricyrtis-hirta-Masamunei-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="http://florini.pl/allegro/produkty/1byliny/Tricyrtis-hirta-Masamunei/Tricyrtis-hirta-Masamunei-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
4. <br />
5. Crivens (as no-one has said in Scotland since 1953, and that was in a cartoon strip where the punchline always involved a small pre-Bart Simpson sitting on an upturned bucket,his cunning plan to steal a deep-fried bottle of multivitamins having been foiled by a tramp with a magic bottle of Buckie, the only "tonic" wine that gives you a liver count so abnormal you need a wee sip just to stop the shakes and maybe hide the smell of urine from the hepatologist), it's been a while.
6.  
7. What with having to largely abandon the garden due to new neighbours who are what my mother would have called "nasty pieces of work". A couple with a tub on their roof moaning slyly and being ignored by anyone in authority the three times I've watered the garden. And an even more evil couple who are the worst parents imaginable.
8.  
9. So flip all done in the garden, I've had to keep it inside as they are just pointlessly homophobic and mendacious (it's ok, thet dont know what that means).
10.  
11.  
12. I can't be bothered explaining why but I now have a rather lovely 2ft trellis fence on top of the 3ft wall round my roof terrace, which means the pupils of Columbia Primary School can no longer smash my windows and vandalise my plant collection. But it has given people with no knowledge of the situation a reason to moan. Early in the year, in a fit of optimism and before Mr and Mrs Evil appeared, I was able to ring the terrace with planters and window boxes.</div>
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16. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hb6eVu7eCQ4/UClysRW8tMI/AAAAAAAABk4/q4eakm18uMo/s1600/IMG_8491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hb6eVu7eCQ4/UClysRW8tMI/AAAAAAAABk4/q4eakm18uMo/s400/IMG_8491.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
17. I'm moving, to somewhere far more conducive to happiness. Just two of the many drawbacks of living next to infants, screeching being another. Harrrumph! The Rhodophiala (from seed) and Clematis (below) were unavailable for comment
18.  
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21. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
22. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmnrWXAgHdo/UCl0i74sbOI/AAAAAAAABlE/ZuUe1QidXxU/s1600/IMG_8296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NmnrWXAgHdo/UCl0i74sbOI/AAAAAAAABlE/ZuUe1QidXxU/s400/IMG_8296.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
23. Before I show you the year's early success, I' have much from late last summer to show you, at a time when saving my job was more important than pootling about pretending to be a part-time hack, when I'm actually a slightly mad real one. Gardening keeps me sane and that's why the current situation is so tragic.
24.  
25. Anyway, some highlights since that now-dead Lilium poilanei. And I had two! It all seems so long ago now; having the freedom to use my own garden but that's ignorance for you. If people can't see that abusing you when you use your garden will make you infinitely less likely to embrace your hobby, one you share with 18m Brits, it's they who have a mess to look at and me who falls into a deep depression. Still, there are good people and there are twats.
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30. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pcuScQpRq8g/UCo1N7xgXEI/AAAAAAAABlY/BKOTS6bsWuw/s1600/IMG_7362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pcuScQpRq8g/UCo1N7xgXEI/AAAAAAAABlY/BKOTS6bsWuw/s400/IMG_7362.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
31. <br />
32. Oh, do you like the new look by the way? I've been subsidising my seed sowing by producing iPad apps for the only respectable newspapers left in the UK. It's much easier than this. But I did manage to get a self-shot Lilium speciosum rubrum onto the totally ficticious, neutral, front page (Apple don't like to offend!) used for all the marketing. Anyway, this is a Digitalis obscura, halfway between a foxglove and Isoplexis.
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38. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GXg6LDosqmU/UCo1OfRxg0I/AAAAAAAABlk/2dbN7xlEHlk/s1600/IMG_7368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GXg6LDosqmU/UCo1OfRxg0I/AAAAAAAABlk/2dbN7xlEHlk/s400/IMG_7368.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
39. <br />
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41. Fuchsia procumbens (not hardy, sadly, as I found in last winter's one cold snap). Hopefully the cold dispatched whatever web-weaving mite …</div>
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46. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akNUHILwlLg/UCo1OiCPQ7I/AAAAAAAABlw/IiVD0v4iXuA/s1600/IMG_7390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akNUHILwlLg/UCo1OiCPQ7I/AAAAAAAABlw/IiVD0v4iXuA/s400/IMG_7390.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
47. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
48. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C_VvrekjdDg/UCuAtGtHiUI/AAAAAAAABmE/AtgWCxgDzPQ/s1600/IMG_7431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C_VvrekjdDg/UCuAtGtHiUI/AAAAAAAABmE/AtgWCxgDzPQ/s400/IMG_7431.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
49. <br />
50. Fuchsia 'Frans Hals' is an odd thing, neither upright nor trailing, it just spreads like a huge spider. ONly beautuful, not scary, and with very unusual flowers.
51.  
52. Shit! I just lost it at one of the nosy neighbours who felt it necessary to go outside to report to her boyfriend that I had beenreplanting and replacing two window boxes. Any of their business? No. I'm afraid I lost it for the first time and gave her a blasting. She just chewed her gum, shrugged, and asked, blatantly: "Who are yah?". She should know, she's been making my life and horticultural well-being a living hell for four months. I want to install the drip watering system but how when that's the reaction I get to freshening up the roof with some living plants.
53.  
54. Next time I might show you some of the stunners I've lost, many from seed, but in the meantime, let us continue ...
55.  
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59. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mhy1ztr-KnU/UCuA-jhD3bI/AAAAAAAABmQ/IogxFsmS_pA/s1600/IMG_7397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mhy1ztr-KnU/UCuA-jhD3bI/AAAAAAAABmQ/IogxFsmS_pA/s400/IMG_7397.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
60. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
61. <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aQOSS5Z4z3s/UCuBQ3W67RI/AAAAAAAABmc/tJTaDCpClwQ/s1600/IMG_7449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aQOSS5Z4z3s/UCuBQ3W67RI/AAAAAAAABmc/tJTaDCpClwQ/s400/IMG_7449.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
62. Bomarea hirtella, a herbaceous climber from the Andes, a superb source of all things new to the temperate gardener due to the climate, which, like many tropaeolae(?) grows little potato-like tubers deep in it's pot and mine, at least, made it through this ...
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66. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
67. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A_Kcne-cWwE/UCuC1_y1clI/AAAAAAAABmo/kL59XLJLc6Q/s1600/IMG_0233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A_Kcne-cWwE/UCuC1_y1clI/AAAAAAAABmo/kL59XLJLc6Q/s200/IMG_0233.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
68. In fact, it kept on flowering, albeit with slightly less vigour!
69.  
70. <br />
71. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
72. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSvioY-NqDs/UCuGuDC2hSI/AAAAAAAABm8/QQtGYv43Oxc/s1600/IMG_0231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSvioY-NqDs/UCuGuDC2hSI/AAAAAAAABm8/QQtGYv43Oxc/s200/IMG_0231.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
73. <br />
74. <br />
75. <br />
76. <br />
77. <br />
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80. <br />
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83. <br />
84. <br />
85. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U6-mGmYPoMs/UCuKBEdy2_I/AAAAAAAABnQ/cM_wjyQXh8M/s1600/IMG_7470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U6-mGmYPoMs/UCuKBEdy2_I/AAAAAAAABnQ/cM_wjyQXh8M/s400/IMG_7470.jpg" width="267" /></a>My latest new toys are South African bulbs, many of which are a piece of piss from seed, such as Gladioli species, Moraea and Freesias. Albuca Shawii is blooming away in the bathroom at the moment as I want to get a good pic without being shot myself (it had been tried with and air gun). Here's the hugely variable Gladiolus dalenii, it ranges from buttery yellow (my self-raised seedlings) to red and everywhere between. The seeds of most species spring like grass, the trick is to find out whether your species is a winter or summer bloomer and sow accordingly. Here's a more mature dalenii I bought that shows more red, although it can get far redder still.<br />
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98. I have no idea why so many people see a Tricyrtis and, after we establish it's really not an orchid or a spider, admit to never having seen one before. Few herbaceous perennials suit the temperate climate; if you can give it a dampish crevice among ferns in a woodland setting then it's my football and I'm going home but they really have proved to be the only survivors in the nuclear wasteland. The amazing ohumiensis is a revelation: why don't we all have one? Mine is over so I'll have to borrow a pic but this compact triffid should be everywhere! It's so easy! Although I confess I find the white form of hirta quite impossible to  keep alive, I have no idea why, even the so-called "difficult ones" do it for me.<br />
99. <br />
100. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
101. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/PlantFinder/low/D813-0916091gk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/PlantFinder/low/D813-0916091gk.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
102. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tricyrtis 'White Towers'</i><br />
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104. <br /></div>
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106. <br /></div>
107. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
108. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mNObqhnx4g/UDuNljaqlBI/AAAAAAAABn8/BsoKvxYw0PA/s1600/IMG_8747.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mNObqhnx4g/UDuNljaqlBI/AAAAAAAABn8/BsoKvxYw0PA/s400/IMG_8747.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
109. <i>T. ohumiensis and, below, macrantha, the two most readily found yellows, both with flower shapes that vary slightly and greatly from the type. I have to thank <a href="http://www.kevockgarden.co.uk/">Kevock Garden Plants </a>for the macrantha photo as mine is over. I almost definitely bought it from them anyway! This is not the usual back-scratching, they are top five in the UK, a source like few others.</i><br />
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113. <a href="http://www.kevockgarden.co.uk/plantlist/media/tricyrtis_macrantha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kevockgarden.co.uk/plantlist/media/tricyrtis_macrantha.jpg" /></a></div>
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116. Of course, most of us think of the toad bit, and why shouldn't old <i>Bufo bufo</i> get a look in? There are so many species, never mind varieties and hybrids, I'm not going into depth here, just want to show you a few of mine! Below is the stunning macropoda (I was expecting yellow but I'm pleased I got freaky purple spotty spidery thing instead (mainly as <i>macrantha</i> was there too!)</div>
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129. <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-znuSQmbpkcc/UDuTYtguFTI/AAAAAAAABoQ/brqFuluXja4/s1600/IMG_7474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-znuSQmbpkcc/UDuTYtguFTI/AAAAAAAABoQ/brqFuluXja4/s400/IMG_7474.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
130. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
131. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IUPQdFA0jQw/UDuT46phTvI/AAAAAAAABoc/ZDwqqS7xlQ0/s1600/IMG_7497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IUPQdFA0jQw/UDuT46phTvI/AAAAAAAABoc/ZDwqqS7xlQ0/s400/IMG_7497.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
132. </td></tr>
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134. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
135. <a href="http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/PlantFinder/low/D813-0916091gk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/Portals/0/PlantFinder/low/D813-0916091gk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
136. </description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2012/10/glad-all-over-well-soon-anyway.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hb6eVu7eCQ4/UClysRW8tMI/AAAAAAAABk4/q4eakm18uMo/s72-c/IMG_8491.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-7957701019037629260</guid><pubDate>Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:53:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-08-15T14:53:03.153-07:00</atom:updated><title>Just Lilium poilanei. That&#39;s all.</title><description>Here he is, the Lily I&#39;ve been waiting all season to see, following the single flower bud from infancy, through adolescence, to at 6am this morning, adulthood. The &amp;nbsp;pictures have been taken inside purely for wind reasons, Lilium poilanei is not a houseplant: although you might succeed if you have no heating and a north-facing windowsill. But I wouldn&#39;t recommend it. It will do best in dappled, shade growing in an open but moisture retentive soil, perhaps with a few Mecanopsis and Primulas among some of the smaller Rhododendrons. &amp;nbsp;It will only cost you a tenner or so.&lt;br /&gt;
137. <br />
138. On the same subject, I've been breaking every rule in the book by checking the pots of those bulbs that made no growth this year (all of them new and just settling in). All except one, either majoense of farrerii were in rude health, and ciliatum was the size of a cricket ball. With the slightly unhappy one I took of all trace of foul smelling rot, rolled the whole think in sulphur and replanted it in a much more open compost, placing the bulb itself on a pile of grit to keep the base dry.<br />
139. <br />
140. Anyway, the moment I've all been waiting for (apologies if you're not a lily fan ... )<br />
141. <br />
142. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
143. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yR4C7VJexqA/TkmLcrZh25I/AAAAAAAABh4/7AuRZDLic0A/s1600/IMG_7281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yR4C7VJexqA/TkmLcrZh25I/AAAAAAAABh4/7AuRZDLic0A/s640/IMG_7281.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
144. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6am today: definitely flaring...</b></span></td></tr>
145. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
146. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLITvbvxQig/TkmMBdmxz7I/AAAAAAAABh8/DgecJBX2NFk/s1600/IMG_7280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLITvbvxQig/TkmMBdmxz7I/AAAAAAAABh8/DgecJBX2NFk/s640/IMG_7280.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
147. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And recurving (sorry about the  blinds, it was windy)<br />
148. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
149. </span></span></span></span></b></span></td></tr>
150. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
151. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kls5b_g_bi8/TkmMhGg_IfI/AAAAAAAABiA/8V33vBNDkGI/s1600/IMG_7291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kls5b_g_bi8/TkmMhGg_IfI/AAAAAAAABiA/8V33vBNDkGI/s640/IMG_7291.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
152. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Erm, much the same but an upright</span></b></td></tr>
153. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
154. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jsC0JPd-dIk/TkmNbxZwfFI/AAAAAAAABiE/R_iC7-WUb-o/s1600/IMG_7319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jsC0JPd-dIk/TkmNbxZwfFI/AAAAAAAABiE/R_iC7-WUb-o/s640/IMG_7319.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
155. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And this evening, perfection! (If a little harshly lit)<br />
156. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
157. </span></span></b></span></td></tr>
158. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
159. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GGUFneLSQyM/TkmOndwtmKI/AAAAAAAABiI/zLFkTLnf7vU/s1600/IMG_7321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GGUFneLSQyM/TkmOndwtmKI/AAAAAAAABiI/zLFkTLnf7vU/s640/IMG_7321.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
160. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So let's overcompensate by making it invisible</b></span></td></tr>
161. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
162. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4i8yqWL5M-E/TkmPIyAt08I/AAAAAAAABiQ/EbVBxM1XaaY/s1600/IMG_7322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4i8yqWL5M-E/TkmPIyAt08I/AAAAAAAABiQ/EbVBxM1XaaY/s640/IMG_7322.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
163. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Getting a bit repetitive now ...</b></span></td></tr>
164. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
165. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VHaF5yJISoE/TkmPgAdsfDI/AAAAAAAABiU/2c0_qfO-Rfk/s1600/IMG_7330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VHaF5yJISoE/TkmPgAdsfDI/AAAAAAAABiU/2c0_qfO-Rfk/s640/IMG_7330.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
166. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bring it inside and lie on my back, that might work!</b></span></td></tr>
167. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
168. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YOPH-5ImK8w/TkmP6U_bTJI/AAAAAAAABiY/9U25ES-rvow/s1600/IMG_7341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YOPH-5ImK8w/TkmP6U_bTJI/AAAAAAAABiY/9U25ES-rvow/s640/IMG_7341.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
169. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The leaves are falling off every time I move it, it's taken so long to reward my credit card</b></span></td></tr>
170. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
171. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-biYE2oxOzNQ/TkmQYKbeByI/AAAAAAAABic/rD6f8spDbcs/s1600/IMG_7342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-biYE2oxOzNQ/TkmQYKbeByI/AAAAAAAABic/rD6f8spDbcs/s640/IMG_7342.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
172. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Think I might be on my back again. It's a bit like shagging, this photography lark</b></span></td></tr>
173. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
174. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eNOtQJzYGus/TkmQ12NJSlI/AAAAAAAABig/GSibunxKEIE/s1600/IMG_7343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eNOtQJzYGus/TkmQ12NJSlI/AAAAAAAABig/GSibunxKEIE/s640/IMG_7343.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
175. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A better version of the previous one. Last one coming up ...<br />
176. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
177. </span></span></b></span></td></tr>
178. </tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
179. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CjwgNhhc6js/TkmRQbfpqtI/AAAAAAAABio/6R_nJX4Ff5Q/s1600/IMG_7349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CjwgNhhc6js/TkmRQbfpqtI/AAAAAAAABio/6R_nJX4Ff5Q/s640/IMG_7349.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
180. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This is quite a good one to finish on. So there you are, Lilium Poilanei. I've finally flowered  a Chinese green and brown job. And it's already had four babies!</b></span><br />
181. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, I have many more shots of new blooms: Tricyrtis, Alstroemeria, Tropaeolum speciosum and, amazingly, from seed to flowering in 6 weeks, Corydalis sempervirens. Oh, and Bomareas and Ipomoeas. But for another day. </span></div></td></tr>
182. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
183. </div>Good night, school and anxiety back soon but day at a time. The Plantboy x<br />
184. <br />
185. &lt;span id=&quot;goog_1324620293&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id=&quot;goog_1324620294&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/08/just-lilium-poilanei-thats-all.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yR4C7VJexqA/TkmLcrZh25I/AAAAAAAABh4/7AuRZDLic0A/s72-c/IMG_7281.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>4</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-8785076189961190223</guid><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:26:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-07-31T10:26:37.951-07:00</atom:updated><title>Rooftop botany in the City - My World of Plants: Luscious Lily exposed, sexy seedlings and other se...</title><description>&lt;a href=&quot;http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/07/luscious-lily-exposed-sexy-seedlings.html?spref=bl&quot;&gt;Rooftop botany in the City - My World of Plants: Luscious Lily exposed, sexy seedlings and other se...&lt;/a&gt;: &quot;Here&#39;s an idea: take something beautiful and, phenotypically, half a country mile away from an Iris, and call it something mysterious and ex...&quot;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/07/rooftop-botany-in-city-my-world-of_31.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-1351870040095849889</guid><pubDate>Sun, 31 Jul 2011 16:58:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-07-31T09:58:13.715-07:00</atom:updated><title>Luscious Lily exposed, sexy seedlings and other search engine optimisers</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Here&#39;s an idea: take something beautiful and, phenotypically, half a country mile away from an Iris, and call it something mysterious and exotic such as Belamcanda chinensis. Everyone of a horticultural bent is &amp;nbsp;captivated by this orange flowered wonder from, we assume, the Orient. And then let the taxonomists have a gander at the DNA and shove it into the Iris genus, with the most pedestrian of attempts at nomenclature. Ladies and gents, opening this very day (Sunday July 31), I present Iris domestica (so it&#39;s from the kitchen cupboard, just beside the Cillit Bang®):&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
186. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
187. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ofnilnesMrQ/TjVKI-Il1qI/AAAAAAAABew/51Md8omDvRk/s1600/IMG_6661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ofnilnesMrQ/TjVKI-Il1qI/AAAAAAAABew/51Md8omDvRk/s640/IMG_6661.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
188. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's not fully open and, of course, there are many more blooms per spike. They're just not open yet. But I think I've done an alright job considering my hands were shaking (just got up, medication and excitement, I don't drink) and a gentle breeze was tossing it around just enough to be irritating. Why it's flowering four months after all the other Irises it could be related to, has no falls or standards but does have acne, a problem I've never had with, say, Iris chrysographes, I'm not qualified to say. But in 2005 Mr Goldblatt and colleague Mr Mabberley were sufficiently convinced by a strand of DNA and it officially became an Iris. I could understand Dietes, I must show you mine, totally forgot about that, from a purely visual aspect but, hey, I forgot how to read DNA about 20 years ago and I didn't really get why we had to keep murdering fruit flies to do it (there was actually someone at the university whose sole job was breeding Drosophila, not the most challenging of occupations) when a bit of grass would do!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
189. </span></span></span></span></b></span></td></tr>
190. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
191. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1oZBbczysd8/TjVhn4Rot7I/AAAAAAAABe0/Ceu5BATAeGM/s1600/IMG_5927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1oZBbczysd8/TjVhn4Rot7I/AAAAAAAABe0/Ceu5BATAeGM/s640/IMG_5927.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
192. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dietes grandiflora, from South Africa, where it is widely used in municipal planting (their version of UK councils' obsession with the awful Lonicera nitida or Senecio greyii), is drought and frost hardy. I don't know how frost hardy because it spent last winter as an adolescent at the bottom of my spiral stairs, where no amount of draught exclusion round the door prevents it being 10C colder than the rest of the house but is frost-free. It certainly didn't suffer in the draught, leaves remained green and glossy until I planted it out in April. However, I barely watered it and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>I suspect a wet winter in poorly drained soil would do for it in this country.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b> A well-drained, lightly shaded spot is ideal: it flowers best after rain (or a session or 10 with my hose). It will take full sun or deepish shade but the flower show will suffer accordingly. But it looks a hell of a lot more like an Iris than the orange thing above. It also flowered several months ago, right at the end of the Iris season.</b></span></b></span></td></tr>
193. </tbody></table><div><br />
194. </div><div>And now back to my original introduction …<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
195. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KUXhjwfw4Qw/TjHOCCxJ3sI/AAAAAAAABds/KWME_wQevFo/s1600/IMG_6033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KUXhjwfw4Qw/TjHOCCxJ3sI/AAAAAAAABds/KWME_wQevFo/s640/IMG_6033.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
196. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Labelled "auratum" by someone who should know better but clearly a superb selection of Lilium speciosum rubrum. It would have been challenging for Lily of the year but for its tendency towards horizontality. The petals recurved a bit more but I had to capture its beauty before torrential rain or wind tore it to pieces.</b></span></td></tr>
197. </tbody></table>Hello, I've just climbed in the window from the roof after playing with my great new hose attachment which has about half a dozen settings although only two are usable if you want any compost to remain in the pot: fine mist which is great for seedlings and plants with disposable petals such as the above genus. The other is like heavy rain and is perfect for giving pots a good soaking because so many people (none of you, I'm sure) think that as long as the surface is damp that's the job done. The only thing this achieves is to cause the roots to head upwards because that's where the water is.<br />
198. <br />
199. Unfortunately, success requires standing there until the water is running out the bottom of the container (if it isn't, you've forgotten to make holes in the bottom and, unless it's a Water Lily, you're wasting your time because the plant died a long time ago, its roots having drowned. It's amazing the number of planters I've bought with no drainage, so many I actually had to buy an electric drill (okay, I was building a shit flat-pack cold frame from Creative  Garden Ideas <a href="http://www.creativegardenideas.co.uk/overlap-cold-frame-50-x-80-x-50cm">http://www.creativegardenideas.co.uk/overlap-cold-frame-50-x-80-x-50cm</a> which I notice is now £22 cheaper than the £60 I paid for some bits of wood lacking many of the features advertised, such as holes for the screws, a full compliment of brackets to hold the cracked cheapo plastic roof on and, essentially,  watertightness, a problem when I bought it to protect juno, regalia and oncocyclus Irises from winter wet).<br />
200. <br />
201. The only problem with drilling through anything more adventurous than plastic and wood is it tends to crack, thus negating the need for any crock in the bottom for there isn't really one (thin metals such as aluminium I just turn upside down and use a hammer and phillips screwdriver to punch holes. It's important to punch some at the bottom of the sides too, in case the planter ends up sitting on a flat, wet surface, in which case the excess water would go nowhere).<br />
202. <br />
203. Anyway, those were two of the most tedious paragraphs I've ever written but it took a flipping hour and I got straight in from work at 9pm and it was 10 and completely dark by the time I clambered in wearing soaking trainers. They'd better do some proper growing now. At least I was able to confirm that I do at last own Digitalis thapsi, its flowers having opened today, confirming it's the real deal and not purpurea. Photo to follow when there's a bit more to see. Actually, I'll see if I can find a free pic on Google … here we go:<br />
204. <br />
205. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
206. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Digitalis_thapsi_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Digitalis_thapsi_01.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
207. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As you can see it does have many similarities to D. purpurea which is why I had to wait for it to bloom to be sure because while I fully trust Chiltern Seeds (<a href="http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/">www.chilternseeds.co.uk</a>) and use them all the time, mistakes can be made with seeds that look exactly the same as another species. The main difference is that Thapsi is less erect and bushier than other Digitalis, a bit like D. obscura. I don't know how perennial it is but now that I've achieved it, I've had my thrill! Now I've just got to coax Obscura into behaving itself. I mean, look:</b></span></td></tr>
208. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
209. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oQv_0FKAbNk/TjM2Hv2Rf-I/AAAAAAAABeA/Bnb6YqvJ57s/s1600/IMG_6568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oQv_0FKAbNk/TjM2Hv2Rf-I/AAAAAAAABeA/Bnb6YqvJ57s/s640/IMG_6568.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
210. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Actually I left it in a sunny spot for the last 48 hours and it's looking much more rigid. The floppy appearance must have been caused by too much water and insufficient drainage. A clay pot would probably help since they dry out in 25 seconds. Maybe it just objects to having "campanula" printed on the pot.</b></span></td></tr>
211. </tbody></table><br />
212. Anyway, I'm afraid it's more sodding Lilies but fear not, we're almost done and there's tonnes of other stuff too. And then maybe a few more mini gladioli hybrids, autumn bulbs if they come to anything, Bomarea blooms and then I'll just re-post some old stuff and see if anyone notices. I jest, of course. About the last bit.<br />
213. <br />
214. It is finally the school holidays so I write this with the peace and quiet of traffic, power tools and a film being shot in the road outside. Bliss! As long as those piercing five-year-old trainee dog whistles are glued to their PS3s or whatever replaced the Commodore 64 and not polluting the peace to the extent that open windows on sunny days are unimaginable, I'm happy. And with any luck their headmistresses' plane will crash (her "school" is the greatest bane of my life, along with Indesit's service centre, where the word "service" clearly doesn't translate well from Italian. Still, with any luck Italy will default on it's sovereign debt repayments, Indesit will be unable to export and go bust and the six engineers and myriad call centre witches who failed to organise the repair of the simplest of faults on my washer/dryer will lose their jobs. That will teach them not to repay me the £50 I had to spend washing my partner's clothes in the laundrette while they filed their nails and made up totally inconsistent stories that are going to look very foolish in the small claims court. Anyway, enough of my standing up for the little man. Hath he not legs?<br />
215. <br />
216. And while that deadful woman is in Benidorm, Blackpool or Bognor Regis, I can get on with tidying up a few loose ends in the garden and actually enjoy it without worrying where the next rock is coming from or what she's coming over to moan self-righteously about now. Do they have sharks in Blackpool?<br />
217. <br />
218. Anyway, so the prize for the best performing Lily species in the face of adversity goes to Lilium rosthornii, narrowly beating the seemingly everlasting leichtlinii (one bulb still has unopened buds after two months at least of continuous golden glory; and tied for second is Mackliniae, which bloomed so long ago it overlapped with the Frits.<br />
219. <br />
220. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
221. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GyphiccNvIg/TjHPecrSwZI/AAAAAAAABdw/f0tBR1QBR2M/s1600/IMG_6479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GyphiccNvIg/TjHPecrSwZI/AAAAAAAABdw/f0tBR1QBR2M/s640/IMG_6479.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
222. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>L. rosthornii, if you can spot them between the Mina lobata, Lathyrus sativus azureus and Ipomoea.</b></span></td></tr>
223. </tbody></table>Rosthornii and Henryi, which I knew I had but I grow too many Nasturtiums to hide the lack of normal plants and they have a habit of camouflaging their more interesting but less healthy neighbours. At first I thought I had myself an extra Rosthornii and it had been mislabelled as Henryi. As they are at opposite ends of the roof and Henryi right in the thick of the Tropaeolum jungle (masses of T. peregrinum twisting itself around and budding up nicely for a yellow show while T. pentyphyllum is a little more restrained, already well into flower but less invasive and a bit on the fragile and, secretly, disappointing side. I was expecting more vigour but it seems to be more of a specimen plant). Back to the Lilies: I had to wait till I'd photographed them to get to the bottom of this week's Lily-based conundrum.<br />
224. <br />
225. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
226. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dl0opsFWh-8/TiXfo9ZlIcI/AAAAAAAABcs/imAp7y9kXRE/s1600/IMG_6102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dl0opsFWh-8/TiXfo9ZlIcI/AAAAAAAABcs/imAp7y9kXRE/s640/IMG_6102.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
227. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>OK, it would normally by pendant but I assumed you wanted to see it so I carefully (there's one stem) manipulated it before capturing it without falling off the roof. So this is Lilium henryi, right?</b></span><br />
228. <br />
229. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M7K5c-565ig/TiXg-L2X83I/AAAAAAAABcw/6ryPUEcGFFA/s1600/IMG_6116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M7K5c-565ig/TiXg-L2X83I/AAAAAAAABcw/6ryPUEcGFFA/s640/IMG_6116.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
230. </tbody></table>And this is one of Lilium rosthornii's many blooms to have opened since Sunday (it's Tuesday) and a week and two days later than that but there are even more out now, also pendant and in a more convenient position to be photographed. I've checked the labels  (both from expert suppliers) and, more importantly, trawled Google images and they are this similar: although there would normally be more than a day (a month or so, depending on geography and climate etc) between the start of blooming; both are pendant with huge sex organs; both have those odd bumps and, crucially, green flashes on the petals.  The only visible differences are henryi being a slightly richer shade of orange and rosthornii having vague but definite whitish borders to the petals. If I didn't have both in bloom a few metres apart, I could never have seen the difference. From a sample of one, Henryi seems happy to flop, whereas Rosthornii, even under the weight of annual tropical climbers gone mad, has an erect stance.<br />
231. <br />
232. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
233. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBGUyUMh-eY/TiXmnikJ2JI/AAAAAAAABc0/kX8gVvLw-7Q/s1600/IMG_6165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBGUyUMh-eY/TiXmnikJ2JI/AAAAAAAABc0/kX8gVvLw-7Q/s400/IMG_6165.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
234. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A hoverfly investigates Mina lobata, an extremely easy climber which is now running rampant everywhere. Not bad for four seedlings! </b></span></div></td></tr>
235. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
236. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x3i6NTH9REI/TjFt2Am499I/AAAAAAAABc4/ni0MmTPo8mg/s1600/IMG_6485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x3i6NTH9REI/TjFt2Am499I/AAAAAAAABc4/ni0MmTPo8mg/s640/IMG_6485.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
237. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Liles (lancifolium splendens) and some dark red hybrid that was meant to be black) finished flowering about a week ago (leaving the aforementioned Rosthornii which you can just make out at the bottom but the show is now stolen by the tropical Mina lobata, a red/orange/cream climber (cheap, cheerful and SOOOO easy from seed, yet your friends will think you're Monty Don) and that almost carnivorous looking Ipomoea. I think, by process of elimination, it's either ex-"Crimson Rambler", which could be anything, if you remember that Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel, and his peas and Chi squares. I don't, much, but then I only got a B for Higher biology, hence my dismal failure at Uni. Oh no, that was because I hadn't done chemistry since I was 14. Everyone else was post Higher.  And the then undiagnosed bipolar shite didn't help. Or it could be "Kiss Me Quick", which I recall going around poking into pots here are there with Tropaeolum peregrinum and Nasturtiums.</b><br />
238. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><br />
239. </span></span></td></tr>
240. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
241. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/images/suttons/118247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/images/suttons/118247.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
242. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ipomoea "Kiss Me Quick" courtesy of Suttons seeds. Hey, when mine actually get around to flowering I'll replace it, OK?  And I paid you £1.69 for a packet of what are basically weed seeds so I don't think you can claim any moral high ground here. And just to prove it, here's "Crimson Rambler", which is more often purple, not crimson.</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
243. </span></span></span></td></tr>
244. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/images/suttons/FLSIPO16257.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/images/suttons/FLSIPO16257.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
245. Now, I promised the search engine some Liliaecious pornography so I'd better make good on my promise. It's a hybrid I don't remember buying but it is extremely upright, thick stemmed and has very slow to develop blooms (I've been watching them for weeks, camera poised) which are a creamy white with a hint of lime, and they are absolutely perfect! I hate white trumpet Lilies, I'm sure as a result of seeing too many L. regales arching to a muddy end. But this is like it's been starched and it's huge!<br />
246. <br />
247. First, the sex organs in literally gynaecological detail:<br />
248. <br />
249. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
250. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zWTCLl-JfEs/TjGIQAwfSqI/AAAAAAAABdA/M3lOYak4Qfo/s1600/IMG_6425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zWTCLl-JfEs/TjGIQAwfSqI/AAAAAAAABdA/M3lOYak4Qfo/s640/IMG_6425.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
251. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I cannot find any mention of what is labelled (in my hand) "White Knigh" (sic) anywhere on the Web, nor "White King" or any similar name. Any ideas, feel free to let me know, there's a comment box at the bottom of the post.</b></span></td></tr>
252. </tbody></table><br />
253. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wUw2fJEP0bc/TjGJ2FZVwVI/AAAAAAAABdE/b0hYSeKYjCM/s1600/IMG_6396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wUw2fJEP0bc/TjGJ2FZVwVI/AAAAAAAABdE/b0hYSeKYjCM/s640/IMG_6396.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
254. There are one, possibly two, more lilies to flower, pending a miracle. One, L. poilanei, is looking very healthy, as one would expect from Crüg Farm (<a href="http://crug-farm.co.uk/">crug-farm.co.uk</a>). I can't remember what I paid for one bulb but I think it was £10, which isn't too bad but enough to clear my conscience about nicking their wee picture of the flower. The dull bud pic is, of course, mine. You can  have the spider for free.<br />
255. <br />
256. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
257. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crug-farm.co.uk/Content/Uploads/lil681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.crug-farm.co.uk/Content/Uploads/lil681.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr>
258. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pretty special, oui?</b></span></td></tr>
259. </tbody></table><br />
260. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
261. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YnxRg1rdp44/TjGMn-cGnVI/AAAAAAAABdI/0FrzMq7qGU8/s1600/IMG_6618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YnxRg1rdp44/TjGMn-cGnVI/AAAAAAAABdI/0FrzMq7qGU8/s640/IMG_6618.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
262. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I just have to make sure this opens without being damaged in any way. The schoolkids at Columbia Road primary being on holiday should help with that, not that any of the little vandals would know a Lily from kelp. One more and we can move on to some more varied interesting species ...</b><br />
263. </span></td></tr>
264. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
265. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlLBLXJ-eNc/TjGOJDAOMhI/AAAAAAAABdM/MlYyKYazl4Q/s1600/IMG_6487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlLBLXJ-eNc/TjGOJDAOMhI/AAAAAAAABdM/MlYyKYazl4Q/s640/IMG_6487.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
266. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>L. wallichianum, a white trumpet from the Himalayas and apparently, in these parts anyway, one of the last of the year to flower, suggesting the mystery white above may have some parentage from this. But there are dozens of boring white trumpets so what do I know or, really, care? For some reason (enthusiasm and bad planning, that's two) I have another specimen of this but it's literally 3cm tall and really doesn't look like its heart is in this. But a lot of Lilies take a season or two to settle, that's why I haven't chucked any yet, even the ones that haven't broken the surface. Did I tell you that L. nepalense, famous for its stoloniferous wandering in open ground, has decided to sprout from a crack near the bottom of its pot? It's just as well I noticed or I'd have surely mangled it. It isn't going to flower, which is a shame because along with my other non growers/bloomers: canadense, primulinum burmanicum, majoense and fargessii, it's a real stunner (thanks to Wikipedia for the pic, next year, if my world hasn't imploded, it will be my own!):</b></span><br />
267. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
268. </span><br />
269. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Lilium_nepalense_(flower).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Lilium_nepalense_(flower).jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
270. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
271. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHP042869-DEV01514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHP042869-DEV01514.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
272. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There are so many forms of L. canadense, due, I suppose, to it's massive distribution, beyond the "confines" of Canada and down well into the US.  A red is particularly common, often called "rubrum". I have no idea what colour my two dead specimens are/were. Probably orange, knowing my luck.</b></span></td></tr>
273. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
274. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/40655055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/40655055.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
275. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>L. primulinum burmanicum. I got mine from Prof Paul Christian (<a href="http://rareplants.co.uk/">rareplants.co.uk</a>) and it's a healthy plant, very similar looking to Poilanei, only without the flower bud atop. Photograph ©flowerbreeder.</b></span></td></tr>
276. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
277. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/images/unknown/Lilium_majoense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/images/unknown/Lilium_majoense.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
278. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>L. majoense. Yes, I know these all look the same but that's just because you don't know what you're talking about. Or perhaps I've been tricked into spending an average of approx £20 a bulb of the same thing. No, there are subtle differences and while all but Canadense are Asian, only Nepalense spreads further than a few small enclaves. It does grow in Nepal but also India and China, where all the coolest plants grow. We get Foxgloves, Dandelions and Thistles while they get hundreds and hundreds of Rhododendron species, Meconopsis and all the best Primulas. I think I've made my point. And I like Digitalis, I'm just too snooty to grow the common or garden form.</b></span></td></tr>
279. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
280. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/fargesii13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/fargesii13.jpg" width="355" /></a></td></tr>
281. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And finally L. fargessii, also green and brown but in a recurved, splattery way. It wasn't described until 1986 and comes from, you guessed it, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China. That makes it sound common. It's not: you don't hide from people like the Cox dynasty until the mid-80s by making a show of yourself. Being entirely camouflaged might well have been in its favour.</b></span></td></tr>
282. </tbody></table>I can only hope for a better show from the live specimens next year and that the ones that didn't even break the surface are just having a little rest. I've been a naughty boy and had a very careful poke around and only one bulb is rotten and that was part of an ill-advised eBay experiment where I bought several un-named (and several named) bulbs from a guy in China. Two were simply described as "Lilies from Sichuan" which could be very exciting, one is even looking healthy but blind (flowerless), the other is the squidgy dead one. There's also another L. poilanei which also looks good but immature and a couple of Nomocharis, not pardathina (got that elsewhere) so must be aperta as I don't recognise any of the other species in the list I've just looked up. It is about 5cm tall.<br />
283. <br />
284. So, what I'm going to do now is show you a few of the species I have grown experimentally this year (I can't show you the dead ones, conveniently). This is by no means comprehensive: some have turned out to be so dull as to not warrant recording, some I want to revisit next year (if I'm still here) such as my 39 species of Gladioli seedling (I have another 10 unsown due to uncertainty over my future but the things are as easy to germinate as turf. In fact, the cotyledons look like they're off to a fancy dress party dressed as a blade of grass.<br />
285. <br />
286. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
287. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IDTrxiE_bFc/TjGZZ9Dp7sI/AAAAAAAABdQ/vk2X2KgJCeM/s1600/IMG_6470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IDTrxiE_bFc/TjGZZ9Dp7sI/AAAAAAAABdQ/vk2X2KgJCeM/s640/IMG_6470.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
288. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A small selection of Gladiolus specie seedlings. The monsters at the back is the "Suicide Gladiolus", G. flanaganii, so called because (legend has it) it only grows in cracks in inaccessible cliffs and collectors risked life and limb to get it. They can't be much older than 4 months, or a bit more for the first few which germinated in the heated propagator but I was only able to use it in such a shaded position it meant playing draughts (or checkers) with the germinating pots to get them a bit of light. These are by no means all my seed-raised glads, and if you include the half-dozen bought-in semi-mature species such as the gob-smacking, red and yellow G. dalenii (below, not flowering) and the 10 or so packets of seed I am banned from planting, I must have at least 50 species. I had none and no interest in the genus two years ago. Yes, I do have Asperger's!</b></span></td></tr>
289. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
290. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ztkeCCOj17U/TjGZ_g4InCI/AAAAAAAABdY/VsysPRfQ6oA/s1600/IMG_6473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ztkeCCOj17U/TjGZ_g4InCI/AAAAAAAABdY/VsysPRfQ6oA/s640/IMG_6473.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
291. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"I WILL flower next year having made it through the winter. Somehow."</b></span></td></tr>
292. </tbody></table><br />
293. I haven't time or the wit to look up each species individually and find out whether it's a wet, winter flowering species or summer dormant blah blah, I just lay the five seeds generously provided by some suppliers flat on the surface of a gritty mix in a small, square pot (for space saving purposes) and cover with 5mm of fine grit or perlite (that's the white stuff, not the shiny stuff, I think). Stick them outside once the frost is no longer a danger and check daily, not because there's any threat to them (apart from gastrpods) but to bask in the self-satisfaction of these southern African species, used to life on baked clay hillsides, under waterfalls or in nutrient-free sand, popping up in your garden or, in my case, on my roof. Of course they'll all die in the winter but where on earth would I put 50+ mature gladioli species, never mind the miniature hybrids I already have.<br />
294. <br />
295. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
296. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LadYVxs9Cnk/TjGZua_OsWI/AAAAAAAABdU/Y8H4uZdWYWI/s1600/IMG_6469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LadYVxs9Cnk/TjGZua_OsWI/AAAAAAAABdU/Y8H4uZdWYWI/s640/IMG_6469.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
297. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>G. albus on July 28 (and there are more buds). I first photographed it at the end of June. Now that's what Geoff Hamilton would call a "doer"! Dead-heading, something I don't believe in (prissy and hard work) unless I'm building up a bulb or similar, will keep it going and it hasn't complained about a fairly weak fortnightly feed with a specialised liquid bulb fertiliser. The two "nanus" hybrids from the previous post remain laden too. I reckon I can get this through the winter with minimal protection too. God bless the London bubble and a southish aspect! I believe it is a member of the x colvillei group of mini Glads.</b></span></td></tr>
298. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
299. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSqJUuJQG3k/TjM_UWAqqnI/AAAAAAAABeE/VTlyVxjNwwc/s1600/IMG_6452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wSqJUuJQG3k/TjM_UWAqqnI/AAAAAAAABeE/VTlyVxjNwwc/s640/IMG_6452.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
300. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Atom" here, however, is a member of the Primulinus group of wee hybrids (and probably the most famous example, which must be why I've ended up with three pots). I have a semi-mature (ie purchased) G. primulinus which, all being well, should manage at least one flower if it gets through the winter so it will be interesting to compare the two. At the moment the parent looks more like an Iris, based on foliage alone but then the foliage of an infuriatingly unlabelled (PIGEONS MUST DIE!) almost flowering sized corm that came in the same order as G. Dalenii, Wilsonii, Primulinus and something else I can't be bothered climbing out the window to look for (it involves changing shoes and covering a chair with a refuse sack and very gingerly placing a toe on an upturned bucket without touching "Atom" up there as well as several other varieties and a pot of yellow Tigridia pavonias (which of course are all flowering one by one, rather than forming the mass display I'd imagined in my head. Anyway, this mystery plant has two, 60cm almost cylindrical leaves. It's either G. cardinalis (which only grows in waterfalls so that should be easy to flower, although it looks quite happy if utterly bizarre now, G. flanaganii or a Moraea. I know it's one I'm very keen on because I expertly repaired the pot with a whole roll of twine when the schoolkids scored a hit. But my point, longwindedly made I admit, is that juvenile foliage is just that, so don't be fooled.</b></span></td></tr>
301. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
302. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8R3tm5_24PU/TjNEderUaTI/AAAAAAAABeI/dDpJyQU-PGo/s1600/IMG_6443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8R3tm5_24PU/TjNEderUaTI/AAAAAAAABeI/dDpJyQU-PGo/s640/IMG_6443.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
303. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>There are more to come, most in this "butterfly" group which look the most like the gaudy hybrids that are so unfashionable, saved only by their diminutive stature. This is "Flevo Laguna" (no idea) and I've a yellow with red centre called "Stella" which has yet to open as well as others I forget. There are also several pots of what was until recently Acidanthera but is now G. callianthus. The flowers are quite large, star shaped and white with a dark purplish brown centre. I get annoyed when the taxonomists start fiddling with genera but actually, looking at the leaves and sprays of flower buds, I can see the logic. Unfortunately the nurseries haven't all got round to catching up so I've got three pots of the same thing with three different names. Oh well, they will keep the Dahlias company when there's nothing else but tired Nasturtiums.</b></span></td></tr>
304. </tbody></table><br />
305. Now, these little beauties are a piece of piss to raise from seed to flowering corm in a season. I've been after them for ages and only recently realised that what was happily living as Anothameca laxa "Joan Evans" has been lumped into the genus Freesia. Who'd be a taxonomist (no, not stuffing dead animals, it seems mainly to involve counting chromosomes these days when in the past you got to count petals and fun stuff like that. F. laxa also comes in an identical form but without the white (ie, the flowers are a deep pink). I pricked out seedlings from both varieties into the same pot and, while there are no typical flowers yet, there are several plants with markedly reddish leaves. These should be hardy and can even become a garden nuisance but keep sheltered and on the dryish side in a pot until spring when watering can begin slowly, remember, they won't flower till August in most of the UK.<br />
306. <br />
307. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4skRRTAOalw/TjGaZ3Otb8I/AAAAAAAABdg/a8JEE88G2tc/s1600/IMG_6328.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4skRRTAOalw/TjGaZ3Otb8I/AAAAAAAABdg/a8JEE88G2tc/s640/IMG_6328.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
308. Many of the species germinating now were ordered from afar many moons ago before all the unpleasantness with the school and were intended to replace the annuals and wet winter witherers. But whether there will be any place for them now, even though I sow tiny quantities, remains to be seen. What I'm not going to do is let extensively sourced and really rather expensive species, none of which I've ever grown before, go to waste. So I at least sowed some. There are still two plastic boxes of seeds stuffed with amazing goodies (including those 10 gladioli species and all manner of Rhodophialas, Moraeas and at least five or six species of Alstroemeria, three others of which I have successfully grown (but only Ligtu has flowered) this summer.<br />
309. <br />
310. Bear in mind these all received the standard treatment of an open, brand compost mixed with perlite and sown on the surface (unless huge) of a 7cm or occasionally 9cm pot before being covered by either 5mm of fine grit or nothing (Mimulus, Isoplexis etc, ie the ones that are smaller than a grain of sand (which, mixed with the seed, at least helps you to sow evenly(ish)). I water these from below as even the finest rose on a watering can will blast them all into one corner of the pot, making pricking out impossible (All three Mimulus species grown this year have been allowed to grow several sets of real leaves and then torn into four or six "plugs". They soon recover and flower for months. Perhaps the biggest shock was the length of time (about three days) it took this to begin:<br />
311. <br />
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313. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1CsMPu_mHew/TjL45usNwuI/AAAAAAAABd0/Hfo0LyUGE7Y/s1600/IMG_6529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1CsMPu_mHew/TjL45usNwuI/AAAAAAAABd0/Hfo0LyUGE7Y/s640/IMG_6529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
314. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I know it's another creamy trumpet but with Lilies it's often a case of buy first, research later. In case you can't read the label it's Lilium leucanthum from Sichuan, China.</b></span></td></tr>
315. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
316. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BynIMoqPPIk/TjL6OrCIS0I/AAAAAAAABd8/iQoen2BvLF8/s1600/IMG_6567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BynIMoqPPIk/TjL6OrCIS0I/AAAAAAAABd8/iQoen2BvLF8/s640/IMG_6567.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
317. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This is my third Rhodophiala species to spring up, along with montana and splendens. Bagnoldii is a Chilean yellow with Amaryllis-like flowers which either follow the leaves or precede them. Here's what it might possibly look like in five-seven years (I'll be in my 40s!) if homophobic schoolchildren and school staff, frost, partners and landlords don't conspire to disappoint me again:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
318. </span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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320. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/N_1205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/N_1205.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
321. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Thanks Mikhail! Be sure to check out his seed site as imprinted on his photograph above: because much of Chile is high and dry, some surprisingly stunning flora, such as exhibit A here, can survive cold winters as long as they are dry. Treat them like alpines, that's pretty much what they are, spending winter under a blanket of snow and never getting too cold or wet. There are some very unusual species of common genera too! So remember that web address: </b><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/"><b>www.chileflora.com</b></a><b>. The seeds arrive very well packed, you get LOADS and often something you don't remember ordering (my last lot included a species of Beech. I definitely didn't order a 30m tree for the roof. Prices are in dollars but range from $2 to, very rarely, $12 for something new or really special. There are a lot of un-named species too, I'm currently growing Montiopsis sp.1403 for example. There are many Alstroemerias, cushion alpines, Tropaeolums and bulbs/tubers/corms etc, all with photos, usually taken by Mr Belov himself. Seed is fresh and plentiful and the site will help with germination and growing tips (not that I've ever read any of them).</b></span><br />
322. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
323. </span><br />
324. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
325. </span><br />
326. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">My other two forays into the Rhodophiala seed (I'd already bought a disappointing R. bifida bulb which has so far managed a 10cm leaf) made several months before the above was added, also germinated within a week and sit right now much as the yellow beauty, only with taller and thicker leaves. In fact they're still the cotyledons, I'm assuming all the energy is going into forming an energy store below ground to get through the harsh, extremely windy and extremely dry Chilean winter (the Atacama Desert in the Andes is the driest place on Earth (although Antarctica actually has the least precipitation – in some parts it hasn't snowed or rained for millions of years). I sowed them more thinly as I didn't know what to expect in the slightest and with geophytic (that's bulbous to you and me) seedlings I like to leave them for at least a year before disturbing (often because the bulb is the size of a grain of rice) and potting up individually (like I have room to do that!)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
327. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0389.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">R. Splendens. See how sandy the soil is and I note the leaves are there. They look a bit tatty so I'm totally guessing they precede the flower stem but,  as I say, I have no actual knowledge here.</span></b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
328. </span><br />
329. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_1610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_1610.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>R. montana. This also comes in a peachy sort of form, suggesting a bit of promiscuity. The bulbs don't offset in the wild, don't know about captivity, so sexual reproduction is the only way to continue the family line and I suppose if the chromosomes add up, a certain amount of hybridisation is inevitable. But most of the pictures I've seen are this pure yellow. Other species are magenta (andicola and laeta), very light pink (ananuca) and orange (aruacana type B, no idea about type A!) and there's an almost white of rhodolirion very slighty suffused with the pink of the type. It also has moderately recurved petals and hugs the ground in a very sexy way. Naturally, it's out of stock at the moment! But a packet of around 30-40 seeds will set you back just $4 when back in stock.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
330. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
331. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Right, that's enough nicking of Mikhail's photography for the time being, although I hope he appreciates the plug (and the £300 I've spent with him!). Moving on to other seed-based adventures …</span></span></div></td></tr>
332. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
333. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1mXJ95fPesM/TjNKDnT9mqI/AAAAAAAABeM/7DloELVVzpU/s1600/IMG_6547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1mXJ95fPesM/TjNKDnT9mqI/AAAAAAAABeM/7DloELVVzpU/s640/IMG_6547.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
334. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And this is Lochroma australis (beware the many spelling variations, I've even seen it Iochroma Australe). I have no recollection of ordering the seeds or knowing what the plant looked liked but I'm glad I did. I was a bit shocked when they came through, partly because they look like bulbs (it's a shrub) but also it's just not the sort of thing I'd try. Apparently it's hardy down to at least -12C. Here, take a gander …</b> </span><br />
335. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></b><br />
336. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
337. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
338. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/iochroma_australe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/iochroma_australe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
339. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Well, it looks nothing like those seedlings but such phenomena are not unique. Fuck knows where I'd put it.</b></span></td></tr>
340. </tbody></table></span></td></tr>
341. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Speaking of enormous shrubs, they don't come much shorter than this little groundhugger, Fuchsia procumbens. The flowers could not be described as stunning, unless you are a person of considerably restricted height and even then they are interesting rather than beautiful. This is from seed sown just two months ago! I have another, clearly related plant, F. Walz Polka, which shares the habit and some of the alien flower characteristics. I have no idea where I got it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
342. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
343. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUNyPW_Qnr8/TjP4CINwoMI/AAAAAAAABeQ/50Q1TYNnZRY/s1600/IMG_6564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUNyPW_Qnr8/TjP4CINwoMI/AAAAAAAABeQ/50Q1TYNnZRY/s640/IMG_6564.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
344. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fuchsia procumbens turned out to be a dawdle from seed, germinating in fewer than 10 days with absolutely no special treatment. And it's growing so fast you can almost hear it!</b></span></td></tr>
345. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
346. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/fuchsia_procumbens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/fuchsia_procumbens.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
347. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>See what I mean? It's fascinating but tiny. That flower is about 1.5cm long so you'd need a lot at once to get any real effect. It's used more as groundcover and may be relatively hardy in the UK but please don't take my word for that (although I do have more than a few replacements).</b></span></td></tr>
348. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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350. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.littlebrookfuchsias.com/ImagesItems/Large/IMG_1360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.littlebrookfuchsias.com/ImagesItems/Large/IMG_1360.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
351. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Fuchsia "Walz Polka" is a trailer but the leaves are far more like one from the garden centre. It's that bizzare brown flower that gives it away. I could be quite wrong, my knowledge of Fuchsia genetics is limited to the fact that they are related to the evil Rosebay Willowherb (or Fireweed in the US) and can share pathogens. Unfortunately it's always the Fuchsia that catches the disease, not the weed which is a total bugger to get rid of, being rhizomatous and thus requiring complete elimination unless you want it to pop up again next week. Image © Little Brook Fuchsias, try </b></span><a href="http://www.littlebrookfuchsias.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>www.littlebrookfuchsias.com</b></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> if you fancy trying this. </b></span></td></tr>
352. </tbody></table></div></div>On to more seedlings now, with a close relative of my beloved Digitalis, Isoplexis, which seems to favour the Canary Islands as a home so they obviously don't mind wind, sun, salt, volcanic soil and drugged-up homosexuals. As for cold, we'll cross that bridge when I come to it. these took a couple of weeks to show and are making slow progress, which is a little worrying for winter but I have another packet so it's not a problem.<br />
353. <br />
354. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
355. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NSTS5sAkkpU/TjQKWLCvZkI/AAAAAAAABeU/E_XedDwLJgg/s1600/IMG_6549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NSTS5sAkkpU/TjQKWLCvZkI/AAAAAAAABeU/E_XedDwLJgg/s640/IMG_6549.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
356. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>At last! Seedlings that look like proper seedlings!. This is I. canariensis which resembles Digitalis obscura a little but with the leaves of the brown or yellow species and a bit more solidity about it. The flowers, on spikes like Digitalis, are orangey bronze and a bit more tropical looking than a Foxglove.</b></span></td></tr>
357. </tbody></table>I've not had much success with the more interesting Impatiens, my one and only seedling of the legendary blue Tibetan (here we go) I. namchabarwensis lasted a day or two and I can't even get "Red Wine" to grow so I was delighted when I took a punt on the yellow I. scabrida and this happened:<br />
358. <br />
359. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
360. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k1tHrvMuiZQ/TjQOBWBmEiI/AAAAAAAABeY/JwXFYe1MAz4/s1600/IMG_6498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k1tHrvMuiZQ/TjQOBWBmEiI/AAAAAAAABeY/JwXFYe1MAz4/s640/IMG_6498.jpg" width="521" /></a></td></tr>
361. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>These are of course very ready for pricking out (and thus taking up MORE room but I cant do my trick of five plants to a pot, they take too much watering although one does get an instant effect. These have that classic Balsam shaped flower with the tail and lip … I'm not explaining this very well, sneak a look at Wikipedia's pic below. The shade varies and the flowers can have various brownish markings inside. It's just a shame it's an annual! Sometimes it pays to do a little research!</b></span><br />
362. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
363. </span><br />
364. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Impatiens_scabrida2.jpg/250px-Impatiens_scabrida2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Impatiens_scabrida2.jpg/250px-Impatiens_scabrida2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
365. </tbody></table><br />
366. You know what I've just been doing? Yep, for the second night in a row I've been soaking my pots, especially the ones nearest the public who will flock into my courtyard tomorrow to make noise, chuck litter around and generally mill around the area very slowly. Even so, I'm considerate enough to make my containers very heavy with soaking wet compost so they won't fall on any of the irritating tourists getting in my way as I embark on an expedition to buy a newspaper and milk from the newsagent a gruelling 50 metres away. What people buying the live flowers from the flower market that has set up in my road every Sunday since time immemorial (and I know from personal experience) is that your purchases, unless indestructible things such as Pelargoniums or Petunias, will probably die, having spent the previous 48 hours on a marathon journey from Holland, passing through a zillion different environments before ending up on a stall in the street whether it is -10 or 30C, windy or calm, wet or dry. The orchids are particularly good at this. If you can keep the flowers on a Phalaenopsis for more than a week you get awarded a green thumb.<br />
367. <br />
368. So, back up the Andes, eh? When I first saw a picture of a Schizanthus I was gobsmacked: bright pink and yellow has always been a favourite combination of mine, which is probably why I used to collect international copies of Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols which has a flourescent yellow and pink sleeve (I had around 50). Except in North America and the first 250 copies in Greece. Oh, and one of the myriad French editions. They're pink and green.<br />
369. <br />
370. Anyway, this brilliant (in both senses) flower had me captivated and it was actually this that got me interested in Chilean flora. I have two species, S. hookeri and coccineus. The latter has been growing for months and months and while the plants look very healthy and 10cm tall, there is no sign of flowering. And it's an annual so it's either going to have to put on another 50cm before winter or go into some sort of stasis for the winter (it often spends up to eight months under snow in its natural home just above the treeline. The Hookeri seedlings are making faster progress.<br />
371. <br />
372. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
373. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-krQqxxSKh70/TjSJiryMMHI/AAAAAAAABeg/IjZVmLk5iuU/s1600/IMG_6511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-krQqxxSKh70/TjSJiryMMHI/AAAAAAAABeg/IjZVmLk5iuU/s400/IMG_6511.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
374. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These should turn into this:</span></b></td></tr>
375. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
376. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://labs.eeb.utoronto.ca/barrett/Floral_diversity/Schizanthus_820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://labs.eeb.utoronto.ca/barrett/Floral_diversity/Schizanthus_820.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
377. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So eyecatching – and it's not even the best one! S. grahamii is even better and brighter but my seedlings damped off</b></span></td></tr>
378. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
379. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lrz.de/~hfe/Bilder/2003-Men/MEN_099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://www.lrz.de/~hfe/Bilder/2003-Men/MEN_099.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
380. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Shame. There's always next year, it's not like I can make the same mistake twice. Surely …</b></span></td></tr>
381. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
382. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5367774109_e97990911d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="470" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5367774109_e97990911d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
383. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>S. coccineus. They don't call them the Poor Man's Orchid for nothing. Actually, I think I might move to the Andes and become an Alpaca farmer so I can spend eight months of the year waiting for the snow to melt so I can look at stunningly beautiful stuff like this.</b></span></td></tr>
384. </tbody></table>There have been some other surprising successes and failures: I'm fed up up with obscure Tropaeolum species failing to germinate, although T. tricolor did, although I have yet to see any flowers and peregrinum, which is basically knitting the whole roof garden together is just coming into bloom so there should be a burst of yellow any day now which is just as well as the Nasturtiums look awful when they start to go leggy, sending out multi-metre flower shoots from a bush of yellow shrivelling leaves and dessicated flowers that you can't reach to tidy up because all the other plants in the way are bound together by all the other members of the genus, Mina lobata and Ipomoeas and you can't move anything without snapping a shoot that has its roots in a pot four metres away.<br />
385. <br />
386. A success (so far, I haven't pricked them out although I should) is Corydalis sempervirens:<br />
387. <br />
388. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aq_98IC5xQM/TjSYMvTi1dI/AAAAAAAABek/a8Xr-9yvo_g/s1600/IMG_6503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aq_98IC5xQM/TjSYMvTi1dI/AAAAAAAABek/a8Xr-9yvo_g/s400/IMG_6503.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
389. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
390. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Pink_Corydalis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Pink_Corydalis.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
391. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So what if it's more pink and yellow, it's rare, it's sex on roots and I grew it from seed almost by accident.</b></span></td></tr>
392. </tbody></table>And it wouldn't be me without a couple of Irises thrown in, I. lutescens and pumila. Both European bearded species confined to small areas, I'm largely convinced that most if not all bearded Irises, except the attractive ones like the Arils, are all subspecies of the mythical I. germanica. All of them: I. aphylla, atticans, albicans … I don't even have to do B to Z. Anyway, some miniature Iris leaves poking through some grit:<br />
393. <br />
394. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-goJauFYi3eY/TjScr1PhVJI/AAAAAAAABeo/abrm6hZhVJI/s1600/IMG_6518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-goJauFYi3eY/TjScr1PhVJI/AAAAAAAABeo/abrm6hZhVJI/s400/IMG_6518.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><br />
395. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
396. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GVqUK6Optl8/TjSdep_-_QI/AAAAAAAABes/6qQqLazzOhA/s1600/IMG_6507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GVqUK6Optl8/TjSdep_-_QI/AAAAAAAABes/6qQqLazzOhA/s400/IMG_6507.jpg" width="287" /></a></td></tr>
397. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Give it a chance, it's only been a few weeks!</b></span></td></tr>
398. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
399. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Iris/Iris_lutescens_MS953_2_JL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Iris/Iris_lutescens_MS953_2_JL.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
400. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>See? It doesn't even have to be properly yellow! It's called "lutescens", that's a strong indication of yellowness. Half of them are totally blue.</b></span></td></tr>
401. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
402. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://botany.cz/foto/irispumila4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://botany.cz/foto/irispumila4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
403. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least these Iris pumila in the Czech Republic are just about the right colour. According to Wikipedia (caution alert!) this isn't even a proper species but a natural hybrid between pseudopumila and attica Tineo (whatever that may be). So if they're all shagging naturally anyway, when does a hybrid become a species? When it breeds true, I suppose. But they don't. You can sow a packet of Iris lutescens and get anything from white to cream to yellow all the way through reddish brown to many shades of blue and purple with bicolours prevalent all the way through the spectrum. I suppose that's why it's called an Iris, after the Greek goddess of the rainbow.</span></b></td></tr>
404. </tbody></table>Well, on that grumpy note, here a photo I'm very proud of, although I can claim very little credit for the plant other than buying the root thing off the shelf (I know, bad Plantboy!) and planting it up before snapping this really rather good photograph. Gosh, I am clever. Sometimes.<br />
405. <br />
406. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
407. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gwjNeX1V54E/TjGehp0IuqI/AAAAAAAABdk/H0jHAD4ZoBw/s1600/IMG_5913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gwjNeX1V54E/TjGehp0IuqI/AAAAAAAABdk/H0jHAD4ZoBw/s640/IMG_5913.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
408. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Zantedecshia "Picasso'</b></span><br />
409. <br />
410. </td></tr>
411. </tbody></table>Right, it's after 1.30am, I'm off to read the same sentence of my novel five time with one eye shut (it's a long story involving a brick, a chav, my head, an exploding eye socket, urgent surgery and a lot of titanium where once there was face). Not the book, real life. This means that when my eye muscles get tired I get one half of the information at 45 degrees to the rest.<br />
412. <br />
413. Goodnight, happy August, may you reap the rewards of your spring efforts (if you live in western Europe). If you're in Australia or Argentina or somewhere else in the Southern Hemishere, I've no idea what the season is.<br />
414. <br />
415. The Plant Boy x<br />
416. <br />
417. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/07/luscious-lily-exposed-sexy-seedlings.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ofnilnesMrQ/TjVKI-Il1qI/AAAAAAAABew/51Md8omDvRk/s72-c/IMG_6661.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>5</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-1928713198437281017</guid><pubDate>Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-07-16T09:49:51.940-07:00</atom:updated><title>Rooftop botany in the City - My World of Plants: The Last Post? And not the mail (that remains flakey)</title><description>&lt;a href=&quot;http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/07/last-post-and-not-mail-that-remains.html#links&quot;&gt;Rooftop botany in the City - My World of Plants: The Last Post? And not the mail (that remains flakey)&lt;/a&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/07/rooftop-botany-in-city-my-world-of.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-5685841092379496207</guid><pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2011 22:35:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-07-19T12:26:14.311-07:00</atom:updated><title>The Last Post?  And not the mail (that remains flakey)</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
418. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
419. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_KGP6I3Imk/ThGsYV7WKgI/AAAAAAAABWE/9rHLUDaUTJg/s1600/IMG_5693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_KGP6I3Imk/ThGsYV7WKgI/AAAAAAAABWE/9rHLUDaUTJg/s640/IMG_5693.JPG" width="640" /></b></a></td></tr>
420. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a hybrid but it's allowed because it's so badly bred </span></span><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD8" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: #009900; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-style: normal !important; font-weight: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the flower</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> stems break if you look at them: Gladiolus albus. It looks even better now, a month after I photographed it. Amazing! The only problem with all my miniature hybrids it that the stems struggle to support the bountiful infloresence, even in the calmest weather. They keep flowering, just at 90 degrees to the stem, making photography tricky and giving the plants a slightly, erm, untidy look. But the individual blooms are killer!</span></span></span></td></tr>
421. </tbody></table>Hello again my dedicated followers (there were over 100 diehards, thanks Cath, Rod, Jo, James and myriad others) and all 18,000 of you who passed by from around the world, from Yemen to Kazakhstan, from Suriname to Egypt (Nice revolution! That's how long since I last posted for very tedious legal reasons).<br />
422. <br />
423. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
424. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aFxokIt4o5Q/ThGvipOBFFI/AAAAAAAABWI/PpGPEN8DuAY/s1600/IMG_2531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aFxokIt4o5Q/ThGvipOBFFI/AAAAAAAABWI/PpGPEN8DuAY/s640/IMG_2531.jpg" width="588" /></a></td></tr>
425. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Some member of the Klan from the Deep South on a well respected forum laughed his head off when I asked for advice on growing Arils in the southern UK. So I used my skill and judgment instead. I think you'll agree I made a decent stab...</span></span></td></tr>
426. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
427. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gYRx1idRCvU/ThGwsd_cruI/AAAAAAAABWM/IHkrYe58upg/s1600/IMG_2506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gYRx1idRCvU/ThGwsd_cruI/AAAAAAAABWM/IHkrYe58upg/s640/IMG_2506.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
428. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I can't remember the name of this beauty (I think it might have been in Dutch or German) but it's one of three, out of three bought for a considerable amount of money cos they're so f'ing hard to grow but I flowered all three. One of the hardest in the world, the Oncocyclus Iris "Dardanus" shocked me by coming back from the dead to grow healthy sprays of leaves along the stolons, but not enough chuff to bloom.</span></span></td></tr>
429. </tbody></table><br />
430. Very, very regrettably, the garden on the roof, where arilbred Irises stunned, yellow AND pink Lilium lophophorum set a puzzle solved only when the other bloomed (sort of) and where I learned that most bulbs, especially Gladioli species - the fragile, almost grass-like ones with flowers so dainty yet tough: you have to be when you live among the skeletons of Namibia or cling precariously to a ravine on the slopes of Table Mountain, germinate like cress, looks to be coming to an end. I got too greedy, the headmistress at the school next door doesn't appreciate Clematis towers and so, while the neighbours love it, the cafe owners are distraught at the thought of it going and I heard two old ladies the other night saying: "It looks just like a painting! The colours are so vibrant!". I hope she didn't means Sunflowers by old One Ear.<br />
431. <br />
432. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
433. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tz-MAPMxHHY/ThLX8BHjCkI/AAAAAAAABWU/cbTtEvnK67w/s1600/IMG_3561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tz-MAPMxHHY/ThLX8BHjCkI/AAAAAAAABWU/cbTtEvnK67w/s640/IMG_3561.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
434. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gladiolus brevifolius. It's maybe 10in tall and look like a bit of grass but once a year…</span></span></td></tr>
435. </tbody></table><br />
436. I have had an absolute blast researching (I love you internet!), sowing,  planting and planning - to the best of my ability - and, one again, creating and, were it not for its power over the levels of cortisol,   norepipherine, adrenaline, serotonin, noradrenaline, dopamine and many other pituitary treats and killers, who knows where I'd be.<br />
437. <br />
438. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
439. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dr96-86iOt8/Th1Ia7qUgZI/AAAAAAAABaw/fmLisV0wKt8/s1600/IMG_5803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dr96-86iOt8/Th1Ia7qUgZI/AAAAAAAABaw/fmLisV0wKt8/s640/IMG_5803.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
440. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Also from the "Nanus" series of miniature (and therefore only a little bit vulgar) Gladioli hybrids is "Nathalie" here. The daubing on the lower petals is very common in the group, coming straight from parent G. cardinalis.  </span></td></tr>
441. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: auto;"><br />
442. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">According to expert and enthusiast Irina Antipina Nanus Hybrids were introduced in 1855 from Gladiolus cardinalis and venustus (both relatively robust and easy species from seed (I have one-year-olds of both and they do look just like blades of grass). Nanus hybrids are decorative and early-flowering but for some reason the red and daubing of G. cardinalis (below, top) is evident but there is little sign of the magenta, yellow and grey of G. venustus (below, middle). At the very bottom is "Nymph", where the markings from cardinalis parentage are obvious, albeit in a different colour, but any resemblance to venustus must make itself known in the foliage or structure and as my seedlings are about 5cm tall at the moment, I don't feel qualified to comment on its  mature structure!<br />
443. </span><br />
444. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
445. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://woottensplants.co.uk/images/g3670a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://woottensplants.co.uk/images/g3670a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5387698103_598afebe50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5387698103_598afebe50.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AL4T56MsXA/Th29LZ6z38I/AAAAAAAABbI/DAJ3dLcHMmo/s1600/IMG_5627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4AL4T56MsXA/Th29LZ6z38I/AAAAAAAABbI/DAJ3dLcHMmo/s320/IMG_5627.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
446. They come in white, pink, salmon and some varieties are nearly red, have narrow leaves, and have two to four flower stalks with many side shoots. They also seem to like things on my roof because the ivory G. albus has been blooming for six weeks and still doesn't look tired or messy (the old petals seem to disappear into a green hole). Others, however, such as "Nathalie" and "Nymph" produce such an abundance of flowers that the lightest breeze or alien object thrown at it by a schoolboy will cause flowering stems to not break but sag, meaning you still get the display but it points at the ground. Although the exact parentage of these hybrids is mostly lost, we know that they are the result of crossing the summer and winter blooming species together. In fact, virtually all of them are actually first generation hybrids.</span><br />
447. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
448. </span><br />
449. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
450. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5uXHyXxgo2k/Th_2XRatqVI/AAAAAAAABbc/KtTjFFw3OcI/s1600/IMG_4516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5uXHyXxgo2k/Th_2XRatqVI/AAAAAAAABbc/KtTjFFw3OcI/s640/IMG_4516.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
451. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The view out the living room window (well, the one of seven I use to access this forbidden space. Bottom left is Lilium tsingtauense, right is hansonii and top right is a good show from pumilum (syn. tenuifolium). The species, form or variety beside it, lancifolium "Flore Pleno", is only flowering now and can be seen later in this posting (this photo was taken June 4. Yes, I have been very busy, largely taking on the Man. </span></td></tr>
452. </tbody></table></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
453. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
454. <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cu7EDZVyO0w/ThLZe4x6J4I/AAAAAAAABWY/u9fI20kGiek/s1600/IMG_2843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cu7EDZVyO0w/ThLZe4x6J4I/AAAAAAAABWY/u9fI20kGiek/s640/IMG_2843.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
455. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This caused a real conundrum when it came up (pigeons had been at the label. I don't know what they do with them, I wouldn't sleep on them!) It was fairly obviously from the Liliaceae but tiny. That's a 20p, not a 50! And it didn't match anything I'd ordered. At one point I considered it might be a Nomocharis gone very wrong as I did order three, one of which came all the was from China and arrived in a state you wouldn't want to stand on (it had been in a plastic bag for six weeks, enough to rot me!</span></td></tr>
456. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
457. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sUemsRCgt3Y/ThLgCvFo9DI/AAAAAAAABWc/uk_3yfM7fwU/s1600/IMG_3627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sUemsRCgt3Y/ThLgCvFo9DI/AAAAAAAABWc/uk_3yfM7fwU/s640/IMG_3627.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
458. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">See that sheen on the scale at the top of the shot? That's plant pus. Yeah, gross! On receipt of the photo he played a straight bat, with a refund and suggestion I dry it out a bit and plant it anyway, on the off chance, hence my confusion with the pink diamond above. I've also had another Nomocharis from him, formosana I think, with a collection number,  although it's come up blind this year so feeding it up as much as I dare: there comes a point (more than once a fortnight with this proprietary bulb food) where you do more harm than good, risking salt crystals forming and "burning" the roots. There is a Lilium wallichianum just broken the surface (white trumpets, yawn!) and there were two or three just described as Sechuan Lilies (all this on eBay with PayPal so no risk). </span><br />
459. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
460. </span><br />
461. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of his iss well dead and never came up. I had a little poke about in the pot (NAUGHTY!) and it reminded me of when, as kids, we spent what in Scotland are still called the "Tatty holidays", a tatty being a potato, following a tractor that had turned over the soil and filling old washing baskets with the freshly revealed taters. But those of you who grow potatoes will know what happens to the original, from which all the others grow. It rots. And even with Marigolds on, the texture and stench is worse than the bottom of your shoe after a walk through the park in the dark (like I'd EVER do that again, even in a tank).</span></div></td></tr>
462. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
463. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ec7ZpAS2Zoc/ThMgdZVc6sI/AAAAAAAABWo/5x_9GBgZZuc/s1600/IMG_4684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ec7ZpAS2Zoc/ThMgdZVc6sI/AAAAAAAABWo/5x_9GBgZZuc/s640/IMG_4684.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
464. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And at once, mystery solved. This is definitely Lilium lophophorum cos it came from Dr (or is it Prof?) Paul Christian and he knows his bulbs/corms/stolons/rhizomes etc. So what I got first time round was the incredibly unusual pink form that many dispute the very existence of, an event comparable to picking up a dart, facing away from the board, chucking it over my shoulder and getting triple 20! I thought the flowers stayed as above for a few days and then opened out but neither did, they stayed shut so goodness knows what exotic Asian entity does the shagging for them!</span></td></tr>
465. </tbody></table>I'm just gonna carry on with some of my sparkling successes cos I can't remember what I've shown you. And there are a couple of people in places like Libya and Syria who might have missed them first time round …<br />
466. <br />
467. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
468. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DRuMjfNr0Io/ThMkWJeCW3I/AAAAAAAABWs/LvkWrW1IQZY/s1600/IMG_3406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DRuMjfNr0Io/ThMkWJeCW3I/AAAAAAAABWs/LvkWrW1IQZY/s640/IMG_3406.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
469. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is of course an Aquilegia, or "Grannies bonnet" as my late mum called them. I wouldn't normally bother with a run of the mill perennial but the flourescent red and yellow with a hint of green of "Tequila Sunrise" raced out of it's seed coat.</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
470. </tbody></table><br />
471. To return home from work and get out the window (there is no door, as you all know, and when I was alone, tasting that mix of anticipation, excitement and fear of what shite had been thrown at the vintage pot with the South African bulb nurtured for eight years) would be better than any horribly addictive benzodiazepine (although I never found them very effective anyway. Not when you compare it to finding something that had been hidden under Tropaeolum majus (OK, Nasturtium, I'm taking one of my last chances to show off) such as Hippeastrum sonatini "Viridi Rascal"):<br />
472. <br />
473. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/70302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/70302.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />
474. is in fact cf "Alaska". I ordered "Orange Rascal" and the above from Bloms (that's a photo from their catalogue because what I got is below (the big one).  (I'm showing off again, cf. before the name means "a bit like", something they didn't see fit to teach me in Latin, although I still remember <i>Canis est in horto latrat</i>. Fortunately I don't have a <i>canis</i>, smelly things, and if the law is an ass, I won't have a <i>horto</i> either. I also, having forgotten what I'd done, ordered the same from someone else, possibly even Bloms again. Only two of the four  were given the chance to flower, the other two, including "Orange Rascal" (below) also from this series, were perfectly healthy but were attacked as the buds formed. They are just hardy so they might get another chance and they will be fully protected next time instead of being so irresponsibly placed on the windowsill. But calm down, Chris! <i>Sub judice</i> is Latin I am very familiar with, being a hack.<br />
475. <br />
476. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
477. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0B1wDtOiix8/ThC7bvZpukI/AAAAAAAABVQ/A4ApChSTMTI/s1600/IMG_4960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0B1wDtOiix8/ThC7bvZpukI/AAAAAAAABVQ/A4ApChSTMTI/s640/IMG_4960.JPG" width="600" /></a></td></tr>
478. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was I disappointed? Did I fire off a furious email to the nursery? No. It's beautiful and will even fit in my cardboard box when I'm evicted.</span></td></tr>
479. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/70288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/70288.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />
480. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
481. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tzp9Yp8HY_Y/ThDDqMBIcaI/AAAAAAAABVU/1O7H1G36sWw/s1600/IMG_4941.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tzp9Yp8HY_Y/ThDDqMBIcaI/AAAAAAAABVU/1O7H1G36sWw/s640/IMG_4941.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
482. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know the double white is sexy but I really do want what I ordered too. Which would mean buying two new ones and if the garden is being wound down, what's the point? Just more disappointment.</span><br />
483. <br />
484. </td></tr>
485. </tbody></table>Okay, so I keep my gob shut and stop risking prejudicing legal action, here is a series of pictures with neutral captions!<br />
486. <br />
487. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
488. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_E7jpscGXO8/Th9mDfzxuuI/AAAAAAAABbQ/lEz_x8Dd2y8/s1600/IMG_5432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_E7jpscGXO8/Th9mDfzxuuI/AAAAAAAABbQ/lEz_x8Dd2y8/s640/IMG_5432.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
489. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trellis viewed from the greenhouse side. I got a window box exactly the same width (purely by chance) as the polythene plant killer, sorry these are meant to be neutral, smashing Argos greenhouse. The plastic box has a reservoir for water at the bottom which is great because, while there are only three Lathyrus chloranthus in there, they are greedy and thirsty and get no rain (due to my propagation and purchasing enthusiasm, which means every spare cm is home to a plant. The Bomarea (can't be bothered leaning out the window to check species, they're all the same anyway: big bunches of orange /red/yellow  trumpets, close relative of Tropaeolum) is in a pot so it's not guilty. Mind you, the Clematis nepalensis is in the window box and they like their water. I wouldn't mind if it produced some of its odd, some might say ugly, but not me, flowers.</span><br />
490. <br />
491. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/photo/image/60527/main/Clematis_napaulensis_buds_2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/photo/image/60527/main/Clematis_napaulensis_buds_2009.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
492. </span></span></span><br />
493. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
494. </span></span></span></div></td></tr>
495. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
496. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pLAU-UlzKPY/ThDFmqk6LjI/AAAAAAAABVY/Qm2V264gtzw/s1600/IMG_5226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pLAU-UlzKPY/ThDFmqk6LjI/AAAAAAAABVY/Qm2V264gtzw/s640/IMG_5226.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
497. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lathyrus chloranthus: the flowers start off a real acid green and end up like this, bicoloured and altogether softer. An annual, like most sweet peas, this is incredibly easy to grow but sadly it's an annual so I'm leaving a few pods to ripen. I sowed last autumn (not necessary, just enthusiam) and grow them up a trellis with Clematis nepaulensis, a Bomarea  and an Ipomoea or maybe Mina lobatata (it's a little overwhelmed by its neighbours) to  hide my crappy Argos greenhouse. Speaking of which:</span><br />
498. <br />
499. </td></tr>
500. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
501. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BMn80WGLnrw/ThDKNP6zKII/AAAAAAAABVc/G3553F9jexo/s1600/IMG_5270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BMn80WGLnrw/ThDKNP6zKII/AAAAAAAABVc/G3553F9jexo/s640/IMG_5270.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
502. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mina lobata growing up a Lily. The flower is still young: It will double in size and end with creamy petals. Like the one below I've just found! It's a real challenge to grow though, taking up to four days to germinate! It has the distinctive butterfly cotyledons of the Ipomoeas and Convolvulus, twistng its way up the host. A real stunner for no effort. I also scatter things like Tropaeolum peregrinum, the yellow canary creeper, about to fill any gaps.  I've also got Ken Aslet, though the nursery I bought it from didn't deliver so I went to a reputable place instead, cilicium, platyphyllum, incisum  and no luck so far with a whole range of species from seed including lepidum, sessilifolium and brachyceras, apart from one I can't remember the name of but it's called "Spitfire" or something and came up so quickly I think it's just a variety of majus.</span></td></tr>
503. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
504. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-usxQ9k6tI/ThD1aiDoAII/AAAAAAAABVo/iTL8-TRKhh0/s1600/IMG_5645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c-usxQ9k6tI/ThD1aiDoAII/AAAAAAAABVo/iTL8-TRKhh0/s640/IMG_5645.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
505. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately I only got four of these to germinate because the pot was upset just after sowingso I've had to spread them around and they haven't hade their presence felt yet but they will, along with all the other annual climbers and tender Tropaeoleums, if they make it. </td></tr>
506. </tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
507. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4qq-BOwsuik/ThD6fSecMDI/AAAAAAAABVs/63RmqvRPNCA/s1600/IMG_1856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4qq-BOwsuik/ThD6fSecMDI/AAAAAAAABVs/63RmqvRPNCA/s640/IMG_1856.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
508. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quite a few Iris douglasiana hybrid seedlings! (Someone else made the crosses; that's my next ambition).</span><br />
509. <br />
510. </td></tr>
511. </tbody></table><br />
512. <br />
513. <br />
514. <br />
515. <br />
516. <br />
517. <br />
518. <br />
519. <br />
520. <br />
521. <br />
522. <br />
523. <br />
524. <br />
525. <br />
526. <br />
527. <br />
528. <br />
529. <br />
530. <br />
531. <br />
532. <br />
533. <br />
534. The big pull recently had been my Lilies. A lot of the more obscure are shot with viruses but I've also managed to germinate clean seedlings of L. humboldtii, kelloggii, washingtonianum and several others (it's dark, I cannae see!) but a few more of that group of North American species. Iris-wise I've got a pot of Pacific Coast hybrids and a huge bucket of douglasiana hybrids which I've left too long to prick out, they're getting very yellow (the leaves, not the flowers, which will be subtly different combinations of blue, white and purple. Also I've nowhere to put more than 100 7cm pots of Iris. Oh, and Iris prismatica. Basically, YOU can germinate any Iris species. Or Lily...<br />
535. <br />
536. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
537. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7xsiPkU7DjM/Tha3L0tb29I/AAAAAAAABWw/QCZqJUei4Bs/s1600/IMG_3181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7xsiPkU7DjM/Tha3L0tb29I/AAAAAAAABWw/QCZqJUei4Bs/s640/IMG_3181.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
538. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When sowing this, Lilium washintonianum (a really unusual one, a little bit like hansonii in the way it holds it very slightly recurved, vaguely pinky white flowers) I took no account of season, temperature, nor bothered to take in the difference between hypo- and epigeal). The came up the same week as kelloggii and humboldtii. I could show you pictures but they are almost identical in form.</span></td></tr>
539. </tbody></table><br />
540. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
541. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h7lDfBiaQc8/Tha58zlyoOI/AAAAAAAABW0/SkxSJ9iwT-M/s1600/IMG_3240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h7lDfBiaQc8/Tha58zlyoOI/AAAAAAAABW0/SkxSJ9iwT-M/s640/IMG_3240.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
542. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, one more. This large pot of what are simply labelled mixed Lily hybrids is now a mass of glossy green as some of the 2-year-olds begin to take shape. But you can see here the variety of forms of seedling. They all start off as a blade of grass and then anything can happen, although it's usually followed by a single proper Lily leaf – no stems yet but bulbs are clearly being formed. The top pic is about two months old. (That's about how long this is taking to write. Bloody brain damage). The one below (taken at a remarkably similar angle considering I was guessing. I'm particularly intrigued by the ones like the grassy one on the right. What's that going to look like when it grows up? Mature, they all have the same basic structure, with many variations, but they're all a stick with leaves on it, arranged in many patterns but none like a Spider Plant, with six-petals per inflorescence. Hmmm. If I didn't have to bulldoze my life I'd find out. As it is, they'll most likely end up in the recycling.</span><br />
543. <br />
544. </td></tr>
545. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-30fIaLr1H6Q/TheOiI1LGDI/AAAAAAAABXY/VLLMWZMZUXM/s1600/IMG_5790.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-30fIaLr1H6Q/TheOiI1LGDI/AAAAAAAABXY/VLLMWZMZUXM/s640/IMG_5790.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
546. <br />
547. Here are some pointless but beautiful shots of Lilium Mackliniae, taken indoors not because I think that's where they live but it was very windy that day. I didn't raise them from seed, I bought them from that superb purveyor of all things Himalayan, Glendoick nursery in Perthshire. They grow tens of thousands of Rhododendrons, mostly in open fields, and pick out your one and put a little label on it with your name etc, sending them out bare root when the time is just right. I used to work there for about 6 weeks. They have an utterly stunning dell with a burn (brook) running down it,  where native Beeches and the like shelter Cardiocrinums, every Rhody ever found, almost, Kalmias, Meconopsis, Primulas, particularly candelabras which have hybridised over the years into a big bag of rainbow coloured sweets (that's candy, to our American friends). <br />
548. <br />
549. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
550. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.glendoick.com/pageimages/2010Jan021262456512Panorama_thro_calophytum_across_burn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="http://www.glendoick.com/pageimages/2010Jan021262456512Panorama_thro_calophytum_across_burn.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
551. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While a fine photograph, this doesn't quite capture the atmosphere of the bubble of the burn at Glendoick and the sheer variety of genera and species or way it closes you in. It is a magical place, botanically beating Heligan, although that does win for sheer "what the..." value.</span></td></tr>
552. </tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
553. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BmjE8P9JcR8/ThD7YsXHzTI/AAAAAAAABVw/F5Tn62pT7bs/s1600/IMG_2670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BmjE8P9JcR8/ThD7YsXHzTI/AAAAAAAABVw/F5Tn62pT7bs/s640/IMG_2670.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
554. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first Lily! And surprisingly it's the relatively obscure and tricky Lilium Mackliniae. The pics are a bit grey as it was blowin' a gale outside!</span></td></tr>
555. </tbody></table><br />
556. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KY5SgMF1TCw/ThD9f_T_WWI/AAAAAAAABV0/74mFGv2tLCY/s1600/IMG_2675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KY5SgMF1TCw/ThD9f_T_WWI/AAAAAAAABV0/74mFGv2tLCY/s640/IMG_2675.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
557. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up was Lilium pumilum (syn tenuifolium). It's hard to describe the waxy texture of the petals but they are almost like plastic. A classic, get rid of those awful things with dinner-plate flowers and get some of the following naturally perfect bulbs (well, stolons actually in this case!).</span><br />
558. <br />
559. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-arhdWFCjL1s/ThD-3Vv9m8I/AAAAAAAABV4/u-XYrE7LCkU/s1600/IMG_2921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-arhdWFCjL1s/ThD-3Vv9m8I/AAAAAAAABV4/u-XYrE7LCkU/s640/IMG_2921.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
560. <br />
561. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
562. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xP91KEs9sIg/ThD_Jvu5A-I/AAAAAAAABWA/gdMayQf0SOo/s1600/IMG_2752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xP91KEs9sIg/ThD_Jvu5A-I/AAAAAAAABWA/gdMayQf0SOo/s640/IMG_2752.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
563. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, this one catches the texture quite well. Can you feel it? I just want to touch it but it's long gone! Bulbs of others, such as L. wallichianum (a slightly dull creamy stoloniferous species from the usual suspects: Sikkim, India, Nepal and Bhutan, although those trumpets are l-o-n-g!) are making a good cm a day. Seeds of L. leucanthum planted a fortnight ago, when I still held out hope that I could save the garden, are bursting through like green shepherds' crooks already.</span><br />
564. <br />
565. </td></tr>
566. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
567. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zvtQ2BjjFGw/ThbF7zvlBBI/AAAAAAAABW4/C5N0QOBZdw4/s1600/IMG_3234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zvtQ2BjjFGw/ThbF7zvlBBI/AAAAAAAABW4/C5N0QOBZdw4/s640/IMG_3234.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
568. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my Cardiocrinum giganteum. That's a 75L bag of compost it's sitting on and it's just a baby. I DON'T WANT TO GIVE IT AWAY! I thought I was being responsible by growing it in a pot (cos obviously there's plenty of humus-rich topsoil (stop laughing about chick peas David!) but it will probably still make eight feet minimum. Or would if I didn't have to throw it in the bin. Still, it only cost about £25. For those of you unfamiliar with the plant, it's essentially a giant Lily. Incorrectly called Lilium giganteum, it reaches 12ft in its des res: the rich soil of forest edges of the Himalayas. The spike is very much like a Lily and the two are clearly closely related.</span><br />
569. <br />
570. </td></tr>
571. </tbody></table>The new leaseholders of the cafe upon which the garden lives are distraught to hear of the green eviction. In fact they are determined to campaign for its rescue, as, when the Sun is shining on a Sunday and I'm not terrified of huge pots of three mature Primula "Harlow Carr hybrids" falling on a public head (they are very heavy, it's not gonna happen) they say my flowers "make the Courtyard" (and they can only see 10% of them)  and were a factor in their choosing the site. <i>They</i> were a factor in choosing this amazing piece of confectionary for my beloved's birthday. They are three very talented young cooks/bakers/confectioners/patissieres (or similar made-up French word that makes you think of Danish pastries and custard tarts?)<br />
572. <br />
573. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
574. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-geV1GWhRYiE/ThcNjA1PxsI/AAAAAAAABXU/oVcvuNbqkoU/s1600/IMG_0189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-geV1GWhRYiE/ThcNjA1PxsI/AAAAAAAABXU/oVcvuNbqkoU/s640/IMG_0189.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
575. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not a bad shot for an iPhone! Crap day plantwise, much bushier now. I can touch those Nasturtiums from the ground now and I'm very short. You can't move for Lilium leichtlinii up there now, and the remains of Tiger Woods and his other unfortunate American chums. A mistake and I knew it at the time. I hadn't planned any hybrids but some deal seduced me and they're horrible. The huge, vulgar petals fall everywhere at the slightest drop of rain; they are thin stemmed and top-heavy, gross in the extreme and all the same. White with pink flushes, trying to recreate "Stargazer", a one-off (and close enough to L. speciosum var rubrum to count as an honourary species). The Nasturtiums are no longer all orange; there is a bright red/magenta called "Cherry Jewel" or similar, a beautiful pale cream and pink semi-double called "Caribbean Crush" (six seeds!) and "Whirlybird", as well as many Tropaeolum species yet to flower (and germinate. Yes, that's you lepidum, sessilifolium, brachycerum and polyphyllum). That last sentence sounds familiar, almost as if I've written it twice...</span></td></tr>
576. </tbody></table><br />
577. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
578. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvS0N75WiGo/ThG6PEoZy5I/AAAAAAAABWQ/aRyy-iKHNr0/s1600/IMG_5725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="551" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvS0N75WiGo/ThG6PEoZy5I/AAAAAAAABWQ/aRyy-iKHNr0/s640/IMG_5725.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
579. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not a plant, but I could eat it anyway, and it wouldn't kill me. For 20 years.</span></td></tr>
580. </tbody></table>Lily (a nomme de plume) created this concoction of magic for my beloved's birthday. I was thinking £30 or such but she wouldn't take a penny. Lovely woman. BUY THEIR STUFF!<br />
581. <br />
582. The premises, hilariously called "Lily Vanilli" after quite a few things, all of which work, (and they do make their own wares) are run by three lovely young kids (patronising dad mode): Lily (not real name) who seems to do the cakes/flapjacks/delicious chocolatey stuff; David, not sure what his speciality is – being very tall is one – but he creates the loveliest smells to waft up through our floorboards and Martin, the master baker. Very different from the bacon butties of a few months ago, especially for a vegetarian.<br />
583. <br />
584. Right, more Lilies:<br />
585. <br />
586. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
587. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RmioYDvLPKw/TheUovRJk-I/AAAAAAAABXc/QX6HmD1XcmY/s1600/IMG_5764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RmioYDvLPKw/TheUovRJk-I/AAAAAAAABXc/QX6HmD1XcmY/s640/IMG_5764.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
588. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L. flore pleno, captured in a remarkable moment of not swinging about everywhere in the wind. </span></td></tr>
589. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
590. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F1rUXzmZNO8/TheWHm5D1YI/AAAAAAAABXg/hPyarBs0fqI/s1600/IMG_5680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F1rUXzmZNO8/TheWHm5D1YI/AAAAAAAABXg/hPyarBs0fqI/s640/IMG_5680.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
591. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know what this is, other than a short, yellow Lily that I have had for years. Until it flowered this year (for the first time in several years) I had neglected it to the point of leaving it whole summers without water, any remaining nutrition being sucked up by weeds. I had imagined it might be L. pyrenaicum, which my mother grew with consummate ease in lowland Scotland but then, how did it get to London, and why didn't it have small,  yellow plastic-like, downward facing flowers that look a bit silly in proportion to the multitude of leaves. I think this must be a "patio" hybrid, the botanical equivalent of a dog in a handbag, although this one has no pretentions so I might even feed it before its slaughter.</span><br />
592. <br />
593. </td></tr>
594. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
595. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X2pl2Uo74e8/Thec4t9BDKI/AAAAAAAABXo/otkS5oElXcc/s1600/IMG_5629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X2pl2Uo74e8/Thec4t9BDKI/AAAAAAAABXo/otkS5oElXcc/s640/IMG_5629.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
596. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium lancifolium</span></span></span></span><br />
597. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
598. </span></span></span><br />
599. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span></span><br />
600. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
601. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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606. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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609. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
610. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
611. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
612. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
613. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
614. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
615. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
616. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
617. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
618. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
619. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When every species available during extended trawls through nursery listings and most of the www, almost all seemed to be described as orange with black spots/flecks/fly and while of course I bought them anyway, I did have a vision of a flourescent beacon, detracting totally from all around it. But actually this, L. lancfolium, is utterly removed from the demur L. tsingtsuense  that flowered a month or earlier ago. It was a foot tall; this is a thumping great 4ft or so with blooms so recurved they almost form balls. It is growing right beside a deep red hybrid, "Dark Knight" or something like that (which is a lot redder than the black of the packet but I've been doing this long enough to expect such "printing errors"! </span><br />
620. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
621. </span><br />
622. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With them are a mighty Digitalis ferruginea grandis (which I've just cut back to give it a rest after its constant thrusting skyward since March or April and in the hope it will come again next year, by no means guaranteed but so easy from seed I'm not bothered) and a couple of L. rosthornii, which both look a lot healthier than the disease riddled L. primulinum making up the quartet. </span>I have another, pristine, specimen at the other end of the roof (deliberately) for token hygiene purposes, but I can't bring myself to dump it, although that won't be my choice ultimately, despite the fact I bought it and I pay more rent than my mother, a teacher, received in salary ten years ago.<br />
623. <br />
624. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zm5zu1Js61g/ThydIacIOAI/AAAAAAAABZs/oJjLW9Vi3vc/s1600/IMG_3833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zm5zu1Js61g/ThydIacIOAI/AAAAAAAABZs/oJjLW9Vi3vc/s640/IMG_3833.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Digitalis trojana as grown from seed. All species of the genus have germinated within days for me, even the closest one to an exotic, D. obscura. </span></span><br />
625. <br />
626. <div style="text-align: left;">A word of advice: when growing more than one species of this genus, be as anal with your labelling as possible because the leaves fall into two groups, each containg identical foliage and you will NOT be able to tell the difference until it flowers (and often not then). They are either smooth and ridged in a rosette (as above although the typical leaves are lower down) or fluffy, not ridged and just like the traditional Foxglove. The only exception I have come across is obscura, which is like type A but with thinner leaves and less of a rosette form.  (This year I went a bit mad and have mature speciments of the above, parviflora, laevigata, ambigua,  and the purpurea form "Pam's Choice" (she has very good taste). There are also adolescent specimens of D. nervosa, viridiflora, stewartii, thapsi (I'm really keen to keep this somehow, it has flowers not unlike purpurea but more pendant and paler, and a definite bush shape, rather than the phallic form of most Digitalis). I'm down to one D. obscura after a very wet winter and spring but it has finally started to show some vigour and as if it wants to be there. I've also seed of grandiflora, a yellow purpurea, basically, davisiana, which is either the thinnest, tallest, most erect (with those over-prevelant brown/white flowers) of all, or it's a much more attractive, yellow flowered, multi-stemmed, altogether more laid-back stunna. We'll probably never know. I've also got seed of a couple of species of Isoplexis, which pops in and out of the Digitalis genus much as Belamcanda and Dietes are Irises when the taxonomists feel like it. (Must show you those two genera next time, although Belamcanda hasn't quite flowered but I can feel it coming!</div></div><br />
627. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1hp9xAIPvyc/TiCbQy747RI/AAAAAAAABcM/WQ6YPiQuxxg/s1600/IMG_4148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1hp9xAIPvyc/TiCbQy747RI/AAAAAAAABcM/WQ6YPiQuxxg/s640/IMG_4148.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Digitalis parviflorum, almost as pencil thin and ugly but lovely as davisiana (which, like so much in this blog in particular, is confusing me as I've never seen one and the seeds don't give much away. Neither does the Web: it's as happy to show and tell me it's an extremely thin, erect freak (Gardenworld.com) as it is a lovely, bushy, yellow-flowered border perennial (Sciencephoto.com, who we use and trust at work). I'm glad it's not just me who has label issues. If it's not the pigeons it's the sun bleaching the "permanent" ink. Pencil is no better because the moment you rub the compost off you smear the writing beyond legibility. The only safe bet is those metal ones where you scratch the name but of course they are expensive and single-use. </span></span></div><br />
628. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1AVxkGjqXhU/TiCaOe2jk-I/AAAAAAAABcI/CVoEB_VCjHI/s1600/IMG_3366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1AVxkGjqXhU/TiCaOe2jk-I/AAAAAAAABcI/CVoEB_VCjHI/s640/IMG_3366.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A hairy big close-up of "Pam's Choice". Well chosen Pam. I reckon it was Pam Ferris, out of Rosemary and Thyme with Felicity Kendall. Now there's a programme where they came up with a decent title and only then realised they had to bulk it out with some synopses. Well, two. Hence a retired police sergeant (Pam) and professional planthead (Felicity) teaming up to landscape some stately home and ending up solving botany related crimes that almost, actually, always involve Digitalis or Yew poisoning or a fatal rash or anaphylaxis from Rue or Hogweed. Anyway, a cracking foxglove for those of us too snooty to plant purpurea.</span></span></div><br />
629. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Isoplexis_isabelliana_-_Berlin_Botanical_Garden_-_IMG_8781.JPG/250px-Isoplexis_isabelliana_-_Berlin_Botanical_Garden_-_IMG_8781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Isoplexis_isabelliana_-_Berlin_Botanical_Garden_-_IMG_8781.JPG/250px-Isoplexis_isabelliana_-_Berlin_Botanical_Garden_-_IMG_8781.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isoplexis Isabellina. Maybe one day I'll have somewhere to grow this (wonder how long the seeds remain viable?) UPDATE: they began germinating yesterday. Shit! Where the hell am I going to put them? I. canariensis is staying in the envelope till spring.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
630. </span></div>In the last few days I have also noticed another couple of the same type (bearing in mind they had those other Lilies, Mina lobata, the stunning Lathyrus sativus aureus and beautiful deep red Tropaeolum majus to battle through. I can't even find what they're planted in because all this tangle is actually quite prone to snapping and I dont want to have to extract dead, brown foliage for fear of creating more. The flower buds are plumping up well so hopefully they'll be out before the axe falls, just so I can identify them, if nothing else. I think they are probably L. rosthornii, a very choice orange with a black centre and, instead of those bloody spots, odd raised ridges of little bumps of petal material (that's not the botanical term) along the outside edges of the flowers. Plenty of fat buds but, as I say, I daren't put my hand in that tangle below (now MUCH more of a jungle, in fact I'll stick in a different perspective, remember that the mystery pots are out of shot on the left, behind EVERYTHING. It's amazing they get any water at all, even with my sexy new hose fitting, which is considerably more use than my shower, which I'm not allowed to use in case the water gets through all the crap workmanship and floods the cafe. For a fourth time.) to find the labels for fear of snapping a stem or 12, something that has been happening with suspicious regularity, and it can only be coincidence that primary school children's paraphernalia is usually lying close by.<br />
631. <br />
632. I have a pristine specimen of poilanei at the other end of the roof (deliberately) for token hygiene purposes, but I can't bring myself to dump the diseased specimen. I'll douse it in fungicide and hopefully the bulbs will reward me for the good meals and lovely substrate I've given them. UPDATE: I was out yesterday every second the kids weren't (about half an hour then) trying to tidy up, take stock and clean up the layer of compost that has naturally built up before it blocks the main sewer and my world falls apart. Again. Poilanei is looking great if fragile, a nice, single bud developing (so it should at £30 for a bulb no bigger than a gooseberry). I just have to he incredibly careful with it and flower the thing, having managed, with the help of my young, scholarly neighbours, to deflower both my L. primulinums. Such species are the kind where the colour of your fingers are rigorously tested. I refuse to be found lacking!<br />
633. <br />
634. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-afdFAasEhnM/Th_xI5MmXEI/AAAAAAAABbU/rr8SctI6nX4/s1600/IMG_5716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-afdFAasEhnM/Th_xI5MmXEI/AAAAAAAABbU/rr8SctI6nX4/s640/IMG_5716.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Above and below show the far end, away from those Lilium leichtlinii, the other jungle area (hey, I didn't know they were going to get bigger in time!). The now confirmed L. rosthornii  are somewhere to the right, behind all the deep red and lancifoliums. Nice Gladiolus, that's "Nymph", I think, still going yesterday and this was taken on July 3. In the very background (but before the Victorian workhouse) is a huge pile of resting spring bulbs. I can't keep them all dry, just the Aril Irises and a few Fritillarias. The rest, whose labels will doubtless have fallen out, have probably been a tasty meal for something anyway. The bill would top £1,000 if they'd had coffee.</span></span></div><br />
635. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2AW9kr93ZZA/Thy36nDbx6I/AAAAAAAABZ0/y7cG9UOgNeU/s1600/IMG_5263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2AW9kr93ZZA/Thy36nDbx6I/AAAAAAAABZ0/y7cG9UOgNeU/s640/IMG_5263.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the area a month or so ago, with the revelation that has been Lathyrus sativus azureus,  which flushed pink with age before neatly shedding the petals and growing a seed pod, some of which I will permit to remain to save myself £3 in the late autumn, assuming I have somewhere to sow it. Note also the Mina lobata leaves and tendrils, which are now a foot taller than the tallest Lily, which is five foot. Oxalis deppii adds to the combo when the sun comes out.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
636. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZQYbUp4_4U/Thy44Rz6iNI/AAAAAAAABZ4/QAlzLQW0rL0/s1600/IMG_4439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZQYbUp4_4U/Thy44Rz6iNI/AAAAAAAABZ4/QAlzLQW0rL0/s640/IMG_4439.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oxalis deppii, a stunning Oxalis from Mexico. I'd never have thought to buy such a species until I came across chileflora.com and rareplants.de which sell viable seed of hardy (and tropical) species that you would  struggle to find if you went to the Atacama yourself. </span></span></div><br />
637. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4oOTszX8AE/Thy66y5wpGI/AAAAAAAABZ8/175G_-1y6xs/s1600/IMG_5699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4oOTszX8AE/Thy66y5wpGI/AAAAAAAABZ8/175G_-1y6xs/s400/IMG_5699.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oxalis squamata, a Chilean native, was a piece of piddle to raise from seed. In fact, in some countries it is  becoming invasive; their version of, perhaps not Japanese Knotweed but maybe Himalayan Balsam or Rhododendron ponticum. But not here. This, the ones I've given to friends and the specimen at Kew are probably the only plants in London, possibly the UK</span>.</span></div><br />
638. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9f-F7bzMWVE/Thy90kdxr9I/AAAAAAAABag/YNnXm01NLyc/s1600/IMG_5243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9f-F7bzMWVE/Thy90kdxr9I/AAAAAAAABag/YNnXm01NLyc/s640/IMG_5243.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This hybrid came was bought off the shelf in The World's Most Expensive Garden Centre and it's no surprise that only one of the four came up. Don't buy those dried things if you can help it, far better to order when the bulbs are in growth and potted. I can't remember the exact name of this but it was something like "Dark Knight" and the photo made it look a shade darker than the darkest purple. It's red! Dark red but definitely red. But it's probably the healthiest I've got. Typical.</span></span></div></div></span></td></tr>
639. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3JRwr9u_8YU/ThmDudn_6cI/AAAAAAAABYA/6WHnAgqrVQ8/s1600/IMG_4381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3JRwr9u_8YU/ThmDudn_6cI/AAAAAAAABYA/6WHnAgqrVQ8/s640/IMG_4381.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm afraid this one's a victim of the pigeons and their label tricks. But I think It's L. medeoloides </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(SINCE CONFIRMED),</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> a Japanese species that translates (roughly) as "Wheel Lily". The slightly recurved petals have that almost plastic texture of pumilum (which is very red and rarely spotted so I'm not suggesting it's that, I'm just trying to give those of you unlucky enough not to have felt the texture I'm struggling to put into words an idea of what it's like).  But without a DNA testing kit...</span></span></div><br />
640. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZ-G6dQHYaQ/ThmJyqE1zkI/AAAAAAAABYE/bPor2flHsRk/s1600/IMG_4304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZ-G6dQHYaQ/ThmJyqE1zkI/AAAAAAAABYE/bPor2flHsRk/s640/IMG_4304.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here we have the aforementioned L. tsingtauense. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
641. </span></div>I'm not going to waste keystrokes telling you where it's from but it's a petite little thing with leaves held in whorls around the stem, which ends in a single, almost flat, orange bloom that looks like it has been seasoned with a grinding of black pepper. It won't take your breath away but at least it bothered to flower, unlike superbum, pardalinumx3, wallichianum (although there is finally action and fresh green shoots in the two pots of that, one all the way from China. I thought I was going to overwhelmed by pardalinums, they just kept arriving, but all but two have gone. The good news is that, so far, is that speciosum "Rubrum" (the organic version of "Stargazer") has come to no harm, despite being right under the window, and sports 5 fat flower buds. I don't know what happened to auratum, the Rubrum's only rival for the "Fuck me that's gorgeous!" award. One day it had a nice healthy ... of course. It went <i>sub judice</i>, giving it no chance to build up energy for next year and, I don't have the receipt to hand and the bedroom's 10 ft away, but sending about £15 down the plughole. Gosh, it's all adding up!<br />
642. <br />
643. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
644. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KDPu-pQWO6Y/TiCFapfTP5I/AAAAAAAABbg/GDc8zPsU_qI/s1600/IMG_4523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="604" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KDPu-pQWO6Y/TiCFapfTP5I/AAAAAAAABbg/GDc8zPsU_qI/s640/IMG_4523.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
645. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, this is just what I mean. The healthy, virus-free, not-falling-over, unmolested by Columbia Road School pupils orange is Lilium medeleoides (I had to do a lot of clambering a minute ago to read that label, mercifully undoved). But I don't even know if it's the same plant shown earlier. I only have one of the species, but I also have an L. davidii that looks like it flowered. I was so depressed (the medical kind, not the "my boyfriend's dumped me" type) that I didn't think I'd ever get to do one of these ever again. So I may not have bothered to photograph it. It is, however, quite possibly the one on the windowsill. Or not. ah fuck it, they're all the same anyway! (Oh, it's another pumilum in the background). I mean look:</span></td></tr>
646. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
647. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.encydia.com/thumb/3/37/Lilium_davidii_5.jpg/250px-Lilium_davidii_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://images.encydia.com/thumb/3/37/Lilium_davidii_5.jpg/250px-Lilium_davidii_5.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
648. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium davidii. One of many orange, spotty species. Let's just leave it there.</span></td></tr>
649. </tbody></table><br />
650. We'll just clear up another possible area of confusion (why didn't I take notes?) by getting the rest of the yellows out of the way, except the dinner-plate hybrid which just clogs up the drain with its massive petals. First, the aforementioned Lilium leitchtlinii (goes to look up spelling), from which there were a few to choose (after a quick L. citronella):<br />
651. <br />
652. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
653. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FLJ9Fx0YdvM/ThnLSfgLVFI/AAAAAAAABZo/Vq1OosBr4RY/s1600/IMG_5052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FLJ9Fx0YdvM/ThnLSfgLVFI/AAAAAAAABZo/Vq1OosBr4RY/s640/IMG_5052.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
654. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps if I wasn't so overwhelmed by them I would be more apprecitive: they have, after all, justified my use of the pretentious nonsense "Lily theme" or, as I actually say: "Shedloads of Lilies". (Short break to clear massive overflow in the gutter pictured below as I would doubtless get the blame, or rather Tiger Woods, the unfortunately named white and pink US dinner plate hybrid probably would, even though I don't live in the 2nd floor flat overflowing and the blockage was 99.9% likely to have come from a local school, who are often slightly awry with their spacial awareness. I  have a disproportionately large amount of  drainage crock to prove it. The whole job would have been a lot easier if some arsehole hadn't chained the Courtyard ladders together, meaning I can't be responsible for maintaining my gutter or anyone else's and live in a fire trap. We ended up using a bit of hose, OWNED by me, to clear the blockage, to which the owners remain oblivious. Still, at least the rent's gone up by £333.33 a month.</span></td></tr>
655. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
656. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKJJamxgB0A/Thmvd_1x8II/AAAAAAAABYM/MUvDFCuQLV0/s1600/IMG_5828.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKJJamxgB0A/Thmvd_1x8II/AAAAAAAABYM/MUvDFCuQLV0/s640/IMG_5828.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
657. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have no idea how I ended up with so many L. lietchlinii; there must be 20-30 bulbs here, all arriving in groups of three or five. I can see me ordering five but even with my compromised frontal lobe, I'm sure I'd remember ordering something so difficult to spell. The canes, ties, hoops and steel wire out of site tying the whole lot to the greenhouse are purely for the safety of the public below on a sunday when they get to come in and leave litter everywhere. There are countless Tropaeolums, from the humble majus to the sexy pentaphyllum and many a peregrinum (Canary Creeper), as well as three varieties of "heritage" sweet peas and Ipomoeas including one called luteola, all of which is intended to decorate things once the Courtyard is knee-deep in yellow petals.</span><br />
658. <br />
659. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/438185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/438185.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ipomoea luteola, germinated in three days, well over 90%, possibly 100! I just hope it grows and flowers with similar enthusiasm!</span></span></td></tr>
660. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
661. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yzzAEcsSvd8/Thm4MtK1EqI/AAAAAAAABYQ/jFQsHI7jdVs/s1600/IMG_5485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yzzAEcsSvd8/Thm4MtK1EqI/AAAAAAAABYQ/jFQsHI7jdVs/s640/IMG_5485.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
662. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is Ipomoea luteola 48 hours after sowing. Within a week, the grit was totally invisible and the seedlings 10cm high. Note the distinctive "butterfly" cotyledons of many annual climbers of the same mixture of similar but distinct species listed in the previous caption! Makes identification of most impossible until flowering, except the Tropaeolums, which have subtle but distinct differences.</span></td></tr>
663. </tbody></table>Which brings me to the mystery of the Tropaeolum incisum that I own but didn't buy. I had one but it was planted and very definitely died months ago, a good five metres from the flimsy plastic pot in which I found a pinkish tuber, about 7cm long and 2-3cm in diameter stuck to the bottom by pure friction.<br />
664. <br />
665. I could understand a viola or Pulsatilla even that might have drifted in on the wind. But a plant from as far away as it's possible to be and that I almost obsessively wanted, turns up as a tuber at the bottom of an otherwise empty pot (I was reading last night that they like to manoeuvre their tubers to their favoured, considerable, depth, probably to regulate the temperature in the Andean/Patagonian wonderland from where they come, where the air temperature must fluctuate from sun-baked to snow-covered. There are a great many bulbous (we'll use that as a catch-all term for plants with underground storage means) genera that use their roots to pull themselves up or down to the desired depth.<br />
666. <br />
667. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7aGsO_bS3R4/ThnJAxXrUWI/AAAAAAAABYU/eEHZ8Xbjq1U/s1600/IMG_5824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7aGsO_bS3R4/ThnJAxXrUWI/AAAAAAAABYU/eEHZ8Xbjq1U/s400/IMG_5824.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>Just one of the many clever tricks evolution has given us over thousands of millennia (sorry, a non-specific creator managed in 6,000 years, as I believe it is actually legal to teach in "faith schools". So much of science may remain largely theoretical but so long as gravity and respiration continue to work, I'm with Newton and Darwin. That's the beauty of it: so far, with a few overthusiastic exceptions (and stuff that only Ben Miller understands) none of us has fallen off the planet, space missions return to Cape Canaveral or Kazakhstan and everything that happens every day adds to the body of evidence that creationism is pish and you might as well teach Harry Potter in physics rather than English. It all started a very large quantity of billions of years ago, and I've never seen anything that contradicts that – and like you, I've seen the most beautiful flowers in the world; structures, ways of feeding, breeding and seeding that only millions of years of evolution could chance upon. And there are days even I go "... Nah!".<br />
668. If I ever visit a Republican state, remind me to take a Wollemi pine!<br />
669. <br />
670. <br />
671. <br />
672. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
673. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8l8HX3UwGhE/ThzDpXpbBnI/AAAAAAAABak/agm9PaJaVwQ/s1600/IMG_5835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8l8HX3UwGhE/ThzDpXpbBnI/AAAAAAAABak/agm9PaJaVwQ/s640/IMG_5835.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
674. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium monadelphum (although quite a spotty example) but I have no reason to doubt my supplier.</span><br />
675. <br />
676. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-56Ur-vjDXyw/ThzFS6psPnI/AAAAAAAABao/JPetiIFpgjM/s1600/IMG_5583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-56Ur-vjDXyw/ThzFS6psPnI/AAAAAAAABao/JPetiIFpgjM/s640/IMG_5583.JPG" width="640" /></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why did I buy these? It must have been a three varieties for a fortune deal. Anyway, it's called "Pearl Jennifer" and there is nothing remotely remarkable about it. Except durability. Quite how it ever made it through the registration process when there are so many yellows already I know not. Maybe it travels in time or something.</span></span></td></tr>
677. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
678. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X4U6Uea8V6E/ThzH69PA2TI/AAAAAAAABas/ZLkWKgENQfU/s1600/IMG_5151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X4U6Uea8V6E/ThzH69PA2TI/AAAAAAAABas/ZLkWKgENQfU/s640/IMG_5151.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
679. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, finally for the true yellows, although we did take quite a circuitous route, Lilium Parryi. It's a squat little thing (well, mine are) with pleasantly shaped petals and just a few brownish spots in the centre. One of my faves so far, probably because  it didn't need any cossetting.</span></td></tr>
680. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: auto;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
681. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C6DahLffPlQ/TiCUyXitdeI/AAAAAAAABb8/wjcxItT9ZnE/s1600/IMG_3979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C6DahLffPlQ/TiCUyXitdeI/AAAAAAAABb8/wjcxItT9ZnE/s640/IMG_3979.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
682. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium hansonii. I love the texture of the petals, like Clematis tangutica.</span></td></tr>
683. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4eiZgstM38c/TiCUQCeaTZI/AAAAAAAABbs/nTo-DzOdvZQ/s1600/IMG_4210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4eiZgstM38c/TiCUQCeaTZI/AAAAAAAABbs/nTo-DzOdvZQ/s640/IMG_4210.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
684. Right, I think that's all the yellows and hopefully oranges because I'm happily snapping away before the sun goes down or the single bloom wilts and the notion of writing down its name fails to occur. I'm just so arrogant I assume I'll be able to identify it later. I'm dreading the pinks because my martagon efforts have been a disgrace. The only one that even bloomed was a yellow (don't worry, it's sort of coral). I also had a great performance from L.cernuum and cernuum album, which is actually peachy). But first, the winner by a mile this year: Sold as a yellow form of L.martagon, it is a gorgeous pale orange,  the structure of the flowers and plant leaving me in no doubt that there's a lot of martagon blood in there. It has a varietal name but to get to that would involve hacking through a jungle of leichtliniis and various subtle Dahlias, intended to provide colour once the yellow rain finally ends. I'll try to remember to tell you if roof remains green after the school holidays.<br />
685. <br />
686. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
687. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kwd49_7pxa8/TiCSDAm89RI/AAAAAAAABbk/igg9oiBt87U/s1600/IMG_4818.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kwd49_7pxa8/TiCSDAm89RI/AAAAAAAABbk/igg9oiBt87U/s640/IMG_4818.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
688. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stunning!</span></td></tr>
689. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6b6ggtTiCrk/TiCSmnNzpcI/AAAAAAAABbo/PCuFAysIkh4/s1600/IMG_4813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6b6ggtTiCrk/TiCSmnNzpcI/AAAAAAAABbo/PCuFAysIkh4/s640/IMG_4813.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
690. <br />
691. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
692. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iTv7MCV38NQ/TiCWKLrS59I/AAAAAAAABcE/l99JLCzwWbI/s1600/IMG_4223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iTv7MCV38NQ/TiCWKLrS59I/AAAAAAAABcE/l99JLCzwWbI/s640/IMG_4223.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
693. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium cernuum, a real success, same sort of form, vigour and no-nonsense approach as pumilum.</span><br />
694. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
695. </span></span></span></td></tr>
696. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-In5440tmmhg/TiCVOIf0DhI/AAAAAAAABcA/7Qhe-dcRFE0/s1600/IMG_4005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-In5440tmmhg/TiCVOIf0DhI/AAAAAAAABcA/7Qhe-dcRFE0/s640/IMG_4005.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
697. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
698. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0M1jIzdB9Ho/TiCb00xrGLI/AAAAAAAABcQ/uv1FHAH2h6E/s1600/IMG_4299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0M1jIzdB9Ho/TiCb00xrGLI/AAAAAAAABcQ/uv1FHAH2h6E/s640/IMG_4299.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
699. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, this is confusing, as, I'm fast discovering, are most things botanical. My usual approach is to ignore the rules and, to be fair, it generally works. This is meant to be cernuum album. That, if you missed out on classics at school, means white, although L. cernuum album is known for being a bit off-white, creamy and peachy even. But this is just too much. Answers on a postcard or, preferably, pass comment at the bottom of the post.</span></td></tr>
700. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
701. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lINrjSA5ojM/Th9jb5v-LWI/AAAAAAAABbM/x-dyAWJKGzE/s1600/IMG_5177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lINrjSA5ojM/Th9jb5v-LWI/AAAAAAAABbM/x-dyAWJKGzE/s640/IMG_5177.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
702. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium lankongense, an easy, generous species that will reward an annual feed after flowering (as with all Lilies, chop off the spent flower heads but leave the leaves to die down naturally, allowing them to recharge the bulbs).</span></td></tr>
703. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
704. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ndssbTul8i8/TiCcifs29VI/AAAAAAAABcY/E78vLd2uq-k/s1600/IMG_5346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ndssbTul8i8/TiCcifs29VI/AAAAAAAABcY/E78vLd2uq-k/s640/IMG_5346.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
705. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the similar but darker and slightly smaller flowered L. duchartrei</span></td></tr>
706. </tbody></table>Well, I'm just gonna post this thing. So much more to show and tell. Thanks for reading and welcome back, I love you Cx<br />
707. <br />
708. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">STOP PRESS! I found Lilium henryi, struggling to push a stem of nascent blooms through a tangle of Nasturtiums, the never-ending L. leichtlinii, Bomarea caldasii (or possibly salsilla, both of which I have along with a third, hirtella, I reckon.) This one had retained its plastic wraparound label so I did read it but I was more interested in getting to the Lily, checking its flower head and reading its label without damaging anything. At the moment it's a poor specimen with rusty leaves and weak flowers. I thought there were only four petals on the only fully open one but it's just that two are hiding behind others. But at least it solves the question of where the sodding thing went!</span></b><br />
709. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br />
710. </span></b><br />
711. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">Oh, and my Lilium speciosum rubrum, actually labelled auratum, took advantage of the downpour that was the weekend to open: as L. speciosum rubrum. I don't mind, it's a fantastic deep red, almost a pleasant (use your imagination) magenta with the requisite white edging. I don't know how any of these things survive in the wild: these flowers are eye-catching but of modest proportions compared to the blousy hybrids, yet were quite happy growing at an angle of 10 degrees above horizontal! Have rectified the situation by cunningly propping them up with a piece of steel wire I've installed to prevent anything falling on anyone in the lovely weather. So God knows what happened to auratum...</span></b><br />
712. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><br />
713. </span></b><br />
714. <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">And, finally, L. sargentiae, which has two flowers, a virus or some pathogen (and a backbone, fortunately) has opened overnight, which is a bit unusual, unless it's pollinated by bats or moths, although the bat population in East London  is sadly not what it could be, unlike the incredibly isolated family home in Scotland where you are guaranteed to see, or at least hear, dozens just as dusk is ending and the moths come out to look for lights to hang around, smoking, drinking cheap cider and taking the piss out of old people. I think the bats sleep in an old air-raid shelter and one-time shed, there's certainly enough crap in there for them to hang from although I might suggest my dad hangs an old bit of cloth, like a curtain, with folds for extra warmth and security to encourage them. Although that said, it was only a few miles, literally 2 or 3, away that a man running a sanctuary got rabies from one and sadly died. Rabies? In Angus? Fortunately it was when mum was still alive so at least five years ago so the chances of a real-life repeat of "The Mad Death", the terrifying (if you're 10) 1980s drama about a rabid cat or fox (or some furry quadruped, it was a wee while ago) sparking a hydrophobic epidemic. "Threads" was scarier anyway, especially when the woman wet herself as the mushroom cloud formed on the horizon. Anyway, this is the ramblingest stop press ever written so bye, have a nice Monday!</span></b><br />
715. &lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/07/last-post-and-not-mail-that-remains.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_KGP6I3Imk/ThGsYV7WKgI/AAAAAAAABWE/9rHLUDaUTJg/s72-c/IMG_5693.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-3612730741976408796</guid><pubDate>Sun, 08 May 2011 20:01:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-05-08T13:01:29.870-07:00</atom:updated><title>Quality Roof, not Quantity Street!</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Hello plantlovers, I&#39;m afraid my posts are going to become less frequent for a while as I concentrate on quality over quantity. While there is much to report, I need to get to the bottom of what on earth is going on with my lilies, and it&#39;s more than those bloody red beetles (very satisfying when crushed between fingers), and things are getting on top of me. But don&#39;t worry, it&#39;s all being recorded and keep checking, I won&#39;t be neglecting you totally! And to prove it, here&#39;s a pic of Lilium Macklinaie, which has flowered over the weekend&lt;br /&gt;
716. <br />
717. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q1HHP2i-Zn4/Tcb08BiiSEI/AAAAAAAABIY/CgKmUKZnepM/s1600/IMG_2670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q1HHP2i-Zn4/Tcb08BiiSEI/AAAAAAAABIY/CgKmUKZnepM/s640/IMG_2670.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
718. Iris "Kermesina" is also in blooming and Lilium pumilum (I have about 5 pots) in the next few days, although from the outside this one looks suspiciouly orange from the outside when it should be a waxy red, and that's red, not, orange, purple or any other variation on red!<br />
719. <br />
720. Speak soon and don't forget me!<br />
721. <br />
722. The Plant Boy&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/05/quality-roof-not-quantity-street.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q1HHP2i-Zn4/Tcb08BiiSEI/AAAAAAAABIY/CgKmUKZnepM/s72-c/IMG_2670.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>9</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-6745022185943701856</guid><pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:12:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-05-01T08:09:33.910-07:00</atom:updated><title>Beauty and the near East</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;The original first paragraph&amp;nbsp;read: &quot;I like to think that when Russell Tovey has nothing better to do of an evening (West End ovation, playing various Dr Who characters all done for the night, he enjoys nothing more than logging into a computer &amp;nbsp;just to check out what I&#39;ve been photographing, just to make sure he&#39;s still the most beautiful thing in the world, despite the self-cool ears.&quot; And then I met a very drunken him. So even Ragwort is winning.&lt;br /&gt;
723. <br />
724. Here he is:<br />
725. <div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
726. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/images/bank/programmes_tv/drama/being_human/300being_human1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/images/bank/programmes_tv/drama/being_human/300being_human1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
727. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A jug-eared load-mouth</span></td></tr>
728. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Now, the Aril I showed you last time was either Heindahl or Jehosephat's Revenge. This is the one that the other one isn't.</div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
729. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-88MdlZtnnpU/TbaojoW2WgI/AAAAAAAABHE/8Ee9WxgXJzM/s1600/IMG_2452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-88MdlZtnnpU/TbaojoW2WgI/AAAAAAAABHE/8Ee9WxgXJzM/s640/IMG_2452.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
730. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Well, I know which I'd rather have<i> by </i>the bed( It fits in a vase<br />
731. <br />
732. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pf-artBPGDU/Tbas5QQ8SII/AAAAAAAABHU/CdPpoiITiP8/s1600/IMG_2461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pf-artBPGDU/Tbas5QQ8SII/AAAAAAAABHU/CdPpoiITiP8/s640/IMG_2461.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
733. </div><br />
734. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_rKd_9yOT4Q/TbatwecTT_I/AAAAAAAABHg/lkOK8f7jXZI/s1600/IMG_2466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_rKd_9yOT4Q/TbatwecTT_I/AAAAAAAABHg/lkOK8f7jXZI/s640/IMG_2466.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
735. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N-JcmgsYEZo/TbauPSUT79I/AAAAAAAABHk/TKpDq4IzD_8/s1600/IMG_2467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N-JcmgsYEZo/TbauPSUT79I/AAAAAAAABHk/TKpDq4IzD_8/s640/IMG_2467.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
736. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ4R8r-LCFE/TbaumGxFEoI/AAAAAAAABHo/cHITp06Ji5s/s1600/IMG_2490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yJ4R8r-LCFE/TbaumGxFEoI/AAAAAAAABHo/cHITp06Ji5s/s640/IMG_2490.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You've got a real fight on your hands, mate!</span></div><br />
737. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wclUiwM8adg/TbawRfbQwGI/AAAAAAAABHw/o-7_WZhpckU/s1600/IMG_2489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wclUiwM8adg/TbawRfbQwGI/AAAAAAAABHw/o-7_WZhpckU/s640/IMG_2489.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
738. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kV8WlrsHfbU/Tbax4N-4WfI/AAAAAAAABH8/T1ogIP_2UEc/s1600/IMG_2518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kV8WlrsHfbU/Tbax4N-4WfI/AAAAAAAABH8/T1ogIP_2UEc/s640/IMG_2518.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
739. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8objGQmpeP8/TbazgYdUDiI/AAAAAAAABII/MWLpaC9VtrU/s1600/IMG_2507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8objGQmpeP8/TbazgYdUDiI/AAAAAAAABII/MWLpaC9VtrU/s640/IMG_2507.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
740. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0RTTr5FuVXo/Tba13w1rjOI/AAAAAAAABIQ/Sh2SfvBfQy4/s1600/IMG_2542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0RTTr5FuVXo/Tba13w1rjOI/AAAAAAAABIQ/Sh2SfvBfQy4/s640/IMG_2542.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See, It isn't just the other one with some heavy duty photoshopping!</span><br />
741. <br />
742. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I am still a bit shocked that I have managed this, in my first year too. Even if stolonifera and did "Dardanus" don't bloom, they not only survived but grew in the right way at the right time. So three junos and two arilbreds. I'd have taken that at Christmas! Oh, Russell, your next BBC3 series had better have you playing an invisible alien (it probably does) as that's the only hope  in hell you have of winning this beauty contest.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
743. </span></span></span></td></tr>
744. </tbody></table>If only, what I really mean is here are a load of pics that didn't fit into any particular article and it would be a shame to waste them. Or me have to write much since I do it for a sodding living too.<br />
745. <br />
746. But first, news: two of the mystery Lilies from Szechuan (no more info provided by Chinese vendor on eBay, really hope he didn't just dig them up... No, that's racism. A Nomocharis aperta (to join formosana and pardathalina, also responded to a naughty little rifle about the top layer of bark by revealing a perfect shoot. It should surface naturally any day. This is the same guy who sent me two L. ameonum, which I won for £20 on eBay, but sadly the arrived rotten. To be fair he was instantaneous in refunding my money.<br />
747. <br />
748. His L. poilenai, a very rare Vietnamese native, is also going strong, a few mm tall now. The one from Crüg Farms is romping all over the roof but I'm just extending the season, right?<br />
749. <br />
750. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
751. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mcmahansnursery.com/admin/lilium_poilanei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://www.mcmahansnursery.com/admin/lilium_poilanei.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
752. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">L. poilanei. Later I should have my own pix to show you.</span></td></tr>
753. </tbody></table><br />
754. I've been secreting Tropaeolums whenever I plant something in a pot big enough to take it. Which means the bare Lily stems are going to be covered, Victorian chair leg-style (that's a myth BTW). No Lilies have flowered yet but I'm pretty sure mackliniae is going to win. Let me just go and find a pic of progress, I took one the other day...<br />
755. <br />
756. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
757. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d-VdN7WMsX8/TbalYdLXHYI/AAAAAAAABG8/JYCqPDsllHU/s1600/IMG_2561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d-VdN7WMsX8/TbalYdLXHYI/AAAAAAAABG8/JYCqPDsllHU/s640/IMG_2561.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
758. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This L. Macklinaie was taken this morning and looks pretty likely to be the first of that most noble of genus, the Lily, to flower.  Someone, somehwere must have the national collection, probably a park of pile somewhere like the lost gardens of Helligan. But, and I know from experience, if you tried take a while to build up a National Collection,  with something like Lilies you would NEVER be fnished. You would have to make it Martagon types or Asiatic trumpets. Imagine the poor bugger who got stuck with something like Aubretia or Achillea!! </span></td></tr>
759. </tbody></table><br />
760. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/080604/Lilium%20mackliniae%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/080604/Lilium%20mackliniae%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>The other contenders are L.cernuum or any of those "tree" hybrids I bought as a kind of screen. They're the ones with the most Tropaeolums in them, some just Nasturtiums but T. ciliatum, a yellow monster that may be added to the same banned list as Japanese Knotweed (one man who lived in a terrace of houses planted it in his back garden and it came up in the front, having travelled all the was under the foundations!) Fortunately mine's in a pot so if it gets too excited i have secateurs! Also courtesy of Paul Christian is T. pentaphyllum. There's also Tropaeolum tricolor and two Nasturtiums: one almost pastel beauty in off-white shades of pink, yellow, orange, etc called "Caribbean Crush" and, in total contrast, "Jewel Cherry Rose", a screaming magenta that could be used instead of flares at sea.<br />
761. <br />
762. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
763. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.infojardin.com/galeria/data/2382/Tropaeolum_pentaphyllum_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.infojardin.com/galeria/data/2382/Tropaeolum_pentaphyllum_4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
764. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">T. pentaphyllum. everything a Tropaeolum should be.</span></td></tr>
765. </tbody></table>Paul Christian also sent me L. primulinum burmanicum which only arrived a week or so ago so no action above ground yet but it should look something like this:<br />
766. <br />
767. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
768. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botanic.jp/plants-ra/lilbur_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.botanic.jp/plants-ra/lilbur_2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
769. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This doesn't give you a fair impression of the size of the flower, which is about small saucer sized.</span></td></tr>
770. </tbody></table>Anyway, a lot of seedlings have come out, things like an Aqueligia with flolourescent red and yellow flowers and another with chocolate flowers. The problem is, in this scorching weather, they are burnt before I even notice them. So I end up ordering the plants themselves which is not just a waste of money but makes one feel a failure too.<br />
771. <br />
772. It's really hard to grow from seed up here. I can get amazing stuff to germinate, all sorts of Andean, Himalayan and southern African stunners; some amazing Alstroemeria (which I'm keeping going) but anything that needs a bit of shade just shrivels and dies. And then there's the sun bleaching the labels (which the pigeons with then pull out anyway). It's a bugger because a lot of the stuff I want to see can't be bought as mature plants or even rooted cuttings.<br />
773. <br />
774. Having said rooted cuttings, at the end of last year, after a trip to the glasshouse at Kew where I was really taken by their species Pelargoniums. So taken, I got home and on to the internet here I found a nursery called Fibrex who had a HUGE range of modern named Pelargonium hybrids, sports and general freakery. But they also had many if not all of the some 200 original species. So I promptly ordered a mix of 10 of the coolest species and species hybrids (very first generation crosses).<br />
775. <br />
776. They only strike the cuttings when you place the order, to save money one would assume which means if you order in spring you get them in the autumn and if you order nearer winter you get them when frost risk has past, so you can order any time but you'll have to wait months for them. I went for flower form and colour rather than foliar scent (not bothered in the slightest). One has died already for no obvious reason (it's not too hot on the roof for established Pelargoniums. These things grow (and survive) on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia!). I can see it from the window but not the label. It had quite different leaves to the others. A bit like a Whitebeam. Let me do some research ... It's P. "Splendide".<br />
777. <br />
778. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
779. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/64189/4661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.gardenbuddies.com/forum/messages/64189/4661.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
780. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have ordered a replacement - £7.99! But worth it for those flowers!</span></td></tr>
781. </tbody></table>One has started to bloom already, and its leaves are a daft shape but not in a stand-out way so that's fine, and they smell of Pelargonium. Which is not neutral, not unpleasant but not very nice either. P. fulgidum. The plant is also somewhere in the parentaage of many modern hybrids. It grows on exposed, windswept granite outcrops or on sand hills, near the coast. The species is confined mostly to the western coastal districts (of southern Africa). It's only just out so...<br />
782. <br />
783. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
784. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lq_-FTm_hgI/TbXHWWalnlI/AAAAAAAABF8/CmNoCTCKGgM/s1600/IMG_2338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lq_-FTm_hgI/TbXHWWalnlI/AAAAAAAABF8/CmNoCTCKGgM/s640/IMG_2338.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
785. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The flowers are very small, about the size of a penny when fully open, but a winning colour, combined with a compact habit, so you can see why their genes abound in the modern "Geraniums" you'd put in a window box today.</span></td></tr>
786. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c9aWWCXM1vM/TbXIf4rdKKI/AAAAAAAABGE/fyMIPwWWp0Q/s1600/IMG_2373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c9aWWCXM1vM/TbXIf4rdKKI/AAAAAAAABGE/fyMIPwWWp0Q/s640/IMG_2373.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
787. That was a rare chance of me taking photos and the timing being right to show them to you!<br />
788. So I keep taking photos and never getting the chance. Hopefully if you're really into Arilbred Irises you can find my set of actually quite good shots of mine on Twitpic. I just went to check the other Arilbred and it's at the annoying stage where it isn't open enough for a photo but may well be perfect in the morning.<br />
789. <br />
790. Oh sod it, here are a few tasters:<br />
791. <br />
792. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dk61WLqScGU/TbXONRKOOqI/AAAAAAAABGQ/vr667Jz8ilc/s1600/IMG_2418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dk61WLqScGU/TbXONRKOOqI/AAAAAAAABGQ/vr667Jz8ilc/s640/IMG_2418.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
793. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--aPT9-tnDWM/TbXOr0KZtpI/AAAAAAAABGU/z781mhP3DYQ/s1600/IMG_2436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--aPT9-tnDWM/TbXOr0KZtpI/AAAAAAAABGU/z781mhP3DYQ/s640/IMG_2436.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
794. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hUcqHulcIBY/TbXPLa48rEI/AAAAAAAABGY/s4bVxj7ES5g/s1600/IMG_2440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hUcqHulcIBY/TbXPLa48rEI/AAAAAAAABGY/s4bVxj7ES5g/s640/IMG_2440.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
795. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
796. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zGHb-VKM1n4/TbXPhc1azoI/AAAAAAAABGc/md3Y4v5-kHU/s1600/IMG_2444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zGHb-VKM1n4/TbXPhc1azoI/AAAAAAAABGc/md3Y4v5-kHU/s640/IMG_2444.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
797. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's hard to tell exactly what it's going to look like when it unfurls but one thing is for sure: it will be beautiful! It's called either Heimdahl or Jehosephat's Reliance but a label mix up occured, infuriatingly</span></td></tr>
798. </tbody></table><br />
799. Here are some shots that fell through the cracks:<br />
800. <br />
801. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
802. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bnci0AjCZio/Ta2mtQIK6VI/AAAAAAAABCc/mjQPZbe6E8Q/s1600/IMG_1989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bnci0AjCZio/Ta2mtQIK6VI/AAAAAAAABCc/mjQPZbe6E8Q/s640/IMG_1989.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
803. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Littlest Rhodo: keleticum. To be found in very windy places where pebbles count as wind breaks.</span></td></tr>
804. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
805. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--vjpF75JWrw/Ta17WmzzW4I/AAAAAAAABCU/D-TQ7Gr7ubs/s1600/IMG_2002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--vjpF75JWrw/Ta17WmzzW4I/AAAAAAAABCU/D-TQ7Gr7ubs/s640/IMG_2002.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
806. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rhododendron yakushimanum "Cup Cake". I have a nameless Yak hybrid in my garden in Scotland that the Cox's gave me when it missed the final cut. But as this has never been out  of its pot, it might be better able to <br />
807. come to terms with the fact it never will.<br />
808. <br />
809. <br />
810. </span><br />
811. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
812. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
813. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
814. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
815. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
816. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
817. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
818. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
819. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
820. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
821. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
822. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
823. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
824. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
825. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
826. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SdyEB2aVgx0/Ta2oarCl31I/AAAAAAAABCg/2t8lUnbXGlU/s1600/IMG_1957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SdyEB2aVgx0/Ta2oarCl31I/AAAAAAAABCg/2t8lUnbXGlU/s640/IMG_1957.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bearded Iris hybrid "Rare Edition", aply, though I'm not the sort of person who'd choose a plant by its name. My mum collected Fuchsia's and every year (this was pre-internet days) she'd go through saying things like: "Oh, you've got a great aunty Susan, shall we get [insert variety with "Susan"] in the name."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
827. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
828. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3aBsBD2l7c/Ta2rvp9ZeMI/AAAAAAAABCk/VGHaOQL_3QA/s1600/IMG_1935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3aBsBD2l7c/Ta2rvp9ZeMI/AAAAAAAABCk/VGHaOQL_3QA/s640/IMG_1935.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">OK, so Iris flower stalks can be a bit fragile (I blame the breeders): This fell off and, what's worse, I can't  work out what it fell off! If you really like it Cayeux Irises of France can provide you with an excellent and very cheap rhizome. These all arrived last spring and all but one of the 15 or so plants, which arrived as a rhizome with trimmed leaves. You'll notice this was taken in the dark but fortunately the flash on the Canon series in question is quite good.<br />
829. <br />
830. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7u_sVNXmXnQ/Ta3wNi7Q4HI/AAAAAAAABEU/Gzk9FN_c02I/s1600/IMG_0036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7u_sVNXmXnQ/Ta3wNi7Q4HI/AAAAAAAABEU/Gzk9FN_c02I/s640/IMG_0036.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is what they looked like when planted up (they arrived bare-root) and it was still possible to turn round on the roof. This is no longer the case.</div><br />
831. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uHaE-S4VhAg/Ta3rpCSbmXI/AAAAAAAABEI/rXT9tnNJ31Y/s1600/IMG_1922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uHaE-S4VhAg/Ta3rpCSbmXI/AAAAAAAABEI/rXT9tnNJ31Y/s640/IMG_1922.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A weeish Iris called Hocus Pocus. It had a similar accident and I had to get it photographed that night in case it flopped over night. So this is taken without a flash but in a very well-lit room. The only problem is the majority of the bulbs are Halogen, which casts an orange glow over everything when photographed (it's possible for digital SLRs to reproduce the foibles of film <i>too much).</i></div></div><br />
832. <br />
833. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gVHUAsphexk/Ta3yG1n93eI/AAAAAAAABEc/7E1iF3TB5WU/s1600/IMG_1743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gVHUAsphexk/Ta3yG1n93eI/AAAAAAAABEc/7E1iF3TB5WU/s640/IMG_1743.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Iris "Dark Vader", I'm not going to class it heightwise, it's too tall for a dwarf but too short for an intermediate. It's about 6in. Here we have perfect falls (downward hanging bits), beard (go on, guess) and standards (the upright bits).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
834. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wKcv6Jx4R14/Ta3zvb_Z_nI/AAAAAAAABEk/HFRGd9p-13s/s1600/IMG_0554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wKcv6Jx4R14/Ta3zvb_Z_nI/AAAAAAAABEk/HFRGd9p-13s/s640/IMG_0554.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fritillaria hermana ssp amonis. A bit of a mouthful, but easy and a bit more fun than a Crocus. And bad news on the F. persica front, the flower buds developed but then shrivelled. Dunno why because it was well but not over watered.<br />
835. <br />
836. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Husyx6Trq54/TbR07wFjDFI/AAAAAAAABE8/vXBDffCdmPc/s1600/IMG_1398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Husyx6Trq54/TbR07wFjDFI/AAAAAAAABE8/vXBDffCdmPc/s640/IMG_1398.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">So this is the last of the Frits for this year, F. pontica. Hardly a stunner but it's a hard worker: the po's full to overflowing but I thought it best to focus on a single  bloom.</div></div><br />
837. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xlf5wHA5XNQ/Ta35TeqQpeI/AAAAAAAABE0/Q_9EJHv-ELg/s1600/IMG_1481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xlf5wHA5XNQ/Ta35TeqQpeI/AAAAAAAABE0/Q_9EJHv-ELg/s640/IMG_1481.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I wonder if this Lewisia cotyledon "Bright Eyes" knows about the 25 or so pots of "Sunset Strain" in the open greenhouse. It ought not to be jealous, this is exactly the coral pink/orange shade I was after anyway so I bought it. A yellow one would be good. I've also got one with a double-barreled name that has smallish white flowers with feint pink lining called cantellovii var cantellovii.</div><br />
838. <br />
839. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n6uB2IHITTg/TbR2FXgQpKI/AAAAAAAABFE/iiJPUUajGp8/s1600/IMG_2332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="534" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n6uB2IHITTg/TbR2FXgQpKI/AAAAAAAABFE/iiJPUUajGp8/s640/IMG_2332.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gladiolus communis ssp. byzantinus; one of an indefinite number of almost identical magenta species almost exclusively from around the Med region, one, I think it's G. illyricus has naturalised in Britain but they tend to prefer spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and, bravely, considering the political situation there at the moment, north Africa. I don't know if it's only me who is confused by these almost identical species but I aim to get to the bottom of it without buying a book. Having said that Google is bollocks all use. Unless I can actually buy mature bulbs I can't compare the subtle (and they are subtle) differences without having them beside each other (great excuse to waste a load of dosh on low-rent bulbs).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
840. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8gZqYJJOwOY/TbR6CccgUOI/AAAAAAAABFM/KTLfqjXLpfg/s1600/IMG_2005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8gZqYJJOwOY/TbR6CccgUOI/AAAAAAAABFM/KTLfqjXLpfg/s640/IMG_2005.JPG" width="572" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">The moment I've been waiting for: my first arilbred to bloom which isn't bad considering I only got it last yearr, once it had entered its dormant period. A cross between an Oncocyclus or Regalia (the spots hint at the former) and a standard bearded Iris (species or hybrid, it's up to the man with surgical kit and the cotton buds). I've lost the label for this but I know it's either "Heimdahl" or "Jehosephat's Reliance". There is a tiny possibility it's an un-named hybrid that the nursery (whose name I've totally forgotten) included as a gift, rather sportingly of them. I wish I could remember their name because they deserve a mention. There's another on the way, I think it's going to be a pink with the  signature spot and will be called what the other one ain't. The Oncocyclus "Dardanus" is still growing steadily as is I.stolonifera but, despite being a country lad I'm far better at telling whether a fan of leaves from a Tajik Iris  stolon is hiding a flower spike than whether a sheep is with lamb. </div><br />
841. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
842. <br />
843. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgGeiWOOTy0/TbSGTJNlgHI/AAAAAAAABFc/e1mcZeYCpUY/s1600/IMG_2304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgGeiWOOTy0/TbSGTJNlgHI/AAAAAAAABFc/e1mcZeYCpUY/s640/IMG_2304.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
844. <div style="text-align: center;">Primula Japonica "Apple Blossom", one of the sprawling candelabra group. This is growing in a large pot in an extremely moisture retentive compost as the whole group, and many of their relatives such as P. florindae and Sikkimensis which don't display the distinctive whorls of flowers around the central stem that Apple Blossom is developing. I have a whole packets' worth of Harlow Carr mixed seedlings (many will have to go free to good homes, I just haven't the room for them all. I have three mature plants that I bought last autumn and they take up a single 30cm tub and are a bit behind Apple Blossom but have split into several crowns each go we should get a good show. I've also secreted some Naturtium seeds around the pot so there's colour right up to the first frosts.</div></div><br />
845. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JA7fERcgwHo/TbSLEkVVFJI/AAAAAAAABFk/GS6zbDsow_Q/s1600/IMG_2284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JA7fERcgwHo/TbSLEkVVFJI/AAAAAAAABFk/GS6zbDsow_Q/s640/IMG_2284.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The intermediate bearded Iris hybrid "Red Zinger" (I'm trying to make these look interesting. If you want a boring picture most of the Irises are on twitpic.</div><br />
846. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oKZYf8NDutA/TbSNKL2_TbI/AAAAAAAABFs/Zk2Ijy3-vwM/s1600/IMG_2231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oKZYf8NDutA/TbSNKL2_TbI/AAAAAAAABFs/Zk2Ijy3-vwM/s640/IMG_2231.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Brighten Up". A more appropriate name for this intermediate bearded would be hard to think of. Those orange beards really set off the golden yellow blooms which sit a well above compact leaves.</div><br />
847. <br />
848. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGm5SMyJUXs/TbXRI0DNUyI/AAAAAAAABGk/r3kr9ZyyELY/s1600/IMG_2412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGm5SMyJUXs/TbXRI0DNUyI/AAAAAAAABGk/r3kr9ZyyELY/s640/IMG_2412.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Primula Auricula "Sarah"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
849. </div><br />
850. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gGV0SDL4las/TbXR_LzLfzI/AAAAAAAABGs/94RE5UxmB88/s1600/IMG_2394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gGV0SDL4las/TbXR_LzLfzI/AAAAAAAABGs/94RE5UxmB88/s640/IMG_2394.jpg" width="423" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Camassia quamash</div><br />
851. <br />
852. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0m0MZI9wMUc/TbXSlNN1QFI/AAAAAAAABG0/fNbLYtI7fyw/s1600/IMG_2227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0m0MZI9wMUc/TbXSlNN1QFI/AAAAAAAABG0/fNbLYtI7fyw/s640/IMG_2227.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Meconopsis x Cookei</div><br />
853. <br />
854. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, there are more but I'm going to save them up, although when the Lilies start blooming I am going to have more than enough material for the rest of the year. Unless those little red beetles I keep squishing manage to get through the whole lot and that's going to require a plague!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
855. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the meantime, please have a look at my Iris art on twitpic, some of it's really rather good, according to strangers!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
856. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Have a lovely, short week and thank goodness that sun's going in for a bit, which means pricked out seedlings have a chance of survival!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
857. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Take joy in your plants and throw away the bloody privet and anything that looks at bit like a daisy (Dahlia's excluded). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
858. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thanks for your support</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
859. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Plant Boy xxx</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
860. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">PS, Russell, you probably don't remember staring at each other outside Urban Outfitters in Covent Garden. I thought you were someone else I'd had a crush on a few years ago. You probably thought, who's this poof? I thought, "Why's that potential husband material such a fuckwit?"</span></div></span> <br />
861. <br />
862. <br />
863. <br />
864. <br />
865. <br />
866. <br />
867. <br />
868. <br />
869. <br />
870. <br />
871. <br />
872. <br />
873. <br />
874. <br />
875. <br />
876. <br />
877. <br />
878. <br />
879. <br />
880. <br />
881. <br />
882. <br />
883. <br />
884. <br />
885. </span></td></tr>
886. &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/04/odds-and-sods-of-beauty.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-88MdlZtnnpU/TbaojoW2WgI/AAAAAAAABHE/8Ee9WxgXJzM/s72-c/IMG_2452.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-3641206937533299005</guid><pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 17:16:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-04-08T09:54:54.340-07:00</atom:updated><title>100, plenty out</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Hello, welcome to my 100th post. I thought we could celebrate by me rambling on about what&#39;s going on in pots on my roof – probably much the same as is happening in your garden, but with more greenfly. Is it just me or is it a bumper year for the little suckers? But first, some pics of my Fritillaria pallidiflora.&lt;br /&gt;
887. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
888. <tr><td style="text-align: center;">t<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x65O7DrIj3U/TZsEjPZFllI/AAAAAAAAA9U/OTUBmyJjRGE/s1600/IMG_1142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x65O7DrIj3U/TZsEjPZFllI/AAAAAAAAA9U/OTUBmyJjRGE/s640/IMG_1142.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
889. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's an international bulbous bonanza – Iris bucharica from Afghanistan, Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan and, above, Fritillaria pallidiflora from China and Siberia. so, yes, they're both very hardy</span></td></tr>
890. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r4Yd2Z_7hK8/TZt0H3LJFHI/AAAAAAAAA9k/PCRPkgUzX4c/s1600/IMG_1141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r4Yd2Z_7hK8/TZt0H3LJFHI/AAAAAAAAA9k/PCRPkgUzX4c/s640/IMG_1141.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
891. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xUsiq-uSTcI/TZt0tBgE42I/AAAAAAAAA9o/Fh5572goAks/s1600/IMG_1102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xUsiq-uSTcI/TZt0tBgE42I/AAAAAAAAA9o/Fh5572goAks/s640/IMG_1102.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
892. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
893. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXr8eZddsJs/TZt1YerY73I/AAAAAAAAA9s/sMXVZKYtC8s/s1600/IMG_1124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXr8eZddsJs/TZt1YerY73I/AAAAAAAAA9s/sMXVZKYtC8s/s640/IMG_1124.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
894. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nice, eh? I won't patronise you but note the lack of tessellation. There are a few brown flecks on the inside of the bells but they're frankly not worth showing you. My plant is about a foot tall and I'm very happy with my three pallid flowers.</span></td></tr>
895. </tbody></table>And just to clear up the Fritillaria acmopetala confusion once and for all, it has finally bloomed, leaving persica as the only Frit to bloom although it's halfway there with a topping of chocolate bells that should reach perfection in a day or two (it's hard to tell in this weather). I've already watered extensively, like, with the hose, and you wouldn't know it. And I know you have to soak each pot or you're doing more harm than good by enouraging the roots to head upwards because that's where the water is. Remeber that, any sprinklers out there – and you water the soil, not the leaves.<br />
896. <br />
897. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t2Y0Vs6vDhQ/TZ3HrD8tdhI/AAAAAAAAA-E/BTFyu_WY-2Q/s1600/IMG_1289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t2Y0Vs6vDhQ/TZ3HrD8tdhI/AAAAAAAAA-E/BTFyu_WY-2Q/s640/IMG_1289.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
898. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eBzYdmx6tE0/TZ3IQrgqj5I/AAAAAAAAA-I/Zg_yhSXCBGw/s1600/IMG_1276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eBzYdmx6tE0/TZ3IQrgqj5I/AAAAAAAAA-I/Zg_yhSXCBGw/s640/IMG_1276.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
899. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
900. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-otn52s_eFCQ/TZ3I6PAZg9I/AAAAAAAAA-M/J47PiCof128/s1600/IMG_1288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-otn52s_eFCQ/TZ3I6PAZg9I/AAAAAAAAA-M/J47PiCof128/s640/IMG_1288.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
901. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Not much going on in the inside either but there you have it, thank god for the wendelboi variety which has much more pronounced markings</span></td></tr>
902. </tbody></table>Anyway.<br />
903. <br />
904. Don't you just love pricking out anonymous seedlings, hoping like hell that they're something cool and then remembering that you wouldn't have ordered anything but the weirdest, rarest, least suitable for London rooftop seeds. I would be apoplectic at the ghostly fading of the indelible marker pen that means I have dozens of pots with no indication as to what is in them other than the seed leaves and then, fortunately, the true leaves. This has worked to an extent; I have identified one as a primula and another as an Iris. And by a process of elimination I think it must be Iris laevigata. I don't want Iris laevigata, I have a finite amount of space and non-descript members of my favourite genus are not welcome. But I did by the seed, almost as if feeding some sort of addiction.<br />
905. <br />
906. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
907. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-02IU1Tbt4d0/TZtdEG_JGZI/AAAAAAAAA9g/F6UTPbHBOWU/s1600/IMG_0380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-02IU1Tbt4d0/TZtdEG_JGZI/AAAAAAAAA9g/F6UTPbHBOWU/s640/IMG_0380.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
908. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Definitely Primulas, and I'm pretty sure some Delphiniums. But what the hell is that bottom right?</td></tr>
909. </tbody></table><br />
910. <br />
911. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
912. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lilium/Lilium_amabile_luteum_DC1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lilium/Lilium_amabile_luteum_DC1.jpg" width="568" /></a></td></tr>
913. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lilium amabile (let's just call it "yellow form" while the taxonomists argue about pairs of chromosomes and dead languages, one of which I speak, to O-grade level. Guess what? "garden" is "horto" in Latin. You'd have to be dead not to work that out. </td></tr>
914. </tbody></table>However, much excitement at seedlings that do have labels, particularly Lilium Amabile (controversial yellow form that has never been officially named - it's usually deep orange/red), Lilium regale (I've never seen the appeal, I think partly because it always looks like it's about to fall over,  and Lilium pomponium, which I was good enough to show show in the previous post but if you can't be bothered, it's a short little thing with a huge amount of leaves and one perfect red flower atop them. I'll take six please. Actually I've only got three up so far but these things tend to happen in a flash so I'm expecting more over the next few days. I could show you photos but you know what lily, and actually most monocot, seedlings look like now:like a lover case "n" that straightens out, one end having been the root, which gets to explore compost, the other the shoot tip, which gets to see the shitty old world and pray for stem rot.<br />
915. <br />
916. But here are the flowers because they're pretty:<br />
917. <br />
918. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
919. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4876090657_9b24afdac3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4876090657_9b24afdac3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
920. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A great shot by "Gunera" of amabile growing by the road somewhere in Europe, most likely France. I want to know what the pink thing in the background is now!</span></td></tr>
921. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
922. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.esacademic.com/pictures/eswiki/76/Lilium_regale1UME.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.esacademic.com/pictures/eswiki/76/Lilium_regale1UME.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
923. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The instantly recognisable but often impersonated (sargentiae, wallachianum, are you listening). I don't know why I wouldn't grow it in my toilet, it's a beautiful plant but you've probably noticed I like my plants a bit scrappier!</span></td></tr>
924. </tbody></table>Regardless, seed is now my favourite manner of propagation, mainly because I don't have ready access to the perennials and shrubs of the Himalayas to strike cuttings from. And you can't take cuttings from monocot plants anyway (that's anything that looks a bit like grass: almost all bulbs/corms, rhizomes and tubers, although there are dicot (generally pairs of leaves such as Roses, Rhododendrons and Runner Beans (see the lengths to which I am forced to travel to complete a Ciceronian triplet and thus keep my copy flowing like water over pebbles in a babblig brook, overhung by ancient Beech trees and with a resident Kingfisher shaking the water off his back before tilting his head back and swallowing his tiny catch in one).<br />
925. <br />
926. Plenty of the seeds from chileflora.com have germinated with no help from artificial heat, as have more Gladioli. These is a theory that this is down to extremes of temperature in the same 24 hours, something that the spinning of the earth on its axis takes care of for us. You know about the three species of Rhodophiala: bifida, splendens and montana. I also showed you a stunning magenta Oxalis. Well this week something called Solenomelus segethii zoomed up – and when you see it you'll see exactly what drew me to it!<br />
927. <br />
928. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
929. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5367763609_be09cd57b5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5367763609_be09cd57b5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
930. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yeah, it does have a certain Iris-like quality, doesn't it?</span></td></tr>
931. </tbody></table><br />
932. The Clematis tower has been draped with the gorgeous Jacqelin du Pré and it's mates, given a good chopping back a month or so ago (container grown Clematis have a far more rigorous pruning regime than those in the ground. Unless they're about to flower, they're cut to about a foot in Feb/March)<br />
933. <br />
934. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
935. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--TnOy-EgkjM/TZt9spsZYvI/AAAAAAAAA9w/qfaIzALx7N4/s1600/IMG_1100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--TnOy-EgkjM/TZt9spsZYvI/AAAAAAAAA9w/qfaIzALx7N4/s640/IMG_1100.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
936. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And sunshine too!</span></td></tr>
937. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LfG_9l2v5NU/TZt-sFYOqBI/AAAAAAAAA94/uN9AcF5Dzmc/s1600/IMG_1091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LfG_9l2v5NU/TZt-sFYOqBI/AAAAAAAAA94/uN9AcF5Dzmc/s640/IMG_1091.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
938. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UNIbBg7bE8/TZt_HFdkt-I/AAAAAAAAA98/zFOwCvH_vnY/s1600/IMG_1086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0UNIbBg7bE8/TZt_HFdkt-I/AAAAAAAAA98/zFOwCvH_vnY/s640/IMG_1086.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
939. <br />
940. It has been a mixed week: The Lilies are almost all through, some of the species such as hansonii and latifolium, and the white martagons which I somehow managed to have three pots of (and seeds!) while forgetting to buy the type and it's sexy dark red, almost burgundy form (now rectified) can almost be heard growing, the big, chunky hunks. I've also snapped up what was advertised as martagon "yellow bunting" and this is growing nicely, three bulbs having a huge pot to themselves but this seems to be offered as a variety of pumilum by everyone else and it lacks the flecking on the petals that are such a feature of the martagons. But one thing is clear: I have too many lilies crammed into too many small pots. This will be fine this year (although toppling is going to be an issue) but I don't want to go repotting after just one year, I'd rather get them established first.<br />
941. <br />
942. Many, bought from extremely reputable suppliers, have been a bit of a disappointment, sending up just a few single leaves or short, blind, shoots that won't flower, despite them being sold as being of flowering size and looking pretty chunky when I planted them. Plants such as L. ducharteri, in 2litre pots, have just sent up half a dozen stems with three or four small leaves, which is very disappointing. But at least there's something in there. I'm concerned about about my two pots of L. Nepalense, which are showing no signs of life. I also took a gamble on eBay and bought a few bulbs from a guy in China. The first, L. amoenum, arrived rotten and the others, apart from L. Poilanei (so sexy it's worth taking a risk on!), were described simply as Lilies from Szechuan. They arrived looking well but there's no sign of growth yet and I know there's still time but it's a bit of a coincidence that none of his Lilies (nor his Nomocharis aperta)  have shown themselves.<br />
943. <br />
944. Also, nothing from my two pots, from different sources, of L. Nepalense although a tiny leaf has today poppped up in Oxypetalum v. insigne. Canadense remains somewhere east of Newfoundland and superbum is biding its time too.<br />
945. <br />
946. Still, lots of little flowers to show you:<br />
947. <br />
948. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
949. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oFlrRP0DjXY/TZuBdB5xzRI/AAAAAAAAA-A/n6JmumxULKU/s1600/IMG_1048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oFlrRP0DjXY/TZuBdB5xzRI/AAAAAAAAA-A/n6JmumxULKU/s640/IMG_1048.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
950. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rhododendron "Wee Bee"</span></td></tr>
951. </tbody></table><br />
952. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
953. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_G2wLNGNL8I/TZ3K0DaDecI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/5fvpxoymjrs/s1600/IMG_0971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_G2wLNGNL8I/TZ3K0DaDecI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/5fvpxoymjrs/s640/IMG_0971.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
954. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Rhododendron "Little Ben"</span></td></tr>
955. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MKbgHak4GyA/TZ3N7S9wdrI/AAAAAAAAA-g/dp3MPNDsoNI/s1600/IMG_1010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MKbgHak4GyA/TZ3N7S9wdrI/AAAAAAAAA-g/dp3MPNDsoNI/s640/IMG_1010.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
956. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
957. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vorI8oKpmKg/TZ3Lf9WqBMI/AAAAAAAAA-U/h3o5q9aQB9s/s1600/IMG_0979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vorI8oKpmKg/TZ3Lf9WqBMI/AAAAAAAAA-U/h3o5q9aQB9s/s640/IMG_0979.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
958. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dodecatheon hendersonii, 3-4inch stem emerging from a perfect rosette. It opens slightly further in a Cyclamen stylee. It really is a gem, get one now for a shady but of the rockery!</span></td></tr>
959. </tbody></table>And now a couple more to keep it company, which will enjoy the same semi-shade and that ubiquitous moist but well-drained soil. I can only assume it means plenty of humus (the soil, not the chick pea thing) and perhaps a bit of grit, especially for the gob-smacking Pulsatilla I'm about to show you. In a bit.<br />
960. <br />
961. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
962. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjp0yKeBa4A/TZ3PBOfEXPI/AAAAAAAAA-k/e6Y1SKYD_qI/s1600/IMG_1002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjp0yKeBa4A/TZ3PBOfEXPI/AAAAAAAAA-k/e6Y1SKYD_qI/s640/IMG_1002.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
963. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anemone x lipsiense, a woodlander,  so plenty of leafmould or rotted bark and a spot where it won't get the mid-day sun or too much of it at any other time of the day. It spreads underground, I'm not sure by what means because I don't want to tip it out of the pot but stolons of some kind. Probably.</span></td></tr>
964. </tbody></table>In the same delivery I also got an Allium flavum but it would be like showing you a spring onion with the bottom chopped off. I hope mine's orange, they come in the same range as Lewisias but paler. If it's pink I'll be annoyed. I had a pot of seed but it was well and truly squirrelled so, while I've left it as I found it, I'm unlikely to get much luck and I'm not sure the roof can handle many more bulb seedlings, what with 40 or so Gladioli, a number of Moraeas, and, just lately, Irises and Lilies. Fortunately I get to leaves the Glads in their 7cm square pots for a year. There are so few seeds (never more than 10 to a pot)  and success varies from 100% to 10 – I only want one anyway) they don't get crowded and have a chance to build up a bulb, sorry, corm, before they are distrurbed.<br />
965. <br />
966. Anyway, that other Alpine ...<br />
967. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4A5K_Y_7688/TZ3U5fc0YXI/AAAAAAAAA-o/a3bTkG3KLrw/s1600/IMG_1244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="558" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4A5K_Y_7688/TZ3U5fc0YXI/AAAAAAAAA-o/a3bTkG3KLrw/s640/IMG_1244.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
968. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
969. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KSAX0aebo7M/TZ3WD4pQblI/AAAAAAAAA-w/GT5AofkawUY/s1600/IMG_1256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KSAX0aebo7M/TZ3WD4pQblI/AAAAAAAAA-w/GT5AofkawUY/s640/IMG_1256.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
970. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pulsatilla alpina sulphurea: demure, diminutive and delicious (in a visual way. I wouldn't recommend eating it).<br />
971. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
972. </span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
973. </tbody></table>I'm slightly overwhelmed with rare and choice bloomery so let's just have a look at them, yeah, starting with a plant that wouldn't have been possible 20 years ago when Meconopsis punicea, an extemely delicate red thing thought extinct but fortunately it wasn't and neither was Meconopsis quintuplinervia, a rather drab (if the genus could ever have a member  so described).<br />
974. <br />
975. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/39152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://c0278592.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/original/39152.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botmuc.de/jpg/schachen_2010-06-26/meconopsis_quintuplinervia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.botmuc.de/jpg/schachen_2010-06-26/meconopsis_quintuplinervia.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><br />
976. Actually, it's not that drab, it was just never going to win against betonicifola. Now, these plants are delicate, apt to live short if exciting lives and have a chromosone thing going on. So some bright spark by the name of Cook got his/her paint brush out and came up with a not purple but a lovely coral pink hybrid with all the best bits of both. Usually in hybridisation you'll end up with a stunningly coloured bloom on a stem that can't support it or a fabulous scent from a grey flower. So when these two fell in love and produced the following, we all got a bit excited.<br />
977. <br />
978. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ivd-XZKrM4/TZ3lF5BTZhI/AAAAAAAAA-0/gVjCRgMGrNE/s1600/IMG_1027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ivd-XZKrM4/TZ3lF5BTZhI/AAAAAAAAA-0/gVjCRgMGrNE/s640/IMG_1027.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
979. <div style="text-align: center;"><br />
980. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
981. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JPLoAZsvNIA/TZ3m_Bl5p-I/AAAAAAAAA_A/kWkqKGxZRfA/s1600/IMG_0833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JPLoAZsvNIA/TZ3m_Bl5p-I/AAAAAAAAA_A/kWkqKGxZRfA/s640/IMG_0833.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
982. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Papery perfection: these are both the same bloom, even though the lower looks slightly bluer. I don't know why, time out of the spikey bud I suppose. And guess what the best thing about this is? Unlike its parents, it doesn't die after flowering! You can keep punicea and quintuplinervia gonig for a year or two but if you grow them I suggest collecting and sowing seed annually. Fresh seed will germinate more readily but you can store it in a paper envelope in  a dry place  for a year or more but the longer you leave it the more sporadic or non-existent the germination.</span></td></tr>
983. </tbody></table><br />
984. <br />
985. Recent deliveries include the 10 species Pelargoniums (which we'll go into detail next time)  I ordered last year, five named Auriculas and, today, a Lily order I have no recollection of ordering but I must have. I would have been a long time ago because the last thing I need is another Lilium leichtlinii! also in there were superbum, davidii, suberbum, pumilum (I think I have double figures of this now). It was a joy to receive another lophophorum because my current specimen has yet to show signs of life and "Fata Morgana" is a bizarre thing worth having. Also, the picture of davidii on their website is a lovely shade, rather than the typical bright orange. Whether mine will be this shade, time will tell, but I hope it is:<br />
986. <br />
987. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rvroger.co.uk/Images/BulbImage/WinterBulbImage/Web400/lilium_davidii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.rvroger.co.uk/Images/BulbImage/WinterBulbImage/Web400/lilium_davidii.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
988. <div style="text-align: center;"><br />
989. </div>And to round off, the first bearded Irises of the season (the stem of one broke within hours of me realising what it contained).<br />
990. <br />
991. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
992. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PU65NBwyKTs/TZ3vAmOeq0I/AAAAAAAAA_E/8zEdnYRtmq0/s1600/IMG_1266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PU65NBwyKTs/TZ3vAmOeq0I/AAAAAAAAA_E/8zEdnYRtmq0/s640/IMG_1266.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
993. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Iris "Extra"</span></td></tr>
994. </tbody></table><br />
995. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
996. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bVn_E_5MoUc/TZ3vuKK0zEI/AAAAAAAAA_I/EQSMDrv3_Q0/s1600/IMG_1238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bVn_E_5MoUc/TZ3vuKK0zEI/AAAAAAAAA_I/EQSMDrv3_Q0/s640/IMG_1238.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
997. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Iris "Hocus Pocus"<br />
998. <br />
999. <br />
1000. </span></td></tr>
1001. </tbody></table>And that's all for now, I have an appointment with a hose. Sigh. Brits, enjoy the weather, everyone else, you probably see the sun most days but enjoy it anyway and everyone, enjoy your plants!<br />
1002. The Plantboy<br />
1003. <br />
1004. <br />
1005. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/04/100-plenty-out.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x65O7DrIj3U/TZsEjPZFllI/AAAAAAAAA9U/OTUBmyJjRGE/s72-c/IMG_1142.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-1062603311310490691</guid><pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:11:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-04-01T13:12:40.378-07:00</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">btg  6</category><title>Caught on Camera: The Goddess of Women</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;I owe you an apology. I don&#39;t know what I was thinking, all I can say in mitigation is &amp;nbsp;that many of these are often written very early in the morning due to chronic insomnia and I may have been a little befuddled and it snowballed from there. My crime: to mislead you, dear reader, into thinking that Fritillaria acmopetala looks alarmingly like F. kurdica v. taylish. Okay, it&#39;s not that alarming like seeing the ghost of your dead great aunt at the bottom of the bed, especially alarming as you never met her, but it was just wrong and those journalistic standards do not befit an online diary (the word &quot;blog&quot; is surpassed in its emetic qualities by &quot;blogosphere&quot;.&lt;br /&gt;
1006. <br />
1007. Anyway, the plant masquerading as F. acmopetala was actually F. latakiensis. It still looks suspiciously like taylish, and the form wendelboi, below, is still acmopetala wendelboi.<br />
1008. <br />
1009. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1010. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PbNEVlvTIX4/TZN4putouLI/AAAAAAAAA70/vRxvdUj_5dM/s1600/IMG_0805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PbNEVlvTIX4/TZN4putouLI/AAAAAAAAA70/vRxvdUj_5dM/s640/IMG_0805.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1011. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This bloom  has the wider, more bell-shaped form of acmopetala rather than the slimline latakiensis (below). Feel free to wonder whether I know what I'm doing. Actually, this has always been an experiment, call it a reality  website, happening in real time, with real numpties making real mistakes!<br />
1012. <br />
1013. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mdy5BsHzrE0/TZN-B44hhBI/AAAAAAAAA74/SEiFd3MoJdk/s1600/IMG_0670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mdy5BsHzrE0/TZN-B44hhBI/AAAAAAAAA74/SEiFd3MoJdk/s640/IMG_0670.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
1014. </tbody></table><br />
1015. The rest of the Frits got some rain today, thank god, because while I do get the hose out as regularly as possible I have to be incredibly careful not to blast pot of delicate seeds and seedlings so it's a tedious and difficult job (you've seen how crowded it is up here and if you haven't look at the previous post) which involves clambering in and out of the window and up and down the spiral staircase (changing in and out of muddy trainers at each time. I recently bought one of those spray gun fittings to try to create more of a sprinkler effect but it just doesn't work. I was in the Incredibly Expensive Garden Centre today and almost bought more of shower head style fitting but it was £25.99 and the same make as the trigger one I already have so I don't see why one would work and the other not.<br />
1016. <br />
1017. Incidentally, this really is Fritillaria acmopetala. It still has some way to go before we see it in its full glory.<br />
1018. <br />
1019. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jYmifA8VMYU/TZOCvQHZayI/AAAAAAAAA78/c7Loz0iP9BQ/s1600/IMG_0823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jYmifA8VMYU/TZOCvQHZayI/AAAAAAAAA78/c7Loz0iP9BQ/s640/IMG_0823.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1020. And remember when I told you F. persica grows like Japanese Knotweed once it gets going? It's now twice the height it was five days ago when we last had a little look at it. I'm afraid the picture, in common with most of the pix in this post, was taken with considerable haste between a rain shower and darkness. The flower buds are forming nicely and I think this is going to be quite a stunner. Please forgive the spikey green hairstyle, it's a bearded iris (and they'd better get a shift on; I keep feeling for that tell-tale bulge within the folds of the leaves that indicate a nascent flower spike).<br />
1021. <br />
1022. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1023. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FZ_PEvG9kr4/TZOFZdcOV8I/AAAAAAAAA8A/gN6fHxPzVG8/s1600/IMG_0791.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FZ_PEvG9kr4/TZOFZdcOV8I/AAAAAAAAA8A/gN6fHxPzVG8/s640/IMG_0791.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
1024. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's about 18in now, it should top 2ft once the flower spike develops</span></td></tr>
1025. </tbody></table><br />
1026. On the rest of the Frits: quite a few are not going to flower this years, preferring to build up strength with leaves and my tomato food. Pontica and  Pallidiflora are going to bloom; carica had managed a single leaf but at least it's alive, making rather more leaf are pyrenaica, affinis, camschatcensis, kotschyana. So out of all my purchases, only one, montana, failed to make it through the winter.<br />
1027. <br />
1028. As I was showing off my Iris orchiodes last post I mentioned that Iris magnifica was also coming along? Well it played the same trick on me as orchiodes and crept up on me, opening overnight, the tinker! It has about a dozen flower buds, stretching almost all the way down the stem but the bulb is sitting too high in its pot, meaning the weight of the bloom has caused the whole plant to list alarmingly. It's not a disaster, I can strap it up but it spoils the aesthetics a bit!<br />
1029. <br />
1030. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1031. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k3o2U99gKRM/TZSd0yVLS0I/AAAAAAAAA8U/3v2KK4KnMYk/s1600/IMG_0924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k3o2U99gKRM/TZSd0yVLS0I/AAAAAAAAA8U/3v2KK4KnMYk/s640/IMG_0924.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1032. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first of many. Unfortunately rarely at the same time.</span></td></tr>
1033. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1034. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FeBQcCN2kOQ/TZSfhBhQzkI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/7jVUoj_3kmQ/s1600/IMG_0894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FeBQcCN2kOQ/TZSfhBhQzkI/AAAAAAAAA8Y/7jVUoj_3kmQ/s640/IMG_0894.jpg" width="421" /></span></a></td></tr>
1035. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nice greenfly! This really is the angle at which it's sitting.</span></td></tr>
1036. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpBg5D4aCVY/TZSg609RDMI/AAAAAAAAA8c/c2qUShzkkxM/s1600/IMG_0882.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpBg5D4aCVY/TZSg609RDMI/AAAAAAAAA8c/c2qUShzkkxM/s640/IMG_0882.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1037. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1038. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBd264tzoAg/TZSipinc6EI/AAAAAAAAA8g/2hhrAnHesZQ/s1600/IMG_0897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBd264tzoAg/TZSipinc6EI/AAAAAAAAA8g/2hhrAnHesZQ/s640/IMG_0897.JPG" width="423" /></a></td></tr>
1039. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is what it should look like (look, the beastie's no moved!)</span></td></tr>
1040. </tbody></table>That was nice, wasn't it?<br />
1041. <br />
1042. Well, now proof that the pictures in the bulb catalogues of huge pots are actually made up of the pick of loads of single bulbs raised individually and blooming as if as one: I bring you my pot of Iris bucharica, all planted at the same time and therefore all subjected to the same conditions.<br />
1043. <br />
1044. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1045. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m_IVL5Q2DuE/TZYT-yV2RnI/AAAAAAAAA9I/qtPuvmczCkE/s1600/IMG_0945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m_IVL5Q2DuE/TZYT-yV2RnI/AAAAAAAAA9I/qtPuvmczCkE/s640/IMG_0945.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1046. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't normally grow my junos on top of the DVD player, by the way, it just provided a good background in a hurry. I could have cropped out the the TV aerial but this is real reportage, brought to you from the frontline of pretty flowers! It's Iris bucharica, the easiest of the bunch (in the UK anyway) and the most likely to do well in the rockery or a big trough (but careful: if it's anything other than clinically depressed it will bulk up like a small group of rabbits who have run out of condoms.</span></td></tr>
1047. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1048. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jXosgLgCCTI/TZYW8kCXHVI/AAAAAAAAA9M/5QVGICuJ_QI/s1600/IMG_0963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jXosgLgCCTI/TZYW8kCXHVI/AAAAAAAAA9M/5QVGICuJ_QI/s640/IMG_0963.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1049. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It may be common among the Iris massive but bucharica  is still rarely grown by other gardeners which is a shame because it is a robust plant and, at close quarters, really rather stunning.</span></td></tr>
1050. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1051. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C6bWT6yifdo/TZYYo5ubNbI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/nlvY2-lcb-k/s1600/IMG_0954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C6bWT6yifdo/TZYYo5ubNbI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/nlvY2-lcb-k/s640/IMG_0954.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1052. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Neither of these were even proper buds this morning, although it has been a sunny and windy day.</span></td></tr>
1053. </tbody></table><br />
1054. And, while we're on the subject, Hermodactylus tuberosus had already been moved to the "Nice try but have some food and water and I expect a bit more effort next spring" area along with Crocus sativus and various Iris reticulatas. I was checking on the unpronouncable South African bulb seedlings, all of which are doing brilliantly, even the Moraea ciliata cotyledon that keeps getting mown by a slug (I go out at night with a torch and throw them into the schoolyard in the hope they eat the vocal cords of the under-10s, or at least restrict the higher-pitched screams) when the most amazing sight caught my eye.<br />
1055. <br />
1056. I've never seen Hermodactylus (there is only one species, although it may actually have reverted to its previous monicker, Iris tuberosa, although it will probably have reverted to Hermodactylus by the time you read this) in the flesh but it was the most arresting sight, I almost dropped the pot of Lachanalia viridiflora seedlings I was inspecting.<br />
1057. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
1058. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1059. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oeVZxO-paMQ/TZTtTDmkqpI/AAAAAAAAA8o/YeKXIPsyY_A/s1600/IMG_0697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="574" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oeVZxO-paMQ/TZTtTDmkqpI/AAAAAAAAA8o/YeKXIPsyY_A/s640/IMG_0697.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1060. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My first reaction was one of disbelief that something destined to fail had actually worked. Spectacularly. Again</span></td></tr>
1061. </tbody></table><br />
1062. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1063. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oUNA4mAL0ys/TZTu2lIzrpI/AAAAAAAAA8s/w6y4THynl94/s1600/IMG_0714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oUNA4mAL0ys/TZTu2lIzrpI/AAAAAAAAA8s/w6y4THynl94/s640/IMG_0714.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1064. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My second was: "God, I hope the camera battery's charged and I must get this in before an asteroid falls on it".</span></td></tr>
1065. </tbody></table><br />
1066. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1067. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yZTouKmhTdo/TZTvd7jzs-I/AAAAAAAAA8w/xxYLDmDG_CQ/s1600/IMG_0744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yZTouKmhTdo/TZTvd7jzs-I/AAAAAAAAA8w/xxYLDmDG_CQ/s640/IMG_0744.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1068. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My third was :"They even feel like velvet. And don't you get a nice quality of  light in the bathroom".</span></td></tr>
1069. </tbody></table><br />
1070. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1071. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0H_7R-Y9cQ/TZTvlK3IRUI/AAAAAAAAA80/baWQ5-rqF8s/s1600/IMG_0762.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0H_7R-Y9cQ/TZTvlK3IRUI/AAAAAAAAA80/baWQ5-rqF8s/s640/IMG_0762.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
1072. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And my fourth was: "Must get these on twitpic and Facebook so everyone thinks  I'm the world's best gardener and a passable photographer.  Might as well have a piss while I'm here".</span></td></tr>
1073. </tbody></table><br />
1074. I was at the Incredibly Expensive Garden Centre to buy fine grit as I have found this by far the best way to sow most types of seed. I've got Rhodophiala spendens and montana ramming their cotyledons halfway to the moon and back and they come from particularly large, flat, papery, flyaway seeds, as, to a lesser extent, do Gladioli and many other South African and Chilean bulb seeds. A great method of sowing is to take a small pot filled to the appropriate depth with your growing medium of choice and, out of any wind, spread roughly half a dozen seeds evenly (they need to be well spaced cos they're going to be neighbours for as long as 48 months) and then quickly top with the appropriate depth of grit. For something big and flat like Rhodophiala about 5mm is right; enough to hold it down against the moist compost but not too much to block out all light. A carefully controlled flow of grit is important so you don't disturb the seed, then a few gentle taps to make sure the grit is holding the seed down flat gainst the moist compost. Watering can be from above, but done carefully because, while the grit may be relatively heavy, it's no match for the blast of a hose<br />
1075. <br />
1076. For bigger seeds such as Nasturtium I'd stick with the age-old dibber because they need to be 1.5cm deep and grit would provide too dry an environment with only a little of the seed touching the life-giving compost.<br />
1077. <br />
1078. Grit's ideal for medium-sized seeds such as Geranium, allowing you to sow the seed evenly and cover with a single layer of the tiny stones, so the seed doesn't have much work to do to head for the light. It also makes seedlings easy to spot but a world of warning: MAKE SURE THE GRIT HAS A NEUTRAL pH! You don't want to sow Azaleas and cover them with limestone.<br />
1079. <br />
1080. For teeny seed such as Meconopsis, my usual method is to mix it with sand, make a paper chute (fairy cake cases are ideal) and tap the mixture evenly over the surface, that way you can see where you've been and get good coverage. Water by immersion lest you make a pig's arse of it all, charging in with the watering can.<br />
1081. <br />
1082. Well, that was boring but I can now boast the very recent germination of, as well as a plethora of South African bulb seedlings, Lathyrus aureus (one man's gold is another man's brown and yellow), Iris orientalis (syn. ochroleuca), Iris attica, Iris sibirica hybrids, the white form of Iris pseudacorus, Alstroemeria "Ligtu" hybrids; Digitalis obscura, Digitalis viridiflora, Digitalis thapsi, Digitalis nervosa, Digitalis trojana (I kicked over the pot and although I'd tried to put Humpty together again I managed to find a plant on the Web, So now I have enought to kill all my friends' children).<br />
1083. <br />
1084. <div style="text-align: center;"><br />
1085. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1086. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botanic.jp/plants-sa/digtro_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.botanic.jp/plants-sa/digtro_1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
1087. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">D. trojana: worth all the effort of signing for and opening the box</td></tr>
1088. </tbody></table><br />
1089. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://luirig.altervista.org/cpm/albums/bot-026/normal_lilium-pomponium4358.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://luirig.altervista.org/cpm/albums/bot-026/normal_lilium-pomponium4358.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>To continue: Lilium pomponium (YES!), Lilium regale, Meconopsis grandis, Meconopsis betonicifolia "Hensol Violet", Dianthus arenarius "Little Maiden"; Tulipa turkestana; Corydalis hendersonii, Impatiens psittacina, Delphinium mackianum, Papaver miyabeanum and  many things that have become anonymous since the indelible marker turned out to have a problem with sunlight (it deletes it) and while there is still a long way to go, I have managed to work out that I have three or four Delphinium nudicaule seedlings (the label wasn't the problem, it was a gastropod thing; they seem to have a real appetite for one of the leaves but not the other. I am so pleased about Lilium pomponium. It's nothing special, a bit like pumilum (or tenuifolium, suit yourself what you call it), but with almost grassy foliage and love red recurved waxy flowers. Oh, I'm going to have to show you, sod the design!:<br />
1090. <br />
1091. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1092. </div><br />
1093. <br />
1094. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1095. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Delphinium_nudicaule.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Delphinium_nudicaule.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
1096. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm not sure the slugs could be bothered to climb up this rockface. That's what I'll do! Build a cliff on the roof!</span></td></tr>
1097. </tbody></table>Still, I think a few will pull through; there are dozens of the Delphium that cam from Chilterns named helpfully as "unknown" but which apparently has turquoise flowers. There's a primula that I can't even guess at. I Had thought it might be alpicola until I saw the pot of alpicolas. I don't remember ordering any others except mixed auriculas but the emergent true leaves on these are definitely of the crinkly vulgaris type rather than smooth edged or farinose, ruling out auriculas and anything like secundiflora or chionantha.<br />
1098. <br />
1099. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1100. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4691156889_b41f06ca63.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4691156889_b41f06ca63.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1101. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dianthus arenarius "Little Maiden"</span></td></tr>
1102. </tbody></table><br />
1103. <br />
1104. I must remember to keep checking in the greenhouse where I think 100% (that's 10 seeds btw) of Gladioli flanganni have happily reached a couple of inches and Oxalis squamata (I forget the collection number) from Chile. <br />
1105. <br />
1106. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1107. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2310745780_c3bbd15d7a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2033/2310745780_c3bbd15d7a.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1108. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's a shame I can't build a rockery on the roof to accommodate plants like this Chilean Oxalis squamata. There are so many stunning and easy specimens that would make great garden plants. Check out Chileflora.com, enter a common genus such as the above, and you will be amazed at what's out there and totally unknown except locally and academically.</span></td></tr>
1109. </tbody></table><br />
1110. <br />
1111. Also shooting up arethe blue Lathyrus sativus v. azureus which really are growing more than a centimetre a day despite being sown in some emergency compost made up of the grindings of a barely dead tree, grit, vermiculite and the shakings from a bag of John Innes 2. Still, they're either very happy or desperately trying to escape from the root trainers I've got them in. While we're climbing, that Nasturtium I was raving about a few weeks ago, Tropaeolum "Caribbean Crush", a strain with very pale pastel shades has started to germinate. Madly, considering there were only eight seeds in the packet (and there were only meant to be six) I decided to have a go at scarification, where one takes a knife and makes the merest of nicks in the seedcoat. It is not for the faint-hearted, shakey of hand or amateur. So quite why I was doing it flip knows but I can see from the safety of indoors that at least two have germinated and I can't see the other pots so I think we're looking at a success here.<br />
1112. <br />
1113. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
1114. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KG55wuWjvJM/TZXHdPDJa7I/AAAAAAAAA9E/8nV9HBGUz1w/s1600/IMG_0942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KG55wuWjvJM/TZXHdPDJa7I/AAAAAAAAA9E/8nV9HBGUz1w/s320/IMG_0942.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
1115. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nasturtium seeds have a gnarled coat, a bit like a small<br />
1116.  Brazil nut, making it a good candidate for the inexperienced<br />
1117. scarifier. All you're trying to do is make a tiny hole in the<br />
1118.  seedcoat so water can penetrate. Bear in mind it will <br />
1119. germinate anyway, all you're doing is speeding things<br />
1120. up</span></td></tr>
1121. </tbody></table>(I ventured outside later, once the banshees had gone back to class and I counted six). There was also one incredibly thin and spindly T. tricolor which had germinated out in the open. I couldn't find the rest but as I was feeling a bit sick I could't be bothered. It must be that fragile (I'm talking as thin as the thinnest needle in the pack) naturally as it has full access to sunlight etc. It must be used to putting everything into height to jostle for position in the canopy. I hope it's not too annoyed when it discovers I don't have one.<br />
1122. <br />
1123. While at the garden centre I gave in to temptation and bought a packet of bold magenta Nasturtiums. It is an extraordinary shade for a flower; like a white shirt soaked in beetroot juice. I can't think of anywhere else I've seen it in the plant world, not even among the gaudiest dwarf Azaleas.                                       <br />
1124. On that note, Want to see some baby Rhododendrons? There are only two worth seeings right now:<br />
1125. <br />
1126. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1127. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hLdrU-hVewA/TZOUsO-QUkI/AAAAAAAAA8M/ju546R0BNSU/s1600/IMG_0789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hLdrU-hVewA/TZOUsO-QUkI/AAAAAAAAA8M/ju546R0BNSU/s640/IMG_0789.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1128. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Ginny Gee", a hint of pink on a rainy day</span></td></tr>
1129. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1130. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PYJJnF2CF5o/TZOXO0RccaI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/tC93bYw4h8Q/s1600/IMG_0792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PYJJnF2CF5o/TZOXO0RccaI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/tC93bYw4h8Q/s640/IMG_0792.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1131. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Princess Anne". Leaves have a reddish tinge. Like its namesake's face.</span></td></tr>
1132. </tbody></table>Oh, I've had a couple of significant deliveries through the week: my 10 species or ancient hybrid Pelargoniums arrived right at the end of March, as promised, although I still feel slightly nervous putting them out but there's no alternative.<br />
1133. <br />
1134. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
1135. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/sempervivoideum1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/sempervivoideum1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
1136. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">L. sempervivoidum</span></td></tr>
1137. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other delivery was from Sir Paul of his Rare Plants nursery: Lilium (you'd think I'd know by now) sempervivoideum not to be confused with sempervivium),  Bomarea hirtella and cyrtanhus flanaganii. It's not the most immediately stunning lily but has the benefit of rarity and un-growability.</span><br />
1138. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul says: "This rare Chinese species makes stems 20-40cm tall clothed with quite narrow leaves. If cultivation is correct, then this stem will be topped with 1-2 flowers. These are flaring and white to pale pink, with a central patch of purple-red (in the manner of Erythronium hendersonii!). There is also some purple spotting around the centre.</span><br />
1139. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
1140. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
1141. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
1142. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
1143. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
1144. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
1145. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span><br />
1146. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Thrilling and lovely this has only rarely been in cultivation. It is a little intemperate, but not un-growable. It adores cool humidity in summer and that, along with an open, fibrous, well-drained, moisture retentive compost is the key to success. It also likes a dryish winter."</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He doesn't say what correct cultivation involves so I'll just treat it like all my lilies: mix of orchid compost, general purpose compost, perlite, grit and food granules. I might manage the winter cover bit, if I remember.</span><br />
1147. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1148. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://lifestyleseeds.co.za/sa/images/Cyrtanthus%20flanaganii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://lifestyleseeds.co.za/sa/images/Cyrtanthus%20flanaganii.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1149. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cyrtanhus flanaganii</span></td></tr>
1150. </tbody></table><br />
1151. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1152. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Bomarea/Bomarea_hirtella_DXV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Bomarea/Bomarea_hirtella_DXV.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1153. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bomaria hirtella</span><br />
1154. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
1155. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"></span></span></td></tr>
1156. </tbody></table>I would have ended with a shot of the Clematis tower where Jacqeline due Pré is a sight for sore eyes, arses and toes. But it's dark now and of course the wind has finally dropped. I'll get it tomorrow. Probably.<br />
1157. <br />
1158. I'll get into the Pelargoniums next time, once I've had a chance to do anything more than pot them up in those funky zinc pots I has planned to put the Nasturtiums in but I've got come clay pots for that and that should be the windows taken care of. If someone else does the watering ...<br />
1159. <br />
1160. Enjoy the weekend and get out there to see what's been happening. You'll be surprised!<br />
1161. <br />
1162. Happy horticulture as ever,  Chris<br />
1163. <br />
1164. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/04/caught-on-camera-goddess-of-women.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PbNEVlvTIX4/TZN4putouLI/AAAAAAAAA70/vRxvdUj_5dM/s72-c/IMG_0805.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-2633441560610238732</guid><pubDate>Sun, 27 Mar 2011 10:14:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-27T14:28:42.752-07:00</atom:updated><title>Gold and Brown</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Hello and welcome to &quot;I Can&#39;t Quite Believe I&#39;ve Managed This&quot;. It&#39;s where I take the opportunity to use my own photography of my own plants to &amp;nbsp;show off and prove that I wasn&#39;t making it all up. The first offering took me totally by surprise as the bloom is the same colour as the pinewood on the inside of the bulb frame (although it&#39;s propped right open now, as all contents, with the possible exception of the Gladioli and Moraea corms/bulbs no longer need protction from the rain, which hasn&#39;t fallen for weeks anyway).&lt;br /&gt;
1165. <br />
1166. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1167. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xDsuYkFVSWo/TYtoHNGCfZI/AAAAAAAAA5g/-e6Y4b5P2Uw/s1600/IMG_0504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xDsuYkFVSWo/TYtoHNGCfZI/AAAAAAAAA5g/-e6Y4b5P2Uw/s640/IMG_0504.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1168. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's Iris orchiodes, whose flowers have a beautiful greenish tinge to their essestially yellow flowers and that orangey/brown line on the fall. Its native habitat is the Tien Shan mountains of central Asia, the natural home of so many of the juno types, as well as the regalia and oncocyclus. In fact all the nicest ones.</span><br />
1169. <br />
1170. <br />
1171. </td></tr>
1172. </tbody></table>Iris Orchiodes is relatively easy to grow (compared to other juno irises, not rhubarb). In the wild it would grow in scree or rocky hillsides, offering incredibly free drainage so that big, fat bulb and the chunky, baby-carrot like roots never sit in water but have it wash through them as the snows melt further up the mountain, depositing minerals and nutrients aplenty and then passing on down the hill to visit something else beautiful. On the roof, I grow all my junos in clay pots, which dry out far quicker than plastic. That's not to say they'll survive like that cactus in your hall, watered annually, exposed to draught every time the door is open and grateful for every ray of light.<br />
1173. <br />
1174. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FEBgy_06Wz8/TYt_oCSIyiI/AAAAAAAAA5k/1zC_zLiImlw/s1600/IMG_0479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FEBgy_06Wz8/TYt_oCSIyiI/AAAAAAAAA5k/1zC_zLiImlw/s640/IMG_0479.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1175. First, potting medium: many eschew a humus-based compost, preferring soil-based. I'm saying nothing but the plant you are looking at is quite happy in a mix of good quality potting compost, plenty of perlite, gravel, sand and slow-release fertiliser granules. The pot doesn't need to be too big: the top of the bulb should be just below the surface, which should be covered with gravel to protect the neck of the bulb and emerging shoot from stem rot.<br />
1176. <br />
1177. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--2wlPZrhH8w/TYuEJrYTyfI/AAAAAAAAA5o/qCFfQAp9Xts/s1600/IMG_0463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--2wlPZrhH8w/TYuEJrYTyfI/AAAAAAAAA5o/qCFfQAp9Xts/s640/IMG_0463.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1178. Plant in your dry mixture any time from late summer onwards, when the bulbs are dormant and it's very,very dry in Tajikistan. Keep yours out of the rain too, ideally in an alpine house or bulb frame but I have been known to improvise with upturned fish tanks and even clear plastic storage boxes. (Assuming you live in the UK) you can start waking it up either when it tells you it's ready by poking a single green bud through the gravel or give it a water around the end of January, avoiding the centre of the pot.<br />
1179. <br />
1180. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y7LggJGHISc/TY3o_t8T3RI/AAAAAAAAA58/ZTze9hymqhA/s1600/IMG_0502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y7LggJGHISc/TY3o_t8T3RI/AAAAAAAAA58/ZTze9hymqhA/s400/IMG_0502.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>This should be enough to kick start growth but don't panic if it doesn't, just wait a bit and try again. Unless you've had really bad luck and something's eaten it (mouse-proofing might help although I've never had a problem with them, just squirrels eating my lilies) or it's rotted, it's just waiting till it feels Caucasian enough. As it grows, so your watering (and feeding about every three weeks with tomato or bulb food) regime grows. Remember, this is a very well drained potting mix and once growing the Iris needs to not only build up the strength to do that amazing yellow thing again next year (this year's flower comes from last year's energy store) but it will also probably want to start building a second bulb. If you're unlucky it will put so much effort into this it won't flower at all but put all its energy into this new bulb but, looking on the bright side, you'll get a double display next year).<br />
1181. <br />
1182. Some junos will manage only a single flower such, as I. nicolai, which barely gets off the ground in the wild, sheltering behind the odd stone and struggling to an inch or two. It does a little better in cultivation heightwise but I've still only ever seen one bloom, although one seen, never forgotten. Definitely one for next year now I've got the bare minimum of experience. The fact that it'll cost around £30 for a flowering sized bulb (I'll go to Paul Christian Rare Plants first, he provided so much of what's bursting forth around me that I can't recommend him highly enough and no, he's not my dad or  anything (the closest I could get to nepotism is bigging up Glendoick but they don't really need the publicity).<br />
1183. <br />
1184. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
1185. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9cx0GuNEI/AAAAAAAAAlI/tr0rmByK09Q/s1600/IMG_3263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9cx0GuNEI/AAAAAAAAAlI/tr0rmByK09Q/s320/IMG_3263.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
1186. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">All the signs were there on Jan 1</span></td></tr>
1187. </tbody></table>I don't think Iris cycloglossa or svetlanae are going to flower this year. The former has sent up a healthy wee shoot but it looks more like an off-set than something that's going to turn into that unique helter-skelter flower formation that sets it apart from all other Irises. Svetlanae has obviously split, as predicted when I took the photo on the left on New Year's Day - there are now two clear shoots that are 6in long, thin and so floppy I've had to tie them up to a stick for their own good.  The floppiness doesn't to be caused by anything pathological but I've treated it with sulphur anyway.<br />
1188. <br />
1189. Irises bucharica, magnifica, aucheri (a mighty foot tall) and zenaidae (controversially claimed by one source to be a form of I. graeberiana from the Tien Shan are budding up nicely and I reckon aucheri should manage about half a dozen typically icy blue flowers although as it has such a wide distribution, from northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey,  northern Syria, western Iran and Jordan (just about anywhere with a civil war at the moment) there is some variation in the shade of blue although all are scented and robust, relatively easy plants to grow.<br />
1190. <br />
1191. Bucharica is incredibly easily grown in the UK and unless you live in a bog it should thrive outdoors in a sunny, well-drained spot. I grow mine in a pot only because a) I don't have a garden and b) I like to keep track of the off-sets andit's a lot easier to tip out a pot every three or four years than it is to get the fork out and posssibly skewer the bulbs or damage the carrot-like roots. It's a handsome yellow and white but my pan of bulbs is a bit behind this year and won't flower for another week or more.<br />
1192. <br />
1193. Zenaidae is much rarer (if what I paid for it is anything to go by) but it looks like having multiple blooms too. It is violet blue. Magnifica is a chunky fella that can easily reach two feet if happy. Its white flowers are borne in abundance, or will be soon, and it's another worth trying in the rockery if you can afford to lose it. None of the juno Irises is susceptible to cold, it's water in the leave axils, around the stem and around the bulb that's the killer.<br />
1194. <br />
1195. If you don't grow them yet I suggest bucharica in a pot as a starting point. Don't buy  those awful packs hanging up in supermarkets or garden centres, what suits a bag of clementines may not be the ideal environment for a dormant (but not dead) flower bulb.<br />
1196. <br />
1197. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">And now, from </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">gold</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;"> to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">brown</span></b></span></span><br />
1198. <br />
1199. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xdx-vrKdXww/TY3nuw10sfI/AAAAAAAAA50/Y7MBej8IJdA/s1600/IMG_0446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xdx-vrKdXww/TY3nuw10sfI/AAAAAAAAA50/Y7MBej8IJdA/s640/IMG_0446.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1200. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1201. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r0IBmgvcCrQ/TY3aQgwT4CI/AAAAAAAAA5w/zQeDnQda1wI/s1600/IMG_0563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r0IBmgvcCrQ/TY3aQgwT4CI/AAAAAAAAA5w/zQeDnQda1wI/s640/IMG_0563.JPG" width="564" /></a></td></tr>
1202. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fritillaria uva-vupis</span></td></tr>
1203. </tbody></table>Who'd have thought a genus made up largely of brown flowers could have such an ardent following? To be fair they're not all brown, there's a lot of green and black in there too, and the odd browny-pink, plenty of yellow but it's an unusual bunch to be sure. There are three main groups, those that hail from Europe, mostly Greece and Bulgaria but we do have our own F. meleagris, which is possibly native or an escapee but certainly loves a moist bit of meadowland. Then there's those from eastern Turkey and all points east through the former Soviet states. The third are North American and, unsurprisingly given the distance, they are surprisingly similar in their variety, if that makes sense. What I mean is there is a huge variety of flower shapes (usually based roughly on a bell), colours and forms.<br />
1204. <br />
1205. I'm growing about 20 and showed you stenanthera (pinky brown) and bucharica (white) a few weeks ago and then there are these two flowering side by side: brown and gold; and orangey brown!<br />
1206. <br />
1207. F. uva-vulpis is one of the easier  species, it should be happy in the garden in a well-drained, sunny spot. They like a lot of water when in growth so the rockery might not be the best spot unless you're prepared for some precision watering. As long as the corms are not sitting in wet soil you should be okay. When planting, it can be extremely difficult to tell which way is up so we tend to plant them on their side, that way you can't fail. It would do no harm to prepare the soil with some well-rotted compost or manure, and then lay each bulb on a little pile of grit or sand. This is all done in autumn and they will start to appear alarmingly early from January but they know what they're doing!<br />
1208. <br />
1209. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1210. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ADyuwOM0IiQ/TY3YKF1TnHI/AAAAAAAAA5s/4U1mqD4ZB_k/s1600/IMG_0645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ADyuwOM0IiQ/TY3YKF1TnHI/AAAAAAAAA5s/4U1mqD4ZB_k/s640/IMG_0645.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1211. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fritillaria minuta</span></td></tr>
1212. </tbody></table>I think the "minuta" refers more to the bulbs, which are like peas, than the plants which are hardly giants but a good 3-4 inches tall which is not small for the genus. I've got three corns in a 3.5in pot and that looks proportionate.<br />
1213. <br />
1214. I'm so pressed for space that everything is crammed into a corner on the ground until I spot it making its move, whence it's whipped onto the windowsill meaning you get a great view from the living room.<br />
1215. <br />
1216. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1217. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EBXR3lxQgFU/TY3scuGsYII/AAAAAAAAA6E/R0ObPPCfjtA/s1600/IMG_0661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-EBXR3lxQgFU/TY3scuGsYII/AAAAAAAAA6E/R0ObPPCfjtA/s640/IMG_0661.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1218. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And that's less than half of it! The majority of these are lilies in various stages of development, from germinating (regale) to 3ft tall ("Tiger Woods")</span></td></tr>
1219. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1220. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-23hSPulMko0/TY5MdN8uk1I/AAAAAAAAA6k/TxRfHE0QUPk/s1600/IMG_0662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-23hSPulMko0/TY5MdN8uk1I/AAAAAAAAA6k/TxRfHE0QUPk/s640/IMG_0662.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1221. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Can you spot the Meconopsis? I must pot them on in case they flower (and die). The Clematis tower is almost invisible thanks largely to "Jacqueline du Pré" which is about to be cloaked in pink bells, with a bit of help from  "Niobe" and the Tangutica-like one ... oh yes, the memorably titled </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">tibetana</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> subsp. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">vernayi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> var. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">vernayi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> 'Orange Peel'. It looks like all the yellow Tanguticas, like Bill MacKenzie.</span></span></span></td></tr>
1222. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1223. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yGfDu6qRRFw/TY5QnvHu2PI/AAAAAAAAA6o/qhdpfOgXIhE/s1600/IMG_0663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yGfDu6qRRFw/TY5QnvHu2PI/AAAAAAAAA6o/qhdpfOgXIhE/s640/IMG_0663.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1224. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can just see the crappy greenhouse on the left and hidden beyond that is the bulb/cold frame. It really is very hard to turn round, especially if you're holding something. You'll either kick something or drop it.</span></td></tr>
1225. </tbody></table>See what I mean?<br />
1226. <br />
1227. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7jnPyrnJKbQ/TY3rnVJRZaI/AAAAAAAAA6A/8we2O-t9d6U/s1600/IMG_0535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-7jnPyrnJKbQ/TY3rnVJRZaI/AAAAAAAAA6A/8we2O-t9d6U/s640/IMG_0535.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1228. <br />
1229. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1230. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ynw6OeCN3m0/TY3uLGcNbyI/AAAAAAAAA6I/t6Ymj5URf4I/s1600/IMG_0540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ynw6OeCN3m0/TY3uLGcNbyI/AAAAAAAAA6I/t6Ymj5URf4I/s640/IMG_0540.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1231. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This little thing, about 3 inches tall, has lost its label. It matches F. aurea but that's too easy. Can anyone offer any suggestions? Unfortunately the single bloom is not of show-winning quality but I love it anyway!</span></td></tr>
1232. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ipfQs7r558k/TY3vSS1TRyI/AAAAAAAAA6M/cpkJhPhl5ek/s1600/IMG_0545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ipfQs7r558k/TY3vSS1TRyI/AAAAAAAAA6M/cpkJhPhl5ek/s640/IMG_0545.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1233. So I can't fill you in any further on that particular golden girl but lets move to Iraq (not literally, that might be a bit dangerous at the moment) ...<br />
1234. <br />
1235. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1236. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-brUw9c_tCrk/TY3wls6fCYI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/AvuhdSmRy4c/s1600/IMG_0601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-brUw9c_tCrk/TY3wls6fCYI/AAAAAAAAA6Q/AvuhdSmRy4c/s640/IMG_0601.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1237. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">F. kurdica v. taylish snapped in my bathroom. Not because it lives there, it lives outdoors like the rest of them, but it was too windy outside to get a less blurred shot. Not sure I succeeded! The name gives a clue to the spiritual home ...<br />
1238. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
1239. </span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
1240. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o6PxiMBMEjY/TY3yj5hYiMI/AAAAAAAAA6g/eAnuWcgwOsw/s1600/IMG_0597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-o6PxiMBMEjY/TY3yj5hYiMI/AAAAAAAAA6g/eAnuWcgwOsw/s400/IMG_0597.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>One of the main benefits of Fritillarias is that they come into bloom in a steady stream from the end of February (in London) until they stop, which will be at least a month. And when they "go over" they don't cause too much of a mess like a pot of Daffs would.<br />
1241. <br />
1242. The feeding regime is exactly like that for the bulbous Irises. As long as the plant is photosynthesising it should be fed and watered but with a weaker and weaker food solution as the plant goes back into dormancy.<br />
1243. <br />
1244. You can leave some outside in their pots year-round, that's what I'm doing although you must have a well-drained potting mixture as the bulbs abhore sitting in the wet. I lost one (not a bad rate) over the winter, F. montana, and I'm blaming its sitting in excessive wet. It wasn't the cold, you really don't have to give a shit about the cold with Frits, other than to hop to give them a good, hot baking in the summer, such as they would get on a rocky Central Asian hillside. It's cold AND damp that will get them so I suggest a bit of internet research on which ones you really need to cover. The list varies geographically so I'm afraid I can't really tell you.<br />
1245. <br />
1246. Propagation is by off-set (I'm getting them already and the corms have only been flowering size for a year) or seed, which is easy if you're in no hurry. I don't know if fresh seed helps because I've never sown any but I did try acmopetala, graeca and whittalli last autumn. A few whittalli came up really quickly and then winter came along and they went into stasis but survived almost exactly as they were until a few weeks ago when the other two pots zipped up at exactly the same time as the first bulb to flower, stenanthera, bloomed. So this points so some benefit in stratification but no conclusive need for it.<br />
1247. <br />
1248. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1249. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qDO51AO-yn4/TY5XNU7AOdI/AAAAAAAAA6w/FN-ldd0fd1I/s1600/IMG_0693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-qDO51AO-yn4/TY5XNU7AOdI/AAAAAAAAA6w/FN-ldd0fd1I/s640/IMG_0693.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1250. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">F.acmopetala seedlings. I only planted them as an experiment, given that I already had the mature thing but there's something very satisfying about raising bulbs from seed. And they're a lot easier to prick out the dicots. </span></td></tr>
1251. </tbody></table><br />
1252. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1253. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KsQewmXDSeE/TY5XfmSav6I/AAAAAAAAA60/e_vxrLzWSVs/s1600/IMG_0686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KsQewmXDSeE/TY5XfmSav6I/AAAAAAAAA60/e_vxrLzWSVs/s640/IMG_0686.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1254. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">These must be graeca. I'm not showing you these for artistic reasons, it's more of a proof thing</span></td></tr>
1255. </tbody></table><br />
1256. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1257. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dY_x1jKhpVk/TY5XtruTIdI/AAAAAAAAA64/24vupCu0QEo/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dY_x1jKhpVk/TY5XtruTIdI/AAAAAAAAA64/24vupCu0QEo/s640/IMG_0691.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1258. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Crikey, the sun must have gone in for this one! It's whittalli and you can still see a seed capsule on the end of one shoot, that's how quickly they get moving. And I know the window frame could do with a coat of paint but it's a rented property so not my problem!</span></td></tr>
1259. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ysd3O6uyoeA/TY5dIsufgPI/AAAAAAAAA68/0SSqpAnQeJw/s1600/IMG_0558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ysd3O6uyoeA/TY5dIsufgPI/AAAAAAAAA68/0SSqpAnQeJw/s640/IMG_0558.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1260. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4vj4EpBoAMM/TY5eFlzE5ZI/AAAAAAAAA7A/dl3mCtOpgrM/s1600/IMG_0560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4vj4EpBoAMM/TY5eFlzE5ZI/AAAAAAAAA7A/dl3mCtOpgrM/s400/IMG_0560.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>Can you see the two life-size greenfly on the left-hand flower? Aphids are a bit of a problem with Frits but only really a danger as the growth tip emerges and develops, at which time you can be easily lightly grasp the shoot and run your fingertips up it, brushing them off or, better, squishing them.<br />
1261. <br />
1262. This medium-sized Frit is the snappily named Fritillaria hermonis amana from the south of Turkey (which makes it Asian, just).  I love the way all the species have that tessellation in some form or other.  Even bucharica, which on first glance looks white or cream, is actually white <i>and</i> cream, thanks to wonder that is nature. I can remember if F. persica has it, though I'm sure it does, as it's only a foot tall at the moment and just developing its flowers. Mind you, those 12 inches took about five days to grow from a little green thimble into the slightly intimidating mass of vegetation that is now threatening to take over the roof.<br />
1263. <br />
1264. It has black/brown/purple bells and I used to grow it as a child (I was very precocious) but I forget exactly what its flowers were like other than huge.<br />
1265. <br />
1266. <br />
1267. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1268. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EVq3sEVwqUQ/TY5lS9G3u6I/AAAAAAAAA7E/GVydxRhZDSw/s1600/IMG_0652.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EVq3sEVwqUQ/TY5lS9G3u6I/AAAAAAAAA7E/GVydxRhZDSw/s640/IMG_0652.jpg" width="421" /></a></td></tr>
1269. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's coming to get you! Fritillaria persica</span></td></tr>
1270. </tbody></table>This is the biggest of the lot by some way, with the tedious and pointless Crown Imperial, F. imperialis, next with orange or yellow bells but it's not as nice as it sounds. The only place I would recommend it is in an old-style English country garden where it multiplies quickly to form a splash of colour for a week or two and then a mess of decaying foliage for six months, which you could hide with a Dahlia or similar.<br />
1271. <br />
1272. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1273. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brandymount.co.uk/images/Fritillaria%20imperialis%20(Small).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.brandymount.co.uk/images/Fritillaria%20imperialis%20(Small).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1274. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The yellow form works well here but they have to be planted en masse to get any effect and that's a lot of spent foliage to hide for the sake of a few flowers. But maybe I'm being a snob.</span></td></tr>
1275. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1276. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NO6yr7Y0X6M/TY7tdEVB8vI/AAAAAAAAA7M/CrsPUcSme7U/s1600/IMG_0666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NO6yr7Y0X6M/TY7tdEVB8vI/AAAAAAAAA7M/CrsPUcSme7U/s640/IMG_0666.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
1277. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is F. elwesii from Turkey (surprise!), Cyprus and Lebanon</span></td></tr>
1278. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hAJT4HrTpjE/TY7wTC-x0NI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/xdmMXG-RWZc/s1600/IMG_0671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hAJT4HrTpjE/TY7wTC-x0NI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/xdmMXG-RWZc/s640/IMG_0671.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1279. There follows a conundrum. The above two shots are definitely what is says on the packet, although the bottom of the petals will flare out a little more but not much. Now look at what was sold to me as F. acmopetala:<br />
1280. <br />
1281. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mE7HPUkAu8w/TY7wx4ciGBI/AAAAAAAAA7U/9aGyyWvKe5g/s1600/IMG_0678.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mE7HPUkAu8w/TY7wx4ciGBI/AAAAAAAAA7U/9aGyyWvKe5g/s640/IMG_0678.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
1282. Can you see the difference? A catalogue picture of acmopetala looks like this:<br />
1283. <br />
1284. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/uploads/Fritillaria-acmopetala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/uploads/Fritillaria-acmopetala.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br />
1285. but ranges to this:<br />
1286. <br />
1287. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/fritillaria_acmopetala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/fritillaria_acmopetala.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1288. The two species are definitely close and may have inter-bred in the wild, meaning true species are had to come by as they live in the same areas and occupy the same habitiat. I think when both my species flare at the bottom they will be impossible to tell apart. Who'd be a taxonomist, eh?<br />
1289. <br />
1290. Last one (and even more confusing):<br />
1291. <br />
1292. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1293. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_eJDLHedMw/TY7yxuWv4PI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/CIRNFDn6BU4/s1600/IMG_0647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_eJDLHedMw/TY7yxuWv4PI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/CIRNFDn6BU4/s640/IMG_0647.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1294. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">F. acmopetala v. wendelboi<br />
1295. <br />
1296. </span><br />
1297. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1298. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1299. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1300. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;">Whhile this is undeniably gorgeous, even if the bottom of the petals do flare out, it is not foing to look like this from fritillaria.org.uk, who must know what they're talking about. Maybe there are just so many species spread over such a large area that purity of genetics is a falsehood and similar species have been having been putting it about a bit, resulting in a bit of a genetic mess. Or maybe several people sent me the wrong bulbs. I favour the former as I know and trust my suppliers, many of whom have been to these places and brought back seed .</span></div></span></td></tr>
1301. </tbody></table><br />
1302. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fritillaria.org.uk/Images/Frit%20acmopetala%20ssp%20wendelboi%20Turkey%20Icel%20Alacaba%20Gecidi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://www.fritillaria.org.uk/Images/Frit%20acmopetala%20ssp%20wendelboi%20Turkey%20Icel%20Alacaba%20Gecidi.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1303. I dunno, it's enough to make a tee-totaller's head hurt on a Sunday morning, especially as there is water from my flat (totally dry) apparently pouring into the cafe below. I could do without that on a day where we've already lost an hour to move to GMT+1 for the farmers and schoolkids walking to school in the morning. Now they jusy get run over at night instead.<br />
1304. <br />
1305. A few pretty blooms to end on a high:<br />
1306. <br />
1307. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1308. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1309. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cEdof0NWYwo/TY74PgGKKvI/AAAAAAAAA7c/gOhnb-d1LhM/s1600/IMG_0658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cEdof0NWYwo/TY74PgGKKvI/AAAAAAAAA7c/gOhnb-d1LhM/s640/IMG_0658.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1310. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A selection of Corydalis flexuosa from China, I'll name it tomorrow if I remember although it's actually the foliage that's doing it for me</span></td></tr>
1311. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1312. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Stum63BymdQ/TY75Hd-9UOI/AAAAAAAAA7g/R1HbGn99ndg/s1600/IMG_0424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Stum63BymdQ/TY75Hd-9UOI/AAAAAAAAA7g/R1HbGn99ndg/s640/IMG_0424.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1313. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The emerging foliage of Lilium tsingtaoense, which is frankly more attractive than its starry orange flowers. And I mean "starry" as in shaped like a star, not with the attributes of, say, Shirley Bassey</span></td></tr>
1314. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1315. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QYaB0Bx9yWM/TY76zoOpP2I/AAAAAAAAA7k/udw3YBvmkWI/s1600/IMG_0618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QYaB0Bx9yWM/TY76zoOpP2I/AAAAAAAAA7k/udw3YBvmkWI/s640/IMG_0618.JPG" width="640" /></a>f</td></tr>
1316. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cute one this: a yellow form of Pulsatilla caucasica</span></td></tr>
1317. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1318. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X72sIckGRhQ/TY7-l4HrHEI/AAAAAAAAA7s/meA9FhVVR2I/s1600/IMG_0439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X72sIckGRhQ/TY7-l4HrHEI/AAAAAAAAA7s/meA9FhVVR2I/s640/IMG_0439.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1319. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And who can resist a macro shot of the neighbours?</span><br />
1320. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
1321. </span></td></tr>
1322. </tbody></table>Well, that's all for now but as you can see things are taking off and when I'm not pricking out I'm spraying a hose around. Down to one Delphinium semibarbatum but it's really picked up. Three nudicaule survived the slugs although another two stems refuse to die, despite having no leaves.<br />
1323. <br />
1324. Alstroemerias are germinating, one of my mystery pots is definitely a primula and I know it's not a candelabra. Might be wilsonii. And the mystery turquoise Delphinium is taking well to transplantation, as are several other anonymous things. The blue Lathyrus sativus is germinating like hot cakes and aureus has been pricked out and picked up the baton. I want some Irises soon but I've got a horrible feeling the Asiatic hybrid Lilies are going to flower before too long.<br />
1325. <br />
1326. Swings, roundabouts and compost. Have a great week and speak to me! I is on Twitter, yah know what I is sayin bruv?<br />
1327. <br />
1328. Safe.<br />
1329. <br />
1330. <br />
1331. &lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/03/gold-and-brown.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xDsuYkFVSWo/TYtoHNGCfZI/AAAAAAAAA5g/-e6Y4b5P2Uw/s72-c/IMG_0504.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-3813722073602247162</guid><pubDate>Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:57:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-20T13:58:45.637-07:00</atom:updated><title>Fit Frits</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Hello there! Fancy meeting you here. This is where people obsessed to a slightly potty degree with pretty much all manner of decorative plants other than gaudy hybrids, and even some of them, come for help in the form of exposure therapy. I show you the plants and you get all giddy! Speaking of giddy moments, it&#39;s quiz time again!&lt;br /&gt;
1332. <br />
1333. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">To what giant do these emerging leaves belong?</span></b></span></span><br />
1334. <br />
1335. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1336. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bMQ9qOJoNcs/TYXfIbaGm5I/AAAAAAAAA3c/9W73bhsWSfo/s1600/IMG_0410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bMQ9qOJoNcs/TYXfIbaGm5I/AAAAAAAAA3c/9W73bhsWSfo/s640/IMG_0410.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
1337. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Curiosity sated at the bottom of the page, in the traditional manner, although I'm not sure my skills extend to turning it through 180 degrees, but I'll try</span></td></tr>
1338. </tbody></table><br />
1339. It has mainly been a week of seeds. Sowing, rescuing, the dreaded pricking out and a few fist-pumping "my God, it works" moments, like when one of the Cyanella lutea seeds that have been sitting, almost forgotten, in a shady corner of the propagator, dent up a shoot. Suffice it to say the pot has now been promoted to the only spot that gets any daylight, in the forlorn hope that it might not get too leggy while I give it a few more days in the hope that it might aquite a few chums, otherwise it's out to a cloche and chlorophyl. It really is the most gorgeous thing imaginable, I don't know why it isn't better known.<br />
1340. <br />
1341. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1342. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://sophy.u-3mrs.fr/Afriqsud/Photo-cpAFS/C/Cyanella_lutea_____________30_09_2003_11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="510" src="http://sophy.u-3mrs.fr/Afriqsud/Photo-cpAFS/C/Cyanella_lutea_____________30_09_2003_11.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
1343. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's so lovely it should be an orchid!</span><br />
1344. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
1345. </span></td></tr>
1346. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1347. </div><br />
1348. But the highlight was the blooming of Fritillaria verticillata (syn. thunbergii) and F. bucharica, the third and fourth in  a series which is likely to last well into April, if not November. Verticillata's a tall thing, well, it would be if the only bloom wasn't holding the stem at an angle of 45˚ (yippee, I've finally found the glyph for "degrees") which looks quite a lot like F. meleagris v. alba if you haven't got your glasses on but the wonder is on the inside of the flowers, which are chequed brown and green. Have a look, none of these really does it justice but the slightest gust when you're that close with a macro lens and it all goes organic pear-shaped.<br />
1349. <br />
1350. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1351. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I-NAQU9GHkc/TYX3VP9-6_I/AAAAAAAAA3g/Ea3Ojk4DHyA/s1600/IMG_0336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I-NAQU9GHkc/TYX3VP9-6_I/AAAAAAAAA3g/Ea3Ojk4DHyA/s640/IMG_0336.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1352. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was very sunny on Saturday so there was no way for an amateur like me to avoid the glare from the outer petals at the top of the shot and it looks daft if you crop them out</span></td></tr>
1353. </tbody></table><br />
1354. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1355. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1356. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pCS4xxShehY/TYX6Pz1N3pI/AAAAAAAAA3w/kF4lXWajOgM/s1600/IMG_0316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pCS4xxShehY/TYX6Pz1N3pI/AAAAAAAAA3w/kF4lXWajOgM/s640/IMG_0316.jpg" width="484" /></a></td></tr>
1357. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">See what I mean about the Plain Jane outside? All it needs to do is take off its specs, take the whatever it is women use to hold their hair in a dowdy way, shake it free and then cross its legs on the desk in a skirt which has remarkably lost four inches from the hem-line when no-one was looking</span></td></tr>
1358. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1359. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CFv1Dgu27sM/TYX79-LNhSI/AAAAAAAAA30/nEpuEC88A84/s1600/IMG_0334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-CFv1Dgu27sM/TYX79-LNhSI/AAAAAAAAA30/nEpuEC88A84/s640/IMG_0334.jpg" width="423" /></a></td></tr>
1360. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Crisp marking, blurred sex organs (you see I have to slip these innuendoes in to take it up the search engine) </span></td></tr>
1361. </tbody></table><br />
1362. Last one, just to give you an idea of stature and motherhood:<br />
1363. <br />
1364. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1365. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MPIoYLXBWlY/TYX-yL8Ra5I/AAAAAAAAA34/s_7_YRiKmls/s1600/IMG_0320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MPIoYLXBWlY/TYX-yL8Ra5I/AAAAAAAAA34/s_7_YRiKmls/s640/IMG_0320.jpg" width="387" /></a></td></tr>
1366. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Actually, it's quite hard to make out all the babies round the bottom but there are four that should be flowering size next year, which opens a whole tins of pilchards but we'll worry about that in the autumn.</span><br />
1367. <br />
1368. </td></tr>
1369. </tbody></table><br />
1370. Right, enough of that, have I taken any half-decent pictures of F. bucharica? I'm off for a look ...<br />
1371. <br />
1372. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1373. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tOaADkq3aDo/TYYH52EHYZI/AAAAAAAAA38/Xp4_yoyurNQ/s1600/IMG_0285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tOaADkq3aDo/TYYH52EHYZI/AAAAAAAAA38/Xp4_yoyurNQ/s640/IMG_0285.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1374. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Fritillaria bucharica<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7621677033896236647&postID=3813722073602247162" id="bucharica" name="bucharica" style="color: #1d6eb9; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></a></span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> is a large, early-flowering member of the Rhinopetalum section, which also includes stenanthera, the grey-pink one from last week, from Central Asia and northern Afghanistan, growing mainly on landmines, that's assuming there are any unexploded bulbs left, in the foothills. Fairly easy, but a bulb frame contender in the UK.</span></span></span></td></tr>
1375. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1376. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5qD37CuWXpg/TYYLd4_DacI/AAAAAAAAA4A/KcgEVCk_f64/s1600/IMG_0306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5qD37CuWXpg/TYYLd4_DacI/AAAAAAAAA4A/KcgEVCk_f64/s640/IMG_0306.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1377. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It loves a good bake in the summer so keep watering and give a weak tomato or bulb fertiliser every 3 or 4 weeks, following the instructions carefully, thus making sure there isn't a build-up of NPK salts which hill burn the roots. It's very tempting to think that more Miracle-Gro = more flowers etc but there comes a point where it does more harm than good. But you knew that. Anyway, ease off the watering and stop feeding altogether, the plant will tell you when it's about to go dormant by turning brown and falling over. This is the time to stop water altogether until you want to wake it up at end of the year. If you're growing outside in Britain make sure the soil is as gritty and well-drained (yet moisture retentive, yes, I know) as possible and cover if possible, especially in the autumn, in case a shower kick starts growth too early. Or just leave it to it, it'll probably prefer the space.<br />
1378. <br />
1379. </td></tr>
1380. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1381. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BuGt2Di70BY/TYYQ_da4nTI/AAAAAAAAA4E/KKuR6Mr6vl4/s1600/IMG_0312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BuGt2Di70BY/TYYQ_da4nTI/AAAAAAAAA4E/KKuR6Mr6vl4/s640/IMG_0312.jpg" width="423" /></a></td></tr>
1382. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Note the plastic pot. I'm experimenting because, while clay looks much more rustic, it is of course porous and liable to dry out and this is the time of the year that the plants are taking on provisions for next year so it's importtant to keep it just moist. And when you garden on a roof with no access other than to climb out the window, watering is an important consideration!</span></td></tr>
1383. </tbody></table><br />
1384. Frits are quite easy to grow from seed if you have patience. They seed freely and some of the rarer ones are out there on the web (try rareplants.de, a German treasure trove), eBay, Chilterns always have a good selection and most years offer a mixed bag which is good if you don't mind not knowing the name but has its problems because, while most germinate suddenly within days, hours even, of each other, it's best to leave them in the sowing pot for the first two seasons before potting each up singly. But if you have a variety of varieties you might get a raddeana (think turnip) next to a minuta (think marble) which would make pricking out even more of a nightmare than the horrible job already is (if you're wondering why I hate the job so much it's because I spent a summer at the world-famous Glendoick nursery and gardens in Perthshire doing little else, mostly Primulas and Meconopsis. The closest  I got to the holy Rhododendrons was planting out two-year-olds by hand in fields I'd just rotovated - have you ever tried reversing a tractor  uphill and round a corner  with a bogie on the back? It's actually impossible). And God help you if you forgot to label them!<br />
1385. <br />
1386. Anyway, back to Frits from seed, I'd recommend plastic pots, a mix of your bog-standard compost, vermiculite and slow release fertiliser, bearing in mind the plants are going to be in there for two years. I sowed in autumn but that's only because that's when I decided to do it.<br />
1387. <br />
1388. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1389. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nuony7f-gV8/TYYhIqoKCwI/AAAAAAAAA4I/FLlJX2ThqnA/s1600/IMG_0387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nuony7f-gV8/TYYhIqoKCwI/AAAAAAAAA4I/FLlJX2ThqnA/s640/IMG_0387.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1390. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are acmopetala, sown thinlyso they have enough room to develop underground as wel as above. I sowed them last September or October and they germinated about a month ago. F. graeca behaved in exactly the same way, germinating the same day and whittallii managed a few came up almost immediately and the rest at the same time as the others. I'm not sure what happens next: I have grown meleagris from seed before but that was 20 years ago! If they follow the liliacae formula then a true leaf should arrive soon as those little blades can't be making much chlorophyll. I will of course keep you up to date.<br />
1391. <br />
1392. <br />
1393. </td></tr>
1394. </tbody></table>And here's a little taster of what's coming next time:<br />
1395. <br />
1396. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1397. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gxzbz6CKEtY/TYYmqaX5BqI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/2OoiHIXJcvw/s1600/IMG_0303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gxzbz6CKEtY/TYYmqaX5BqI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/2OoiHIXJcvw/s640/IMG_0303.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1398. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fritillaria uva-vulpis, not quite there yet but any day now!</span><br />
1399. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
1400. </span></span></span></td></tr>
1401. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GfkkD1iFYZY/TYYxSJ7MAgI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/zyuCAkPmQ5A/s1600/IMG_0453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GfkkD1iFYZY/TYYxSJ7MAgI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/zyuCAkPmQ5A/s640/IMG_0453.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1402. While we're on the subject, can anyone help me identify this little fella? He's not open yet, which I appreciate doesn't help, but the label has gone walkabout, infuriatingly much as the "permanent" marker had left me with a dozen pots of I have no idea what. It's very short, maybe 2in high at most. Maybe when it has opened I'll get a better response.<br />
1403. <br />
1404. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gtvIzgog_ZU/TYY0h_1VZ1I/AAAAAAAAA4c/RkPKoyOqINQ/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gtvIzgog_ZU/TYY0h_1VZ1I/AAAAAAAAA4c/RkPKoyOqINQ/s640/IMG_0400.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1405.  I spent yesterday morning pricking out several pots of God know what. The only clue I have is they're dicots so hopefully when the true leaves show I'll get a better idea, after all I bought them!<br />
1406. <br />
1407. Regulars might remeber a post a few weeks back when I saw some seedlings in a pot with a mature white Tricyrtis and thought they looked very like an anonymous pot I have and, having sown a pot of mixed Tricyrtis (why? I've got four or maybe five) I thought perhaps the seedlings in the the white pot were Tricyrtis seedlings. So I carefully pricked them out and yesterday did the same with the anonymous pot (one of so many). However, the anonymous pot has one seedling with a true leaf and is definitely from a packet of Delphinium seeds I bought from Chilterns (my first stop <u>always</u> for good and slightly wacky seed) called "Delphinium Unknown Variety". This was like honey to a bee for me! They say <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">only <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;">We have received this seed only with the information that the flowers are turquoise-blue. It seemed a pity not to include this in the Catalogue for you to try - we will too. It might be a giant, it might be a dwarf!"</span></span></span><br />
1408. I'm not a huge fan of the genus, I just like the ones that aren't blue. I pricked out the last three D. nudicaule yesterday as I have a huge slug problem. Not huge slugs. Small slugs, lots of them. So I have one amazing yellow D. semibarbatum (syn. zalil) clinging to life in the greenhouse, its co-struggler lost the good fight this week, and three of the red nudicaule, only one of which has two leaves because gastropods love 'em so. I have almost 20 of the "turquoise" one so hopefully we're okay there. And all for a genus  I'd put at no.79 in my top 100. Incidentally, it turned out that the seedlings I'd been nurturing from the white pot were what we in the UK call chickweed, "weed" being the operative syllable!<br />
1409. <br />
1410. Of the things pricked out that I can identify, there are some lovely vigorous Lathyrus aureus and really sweet little Dianthus arenarius "Little Maid". Then there were the Delphiniums and a whole load of other fiddly stuff but I need to get them above slug height. I just hope they don't turn out to be weeds too! It also makes one feel quite worthy, although you make some space and then you fill it and take up even more.<br />
1411. Random thought! Lilium Macklinae's through!<br />
1412. <br />
1413. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1414. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vcTfzqVBqX0/TYZBRhYHv3I/AAAAAAAAA4g/wvmPf3U2AsU/s1600/IMG_0391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vcTfzqVBqX0/TYZBRhYHv3I/AAAAAAAAA4g/wvmPf3U2AsU/s640/IMG_0391.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1415. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Lilium Macklinae, found by Frank Kingdon-Ward high in the mountains of northern Burma and named after his wife. It was first thought to be a Nomocharis and it does look more like the latter .</span></span></td></tr>
1416. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2359/1560487508_7faa7e37be.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2359/1560487508_7faa7e37be.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>Now I need oxypetalum and at least one of my Nepalenses plus those nameless little things I bought as "Lilium from Sechuan x 3" and I'll be well chuffed.<br />
1417. I'd given up hope but during this, my first year of Lily growth, I've realised that they don't all break the surface at once. Which is handy as I've a bag of 3 liechtlinii sitting over there wondering what to do. I should just chuck it: for some bizarre reason one of three hybrids I ordered months ago but which arrived this week, is yellow with black flecks. Why did I order that over blacks and all sorts?<br />
1418. <br />
1419. Also in the package from Hydes were three hybrids:  "Pearl Jennifer", "Forever Susan" and "Slate's Select" as well as cernuum (again) and those blasted lietchtlinii.<br />
1420. <br />
1421. The ain't cheap but they are quality bulbs and well worth waiting for. They also came with very detailed planting instructions, down to the pH level of the soil (I'd never considered this before.<br />
1422. <br />
1423. <br />
1424. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1425. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/60240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/60240.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
1426. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">L. "Pearl Jennifer"</span></td></tr>
1427. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1428. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Lilium_leichtlinii_var_leichtlinii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Lilium_leichtlinii_var_leichtlinii.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1429. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">L. leichtlinni. I suppose the hybrid will have more flowers, or something</span></td></tr>
1430. </tbody></table><br />
1431. <br />
1432. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1433. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://7flowers.ru/catalog/Bulbs/packed/blooming_life/Lilium-Forever-Susan-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://7flowers.ru/catalog/Bulbs/packed/blooming_life/Lilium-Forever-Susan-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1434. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Forever Susan". If I'm going to break my rules and buy hybrids, why didn't I go for another fun one like this instead of that tedious yellow thing? Perhaps it's because Lilium pyrenaicum ran riot in our Scottish garden that I can get enough of yellow lilies. And there's colombianum, parryi, citronella, hansonii and the yellow martagon</span></td></tr>
1435. </tbody></table><br />
1436. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1437. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.oldhendrik.com/ShopImages/product/11189WH.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.oldhendrik.com/ShopImages/product/11189WH.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1438. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">L. cernuum. Which I've already got. I really should write things down. It's the Lithium</span></td></tr>
1439. </tbody></table><br />
1440. The other delivery was a n extremely cute little thing called Pulsatilla caucasica (YELLOW form), Tulbaghia violacea, 10 yellow (I'm obsessed)! Tigridia pavonia, Gladiolus "Charm" and Gladiolus Primulinus "Atom". Shall we have a sneak preview? Yeah? Well you can't because while the Pulsatilla is mentioned on the Web, there are no pics.<br />
1441. <br />
1442. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1443. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Tigridia/Tigridia_yellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Tigridia/Tigridia_yellow.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1444. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I thought all yellow Tigridias would look a bit classier than a mix</span></td></tr>
1445. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1446. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2781366196_3e781d558e_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2781366196_3e781d558e_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1447. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tulbaghia violacea. An odd purchase, I must have been making up the numbers ...</span></td></tr>
1448. </tbody></table><br />
1449. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1450. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PpTMF5-VL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PpTMF5-VL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1451. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus nanus "Charm". Getting a bit too close to the big, blousy hybrids</span></td></tr>
1452. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1453. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://niceflowerspics.info/pictures/flowers/images/74/p_Gladiolus_nanus__Atom__2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://niceflowerspics.info/pictures/flowers/images/74/p_Gladiolus_nanus__Atom__2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1454. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus nanus "atom"</span></td></tr>
1455. </tbody></table><br />
1456. I've been sowing away like mad and am beginning to get the first results with Lathyrus sativus v. azureus, a perennial blue sweet pea, beginning to come through, the tropical looking Mina lobata I showed you last week and Tropaeolums tricolor and "Caribbean Crush", the palest pastel nasturtium imaginable (mind you, a pale nasturtium is a rare beast).<br />
1457. <br />
1458. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1459. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://uprisingorganics.com/images/uploads/azureus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://uprisingorganics.com/images/uploads/azureus.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
1460. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lathyrus sativus v. azureus</span></td></tr>
1461. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1462. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Tropaeolum_tricolor_tricolorum_9724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Tropaeolum_tricolor_tricolorum_9724.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
1463. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tropaeolum tricolor</span></td></tr>
1464. </tbody></table><br />
1465. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1466. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/n/images/nasturtium_evelyn-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/n/images/nasturtium_evelyn-1.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
1467. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">T. "Caribbean Crush"</td></tr>
1468. </tbody></table><br />
1469. And last night I brought the sowing kit inside (everyone else was on a Monopoly pub crawl which for a tee-totaller like myself might have been a bit dull). So despite having two mature specimens and a single seedling that escaped the local wildlife, I had another go at Meconopsis betonicifolia (you know what it looks like) and the following:<br />
1470. <br />
1471. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1472. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/photo/image/18975/main/nemsis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/photo/image/18975/main/nemsis.jpg" width="404" /></a></td></tr>
1473. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Nemesia "Shooting Stars". Looks like an orchid, smells like coconut. Only downer is it's an annual.</span></td></tr>
1474. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1475. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botmuc.de/v-2006/06-03-02-leontochir-habitus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="http://www.botmuc.de/v-2006/06-03-02-leontochir-habitus.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1476. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Absolutely stunning Chilean beauty, Leontochir ovallei</span></td></tr>
1477. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1478. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ikk_Ic83yAQ/SlYRlQKEB4I/AAAAAAAAFpg/UHKuYPaXlps/DSCN0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ikk_Ic83yAQ/SlYRlQKEB4I/AAAAAAAAFpg/UHKuYPaXlps/DSCN0003.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1479. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Oh God, this is a mouthful: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Michauxia Tchihatche<wbr></wbr>ffii</span></span></td></tr>
1480. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1481. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://image.gardening.eu/immagini/geranium_sinense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://image.gardening.eu/immagini/geranium_sinense.jpg" width="638" /></a></td></tr>
1482. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Geranium sinense</span></td></tr>
1483. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1484. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/roses2plant_2145_746615" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/roses2plant_2145_746615" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1485. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Impatiens "Red Wine"</span></td></tr>
1486. </tbody></table><br />
1487. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1488. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fungoceva.it/erbe_ceb/image_erbe/Salvia_glutinosa2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="558" src="http://www.fungoceva.it/erbe_ceb/image_erbe/Salvia_glutinosa2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1489. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Salvia Glutinosa</span></td></tr>
1490. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1491. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3740502452_5ca38d8564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="494" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3740502452_5ca38d8564.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1492. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Balbisia peduncularis</span></td></tr>
1493. </tbody></table><br />
1494. Right, that's enough. I'll leave you with a blue (ok, purple) Rhododendron I'm rather proud of. It's in focus and everything!<br />
1495. <br />
1496. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--abodtG5n0A/TYZnJ48sq4I/AAAAAAAAA5M/eiMFSOpR9ns/s1600/IMG_0353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--abodtG5n0A/TYZnJ48sq4I/AAAAAAAAA5M/eiMFSOpR9ns/s640/IMG_0353.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1497. <br />
1498. Oh and Clematis Jacqeline du Pré too and that's it!<br />
1499. <br />
1500. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VY2J1UqxOtI/TYZoc8OoRaI/AAAAAAAAA5U/jFAHB3n0fE8/s1600/IMG_0139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VY2J1UqxOtI/TYZoc8OoRaI/AAAAAAAAA5U/jFAHB3n0fE8/s640/IMG_0139.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1501. <br />
1502. Oh, it&#39;s Cardiocrinum giganteum. Happy gardening! Cx&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/03/hello-there-fancy-meeting-you-here.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bMQ9qOJoNcs/TYXfIbaGm5I/AAAAAAAAA3c/9W73bhsWSfo/s72-c/IMG_0410.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-8811459707256004810</guid><pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2011 16:16:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-19T15:44:05.430-07:00</atom:updated><title>Notes From a Small Roof</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Well hello, hello, hello! he said in his best impression of Lord Stephen Fry of QI, though without the criminal record and wonky nose.&lt;br /&gt;
1503. <br />
1504. <div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">QUESTION: WHAT ARE THESE SEEDLINGS? THEY GERMINATED IN 5 DAYS!</span></b></span></div><br />
1505. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XaV9xUI_A7k/TX3VECSiCfI/AAAAAAAAAy8/QZS6I38lDvc/s1600/IMG_0143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XaV9xUI_A7k/TX3VECSiCfI/AAAAAAAAAy8/QZS6I38lDvc/s320/IMG_0143.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
1506. I have grave news: this post comes to you without the space-filling benefit and, perhaps more importantly, evidential properties, of my photography. Just as a whole genus of Fritillarias reach their peak; stenanthera has all three flower buds open and picture (bad choice of word) perfect; raddeana has overtaken all competitors and while only a cute 8 inches high, its creamy bells are beginning to open in the fulfilment of of horticultural ambition matched only by the rapid progress of the stolons of Iris "Dardanus"from sulphur dusted sticks of root sitting on a bed of gritty compost to a half a dozen groups of green swords with purple bases that are growing at half an inch a day.<br />
1507. <br />
1508. But can I prove any of this?<br />
1509. <br />
1510. Are Moraeas, Babianas, Lachenalias, Gladioli and Dahlias really germinating outside in a cloche after a quick spell in the heated propagator, having won their place in the spa through familiarity or curiosity, thrown up one cotyledon before being whipped out and crammed into a cloche that affords some protection from the elements. Yes they are! No I can't!<br />
1511. <br />
1512. <div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">No, because a friend accidentally pulled out the card reader from my laptop and, forgive my language, buggered the computer right up (it's a MacBook Air, I've had it about three months . I've done it myself from time to time without negative consequences but this has done something awful, with the computer not accepting the card reader as valid or that card in the new reader I bought, hoping that might fix it. It won't accept any memory card in either of the two readers as existing. I reinstalled iPhoto, I tried to restore the disk but all was in vain so until I go to World of Mac in Regent's Street tomorrow afternoon, I can't show off all the Frits as they conveniently come good in a nice orderly queue, can't show my Impatiens namchabarwensis seedling or the Meconopsis x cookei flower bud's progress to priceless pink poppy perfection.</div><br />
1513. <a href="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000033404434&pubid=21000000000304614"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_impression?lid=41000000033404434&pubid=21000000000304614" /></a><br />
1514. It's fixed!<br />
1515. <br />
1516. I've been out snapping but the battery needs to charge up properly before I can show you everything I boast about. Oh, and the Alsroemeria Hookeri in the frost-free-ish cloche has flopped. So I won't be showing you that. Luckily I have another pot somewhere, greenhouse I think.<br />
1517. <br />
1518. I was too busy showing you pix of Gladioli last time so please forgive me if I repeat myself; it's not to fill up space (although that is a bonus), it's just getting so hectic now with bulbs arriving daily (usually Lilium lietchlinii for some reason, I mean, it's lovely, but I've got 12 now!) and seeds popping up and backing up and then being eaten up by slugs or something more sinister. I can't remember what South African or Chilean bulb I've told you about or not so stick with me.<br />
1519. <br />
1520. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1521. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4NDqj22dwnk/TX3XqXNEfhI/AAAAAAAAAzA/w6PMDuvszQ8/s1600/IMG_0110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4NDqj22dwnk/TX3XqXNEfhI/AAAAAAAAAzA/w6PMDuvszQ8/s640/IMG_0110.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1522. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Moraea Ciliata fighting back against whatever snipped it's growing tip off. It's about 1.5cm now. I'm hoping for a second stem because I don't think I'm going to get any more plants, although it is only mid-March. The compost looks soaking: it's not, it's just the morning dew dripping off the cloche roof, which is flat.</span></td></tr>
1523. </tbody></table><br />
1524. The offender doesn't even do anything with the top of the blade, like carry it off to feed a fungus or build a nest, it just leaves (ha!) it lying there. Perhaps I should pack it in a bag of mini frozen peas and try to graft it back on? I've also had the "permanent" marker bleached off loads of stuff, inevitably seed pots and Lilies so while I can identify the Lilies (if they bloom), many of the seeds were chosen deliberately for their obscurity so even once the true leaves start to appear I'll be struggling.<br />
1525. <br />
1526. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1527. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Moraea/Moraea_ciliata_Middelpos_br2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Moraea/Moraea_ciliata_Middelpos_br2.jpg" width="486" /></a></td></tr>
1528. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Moraea ciliata, also comes in yellow and white</span></td></tr>
1529. </tbody></table><br />
1530. Mind you, the local wildlife has been so busy digging up the contents of pots indiscriminately, I've lost whole pots of seeds (and the excavations have to go somewhere, usually on the top of the surrounding seedlings. They're also attracted to anything bulbous (oh, missus) and I came home one day to find a huge pot of Lilium Leichtlinii excavated to a depth of 3 or 4 inches, despite there being flat bits of plant supports placed carefully over pots. If it got that deep I suspect it got its meal so it's just as well I have another two pots  but it's annoying. Still, seeds of Dahlia "Bishop of Lanstaff", which I didn't get round to protecting in any way, have whizzed up:<br />
1531. <br />
1532. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1533. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t_T81qIqWZQ/TXqVPqf_dBI/AAAAAAAAAy0/uD1RMCby4o8/s1600/IMG_4768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t_T81qIqWZQ/TXqVPqf_dBI/AAAAAAAAAy0/uD1RMCby4o8/s640/IMG_4768.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1534. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Well, he's got God on his side!</span></td></tr>
1535. </tbody></table><br />
1536. </div>But back to these desert-dwellers that are germinating in cloches at 5-20C, depending on whether the sun is shining. I'm no expert but I think once conditions have been agreeable for long enough to break the dormancy in one seed it's likely (but by no means guaranteed) that most viable seed in the pot will germinate, providing that conditions are reasonably conducive (light, moisture, oxygen and seed and cutting compost. All carried all the way from Sainsburys along with new gardening gloves, a misting spray, plant ties, bug spray to see if I can save anything that has already germinated, most importantly the red and the yellow Delphinums [I'm not a fan at all of the back-of-the-border hybrids or even worse the regimented lines of suburban show enthusiasts seen from the communter train, I just like the unexpected, which is perhaps why I paid good money for a packet of seeds from Chilterns, a very reputable company, called simply "Delphinium unknown"] and granular fertiliser, picking up another 70 litres of multi-purpose on the way home ).<br />
1537. <br />
1538. Delphinium semibarbatum (syn zalil) is yellow and something I'm so desperate to have that I have two seedling just about clinging to life but decided to find an online source for a mature plant. I found one, placed my order only to find out they have a minimum order of £20. So I duly spent ages making £2.95 into £20, only to receive a call from them this week to say it's out of stock and would I like anything else instead? I nearly exploded! When I placed the order ages ago they should have set one aside like everyone else does! So I've got £20 of shit I didn't want and hole in my life where a f*ucking yellow Delphinium should be. She didn't even apologise. If I could remember the name of the nursery I'd warn you but I can't remember what day it is.<br />
1539. <br />
1540. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1541. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3801412104_1c00a50788_z.jpg?zz=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="600" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3801412104_1c00a50788_z.jpg?zz=1" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1542. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What do I have to do to own one of these? I'm willing to offer sexual favours... although I'd need to see a pic first</span></td></tr>
1543. </tbody></table>The other stuff I'd bulked out the order with is worth having anyway, especially the yellow Pulsatilla.<br />
1544. <br />
1545. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1546. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.onrockgarden.com/Jelitto/Photos-2009/Pulsatilla%20alpina%20'Sulphurea'.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.onrockgarden.com/Jelitto/Photos-2009/Pulsatilla%20alpina%20'Sulphurea'.jpg" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
1547. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pulsatilla alpina x sulphur. Phwoar!</span></td></tr>
1548. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1549. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.plantbuzz.com/allium/Gallery/amer/Allium_Oxy_White_ed2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.plantbuzz.com/allium/Gallery/amer/Allium_Oxy_White_ed2.JPG" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
1550. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have a pot of mixed Allium cernuum like these ones but the sodding local wildlife  has been doing the mashed potato on it so whether any remain near the surface to germinate I doubt. I think Allium is a genus that has to be carefully chosen from because most look like broken onions. And I bet the mature one delivered is bloody pink</span></td></tr>
1551. </tbody></table><br />
1552. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1553. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Bletilla/Bletilla_striata_alba_AG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Bletilla/Bletilla_striata_alba_AG.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1554. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This Bletilla striata alba was sold as hardy so it must be. There's no possibility it can't be. None at all</span></td></tr>
1555. </tbody></table><br />
1556. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1557. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rhs.org.uk/Media/Images/Plants/AnemonexLipsiensisPallida1_L?width=510" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://www.rhs.org.uk/Media/Images/Plants/AnemonexLipsiensisPallida1_L?width=510" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1558. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anemone x lipsiensis. More yellow. Orange is my favourite colour but strangely absent in the plant world, apart from the Meconopsis weed. And marigolds</span></td></tr>
1559. </tbody></table><br />
1560. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1561. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/BaldwinLake/images/dodecatheon_hendersonii_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/pacificsouthwest/BaldwinLake/images/dodecatheon_hendersonii_lg.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1562. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Okay, I didn't get my yellow Dephinium but not a bad haul, I'm sure you'll agree. This is Dodecatheon hendersonii</span></td></tr>
1563. </tbody></table><br />
1564. Okay, what have I been planting? Tonight, in the dark, I potted up a lovely old terracotta pot I bought in a bargain batch from the antique shop next door, six mixed for a tenner, probably because we have to move the moped and recycling box etc every Saturday night so he can set out his wares for the Sunday flower market (it's not just flowers). It was, of course, a mini Gladioli hybrid called Flevo Laguno.<br />
1565. <br />
1566. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1567. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jparkers.co.uk/csp/parkers/products/large/1006458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.jparkers.co.uk/csp/parkers/products/large/1006458.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
1568. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Red and green should be seen, except after an exhaustive amount of hybridisation.</span></td></tr>
1569. </tbody></table>It's getting a bit confusing with some suppliers refusing to include Acidanthera in Gladiolus as the taxonomists have decreed. So I've some doubles that I won't really know about until they come up. For example I have Acidanthera murielae which is exactly the same as Acidanthera callianthus which is exactly the same as Gladiolus callianthus which is similar but not identical to G. nanus albus.<br />
1570. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1571. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://niceflowerspics.info/pictures/flowers/images/23/Gladiolus-colvillii-albus-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://niceflowerspics.info/pictures/flowers/images/23/Gladiolus-colvillii-albus-b.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
1572. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus x collvilli nanus albus (bit of a mouthful, and that's the new name!</span></td></tr>
1573. </tbody></table><br />
1574. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1575. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Acidanthera_murielae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Acidanthera_murielae.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1576. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. acidanthera (syn. murilae). Confusing but bloody beautiful and not to be confused with the nanus group of hybrids, largely bred with the help of the creamy yellow species G. primulinus, which I was sent along with G. Imbricatus and dalleni. Hybrids are reliable, easy to obtain and the miniature ones can be beautiful.<br />
1577. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #282e82; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal;"><br />
1578. </span></span></b></span></span></span></td></tr>
1579. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1580. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_communis_byzantinus_Kew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="554" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_communis_byzantinus_Kew.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1581. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. imbricatus (can't find a suitable pic of primulinus. I'll show you my own in a few years)</span></td></tr>
1582. </tbody></table><br />
1583. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1584. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rbge.org.uk/assets/images/gardens/edinburgh/Season_highlights/August_2009/Gladiolus%20dalenii%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.rbge.org.uk/assets/images/gardens/edinburgh/Season_highlights/August_2009/Gladiolus%20dalenii%201.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
1585. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. dalenii, I think I have this as a corm but will have to check. Definitely got seed, possibly germinated. </span></td></tr>
1586. </tbody></table><br />
1587. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1588. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/uploads/Gladiolus-Nymph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="492" src="http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/uploads/Gladiolus-Nymph.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1589. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. nanus "Nymph" (and a good place to get them, Pottertons are great for alpines, unusual perennials and bulbs)</span></td></tr>
1590. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1591. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.africanbulbs.com/Gladiolus%20wilsonii26-11-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.africanbulbs.com/Gladiolus%20wilsonii26-11-08.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1592. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus wilsonii. I've got a couple of bulbs from a guy in SA with stems attached so I should be able to not fuck this one up</span></td></tr>
1593. </tbody></table>So I've got about 40-50 Gladiolus species in various stages of likelihood to survive: from the likes of mature cardinalis and saundersii alive in pots to hyalinus, segetum, undulatus and watermeyeri seedlings; those planted but yet to germinate such as venustus  and virescens. Finally I've just taken delivery from www.rareplants.de of the really obscure species like quadrangularis, scullyi and pritzelli and if I can find any roofspace I'll sow them today, along with the rest of the Moraeas.<br />
1594. <br />
1595. Another  big delivery was an order I placed with Crug Farm Lilies some months ago which arrived this week in a box that would have been more suitable for a large litter of Doberman puppies but had it got trapped in the PO depot it would have helped keep them alive. Actually, I think my tactic of complaining every day I got a red card despite being in has finally worked: although it might have something to so with the time I caught him about to leave when I asked if there was anything needing signed for and he sheepishly retrieved a box of three yellow martagon or pumilum, depending on who you believe, from the van.<br />
1596. <br />
1597. So first the yellow Lilies, sold as martagon "Yellow Bunting". But everyone else has it as a form of pumilum. And looking at the flowers, they don't have any markings like martagon does and pumilum doesn't.<br />
1598. <br />
1599. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1600. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hillkeep.ca/images/Lilium_pumilum_Yellow_Bunting_strain_McRae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.hillkeep.ca/images/Lilium_pumilum_Yellow_Bunting_strain_McRae.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
1601. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, there were three gloriously healthy bare-root sepecimens (bit late for bare-root now and the shoots were as long as the bulbs were deep). Can't remember who the seller was, yes I can, Hart's</span></td></tr>
1602. </tbody></table>The other Lilies are a mixed bunch, all coming with collection numbers, as do most if not all Crug's plants. The first out, the only with any foliage (and I won't bother giving you the collection numbers cos they mean nothing to anyone apart from the collector!<br />
1603. <br />
1604. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1605. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w_BSnfB94WI/TX3jr248B0I/AAAAAAAAAzE/FMmQw7bB8HA/s1600/IMG_0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w_BSnfB94WI/TX3jr248B0I/AAAAAAAAAzE/FMmQw7bB8HA/s640/IMG_0146.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1606. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is labelled "Lilium aff callosum" meaning the expedition members were unable to identify it definitively and so have hedged their bets. Having been on such an expedition myself you'd think I'd have asked someone what it meant but I'd always assumend if meant "affinity to" .</span></td></tr>
1607. </tbody></table><br />
1608. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1609. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kohwun.or.kr/data/file/ourplant/1982485252_30f87024_247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://www.kohwun.or.kr/data/file/ourplant/1982485252_30f87024_247.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1610. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And I hope it does have an affinity to this! Yummy! This is the species callosum</span></td></tr>
1611. </tbody></table><br />
1612. Also in the doggy bag were auratum v. platyphylum<br />
1613. <br />
1614. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1615. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.faj.co.jp/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lilium-auratum-var-platyphyllum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="423" src="http://www.faj.co.jp/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/lilium-auratum-var-platyphyllum.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1616. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A stunner which could be mistaken for one of the blousy Asian hybrids but, while it is from Japan, it's 100% natural!</span></td></tr>
1617. </tbody></table>I've already got Lilium tsingtuense but won it on eBay and this order was put in some time ago. Anyway, no two specimens of a species will be identicle, unless asexually reproduced (in the case of lilies by rooting scales or the little bulbils that grow in the lead axils of a few species, but not all species are suitable candidates for both, or either, so the slow bulking up of bulbs is the only way to increase a favoured variety). There is also micro-propagation where a hormonally active part of the plant such as a growing tip is rooted in a nutrient agar gel in a lab. Only worth it if you're Dutch and selling billions of disposable pot plants or a top boffin at Kew or similar trying to save the very last specimen of a Chinese Prunus or the Wollemi pine (which you can't move for in garden centres now, just 17 years after David Noble stumbled across the presumed long extinct tree in a remote part of the Blue Mountains of Australia).<br />
1618. <br />
1619. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1620. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lilium/Lilium_tsingtauense_DC4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lilium/Lilium_tsingtauense_DC4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1621. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The petals are star-shaped and orange, neither of which are in its favour, I think because my mum used to grow a similar but more robust looking lily that she called a Tiger Lily (but what lily hasn't?) but I think must have been a dwarf hybrid or bulbiferum v. croceum</span><br />
1622. <br />
1623. </td></tr>
1624. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1625. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Lilium_bulbiferum_croceum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Lilium_bulbiferum_croceum.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1626. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">L. bulbiferum v croceum. I do have a pot of seeds but fortunately they haven't germinated yet</span></td></tr>
1627. </tbody></table><br />
1628. Next up is Lilium taliense (which I think I might have a double of too, no wonder I can't turn around without falling into a Rhododendron - speaking of which, it's really sunny here today and I may have at least one dwarf out by mid-afternoon)<br />
1629. <br />
1630. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1631. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/taliense1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/taliense1.jpg" width="592" /></a></td></tr>
1632. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Similar to L. ducharteri, I could fill a roof with these beauties!</span></td></tr>
1633. </tbody></table><br />
1634. Another double but this time for good reason because the original plant came from China in a batch where it was the only one named, so my faith in its nomenclature is shaky. L. Poilenei is a peach of Lily but not easy, so probably just as well I've got a back-up...<br />
1635. <br />
1636. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1637. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/store/img-hydroponics/lilium-poilanei-2-bs-bulbs_150516799858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/store/img-hydroponics/lilium-poilanei-2-bs-bulbs_150516799858.jpg" width="578" /></a></td></tr>
1638. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't really need to write anything here, do I?</span></td></tr>
1639. </tbody></table>And finally, L. speciosum<br />
1640. <br />
1641. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1642. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Lilium_speciosum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Lilium_speciosum.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1643. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is, as you'd expect, very similar to speciosum v. rubrum but with a bit less red. I'll be able to show you the two together if they flower at the same time</span></td></tr>
1644. </tbody></table>Also in the batch was Iris Barbatula<br />
1645. <br />
1646. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1647. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/onlineshow/sizedIris%20barbatula%2042376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/onlineshow/sizedIris%20barbatula%2042376.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1648. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As an avid Iridophile I must admit I'd never heard of this but I'm glad I've got one now!</span></td></tr>
1649. </tbody></table>Now, before we catch up with other recent acquisitions (and leave me with nothing to write next time) let us zip forward to now. It's a lovely sunny morning and ideal for photography so here are three Fritillarias I was desperate to get the camera working in time to capture in case you think I'm sitting in some bothy in the Shetlands making this all up.<br />
1650. <br />
1651. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1652. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1S3V5LoHIFY/TX342kargiI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/fSN1d-AhVZI/s1600/IMG_0079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1S3V5LoHIFY/TX342kargiI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/fSN1d-AhVZI/s640/IMG_0079.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1653. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Got F. stenanthera just before it goes over. I'd never have expected this to be the first one out cos it's a tricky one. Supposedly</span></td></tr>
1654. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EcbnPgRiS20/TX34qp4x41I/AAAAAAAAAzM/iWUkszxmZC8/s1600/IMG_0071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-EcbnPgRiS20/TX34qp4x41I/AAAAAAAAAzM/iWUkszxmZC8/s640/IMG_0071.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
1655. Next up another "tricky" one that was a ball of leaves a couple of weeks ago and then just rocketed up, F. raddeana<br />
1656. <br />
1657. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1658. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WmZ5SMB2oiw/TX362hQHnMI/AAAAAAAAAzU/6VVwVnBV1Ig/s1600/IMG_0048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WmZ5SMB2oiw/TX362hQHnMI/AAAAAAAAAzU/6VVwVnBV1Ig/s640/IMG_0048.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
1659. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Shame about the background ...</span></td></tr>
1660. </tbody></table><br />
1661. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1662. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fhAVeq9Hz7c/TX38KTlbqaI/AAAAAAAAAzY/TjFZlj3Gvfw/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fhAVeq9Hz7c/TX38KTlbqaI/AAAAAAAAAzY/TjFZlj3Gvfw/s640/IMG_0044.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1663. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is about life size (erm, depending on your screen size)</span></td></tr>
1664. </tbody></table><br />
1665. And finally (so far, another couple of species have probably come out in the glorious sunlight) F. michailovskyi multiflorus. Only one of the 5 corms, the central one, has put on much of a show so that's the one I've concentrated on.<br />
1666. <br />
1667. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BHU5-zP-Yws/TX4AaE34N1I/AAAAAAAAAzc/vazyomkVHag/s1600/IMG_0057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BHU5-zP-Yws/TX4AaE34N1I/AAAAAAAAAzc/vazyomkVHag/s640/IMG_0057.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1668. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1669. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-JOPpygPzVqs/TX4AvwImcYI/AAAAAAAAAzg/L7_3Dl_8V9w/s1600/IMG_0061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-JOPpygPzVqs/TX4AvwImcYI/AAAAAAAAAzg/L7_3Dl_8V9w/s640/IMG_0061.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1670. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Dull but I've never succeeded with them before, despite them being regarded as among the easiest species. Well, I have now</span></td></tr>
1671. </tbody></table>Speaking of the sunshine, these were just a bit of red poking through their green coats this morning:<br />
1672. <br />
1673. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V9nRPEUoeyY/TX4OgSBtjeI/AAAAAAAAAz0/5W5BojvJvrw/s1600/IMG_0159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V9nRPEUoeyY/TX4OgSBtjeI/AAAAAAAAAz0/5W5BojvJvrw/s640/IMG_0159.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1674. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1675. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-eGaoEe2Ja9I/TX4OROdiVzI/AAAAAAAAAzw/JaQeFvfnI2c/s1600/IMG_0150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-eGaoEe2Ja9I/TX4OROdiVzI/AAAAAAAAAzw/JaQeFvfnI2c/s640/IMG_0150.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1676. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a wee Tulip called "Scarlet Baby". My original, and quite brilliant, plan for the outdoor windowsills was to plant up my most aged clay pots with tulip bulbs covered by a layer of violas to provide winter interest. But there were three  problems: firstly the violas came in big plugs, three of which just about squeezed on to the top of 10 bulbs but, secondly, the windowsill doesn't catch the rain, even during winter, meaning the violas never really left their original plug shape and, despite my semi-vigilant watering, the tulips just pushed them up, rather than growing through them as I had hoped. Still, at least I have some nice pots of tulips to look forward to. Although not as many as I planted because the third problem involved the wind but, more commonly, my foot as I clambered in and out the window, and gravity.</span></td></tr>
1677. </tbody></table>There are a few random bulbs I have to bore you with, several I may have mentioned already so let's get that out of the way: I definitely haven't told you about Amacrinum Howardii cos it only arrived today. It's a cross between that tart the Amaryllis and a Crinum. It's not fully hardy and flowers in the autumn so it may have to become a houseplant for a while. Quite a big one ...<br />
1678. <br />
1679. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1680. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gzHVoEFyI2s/TX4UbWQyL-I/AAAAAAAAAz4/oM7GMrlsEx4/s1600/IMG_0162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gzHVoEFyI2s/TX4UbWQyL-I/AAAAAAAAAz4/oM7GMrlsEx4/s320/IMG_0162.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
1681. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's about the size of a baking potato</span></td></tr>
1682. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1683. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Amarcrinum_memoria-corsii_%22Howardii%22_(Amaryllidaceae)_(plant).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Amarcrinum_memoria-corsii_%22Howardii%22_(Amaryllidaceae)_(plant).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
1684. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the plant in bloom, the leaves develop properly later, can easily reach 60cm</span></td></tr>
1685. </tbody></table><br />
1686. Crinum campanulatum came in a little batch from a guy in South Africa. He recommends growing it permenantly sitting in a bowl of water, which goes against the grain for a bulb but that's what I've been doing, having confirmed this on the internet. It also keeps it evergreen (although probably not at -5!)<br />
1687. <br />
1688. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1689. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-npndqqVpI3A/TX4j6Ng0amI/AAAAAAAAA14/rnRJQR0E4ZE/s1600/IMG_0187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-npndqqVpI3A/TX4j6Ng0amI/AAAAAAAAA14/rnRJQR0E4ZE/s400/IMG_0187.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
1690. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That reminds me: must top up the water if nature doesn't do it for it for me. An hour ago I was snapping away in glorious sunshine, now it's as gloomy as a witch's fanny</span></td></tr>
1691. </tbody></table><br />
1692. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1693. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.africanbulbs.com/Crinum%20campanulatum19-01-08-plants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.africanbulbs.com/Crinum%20campanulatum19-01-08-plants.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1694. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a marsh, by the way</span></td></tr>
1695. </tbody></table>And now for the real giant: the almighty Amaryllis belladona (I have no idea where I'm going to put this in the winter but I'll worry about that then<br />
1696. <br />
1697. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1698. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BhEbkUgO4Do/TX4kLbNf29I/AAAAAAAAA2I/iZeBactlvT4/s1600/IMG_0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BhEbkUgO4Do/TX4kLbNf29I/AAAAAAAAA2I/iZeBactlvT4/s640/IMG_0190.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1699. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It looks a bit dried out an wrinkly but it is perfectly firm and quite prepared to do this:</span></td></tr>
1700. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1701. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Amaryllis_Belladonna.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Amaryllis_Belladonna.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1702. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The leaves come later which is just as well as the planet might be knocked off its access</span></td></tr>
1703. </tbody></table>More diminutive, and something I've been searching for for a long time to the extent that I have seeds and a bulb, just to be sure, is Lycoris radiata, a perfect red South African bulb. There's a yellow version too, but don't sorry, I'm on the case!<br />
1704. <br />
1705. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1706. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lycoris/Lycoris_radiata_Group_JAY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lycoris/Lycoris_radiata_Group_JAY.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
1707. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's perfect!</span></td></tr>
1708. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-summer/graphics/Lycoris%20radiata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="410" src="http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/bulbs-summer/graphics/Lycoris%20radiata.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1709. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1710. </div>What else did I spot today?<br />
1711. <br />
1712. A nice pink Corydalis I ca't be bothered to climb out the window to name but if you really want it, let me know.<br />
1713. <br />
1714. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vjBf1lL_sR8/TX4lSSF1vqI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/s1rUWSVJIe8/s1600/IMG_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vjBf1lL_sR8/TX4lSSF1vqI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/s1rUWSVJIe8/s640/IMG_0205.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
1715. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1716. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mCyTun2cpHU/TX4jzyvdHaI/AAAAAAAAA10/NMDOMwdeXE8/s1600/IMG_0186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mCyTun2cpHU/TX4jzyvdHaI/AAAAAAAAA10/NMDOMwdeXE8/s640/IMG_0186.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1717. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The smallest seedlings in the world, Mimulus naiandinius, how the hell am I meant to prick them out?</span></td></tr>
1718. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1719. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wWHwu3FsH9w/TX4h2jqDigI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/BUNthRqCF8I/s1600/IMG_0165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wWHwu3FsH9w/TX4h2jqDigI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/BUNthRqCF8I/s640/IMG_0165.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1720. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Lilium Hansonii (one of two pots)</span></td></tr>
1721. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1722. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tVlet0WkcfE/TX4iQ-ingBI/AAAAAAAAA0k/5FYmHw5FgTY/s1600/IMG_0169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-tVlet0WkcfE/TX4iQ-ingBI/AAAAAAAAA0k/5FYmHw5FgTY/s640/IMG_0169.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1723. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The main image is L. martagon album, of which I have three pots, forgetting to buy the pink and dark form, both of which arrived to day</span></td></tr>
1724. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1725. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o9gLuBP60AI/TX4kVg-7ScI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/c5NYElN3itI/s1600/IMG_0192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o9gLuBP60AI/TX4kVg-7ScI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/c5NYElN3itI/s640/IMG_0192.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1726. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus Italics/byzantium syn. a million other names. One of the one's with the magenta flowers held in a secund</span></td></tr>
1727. </tbody></table><br />
1728.  Oh yes, and I have to show you the blue impatiens seedling:<br />
1729. <br />
1730. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1731. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hEpfEmN9EIs/TX4xmoUx6YI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/NrUldxH8Rqw/s1600/IMG_0102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hEpfEmN9EIs/TX4xmoUx6YI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/NrUldxH8Rqw/s640/IMG_0102.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1732. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">See, it's true!</span></td></tr>
1733. </tbody></table>So, I've probably gone over ground old and new but at least the sodding thing's finished till I start the next one on Thursday. I honestly hope you enjoyed it, if I've stolen your pictures and you object please let me know. Otherwise, I hope your gardens are showing as much promise as my roof. Happy gardening!<br />
1734. <br />
1735. Oh, almost forgot the answer to the question at the beginning: it's the climber Mina lobata, a touch of tropical flavour for the summer garden!<br />
1736. <br />
1737. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://toptropicals.com/pics/garden/m1/raznozw/Ipomoea_lobata225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://toptropicals.com/pics/garden/m1/raznozw/Ipomoea_lobata225.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
1738. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000031274662&amp;amp;pubid=21000000000304614&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;[*Free Shipping on Orders $99 or More at Garden.com*]&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_impression?lid=41000000031274662&amp;amp;pubid=21000000000304614&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/03/notes-from-small-roof.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-XaV9xUI_A7k/TX3VECSiCfI/AAAAAAAAAy8/QZS6I38lDvc/s72-c/IMG_0143.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-1902826925502000207</guid><pubDate>Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:17:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-08T13:14:56.410-08:00</atom:updated><title>Sexy Shoots, Bulbous Brilliance and Hot, Hard Horticulture</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
1739. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iV8CXWzXXH8/TXPYzjeTw9I/AAAAAAAAAxM/sEuuJ3XXqOw/s1600/IMG_4799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iV8CXWzXXH8/TXPYzjeTw9I/AAAAAAAAAxM/sEuuJ3XXqOw/s640/IMG_4799.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1740. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some Narcissus or other that was inherited from the previous tenant. It had clearly been a Mothers' Day gift or similar and dumped out the window when past, with almost no soil and only a sad little basket to call home. I potted it up about 5 years ago in a nice terracotta pot with not just fresh compost but the first compost the bulbs had seen in several years. It came up blind but healthy for a few years so I tipped them out, took the healthiest off-sets and replanted them. And here they are, flowering for the first time since at least 2004</td></tr>
1741. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1742. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1743. </div>Greetings fellow horticulturalists, how are we today? Welcome to my experiment in search engine optimisation, hence the meaningless title of todays post. I awoke very early, this being the day of London's historic and noisy Columbia Road Flower Market. So, unable to get back to sleep, I decided to get up and sow the rest of my Gladioli seed, which I've been putting off due to lack of compost, lack of grit, lack of pots and lack of enthusiasm. But I have now fashioned a suitable growing medium after a delivery of orchid compost (very open but not very barky), black glossy aquarium gravel, sand and a bit of JI3 I was saving for special occasion. So not much nutrient, which is right for most seed composts as the seedlings will only be in there for a few weeks and too much fertiliser can actually "burn" the delicate new roots. Although, as you'll discover, ours are going to be in the same pot and compost for up to two years.<br />
1744. <br />
1745. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1746. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3kddjq5DwP4/TXPgLquI0zI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/o2J77g-crjA/s1600/IMG_4772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-3kddjq5DwP4/TXPgLquI0zI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/o2J77g-crjA/s640/IMG_4772.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1747. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The contents of a second cloche. The nine Gladioli in the background are waiting for space in the heated propagator and the Alstroemeria Hookeri, Babiana ambigua and Anomatheca laxa have already germinated, to varying degrees. I've just seen the weather forecast for tonight and we're possibly due a frost, so I hope the cloche is up to it, even if I do have doubles of the Alstroemeria and Anomatheca which have yet to germinate so should be OK</span></td></tr>
1748. </tbody></table><br />
1749. <br />
1750. And when you get to this level of enthusiasm, you can't affort to be wasteful: these scarce and hard to collect seeds usually come in packs of just five (seeds, not bags) so the usual etiquette,  once the bulb (in the widest sense) seed (singular in many cases, a 20% success rate would be considered quite good if you had had 100) has/have germinated is to leave well alone for  two seasons (so a deep pot, 10cm at least, is required), unless your distribution was as bad as mine and you have a traffic jam, or if one plant is particularly vigorous, in which case I would suggest transplanting the seedlings, as soon as they are robust enough to handle, to a bigger pot, using a dibber to make roughly equidistant holes and replant the seedlings at the same depth they had been at before. If in doubt, err on the side of deeper and spray with a fungicide to prevent the buried growth from damping off (that's gardener talk for rotting).<br />
1751. If your problem was a dominant bully, plant him up in a separate, much smaller, pot. There is a phenomenon whereby a single seedling planted in a big pot will sulk for a bit and then just die. I can't remember the science behind this but have passed the practical.<br />
1752. I have already successfully sown and germinated four Gladioli species and quite a few other genera like Moraea and Lachenalia, so while I'm hardly qualified on paper, I do have some green spikes you might want to covet.<br />
1753. My method with the first two batches was slightly different from the new ones: it is said that daily fluctuations in temperature help break the dormancy of Gladioli seed. I don't know whether this is true or an old wives' tale.<br />
1754. As the seed began to arrive at the end of last year, I did what I always do and read too much about winter/rain season flowering types and other very confusing things, especially when you keep in mind that the articles I was reading were written mostly by Americans or, naturally South Africans (their country being the goose that lays almost all these golden eggs (NB, must think of less offensive metaphor) apart from a few confusing magenta species around the Med, and possibly one UK native. So Winter in South Africa and America isn't in the same months as they are in London Town. And some grow in heavy clay, some in inaccessible crevices on mountain sides and some in scrubby grassland.<br />
1755. <br />
1756. So I decided to do what I always end up doing: ignored it all and went with my instinct. Compost: a mix of bog standard potting compost, perlite, grit and sand. I left out any fertiliser for the reasons outlined above (god, this reads like a mortgage application). As they grow I can apply a liquid feed every 3 weeks or so during the growing season  to build up the bulb, alternating with water  to avoid any build-up of chemical salts in the compost.<br />
1757. <br />
1758. So my sowing method is the same as I've adopted for almost everything this year: First take your pot, at least 10cm deep because the bulbs need to find their own depth so give them the depth to do it! Then fill to about 1cm from the top, press down gently (add a bit more growing medium if you need to) and give it a tap to flatten the surface but also break up the texture a bit, you don't want it flat and impenetrable (imagine you're an exhausted root). Next, OUT OF THE WIND, open your little drug dealers' packet of flat, papery seeds and tip them on to the compost surface. then, taking the point of your label or pencil or similar distribute them evenly. If you're using a square pot it should look something like the "5" on a die but without any seed less than 1cm from the edge. Finally, take your pick from perlite, vermiculite and very fine grit (check it is pH neutral if you bought it from the pet shop) and cover the seed almost to the top of the pot, that way light can penetrate but the seed is held in place and moisture comes from below, meaning it's not buried in soggy compost (although some species would like this, just don't ask me to remember which!) It also means that when you water you aren't going to disturb the seeds.<br />
1759. At this point I didn't have access to the heated propagator so my first four efforts: Gladioli segetum, watermeyeri, undulatus and hyalinus, had to go into the cold greenhouse, along with a lot of other stuff that was coming from South Africa and beyond, including Lachenalia viridiflora, that amazing turquoise Hyacinth and all the tender perennials from the summer. Slowly, the perennials (mostly utterly replaceable Pelargoniums and Fuchsias) were sacrificed as more and more seed began to overwhelm me ( that's the problem with the Web; previously I'd never have heard of bidorbuy.za, the South African eBay), Secret seeds, chileflora.com and rareplants.de. The most exotic I'd get would be the Chilterns catalogue (still my first stop but to be fair, I doubt if they've ever been to the Andes, never mind brought back a ton of seed and the knowledge to grow it!). And with it all being electronic, your partner doesn't have to know quite howe expensive the contents of that wee jiffy bag were!)<br />
1760. Then I  brought the propagator from its hiding place deep in a kitchen cupboard. So in go the Glads, Moraeas, Babianas, Dipcadis etc. And I don't know if it was the stratification but Dipcadi serotinus was the first to give that skipped heartbeat one evening when the torch came out (it's easier to see a tiny tip amongst a load of vermiculite with one, even with the lights on). I couldn't move the propagator out of the shadows or lift the blind to let in enough  light for photosynthesis so any plant left there for more than 24 hours  was just going to etiolate and die. So I took a gamble and found a use for those six plastic cloches I'd ordered off the internet thinking, "I've no room to store them, never mind use them ... yeah!".<br />
1761. <br />
1762. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1763. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4407657318_763059fe87.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="495" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4407657318_763059fe87.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1764. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus Cardinalis. I have sown seeds, stored seeds and planted a corm. Whether the corm comes to anything time  will tell!</span></td></tr>
1765. </tbody></table><br />
1766. I've also got a max-min thermometer that records the lowest and highest temperatures (sorry, that was a bit patronising) and it has never been below 6C at night in the cloches . I know it was the mildest February in 30 years but that's quite a long way off frosty. So I was able to get a "one in, one out" system going. Each pot would get a few weeks exposure to the elements (not just Glads, anything I'd splashed out on (although quite how I ended up with three packets of Gladiolus cardinalis <i>AND </i>a live corm, I really don't know! I don't even drink so it wasn't drunken late-night plant porn surfing).<br />
1767. <br />
1768. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1769. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v1PP6VvflK4/TXPzrKjq7zI/AAAAAAAAAxU/5hCjQkwox2g/s1600/IMG_4760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v1PP6VvflK4/TXPzrKjq7zI/AAAAAAAAAxU/5hCjQkwox2g/s640/IMG_4760.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1770. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. Carmineus, one of five corms sent from South Africa (cardinalis was too far back in the bulb frame to get at. I have absolutely no idea what to do with these. I've used a very stony compost but do I water them into growth? Do some flower in December (inconveient)? If only there were a free-blogging UK expeert...</span></td></tr>
1771. </tbody></table><br />
1772. As I write, four species have germinated, and they happen to be the first four sown. They didn't have any daily temperature fluctuation other than night and day which, surely, happens everywhere?  So I'm unconvinced by that theory but if it works for you, go for it.<br />
1773. G. segetum was first up, to my unbridled delight.<br />
1774. <br />
1775. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1776. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://sophy.u-3mrs.fr/Photo-cp/Ger/Gladiolus_segetum___________16_05_2003_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="510" src="http://sophy.u-3mrs.fr/Photo-cp/Ger/Gladiolus_segetum___________16_05_2003_1.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1777. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Gladiolus segetum. The tip of its green sword standing above the vermiculite was the most thrilling botanical moment of my life until something further down this post! This looks like one of the myriad boring European species which are all magenta, grassy and underwhelming. But at least they're not marigolds.</span></td></tr>
1778. </tbody></table>Followed by Watermeyeri, Undulatus and Hyalinus. There are varying amounts of seedlings, from two (Watermeyeri) to four (Undulatus) but the important thing is that all the genera have continued to throw up shoots, even stunners like the Lachenalia, now they are in the cloche. So the dormancy has been broken by (perhaps) a chilling and a week or two at 22-23C (I'd normally set it at 18-21but a little hot boost seems to bring out the best in them.<br />
1779. <br />
1780. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1781. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_watermeyeri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_watermeyeri.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1782. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G.Watermeyeri. I want one! Oh, I've got two? Another where I splashed out on a corm just be sure</span></td></tr>
1783. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1784. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_undulatus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_undulatus2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1785. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">G. undulatus</td></tr>
1786. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1787. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZU1J3_O1EPw/SwTYt0nwRNI/AAAAAAAAAEk/XEqJ5jEdLxY/s1600/IMG_1678+G.+hyalinus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZU1J3_O1EPw/SwTYt0nwRNI/AAAAAAAAAEk/XEqJ5jEdLxY/s640/IMG_1678+G.+hyalinus.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
1788. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. hyalinus. The leaves don't look capable of making enough energy to create that fancy bloom!</span></td></tr>
1789. </tbody></table><br />
1790. In there now, Glad-wise, are G. guenzii, orchidiflorus, floribundus ssp. floribundus, virescens, vinosomaculatus and venustus.<br />
1791. <br />
1792. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1793. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1334/5180242585_178e906885.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1334/5180242585_178e906885.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1794. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. gueinzii</span></td></tr>
1795. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1796. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Gladiolus_orchidiflorus_(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Gladiolus_orchidiflorus_(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1797. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The intricate and showy G. orchidiflorus</span></td></tr>
1798. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1799. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/m/mKbWNLzdL-Gg3RLVuwA6y5A/140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="455" src="http://thumbs1.ebaystatic.com/m/mKbWNLzdL-Gg3RLVuwA6y5A/140.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1800. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No, it's not the accused in a spook trial, I'm afraid G, Floribundus ssp floribundus is so rare that this pixelated mess is the only image I can find. Give me three years and we'll have something much better!</span></td></tr>
1801. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1802. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_Gladiolus_virescens3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_Gladiolus_virescens3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1803. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G. virescens. I've just shone a torch around and its still biding its time</span></td></tr>
1804. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1805. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.exotic-plants.de/auktionsbilder/Gladiolus_vinosomaculatus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.exotic-plants.de/auktionsbilder/Gladiolus_vinosomaculatus1.jpg" width="545" /></a></td></tr>
1806. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The beautifully spotted G.vinosomaculatus</span></td></tr>
1807. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1808. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_venustus_BW3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="490" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_venustus_BW3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1809. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">G.venustus. One of the stars of the genus</span></td></tr>
1810. </tbody></table><br />
1811. Another species thriving (and I got a lot more than five seeds from chileflora.com, is the erstwhile Freesia laxa, now known as Anomatheca laxa. This delighted me because it means a form known as "Joan Evans" should also ping up and I've fallen in love with her, which is unusual for me and ladies.<br />
1812. <br />
1813. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1814. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/images/seed_images/ANOMATHECA_LAXA_/size2_200x200/ANOMATHECA%20LAXA.jpg?1214098914" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/images/seed_images/ANOMATHECA_LAXA_/size2_200x200/ANOMATHECA%20LAXA.jpg?1214098914" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1815. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anomatheca laxa. Thanks to Plant World Seeds for the pic, I gave them a fortune this morning ordering even more seeds I have no room for</span></td></tr>
1816. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1817. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/34629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="475" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/34629.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1818. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Joan Evans", a quite exquisite sport from the above. Oh nature, just when you're at your lowest ebb, such beauty shines a torch. With dodgy batteries</span></td></tr>
1819. </tbody></table><br />
1820. Also in there at the moment:<br />
1821. <br />
1822. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1823. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Romulea/Romulea_monadelpha_Middel_br.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="496" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Romulea/Romulea_monadelpha_Middel_br.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1824. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Romulea Monadelpha</span></td></tr>
1825. </tbody></table><br />
1826. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1827. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_081204234517_Moraea_falcifolia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="633" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_081204234517_Moraea_falcifolia.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1828. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Moraea facifolia</span></td></tr>
1829. </tbody></table><br />
1830. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1831. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/4113165207_6ea45ae8fe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/4113165207_6ea45ae8fe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1832. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Conanthera biflora<br />
1833. </span></td></tr>
1834. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1835. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1896/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1896R-1982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="429" src="http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1896/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1896R-1982.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1836. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't think I'm going to have quite this much space to show off Moraea spathulata, below</span></td></tr>
1837. </tbody></table><br />
1838. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Moraea/Moraea_spathulata_Assegaaibos_CM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Moraea/Moraea_spathulata_Assegaaibos_CM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1839. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_090209235232_Lachenalia_unicolor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_090209235232_Lachenalia_unicolor.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
1840. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lachenalia unicolor</td></tr>
1841. </tbody></table><br />
1842. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1843. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Geissorhiza/Geissorhiza_tulbaghensis_sb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Geissorhiza/Geissorhiza_tulbaghensis_sb.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1844. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Geissorhiza Tulbaghensis</span></td></tr>
1845. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1846. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Scilla_natalensis_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Scilla_natalensis_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1847. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Scilla natalensis</span></td></tr>
1848. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
1849. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/CIMG_0849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/CIMG_0849.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
1850. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Had to sneak in one of Mikhail's from Chile: Lobelia Oligophylla<br />
1851. <br />
1852. <br />
1853. </span><br />
1854. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1855. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1856. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1857. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1858. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span><br />
1859. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lachenalia/Lachenalia_doleritica_Middel_msi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lachenalia/Lachenalia_doleritica_Middel_msi.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;">Lachenalia isopetala</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br />
1860. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br />
1861. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/images/seed_images/DIERAMA_DRACOMONTANUM/size2_200x200/DIERAMA%20DRACOMONTANUM.jpg?1214098933" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/images/seed_images/DIERAMA_DRACOMONTANUM/size2_200x200/DIERAMA%20DRACOMONTANUM.jpg?1214098933" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;">Dierama draconmontanum </span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br />
1862. </span></div><br />
1863. <div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.digitalekameraklub.co.za/selfinskryf/data/media/19/Strme_pienk_Lapeirousia_silenoides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="http://www.digitalekameraklub.co.za/selfinskryf/data/media/19/Strme_pienk_Lapeirousia_silenoides.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div>Laperousia silenoides cloaks a hillside while (below) you can see the plant in its alpine perfection. If the right people got their hands on it I can imagine it becoming a stunning half-hardy bedding plant here in Blighty, if tha't's your bag. Personally I find bedding the botanical equivalent of genital herpes<br />
1864. <br />
1865. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2135617637_d6b5385aef_z.jpg?zz=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="591" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184/2135617637_d6b5385aef_z.jpg?zz=1" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
1866. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1867. </div><br />
1868. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ekapa.ioisa.org.za/module10/Plantlist-images/Veltheimia_bracteata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="http://www.ekapa.ioisa.org.za/module10/Plantlist-images/Veltheimia_bracteata.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Velththemia bracteata. I actually bought one, not because I have no faith in my ability to make it germinate, for I have three little green shoots, but because I had to make up an order to the minimum value and, let's face it, even if I am successful with the seed route, I'll be 40 before it looks anything like this. Actually it will never look like this because mine, while the same species, is greener and slightly less, erm, tarty</div><br />
1869. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Babiana/Babiana_odorata_AH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="471" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Babiana/Babiana_odorata_AH.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Babiana odorata. You'd never gueses I had a thing for the Iridaceae ...<br />
1870. <br />
1871. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_090825234505_Iochroma_australe2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_090825234505_Iochroma_australe2.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>And finally, the latest addition, going in only this afternoon, during a break in importing these tedious images. Lochrome australe was a free gift from a South African supplier with whom I do quite a lot of business  (where else would you go for seed of Gladioli, Moraea, Babiana and Dietes?) and there are always a handful of free seeds which are unsolicited, undeserved but very welcome nonetheless. Sometimes you hit the jackpot (see above), Mina Lobata, that yellow, orange and red flowered climber or (similar but different ) Tropaeolum tricolor. Or you could get Lovage, Okra or Evening Primrose.<br />
1872. <br />
1873. <br />
1874. <br />
1875. <br />
1876. <br />
1877. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Fritillarias are all just sitting on the edge of flowering, although many are much smaller than I expected, perhaps because they are, perhaps because I'd only ever seen the Snakes' Head and Crown Imperial in real life. Now I have some 20 species, one in bloom, stenanthera, one may bloom tomorrow, raddeana (that was quick!) and one is constantly on the edge (mikhailovskyi multiflorus).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
1878. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E1bXyXUFXcI/TXP8Op5RnqI/AAAAAAAAAxY/SPfxpcTMmdE/s1600/IMG_4654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E1bXyXUFXcI/TXP8Op5RnqI/AAAAAAAAAxY/SPfxpcTMmdE/s640/IMG_4654.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
1879. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;">F. stenathera. I'd always imagined it being three times the side and pinker. Really, I should just be grateful I got it to grow, and that its rise coincided with the bursting forth and unfurling of seed pots of F. acmopetala (no more!), F. graeca ssp thessala and F whittalli.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1880. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4894cG7nty0/TXP-TWIrlqI/AAAAAAAAAxc/lzh2DR35kPQ/s1600/IMG_4719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4894cG7nty0/TXP-TWIrlqI/AAAAAAAAAxc/lzh2DR35kPQ/s640/IMG_4719.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1881. </div>F. Raddeana. I don't think it's going to get as tall as the size of the tennis ball bulb suggested but considering I didn't think it was alive a month ago it's not doing too bad!<br />
1882. <br />
1883. <br />
1884. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IP3bHjPLZSY/TXP_LIM2G-I/AAAAAAAAAxk/83m04xXjTVs/s1600/IMG_4721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IP3bHjPLZSY/TXP_LIM2G-I/AAAAAAAAAxk/83m04xXjTVs/s640/IMG_4721.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1885. </div>The waste of typing that is F.M.M. It's odd that the central one came up first, so long before the others that I thought I only had one!<br />
1886. <br />
1887. <br />
1888. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U3o7zzFRmWs/TXQAA6mGwfI/AAAAAAAAAxo/wXtlx0wk1A0/s1600/IMG_4725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U3o7zzFRmWs/TXQAA6mGwfI/AAAAAAAAAxo/wXtlx0wk1A0/s640/IMG_4725.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1889. </div>F. elwessii isn't going to give a great show but it's producing off-shoots already so if I continue to feed and water it until the leaves die back I should get a better display next year.<br />
1890. <br />
1891. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now, I remember asking on a forum on Gardenweb for advice on growing arilbreds in London and getting a scathing response from someone in Arizona saying I hadn't a hope in Hell. Well, behold:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
1892. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I9K1XD_WDj8/TXQB1W9zUTI/AAAAAAAAAxs/Oz7CZAb9lXY/s1600/IMG_4730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I9K1XD_WDj8/TXQB1W9zUTI/AAAAAAAAAxs/Oz7CZAb9lXY/s640/IMG_4730.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>"Heimdahl" is looking pretty healthy<br />
1893. <br />
1894. <br />
1895. <br />
1896. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-byFmHlK4x48/TXQCa-l36qI/AAAAAAAAAxw/YpU7s8Y_Lps/s1600/IMG_4753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-byFmHlK4x48/TXQCa-l36qI/AAAAAAAAAxw/YpU7s8Y_Lps/s640/IMG_4753.jpg" width="423" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1897. </div>And I."Aquilifer" looks pretty good to me. But I've done even better ...<br />
1898. <br />
1899. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--r2vKGeUfZQ/TXQDEcPiz6I/AAAAAAAAAx0/9mzKEqkezp8/s1600/IMG_4756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--r2vKGeUfZQ/TXQDEcPiz6I/AAAAAAAAAx0/9mzKEqkezp8/s640/IMG_4756.JPG" width="640" /></a></span>  The regalia species stolonifera came to me as a single stolon with three bumps on it. I'm hoping the middle one will produce one of its luxurious blooms. But if it's stunning blooms you want ...<br />
1900. <br />
1901. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-AcBPrMyFYwE/TXQEOsZBBTI/AAAAAAAAAx4/rLgxGZa6M40/s1600/IMG_4748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="423" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-AcBPrMyFYwE/TXQEOsZBBTI/AAAAAAAAAx4/rLgxGZa6M40/s640/IMG_4748.JPG" width="640" /></a></span><br />
1902. <div style="text-align: center;">This is Iris "Dardanus", an Oncocyclus hybrid. I thought I'd lost it, dusted with horrible green stuff that I'm not proud of and started to dribble water into it from time to time. Now it's decided to go for it and I am very smug indeed. It WILL look like this:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
1903. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/uploads/Iris-Dardanus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="635" src="http://www.pottertons.co.uk/pott/uploads/Iris-Dardanus.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
1904. </div><br />
1905. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And on that smug note, I'll wish you a lovely week, hope the frost doesn't materialise and encourage you all to scroll down and buy stuff from my Amazon shop.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
1906. </span> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Happy digging, the plantboy x</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
1907. </span> <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">PS, You know that unpronouncable Blue Impatiens namchabarwensis discovered a few years ago? I've just germinated seed!</span></span></div><br />
1908. <br />
1909. <br />
1910. <br />
1911. <br />
1912. <br />
1913. <br />
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1957. <br />
1958. <br />
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1968. <br />
1969. <br />
1970. <br />
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1975. <br />
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1981. <br />
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1983. <br />
1984. <br />
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1986. <br />
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1989. <br />
1990. <br />
1991. <br />
1992. <br />
1993. <br />
1994. <br />
1995. <br />
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1997. <br />
1998. <br />
1999. <br />
2000. <br />
2001. <br />
2002. <br />
2003. <br />
2004. <br />
2005. <br />
2006. <br />
2007. <br />
2008. <br />
2009. <br />
2010. <br />
2011. <br />
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2014. <br />
2015. <br />
2016. <br />
2017. <br />
2018. <br />
2019. <br />
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2021. <br />
2022. <br />
2023. <br />
2024. <br />
2025. <br />
2026. <br />
2027. <br />
2028. <br />
2029. <br />
2030. <br />
2031. <br />
2032. <br />
2033. <br />
2034. <br />
2035. <br />
2036. </span></td></tr>
2037. &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/03/sexy-shoots-bulbous-brilliance-and-hot.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-iV8CXWzXXH8/TXPYzjeTw9I/AAAAAAAAAxM/sEuuJ3XXqOw/s72-c/IMG_4799.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-1746274354880910006</guid><pubDate>Sun, 27 Feb 2011 22:38:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-02-28T10:16:01.130-08:00</atom:updated><title>Bulbs, Hot Bottoms and the Beauty of Botany</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://feedvalidator.org/images/valid-rss-rogers.png&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://feedvalidator.org/images/valid-rss-rogers.png&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Hi, like the new look? I know, it&#39;s a bit garish but at least you can&#39;t ignore it!&lt;br /&gt;
2038. <br />
2039. So what's happening? It's amazing what a bit of bottom heat does for the warm-climate  seeds, especially the bulb species, or perhaps it's just that most of the pots contain bulb seeds. Either way, I now have the beginnings of a Lachenalia viridiflora, the remarkable turquoise Hyacinth-like bulbs that topped my previous post. OK,  it's only a centimetre of cotyledon but it came up within 72 hours of being moved from the cold greenhouse into the propagator. It's the same story with Gladiolus hyalinus, undulatus and that thing that shall henceforth be known as Fairy Bells because I can never remember the first bit of its binomial Latin name, something ramosa. Melasphaerula or something. They all sat sulking in the cold greenhouse then a bit of heat and whoosh!<br />
2040. <br />
2041. Space is, as ever, at a premium, so after germination they're whipped out into bell-shaped cloches outside and the space left behind  instantly filled. I went to the incredibly-expensive garden centre yesterday, ostensibly to buy a replacement terracotta pot to replace the one I'd taken from the cactus in the bathroom to plant some Lilies or something else tall and green with colourful stuff on the top. But while there I invested in a max-min thermometer  to see whether I can get any of this through next winter and it was 16C in the cloche, warm enough to keep almost anything alive and, although it wasn't a particularly cold night, it is February.<br />
2042. <br />
2043. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2044. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZhXceZRZms/TWaBR48kPxI/AAAAAAAAAuc/0yjCUHxTPCI/s1600/IMG_4420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZhXceZRZms/TWaBR48kPxI/AAAAAAAAAuc/0yjCUHxTPCI/s400/IMG_4420.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2045. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nope, can't think of a joke</td></tr>
2046. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VgUlD-81rPw/TWaCr0Ia-PI/AAAAAAAAAuk/QH2A-NuXuuI/s1600/IMG_4422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VgUlD-81rPw/TWaCr0Ia-PI/AAAAAAAAAuk/QH2A-NuXuuI/s400/IMG_4422.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2047. <br />
2048. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2049. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XmDPHAGUapw/TWaDV_fNhKI/AAAAAAAAAuo/pCVZM1NOY1Q/s1600/IMG_4489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XmDPHAGUapw/TWaDV_fNhKI/AAAAAAAAAuo/pCVZM1NOY1Q/s400/IMG_4489.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2050. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So, sorry if this is patronising, the black bit tells us it was an amazingly cosy 16C in the protection of the cloche, although it was a very mild night anyway</td></tr>
2051. </tbody></table><br />
2052. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2053. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RzE-VrsYKQM/TWaExWjIvcI/AAAAAAAAAus/vOWZLtcVkQ4/s1600/IMG_4496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RzE-VrsYKQM/TWaExWjIvcI/AAAAAAAAAus/vOWZLtcVkQ4/s400/IMG_4496.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2054. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And it made it up to 22C, presumably when the sun came out this afternoon</td></tr>
2055. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2056. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-BEdFECjys/TWaNzVUtw4I/AAAAAAAAAuw/Ni7olDeoJdw/s1600/IMG_4426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8-BEdFECjys/TWaNzVUtw4I/AAAAAAAAAuw/Ni7olDeoJdw/s400/IMG_4426.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2057. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Considering there were only five seeds in the packet, not a bad effort from  Melasphaerula ramosa (Fariry Bells)</td></tr>
2058. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2059. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w3eEqokF0TE/TWaO2aOrk5I/AAAAAAAAAu0/-0YZW57tCsE/s1600/IMG_4438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w3eEqokF0TE/TWaO2aOrk5I/AAAAAAAAAu0/-0YZW57tCsE/s400/IMG_4438.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2060. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schitzanthus grahamii germinated before the cloches arrived and spent too long in the gloom of the propagator, which I'm  not allowed to put in the light lest it becomes able to so its job properly, so even my tinfoil backlighting couldn't prevent this becoming leggy. I've been careful with the fungicide so I might be able to rescue it by planting it more deeply, ie, with half the stem underground. But I'll wait for it to thicken up first (I wouldn't recommend this unless it's a choice between that and losing it anyway.</td></tr>
2061. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
2062. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2063. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLF2LmnVaMY/TWaXmb8Q7HI/AAAAAAAAAu4/9BFEmF77FNo/s1600/IMG_4450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLF2LmnVaMY/TWaXmb8Q7HI/AAAAAAAAAu4/9BFEmF77FNo/s400/IMG_4450.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2064. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lachenalia viridiflora. See, in front of the label? It doesn't look much now but come back in about three years ... Touch wood!<br />
2065. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
2066. </span></span></span></td></tr>
2067. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2068. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wLIz2T0MYSA/TWaaTUqGjuI/AAAAAAAAAvA/rw89_1biGeg/s1600/IMG_4465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wLIz2T0MYSA/TWaaTUqGjuI/AAAAAAAAAvA/rw89_1biGeg/s400/IMG_4465.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2069. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gladiolus hyalinus. There is also a pot of three G. undulataus but they are yet to shed their seed cases and straighten up and I'm not a talented enough snapper to capture them. </td></tr>
2070. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2071. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_081207114526_Gladiolus_hyalinus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_081207114526_Gladiolus_hyalinus2.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
2072. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The intriguing G. hyalinus</td></tr>
2073. </tbody></table><br />
2074. I took the opportunity to buy a selection of other shapes and sizes of terracotta pots as they are reasonably priced and the bus stop is not too far away, any further and it would be too heavy but a thermometer and a packet of Meconopsis betonicifoia (£2.89) didn't add too much to the weight. I'm not sure why I got the poppies, the majority of their seed display was veg and herbs (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz) and the flower seeds were nothing special, apart from one nasturtium, a really pure magenta called "Jewel Cherry Eyes" but I'm already more than covered in that department with a packet of the trusty majus "Tall Mixed" which did so well last year after just about everything else had gone over; the semi-double "Whirlybird" for pots on the windowsill; tricolor, which was a gift from a kind supplier; incisum to trail down the first planting tower; and sessifolium, for the challenge!<br />
2075. <br />
2076. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2077. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.finegardening.com/CMS/uploadedImages/Images/Gardening/Plants/tropaeolumdwarfcherryrose_mg_2_sq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.finegardening.com/CMS/uploadedImages/Images/Gardening/Plants/tropaeolumdwarfcherryrose_mg_2_sq.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2078. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jewel Cherry Eyes: so gaudy it's great</td></tr>
2079. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2080. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SlkSA35B5cs/TWah4tP3ErI/AAAAAAAAAvI/ahALL3gkDUQ/s1600/IMG_2131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SlkSA35B5cs/TWah4tP3ErI/AAAAAAAAAvI/ahALL3gkDUQ/s400/IMG_2131.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2081. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tropaeolum majus "Tall Mixed" kept going after everything had given up last year so I hope it will grow up the thumping great hybrid Lilies and their supports  (though leaving the more gentle species like L. sachalinense, oxypetalum, macklinae, tsingtuense etc alone to bulk up in peace).</td></tr>
2082. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
2083. </div>"Whirlybird" is rather less rampant than the above and doesn't send out those probing flower shoots at the end of the season like the one on the right of the picture above. It should form a tight little bush of little more than a foot in circumference, which makes life easier for the plant in the pot next to it (a pale, creamy yellow F1 I sowed yesterday, can't remember the name and can't be bothered to walk to the kitchen to find the deta ... ok it's called "Prism Sunshine" and is in the Grandiflora series so I'm just hoping it grows up as well as down. I ordered 18 shiny tin pots from my Amazon shop (just scroll to bottom or use the Amazon search tool in the guff down the right) because they were so cheap and won't break if they take a tumble. My plan is to alternate these along the windowsills (I have five windows, each a metre wide running along the sunny side of the living room and hovering above the garden a few feet below so I don't want either species to trail too much as, unless freshly watered, their centre of gravity moves perilously close to "topple". I may put half a brick in the bottom of each pot, they actively thrive on poor soil so shouldn't mind.<br />
2084. <br />
2085. Not sure what to do with T. triclor. I've only got five seeds so whatever I do do I have to get right. I've also got a similar amount of Mina lobata and a red Ipomea, as well as an order for Lathyrus  chilensis and a quarter tray of Lathyrus aureus which is germinating great guns, although it's more of a tumbler than a climber, as is chilensis.<br />
2086. <br />
2087. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2088. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Tropaeolum_tricolor_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Tropaeolum_tricolor_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2089. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exotic and perennial (several degrees of latitude of London) T. tricolor</td></tr>
2090. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2091. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/76/Lathyrus_aureus1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://de.academic.ru/pictures/dewiki/76/Lathyrus_aureus1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2092. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lathyrus aureus, meaning gold, of course, but cone could equally describe it as  "brown"</td></tr>
2093. </tbody></table><br />
2094. <br />
2095. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2096. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/Verano%202006%20160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/Verano%202006%20160.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2097. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L.chilensis, as photographed by my chum Mikhail at chileflora.com. A great site for exotic Andeans (plants, not women in bowler hats)  that are hardy in the UK, coming as some do, from 3,000m</td></tr>
2098. </tbody></table><br />
2099. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2100. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4NiOZ65CGw0/TWqGMoJIMsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/3SSta00vXhw/s1600/IMG_4629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4NiOZ65CGw0/TWqGMoJIMsI/AAAAAAAAAvM/3SSta00vXhw/s400/IMG_4629.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2101. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tropaeolum incisum (the greyish alien thing in the middle) still looks more like an in invader from another galaxy than a beautiful trailing orange/yellow plant but it has doubled in size since I planted it out to face the elements so it's happy. The three dwarf Rhododendrons surrounding it should cheer it up further as I chose them (from a collection of 7)  for contrast.</td></tr>
2102. </tbody></table>Now, on a totally different note, I've been swamped by germinations in the heated propagator, as you know, but perhaps the most satisfying was a few days ago when Impatiens namchabawensis popped up. This is not just a blue Impatiens, this is a plant-hunting discovery to get the feet itchy: just eight years ago, in 2003, it was found by two botanists who trekked 60 miles from the nearest road to a gorge in Tibet that is twice the depth of the Grand Canyon and as long as the UK, and there they found this:<br />
2103. <br />
2104. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2105. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Impatiens_namchabarwensis_True_Blue_9102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Impatiens_namchabarwensis_True_Blue_9102.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2106. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was named in 2005, once all the necessary checks confirmed it to be a totally new species, not a blue form of Bizzie Lizzie, after the Tibetan name for a nearby mountain, hence the toungue-twisting nomenclature.<br />
2107. <br />
2108. <br />
2109. <br />
2110. </td></tr>
2111. </tbody></table>So, what next? I've been receiving and planting up bulbs like mad. I accidentally ordered Hippeastrum Sonatini "Orange Rascal" and "Viridi" twice from different suppliers but they are so stunning, and can be brought into an unheated house when in bloom, that I don't resent the extra £10 or whatever. Also Gladioli by the ton (and I still have at least 20 species to sow): G. nanus "Nymph", G. album, G. wilsonii, G. Saundersii and G. Imbricatus. I also took delivery of five obscure bulbs, actually 6, from a very nice bloke in South Africa.<br />
2112. <br />
2113. The other day I took delivery, No, actually I queued for an hour at the Post Office sorting depot to pick up a parcel (the postage had been underpaid so I paid immediately online) that was supposedly the subject of an attempt to deliver five days beforehand and yet, depsite the fact we were both in, in the room with the buzzer, the postman left a card instead, marked "perishable" and "too big for letterbox". Did he ring the bell? Did he feck! It took five days of chasing it, trying by website to get it redelivered (they didn't try on the day I'd taken off to receive it) and finally getting hold of it when I took another red card which actually referred to the thing he'd "tried" to deliver the day before. The nice young man behind the counter told me to complain because it was happening so often and gave me a number with a human at the end of it (it's otherwise impossible by phone to speak to a person and their website is so infuraitingly badly designed you need to be called Hawking to use it. But as I'm already moaning about the bins and and several other Post Office failures, including an assault by a member of staff on waiting customers, I think I'll just leave it. I can't wait for privatisation when these people are expected to work for eight hours a day.<br />
2114. <br />
2115. The plants were alive but a Thalictrum has become so etiolated in the darkness it is still very yellow.<br />
2116. <br />
2117. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2118. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EpzpHSKe3eA/TWqewDkYCvI/AAAAAAAAAvY/s45fcfngHjQ/s1600/IMG_4569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EpzpHSKe3eA/TWqewDkYCvI/AAAAAAAAAvY/s45fcfngHjQ/s400/IMG_4569.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2119. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It stil looks like this. And look how dry the compost is! It weighed almost nothing. And it's not the seller's fault, the box gave some clues as to the urgency of the delivery of the contents</td></tr>
2120. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CvYAXDQUzcM/TWqfk0vxQ3I/AAAAAAAAAvc/pQtJdHl7Qs4/s1600/IMG_4551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CvYAXDQUzcM/TWqfk0vxQ3I/AAAAAAAAAvc/pQtJdHl7Qs4/s400/IMG_4551.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2121. <br />
2122. It should look like this:<br />
2123. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2124. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1390/1039333264_34949e27d1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1390/1039333264_34949e27d1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2125. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thalictrum  rochebrunianum should be a revalation if the foliage ever starts to photosynthesise</td></tr>
2126. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2127. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4RlSu6Tae0M/TWqhTikYJsI/AAAAAAAAAvg/N_xJETGqIn8/s1600/IMG_4564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4RlSu6Tae0M/TWqhTikYJsI/AAAAAAAAAvg/N_xJETGqIn8/s400/IMG_4564.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2128. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A typical delivery, this one from Bloms, who specialise in bulbs but also etiolated Thalictrums (no, I'm sure it was in perfect condition when it was packed)</td></tr>
2129. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2130. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SQEMvkAyFo8/TWqi81bi_yI/AAAAAAAAAvk/6faX7Wimm18/s1600/IMG_4572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-SQEMvkAyFo8/TWqi81bi_yI/AAAAAAAAAvk/6faX7Wimm18/s400/IMG_4572.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2131. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gladiolus nanus "Nymph" has been planted in a bowl, on a layer of sand becasue the compost I had available at the time was very humusy and I didn't want the bulbs sitting on wet compost. The roots will quickly pass through into the nourishment below</td></tr>
2132. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2133. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.gardens4you.co.uk/ShopImages/product/13855WH.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://www.gardens4you.co.uk/ShopImages/product/13855WH.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2134. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And your reward should look something like this!</td></tr>
2135. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2136. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rtts57naDjU/TWqk1M9_3XI/AAAAAAAAAvs/Bi3QZj7RWH4/s1600/IMG_4575.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rtts57naDjU/TWqk1M9_3XI/AAAAAAAAAvs/Bi3QZj7RWH4/s400/IMG_4575.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2137. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very healthy looking Hippeastrum sonatini, this one's "Viridi Rascal"</td></tr>
2138. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2139. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ppnk5dSkxyo/TWqlquL1_DI/AAAAAAAAAvw/zZTG3QpyqAo/s1600/IMG_4578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ppnk5dSkxyo/TWqlquL1_DI/AAAAAAAAAvw/zZTG3QpyqAo/s400/IMG_4578.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2140. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here it is with the tip left sticking out of the top of the compost. I'll water it sparingly until I see green at the top and  then step it up a bit, with a fortnightly feed too.</td></tr>
2141. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2142. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.florianabulbose.eu/offerte/SONATINI/VIRIDI%20RASCAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.florianabulbose.eu/offerte/SONATINI/VIRIDI%20RASCAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2143. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end result</td></tr>
2144. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2145. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/70288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/70288.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2146. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And its twin, Orange rascal</td></tr>
2147. </tbody></table><br />
2148. The Fritillarias are making great progress and in the next few weeks I'll have plenty of shots to show you but here are a few tasters:<br />
2149. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2150. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0aqh9Run1QQ/TWqnD7f-L-I/AAAAAAAAAv0/QK3P2Qs5QZk/s1600/IMG_4584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0aqh9Run1QQ/TWqnD7f-L-I/AAAAAAAAAv0/QK3P2Qs5QZk/s400/IMG_4584.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2151. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. mickhailovskyi "multiflorum"</td></tr>
2152. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2153. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zCU-OSZZgPE/TWqnhx1UJsI/AAAAAAAAAv4/Szb7cBBihSY/s1600/IMG_4589.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zCU-OSZZgPE/TWqnhx1UJsI/AAAAAAAAAv4/Szb7cBBihSY/s400/IMG_4589.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2154. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It will be a while before F. raddeana unveils its bells but the thing is massive already with a circumference of  four inches.</td></tr>
2155. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2156. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crocus.co.uk/images/products2/PL/20/00/01/45/PL2000014509_card_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://www.crocus.co.uk/images/products2/PL/20/00/01/45/PL2000014509_card_lg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2157. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worth waiting for!</td></tr>
2158. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2159. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M40xuIDKVgA/TWqpqoFv_8I/AAAAAAAAAv8/k_9-haqYyuc/s1600/IMG_4609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M40xuIDKVgA/TWqpqoFv_8I/AAAAAAAAAv8/k_9-haqYyuc/s400/IMG_4609.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2160. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. stenanthera is about to reveal it's pinky-brown blooms. I'd expected it to be bigger but I'm not complaining!</td></tr>
2161. </tbody></table>Followers of the black Primula, eurepes, will be pleased to know it has made it through the winter after a few scares. I lost the main crown to rot so whisked it out and any residue and then moved the plant into the bulb frame and cut back on watering to even less than the regalia Irises and the surrounding crowns have taken over and are growing well. Whether I lost the flower along with the main crown only time will tell but it's very much alive, look:<br />
2162. <br />
2163. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2164. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SWiNlcbzQq8/TWqsf9nXm3I/AAAAAAAAAwA/iIXOeIcQ5fU/s1600/IMG_4617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SWiNlcbzQq8/TWqsf9nXm3I/AAAAAAAAAwA/iIXOeIcQ5fU/s400/IMG_4617.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2165. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's back outside now but no sign of flower buds. Ah well, I've had so much luck with other   genera, particularly the Frits and the emerging lilies, plus so much from seed (even if the labels on half of them have faded to invisibility and the plants are so obscure (you know me by now), identifying them will be a nightmare. Adult leaves would help.<br />
2166. <br />
2167. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I know we're only at the end of the February but I think it's safe to say that the following gems have passed the snow test:</span></td></tr>
2168. </tbody></table><br />
2169. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2170. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F65IE-E_sAg/TWquWRvrc_I/AAAAAAAAAwI/QZvorE6yebo/s1600/IMG_4626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F65IE-E_sAg/TWquWRvrc_I/AAAAAAAAAwI/QZvorE6yebo/s400/IMG_4626.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2171. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paeonia mlokosewitshchii was a single leaf last year. I think we're going to see something more impressive this year but a single, as opposed to double, not just the one, yellow flower? We wait with baited breath.</td></tr>
2172. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2173. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hhoKF0xwed8/TWqvoNSHlGI/AAAAAAAAAwM/TQY8MKX-F2Y/s1600/IMG_4595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hhoKF0xwed8/TWqvoNSHlGI/AAAAAAAAAwM/TQY8MKX-F2Y/s400/IMG_4595.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2174. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erythronium "Kondo". Has wonderful yellow bells, like Lilium canadense or similar, although it is  a bit tiddly. Still, it came as a dried specimen hanging in a garden centre so the fact it's alive is good news!<br />
2175. <br />
2176. </td></tr>
2177. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2178. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z9RWyxJjKds/TWqwzwO0djI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/nE_INdbEvIQ/s1600/IMG_4558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z9RWyxJjKds/TWqwzwO0djI/AAAAAAAAAwQ/nE_INdbEvIQ/s400/IMG_4558.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2179. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meconopsis superba. It will have enjoyed our brief  Tibetan winter snow. Not sure whether to pot it on or just feed more. I don's really  want it to flower as it's generally monocarpic, ie flowers and dies and I'm busy rescuing M. grandis and M. betonicifolia "Hensol Violet" seedlings from a cat/fox/squirrell/pigeon attack and while I have no problem germinating them, it's a lot of work when you can just send off £7.50 and get one straight out of the Himalayan meadow (metaphorically speaking).</td></tr>
2180. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2181. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wLOl33_vrss/TWqy-W19oHI/AAAAAAAAAwU/db37r6s5iF8/s1600/IMG_4556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-wLOl33_vrss/TWqy-W19oHI/AAAAAAAAAwU/db37r6s5iF8/s400/IMG_4556.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2182. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M. napaulensis. See above!</td></tr>
2183. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2184. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gdrIMORLlSE/TWqzZ4VfbpI/AAAAAAAAAwY/QhatX9YZSXs/s1600/IMG_4552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gdrIMORLlSE/TWqzZ4VfbpI/AAAAAAAAAwY/QhatX9YZSXs/s400/IMG_4552.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2185. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">M. betonicifolia (the proper blue one)</td></tr>
2186. </tbody></table>Here is an example of the faded label syndrome. I know the first picture is the lovely red Delphinium nudicaule,<br />
2187. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vgAp9lHkNCo/TWq2sPX8RwI/AAAAAAAAAwk/qkJJUB4Eu7M/s1600/IMG_4340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vgAp9lHkNCo/TWq2sPX8RwI/AAAAAAAAAwk/qkJJUB4Eu7M/s400/IMG_4340.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
2188. </div><br />
2189. And I have a pot of seeds that were sold to me as Delphinium "unknown species" which has lost the writing from its label and I have no idea where it is. I had thought the following bleached labelled pot  resembled the Delphinium seedlings and might be it but I've got a new theory: I think they're Tricyrtises. First of all, let's look a the mystery pot:<br />
2190. <br />
2191. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a19XBd5xUyE/TWq0U5uttqI/AAAAAAAAAwg/iOjQqnVKchY/s1600/IMG_4548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a19XBd5xUyE/TWq0U5uttqI/AAAAAAAAAwg/iOjQqnVKchY/s400/IMG_4548.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2192. And now let's look at a pot of a white Tricyrtis hybrid:<br />
2193. <br />
2194. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2195. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l6B2hDPoGIY/TWq4dm1yHtI/AAAAAAAAAws/9wgpQ5GQ8-0/s1600/IMG_4510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l6B2hDPoGIY/TWq4dm1yHtI/AAAAAAAAAws/9wgpQ5GQ8-0/s400/IMG_4510.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2196. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm assuming the seedlings are from the parent, not a nearby pot, and they look very similar to the mystery pot above. And it just so happens I have, somewhere, a pot sown with a packet of mixed Tricyrtis hybrids. And I think the mystery seedlings are those Tricyrtises.<br />
2197. <br />
2198. <br />
2199. </td></tr>
2200. </tbody></table>I do have a load to write about the amazing South African bulbs, including a hardy Crinum that has to kept in a bowl of water at all times, it being a swamp-sweller, which seems so wrong for a bulb, but I'm going to save that for the next post, mainly because I haven't photographed them (although there's a limit to the aesthetic beauty of 5 pots with the top third of the naked bulb sticking out) so here are a few shots from the roof, just to prove that spring has sprung.<br />
2201. <br />
2202. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2203. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--a_KjWsYZDY/TWrA9HZtF2I/AAAAAAAAAw8/9HX-CZyuYTc/s1600/IMG_4401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--a_KjWsYZDY/TWrA9HZtF2I/AAAAAAAAAw8/9HX-CZyuYTc/s400/IMG_4401.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2204. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iris domestica (formerly Belamcamda chinensis)</td></tr>
2205. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2206. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_8sVnmFYXhk/TWrB-ECKlJI/AAAAAAAAAxA/0ZeR6FlW2OY/s1600/IMG_4406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_8sVnmFYXhk/TWrB-ECKlJI/AAAAAAAAAxA/0ZeR6FlW2OY/s400/IMG_4406.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2207. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lilium Hansonii, hardly setting the world alight. There were definitely flowering sized bulbs in there or at least considerably bigger ones than these!</td></tr>
2208. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2209. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tTGa2hm2ffY/TWrC4aYGA3I/AAAAAAAAAxE/ZJDbvwjr3qU/s1600/IMG_4647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-tTGa2hm2ffY/TWrC4aYGA3I/AAAAAAAAAxE/ZJDbvwjr3qU/s400/IMG_4647.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2210. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Corydalis whose name escapes me and it's dark now, anyway I've showed you it before so pay more attention!</td></tr>
2211. </tbody></table><br />
2212. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2213. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UHmzP07V_60/TWq7BpC45UI/AAAAAAAAAww/rnsFL9KFn2U/s1600/IMG_4503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UHmzP07V_60/TWq7BpC45UI/AAAAAAAAAww/rnsFL9KFn2U/s400/IMG_4503.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2214. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My plan with the Tulips following the Violas seems to be working!</td></tr>
2215. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2216. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CzBs70pMA-Y/TWq7mbh91pI/AAAAAAAAAw4/1qAC83i_Blw/s1600/IMG_4497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CzBs70pMA-Y/TWq7mbh91pI/AAAAAAAAAw4/1qAC83i_Blw/s400/IMG_4497.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2217. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a little of the Lupins, Verbascums, Digitalis and Lathyrus that are off to My friend Linda's house,  serving two purposes: clearing room in my garden and filling just a little of the blank canvas that is hers. Much more is to follow including candelabra Primulas, more Digitalis of myriad species, including thapsi, trojana, stewartii and viridiflora. And if those are Tricyrtises, I don't need any more, I've already got four and am bidding on a yellow with red dots on ebay so she can have as many as she likes!  And I've a ton of Iris douglasiana hybrids entering their second year . And that's the tip of the iceberg. I'm so glad she has a car!<br />
2218. <br />
2219. <div style="text-align: left;"><br />
2220. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, I have much more to show and tell but I've been doing this for five hours and I'd already done half of it. And that doesn't include the photography. I hope everything is going as well in your garden as it is in mine and if it isn't, ask me by leaaving a comment at the end of the post. I'll do my best, although I'm a lot better on temperate ornamentals than, say, Mango trees. I'm not qualified (unless you count 1/3 of a botany degree) but my obsession is such that I refuse to let a plant die. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2221. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And remember, a plant's entire existence is geared towards staying alive, at least long enough to set seed. So you've got nature on your side!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2222. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Happy gardening my chums, and remember, if you're thinking of shopping Amazon, shop via the plantboy's site! (it's just down there, keep scrollin') xxx</span></div></td></tr>
2223. &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/02/xxxx.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JZhXceZRZms/TWaBR48kPxI/AAAAAAAAAuc/0yjCUHxTPCI/s72-c/IMG_4420.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-8296826747910980662</guid><pubDate>Sun, 20 Feb 2011 00:04:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-02-20T04:01:13.416-08:00</atom:updated><title>Strange and Beautiful</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
2224. </div>Good morning/afternoon/evening/night my international friends, especially the one in Namibia, you lucky devil. How I covet your vast range of bulbous oddities, from the subtle grace of your wild Gladioli, through the Iris-like sex appeal of your many Moraeas to the bizarre, such as the Lachenalia, a plant that looks the a hyacinth after a trip to the Dr Who props department. You can keep the Skeleton Coast though.<br />
2225. <br />
2226. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2227. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Lachenalia_viridiflora_turquoise_0425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Lachenalia_viridiflora_turquoise_0425.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2228. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a particularly weird and wonderful example of Lachenalia viridiflora, one I'm trying from seed, despite having no means of getting the young bulbs through even the mildest of our winters. There is only room at the bottom of the stairs for three pots. And that's assuming either of my pots of five seeds each do any germinating (that's the problem with South African seed dealers, you do get literally five seeds per packet. The Lachenalia comes in many other colours, a few of which I'm trying but it's pouring with rain and I've just been out with the camera so I'm not going out again to scrutinise labels. I probably haven't sown them yet anyway,  a lot of southern African plants flower during their winter which is when the rains fall but we don't really have an equivalent season, our wet winters being too cold. And it's not winter in the UK when it's winter in Namibia. So five seeds is not really enough to experiment with but they're not cheap so I'll have to make do. Photograph copyright: Strange Wonderful Things.<br />
2229. <br />
2230. </td></tr>
2231. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2232. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/lachenalia_mutabilis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/lachenalia_mutabilis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2233. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strange and beautiful: L. mutabilis</td></tr>
2234. </tbody></table><br />
2235. As regular readers will know, I'm trying my hand at all three (Gladiolus, Moraea and Lachenalia) , from seed mostly, plus many others from southern Africa. This despite having no heated greenhouse, and an indoor heated propagator that I amazingly persuaded my other half to let me use in my own house but which is on the only surface on the entire wall that doesn't get direct sunlight.<br />
2236. <br />
2237. So when things germinate it's a race to hoy them outside under a hastily devised cloche where they are at least protected from the biting wind (it is technically winter) and have sun from all sides.<br />
2238. <br />
2239. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/732380641_e640e5cb9f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/732380641_e640e5cb9f.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2240. So far only the Schizanthus grahamii has gone too leggy to make it as the others are monocots (this means only one seed leaf children, like a blade of grass, only tucked round in an inverted "U" shape during germination, after which the end that doesn't have any roots on it will eventually straighten up to give a single leaf, called the seed-leaf). Anyway, the point is they get outside while still bent over so they have no chance the go leggy (too much stem before the first pair of leaves) and rot off.<br />
2241. <br />
2242. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2243. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/792184341_1ea8c9a49e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1181/792184341_1ea8c9a49e.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2244. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Leo Breman</td></tr>
2245. </tbody></table><br />
2246. I can claim success with Gladiolus undulatus, that fairy bells thing, no, not the Disporum one, although I have that as a mature specimen, the one with the incredibly long and unmemorable name, hang on … Melasphaerula ramosa, Dipcadi serotinum and Alonsoa "Bright Spark". But far more remarkable are the two outdoor successes: Moraea ciliata – which had nothing more than a clear polythene bag to encourage germination – and Gladiolus watermeyeri which is in the cold "greenhouse" but I've been leaving that open at night to try to resolve a bit of a mould and possible fungus problem so it affords almost no protection from the elements (mind you, it's little better when zipped up. It's like the difference between a sweater and a cardigan).<br />
2247. <br />
2248. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2249. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_undulatus3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="299" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_undulatus3a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2250. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gladiolus undulatus. Mine's a bit smaller than this...</td></tr>
2251. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2252. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/gladiolus-watermeyeri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/gladiolus-watermeyeri.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2253. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">G. Watermeyeri. I think this might be one of the rainy season group</td></tr>
2254. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2255. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.buyitsellit.com/1767723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://images.buyitsellit.com/1767723.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2256. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The snappily titled Melasphaerula ramosa, or one of several plants called Fairy Bells</td></tr>
2257. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2258. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://content8.eol.org/content/2009/07/24/04/35879_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://content8.eol.org/content/2009/07/24/04/35879_large.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2259. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">Dipcadi Serotinus. My seeds are romping away. There does seem to be a direct correlation between the attractiveness of the plant and the ease of growth. No, it's intersting rather than ugly.</span></span></span></td></tr>
2260. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2261. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/P1000523_Alonsoa_warscewiczii_(Mask_flower)_(Scrophulariaceae)_Flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/P1000523_Alonsoa_warscewiczii_(Mask_flower)_(Scrophulariaceae)_Flower.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2262. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alonsoa is one of my first batch of Chilean babies, which I've only had a couple of weeks so  it's clearly happy. The species range from pink to deep red and look a bit like Diascias</td></tr>
2263. </tbody></table><br />
2264. However, since I moved my 30 or so Lewisia Cotyledon "Sunset Strain" seedlings in there, not only have I stopped kicking them over and made some space in the process, they have started romping away, possibly even to the extent that I might get some to flower this year, which would be handy cos of course I will give most away I want to keep the best colour combinations for myself. I'm especially keen to have a yellow. I have been taking care to spray both seedlings and the ungerminated with fungicide at fortnightly intervals (according to the instructions on the bottle) and think this has saved some of the nameless species pelargoniums in the process).<br />
2265. <br />
2266. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2267. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A89btghB65o/TV--yucR7_I/AAAAAAAAAtA/UO2vXiXQph0/s1600/IMG_4367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A89btghB65o/TV--yucR7_I/AAAAAAAAAtA/UO2vXiXQph0/s400/IMG_4367.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2268. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My crappy little "greenhouse" from Argos. It's all I can fit up here and will do the least damage to neighbouring properties in the event of a small gust of wind. The top layer consists of  Lewisias on the left and seeds and a seedling on the right. The bottom is a mixed bag of pelargoniums, more seeds and the green pot contains seeds of Narcissus serotinus which are germinating fine but then growing painfully slowly, many still with their seed shells still clinging to the top of their cotyledons.</td></tr>
2269. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2270. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zn8UOuE6Xxc/TV_BOXG5XkI/AAAAAAAAAtI/M-185LBG88o/s1600/IMG_4372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zn8UOuE6Xxc/TV_BOXG5XkI/AAAAAAAAAtI/M-185LBG88o/s400/IMG_4372.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2271. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lewisia Cotyledons have thanked me for lifting them off the constantly wet and muddy roof surface by sitting up, looking sharp and getting on with some proper growing</td></tr>
2272. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2273. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/images/seed_images/LEWISIA_COTYLEDON_SUNSET_STRAIN/size3_500x500/LEWISIA%20SUNSET%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.plant-world-seeds.com/images/seed_images/LEWISIA_COTYLEDON_SUNSET_STRAIN/size3_500x500/LEWISIA%20SUNSET%202.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2274. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice yellow would be great. And the chances getting one must be quite high with almost 30 plants.</td></tr>
2275. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2276. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IMnqFtIgCU0/TV_Dbq3OatI/AAAAAAAAAtM/Rjp47Mfvnfg/s1600/IMG_4382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IMnqFtIgCU0/TV_Dbq3OatI/AAAAAAAAAtM/Rjp47Mfvnfg/s400/IMG_4382.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2277. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It doesn't look much but Lilium concolor  ssp strictum means a lot to me as getting hold of bulbs has so far proved impossible and it's a dinky little thing that would go nicely with my other 50 or so species</td></tr>
2278. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lilium/Lilium_concolor_strictum_DC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Lilium/Lilium_concolor_strictum_DC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2279. <br />
2280. As you know, I'm experimenting with seed from Chilean plants as much of the Andean climate rarely outperforms our own, despite being considerably closer to the sun. But there's about the same amount of  clean air up there as there is in London. I'm experimenting with a new method of sowing the smaller seeds: JI no1 and a bit of grit (these are mostly alpines, in the true sense [well, different continent but you know what I mean]) with the seed (just a dozen or so of the bigger ones, impossible to count the wee ones) carefully distributed on the surface and then a thin layer of 4mm grit (aquarium supply shops sell it in sensible quantities but be careful with the pH; I almost walked out of the shop with a bag of crushed sea shells, I might as well have used pure lime). And I mean thin layer, one or two stones deep. So you have light, moisture and you know how deeply the seed is planted.<br />
2281. <br />
2282. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z3BHYfcsbA8/TV_G9fKL9AI/AAAAAAAAAtU/UDzYSQLv1MY/s1600/IMG_4332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z3BHYfcsbA8/TV_G9fKL9AI/AAAAAAAAAtU/UDzYSQLv1MY/s400/IMG_4332.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2283. <br />
2284. The exception is Tropaeolums(ae?) which should be buried as they need darkness to germinate and tend to be on the large side. A 72-hour soaking or careful scarification with a blade to let in moisture will either speed up germination by letting in moisture more quickly or kill the embryo, depending on your knife skills.<br />
2285. <br />
2286. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2287. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/XOIMG_3369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/XOIMG_3369.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2288. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not your average Nasturtium. Tropaeolum needs dark and heat to germinate and hates root disturbance but as I don't know where I'm going to put then yet, they are in a wide pot on top of the propagator indoors</td></tr>
2289. </tbody></table><br />
2290. <br />
2291. I've just planted a pot of T. sessifolium after a good soak (I'm not a knife fan, tried it on a batch of Iris pseudacorus alba and not one of these less-than-challenging seeds has appeared.) However, while we're on Irises, I do have a single Iris attica through after only a couple of weeks.<br />
2292. <br />
2293. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2294. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_2kaAfbhV10/TV_FSt5mB6I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/JvCiBH6Gdys/s1600/IMG_4346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_2kaAfbhV10/TV_FSt5mB6I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/JvCiBH6Gdys/s400/IMG_4346.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2295. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm hoping for more than just one Iris attica seedling as they come in a huge variety of colours in nature,  from blue to yellow and stunning combinations in between</td></tr>
2296. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2557/3778427782_a9bcdc9a71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2557/3778427782_a9bcdc9a71.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2297. <br />
2298. A lot of the Chilean seed was tiny so, having bought a bag of cleaned and neutral sand I was able to follow the Carol Klein method of mixing a little sand with the little specks of seed and, top tip here, using one of those paper liners you use for fairy cakes, you can use it form a V-shaped shute down which you tap the mixture, straight onto the top of the growing medium (don't pack it down too hard, just a few good taps to level it off) and the sand shows you exactly where you've been so you get an even distribution and pricking out such tiny seedlings becomes a challenge rather than an impossibility. I used this method for Mimulus naiandinus, seeds so small they would easily get into Heaven via the needle route. They were the smallest but the method was required for several others. On the Chilean side yesterday saw Herbertia lahue, Oxalis squamata, Solenomelus segethii, Calandria sp. 1212, Rhodophiala splendens, and the Tropaeolum. I also sowed Romulea monadelpha, Primulas fauri and wilsonii and some Helichrysums and Zinnias I got free to give to my friend Linda who has a blank canvas in south London to fill with a quick splash of colour while I craft the long-term vision.<br />
2299. <br />
2300. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2301. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://beingplants.com/zen/images/herbertia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://beingplants.com/zen/images/herbertia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2302. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herbertia lahue</td></tr>
2303. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2304. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0590.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2305. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oxalis squamata</td></tr>
2306. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2307. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3314635534_f0becc822b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3314635534_f0becc822b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2308. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Solenomelus segethii</span></td></tr>
2309. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2310. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0369.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2311. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhodophiala splendens</td></tr>
2312. </tbody></table><br />
2313. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2314. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Romulea/Romulea_monadelpha_sabulosa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Romulea/Romulea_monadelpha_sabulosa.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2315. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Romulea monadelpha from South Africa, just to confuse you</td></tr>
2316. </tbody></table><br />
2317. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">During the week three red Nerine sarniensis arrived, as did 10 Dichelostemma "Pink Diamond" and today four packs of labels I ordered a month ago from GardenCentre.co.uk actually arrived, one to avoid there I think, if they can't get the labels right I'd hate to buy their plants! Just as well another delivery of deliciousness from Lord Paul of Wrexham came: an amazing Gladiolus Saundersii that looked like a really chunky garlic bulb with last years stems (trimmed, of course) to show how deep to plant it, oh, new compost: JI3 with a bit of open humusy stuff, sand and plenty of grit and fertiliser granules because some of these things live in crevices (which I don't have), G. imbricatus, Moraea Robusta, again a really nice big bulb that made planting obvious, Rhodophiala bifida (my third of the genus), Lilium sulphureum (a nice yellow trumpet) and Anemone verae, an extremely rare tiny corm shaped like a stick of used chewing gum and with no obvious top or bottom. According to Paul: "This is a name that we can hardly trace, but the species is a soft yellow plant of the bucharica alliance. It has a red-tinged exterior, especially noticeable when the plant is in bud.</span><br />
2318. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
2319. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
2320. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
2321. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
2322. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555;"></span></span><br />
2323. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.16667px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Ukrainian paper describing the plant was obtained through the kindness of a Czech colleague who got it for us from Slovakia. The plants came from Poland via a different Czech colleague -see what we go through to bring you new plants!</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Well drained, loam based compost in sun, or potted. Cultivated stock, traceable to the Darwas range in Tajikistan."</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It wasn't cheap but if I've got it the right way up it will be worth it.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2324. </span></span></span><br />
2325. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2326. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rareplants.co.uk/uploads/images_products/1101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.rareplants.co.uk/uploads/images_products/1101.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2327. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Anemone verae. I really hope I got it the right way up!</span></span></span></td></tr>
2328. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2329. </span></span></span><br />
2330. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2331. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fynbos.sa.com/images/agapanthaceae-hyancinthaceae/AMARYLLIDACEAE%20Nerine%20sarniensis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.fynbos.sa.com/images/agapanthaceae-hyancinthaceae/AMARYLLIDACEAE%20Nerine%20sarniensis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2332. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nerine sariensis, said to be the most beautiful of the genus. So I bought it</span></span></td></tr>
2333. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2334. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk/images/autumn/miscad/dichelostempdiamond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk/images/autumn/miscad/dichelostempdiamond.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2335. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dichelostemma "Pink Diamond".  A bit gaudier than Ida-maia but unusual enough to make it </span></span></td></tr>
2336. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2337. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.africanbulbs.com/dutch_gladiolus_saundersii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.africanbulbs.com/dutch_gladiolus_saundersii.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2338. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gladiolus Saundersii</span></span></td></tr>
2339. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2340. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Gladiolus_imbricatus1002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Gladiolus_imbricatus1002.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2341. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">G. imbricatus. A bit like the European species (magenta and not half as sexy as most South African Glads)</span></span></td></tr>
2342. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2343. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Liliumsulphureumflower4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Liliumsulphureumflower4.jpg" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
2344. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lilium sulphureum. Nothing special but very hard to get hold of so when the chance came up I snapped up a beautiful, chunky, purple bulb which certainly looks to be of flowering size. Fingers crossed</span></span></td></tr>
2345. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2346. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Did I tell you I've got myself a couple of Eucomis bicolor?  Well I have. And Gladiolus alba, Agapanthus "Peter Pan", Zantedeschia "Picasso", 10 yellow Tigridia  (much classier than the usual mixture) and I've had it a while but haven't told you about my Diplarrhena moraea which is a totally hardy and stunning Phalaenopsis-like bulb. Stuff is arriving or maturing at an overwhelming rate and quite apart from the space issue is the fact I keep running out of pots. Terracotta pots are relatively cheap even at  The Very Expensive Garden Centre in a fashionable area of north London (99p for 3in but 7.99 for an Achillea to which I wouldn't give garden room if I owned Canada), they're not very easy to move around london when you don't have a car. There is one company (thepotco.co.uk) that sells them at a really decent price (you have to wade through a load of expensive fancy shite to get to the simple pots) and delivers almost the next day but they come in enormous boxes that could easily be a new washing machine, not half a dozen 7in pots! You can have a metre square galvanised steel container for just £600 but a 13cm clay pot is 72p so unless you drive I'd thoroughly recommend them. They mould two halves of foam stuff round the pots that then fits in a huge cardboard box, meaning they arrive in perfect nick and leaving you with a waste disposal nightmare.</span></span></span><br />
2347. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2348. </span></span></span><br />
2349. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2350. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dc8duajSR2o/TWAzSIqGbMI/AAAAAAAAAtc/ki_OzLkUYd0/s1600/IMG_4349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dc8duajSR2o/TWAzSIqGbMI/AAAAAAAAAtc/ki_OzLkUYd0/s400/IMG_4349.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2351. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Agapanthus "Peter Pan"</span></span></td></tr>
2352. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2353. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk/images/spring/agapanthus/agapeterpan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.broadleighbulbs.co.uk/images/spring/agapanthus/agapeterpan2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2354. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I'd imagined something a bit more like this which is ironic because it was Broadleigh who sold it to me! They probably don't get too many people complaining that their bulb was too big. It will need dividing next year anyway so I shall have my wish. And about 20 bulbs to give away</span></span></span></td></tr>
2355. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2356. </span></span><br />
2357. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Peter Pan was a little bit of a disappointment as I had a picture in my mind of one bulb filling a little clay pot with one stem about a foot high with a miniature Agapanthus flower. But what actually arrived was a tangled, solid cube of roots with a few leaves at the the top indicating the presence below of at least half a dozen bulbs. I was very tempted to pull the whole thing apart into individual bulbs but it would have been like tearing an old telephone diretory in half. I then considered using a knife to slice the mass into more manageable chunks but I was worried I'd end up with a bunch of diced onions so I chickened out and settled for teasing out as many of the thick roots as possible to end up with more of a ball than a cube (it had obviously been growing in a square pot and forgotten about) and planting the whole thing in a much larger pot than I'd planned, leaving the top of the bulbs and the new leaves above the surface of the gritty compost. It will have to be tackled at some point as the centre will be crushed to death but I'll get some flowers out of it first!</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2358. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_Zant_Picasso3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390651_Zant_Picasso3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2359. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Zantedeschia "Picasso"</span></span></td></tr>
2360. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2361. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/photo/image/123941/main/diplarrhena_moraea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://media.growsonyou.com/photos/photo/image/123941/main/diplarrhena_moraea.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2362. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Diplarrhena moraea. Has the look of an orchid but a lot less upset by frost and other bothersome things, like being outside on a roof under six inches of snow</span></span></span></td></tr>
2363. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2364. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_14snNKZegQg/TEsQ7otcOoI/AAAAAAAABRc/vWHF0vc8H3U/s400/Tigrida+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_14snNKZegQg/TEsQ7otcOoI/AAAAAAAABRc/vWHF0vc8H3U/s400/Tigrida+(2).JPG" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
2365. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yellow Tigridia. I thought sticking to one colour might make them look a bit less vulgar than the  packs of dried out mixtures from B&Q or Tesco</span></span></td></tr>
2366. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2367. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I have seeds springing up all over the place but my indelible marker has proved to be anything but and I have at least three pots of lush, green babies with blank labels. I keep most of my used seeed packets for reference and tried to identify them by a process of elimination (at least they're dicots so the second set of leaves will hopefully give a clue but at the moment all I know is what they're not. The pot I thought was the new Delphinium species isn't, now that I've compared it to what I know to be D. nudicaule. Well, I like surprises but the Aspergers in me likes order. I'm sure time will tell but until then it is frustrating.</span></span></span><br />
2368. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2369. </span></span></span><br />
2370. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2371. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RVVqEQuGEM8/TWBFqifBRfI/AAAAAAAAAtg/WlGeaNXn_TA/s1600/IMG_4337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RVVqEQuGEM8/TWBFqifBRfI/AAAAAAAAAtg/WlGeaNXn_TA/s400/IMG_4337.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2372. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have no idea what these are</span></span></td></tr>
2373. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2374. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UgiJvpMn448/TWBGOo7NsCI/AAAAAAAAAtk/thXqkJRe6aY/s1600/IMG_4340.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UgiJvpMn448/TWBGOo7NsCI/AAAAAAAAAtk/thXqkJRe6aY/s400/IMG_4340.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2375. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But these are definitely the beautiful red Delphinium nudicaule</span></span></td></tr>
2376. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2377. </span></span></span><br />
2378. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2379. </span></span></span><br />
2380. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Coming up: My 30 or so varieties of Lily are beginning to do cool stuff, especially a group of containers containing those mighty hybrids including "Tiger Woods", which are a foot or so tall, and I've realised I have so many doubles (not that kind of double, unless you include "Flore Pleno" but I have three pots of L. martagon album but don't think I have the type. And at least 3 lancifolium. This is not counting seeds.</span> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2381. </span></span><br />
2382. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSQJcY1mVz0/TWBHYQgwJMI/AAAAAAAAAto/9DDYApIRI0E/s1600/IMG_4322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PSQJcY1mVz0/TWBHYQgwJMI/AAAAAAAAAto/9DDYApIRI0E/s400/IMG_4322.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2383. </span></span><br />
2384. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2385. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3_jp_PjZVw/TWBJBrPWlfI/AAAAAAAAAt0/Vamfc0a-hPo/s1600/IMG_4330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3_jp_PjZVw/TWBJBrPWlfI/AAAAAAAAAt0/Vamfc0a-hPo/s400/IMG_4330.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2386. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of three pots of Lilium martagon album I've accidentally bought. I think I've got the type too.</span></span></td></tr>
2387. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
2388. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And the  Fritillarias are on the verge of something very special indeed. Raddeana has burst through mightilly but will be a while in make-up before I can show it off. Others are a fortnight from perfection. You <u>will</u> be impressed!</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2389. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IsbFKcDxRKQ/TWBJ7XHryNI/AAAAAAAAAt4/kBnIiKaHS18/s1600/IMG_4362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IsbFKcDxRKQ/TWBJ7XHryNI/AAAAAAAAAt4/kBnIiKaHS18/s400/IMG_4362.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2390. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It's hard to tell from this photo but that bud is about an inch wide</span></span></td></tr>
2391. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2392. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NUXSd78qnmM/TWBK4CkDmCI/AAAAAAAAAt8/Uzs4FRb2hLQ/s1600/IMG_4353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NUXSd78qnmM/TWBK4CkDmCI/AAAAAAAAAt8/Uzs4FRb2hLQ/s400/IMG_4353.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2393. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Something interesting going on with F. stenanthera</span></span></td></tr>
2394. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2395. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRM4x4zenas/TWBLiByQO0I/AAAAAAAAAuA/m3ozmFPb89c/s1600/IMG_4351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRM4x4zenas/TWBLiByQO0I/AAAAAAAAAuA/m3ozmFPb89c/s400/IMG_4351.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2396. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">F. michailovskyi var. multiflora, very much in bud(s)</span></span></td></tr>
2397. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Iris aucheri is on the verge of budding and while svetlanae is using this year to split in two and spend this season in the gym so next year should be very yellow. The other junos and arils are showing no signs of illness and are in fact in rude health, while the beardeds have taken on a bright green gloss over the last few weeks that must mean my TLC is going to pay off in the form of a display worthy of Monet's brush</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2398. </span></span></span><br />
2399. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2400. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W-lffPA4GdA/TWBNRXYrIXI/AAAAAAAAAuM/-UQJXGn0lf0/s1600/IMG_4364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W-lffPA4GdA/TWBNRXYrIXI/AAAAAAAAAuM/-UQJXGn0lf0/s400/IMG_4364.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2401. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Iris aucheri in the rain today looking exactly like one in a book. I amaze myself</span></span></td></tr>
2402. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2403. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZU9yyAy8954/TWBOFmsxLfI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/kymkn9KybjI/s1600/IMG_4335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZU9yyAy8954/TWBOFmsxLfI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/kymkn9KybjI/s400/IMG_4335.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2404. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That was a single rhizome with three leaves on it when it arrived from France last autumn. I think he likes me. All 15 or so have flourished but will they flower? You'll be the second to know.</span></span></td></tr>
2405. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I just had to show you a couple of other things. You know that yellow Paeonia, mlokosewitschii?</span></span></span><br />
2406. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2407. </span></span></span><br />
2408. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6pOtljXf4g/TWBP56dzbeI/AAAAAAAAAuU/ndJmi7_JnnU/s1600/IMG_4392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v6pOtljXf4g/TWBP56dzbeI/AAAAAAAAAuU/ndJmi7_JnnU/s400/IMG_4392.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2409. </span></span></span><br />
2410. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's going to bloom, it looks so happy! And finally, those stacking strawberry growers without the strawberries? </span></span></span><br />
2411. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2412. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SRgFkCsvhBU/TWBRMLgLyjI/AAAAAAAAAuY/IyKE0-qbK7A/s1600/IMG_4328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SRgFkCsvhBU/TWBRMLgLyjI/AAAAAAAAAuY/IyKE0-qbK7A/s400/IMG_4328.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2413. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Primula maximowiczii and the Corydalis from the last post together in perfect harmony in one of the strawberry planters. So it's turning out to have been quite a smart purchase and I've sprinkled Dianthus knappii throughout both of them so hopefully they'll trial about looking pretty and yellow</span></span></td></tr>
2414. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So the posts get longer and harder work the futher into the growing season we get. This took two days and it's mid-February. It will all be worth it when I win Rooftop Lily and Iris and some very odd stuff  blogger of the year. Until then, may your gardens flourish, whatever their altitude.</span></span></span><br />
2415. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2416. </span></span></span><br />
2417. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The Plantboy</span></span></span><br />
2418. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2419. </span></span></span><br />
2420. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2421. </span></span></span><br />
2422. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
2423. </span></span></span></div></span><br />
2424. <br />
2425. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Liberation Serif', Cambria, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 30px;"><br />
2426. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/02/strange-and-beautiful.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/732380641_e640e5cb9f_t.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-3210174736840744683</guid><pubDate>Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-02-13T09:28:17.545-08:00</atom:updated><title>Bulbs, buds and burgeoning bounty</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
2427. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YJ0l3BGSOIM/TVaVSIXSz-I/AAAAAAAAArs/gsft7cq-5bo/s1600/IMG_4261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YJ0l3BGSOIM/TVaVSIXSz-I/AAAAAAAAArs/gsft7cq-5bo/s400/IMG_4261.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2428. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hello, borus niger (why niger, it's white! Is it something to do with Greel and Latin, I only did Latin  and that would make it black)</td></tr>
2429. </tbody></table>Why won't it let me make the standfirst white so it's actually legible? Grrrrr! And all the ads keep falling off despite my relative geekery. Anyway.<br />
2430. <br />
2431. Greetings fellow botaniacs, I'm afraid it's all about seedlings and sprouting bulbs today with it being mid-February, the nights getting shorter and our little island tilting a little more towards the Sun's life-giving energy with every passing moment. (Sorry to my chums Down Under).<br />
2432. <br />
2433. The only disaster during the week came in the form of a gift from the primary school next door. At first I couldn't work out what had smashed the seed tray covers and upturned several pots. A fox? No, a football. I've destroyed it, seems a fair trade for a tray of Primula alpicola and some fairly expensive plastic lids. The irony is that if I'd bought the cheap ones (they'd have blown away by now) they'd have been far more likely to survive because the expensive ones shatter. Anyway, I've politely emailed the headmistress (at least it wasn't my window this time) and asked that the pupils desist from aiming balls at pots  labelled "Delphinium, species unknown". That's not unknown in the sense of "we've forgotten" but "nobody knows, it's new to science".<br />
2434. <br />
2435. I'm about a month ahead of everyone else as my seed doesn't come in those packets with a pretty picture and instructions on the back but usually in an E-dealer's bag from South Africa or Chile. Even the British ones only give you a name and occasionally a guidance sticker to which I have never paid any heed to and yet the roof heaves with the weight of tender bounty destined to die in the winter. But it's the smartypants factor and unhealthy curiosity that keeps me sowing. I've got four jiffy bags backed up with about 40 species in them. Some rationalisation is called for but they're plants! That's like asking a junkie to think rationally about the grade A smack in front of him! At least there are very few actual plants to arrive. 12 species Pelargoniums and 6 Regals for pots on the window are due in March, post-frost, and there's a yellow Lilium martagon and a few bits from Pottertons and Sir Paul Christian and his Rare Plants and I think that's it.<br />
2436. <br />
2437. Anyway. The reticulata Irises are slowly fading, apart from the almost white "Natascha", which should is ready to open any minute. Look, here she is: just the merest hint of a blue hue but the nearest we have to white in that particular subgenus.<br />
2438. <br />
2439. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2T-ZYyFE8ko/TVaUWqXtLzI/AAAAAAAAAro/Jj5bnONO1z8/s1600/IMG_4239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2T-ZYyFE8ko/TVaUWqXtLzI/AAAAAAAAAro/Jj5bnONO1z8/s400/IMG_4239.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2440. I shall now bore you with a series of picture of all my Fritillarias coming our of the ground. Even the ones I'd given up hope on have come through and this is without the benefit of a bulb frame or similar. Actually, I was particularly worried about F. raddeana, great big bulb like an Amaryllis but I was using its pot as a backdrop for some of these photos and it toppled over (it's on a long tom) to reveal a very meaty and healthy flower spike an inch or so down, now that I've replaced the mercifully small amount of compost that fell out.<br />
2441. <br />
2442. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2443. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M7Vy7RwYZE8/TVaXEpcOFqI/AAAAAAAAArw/YAqRFKdUX_M/s1600/IMG_4226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M7Vy7RwYZE8/TVaXEpcOFqI/AAAAAAAAArw/YAqRFKdUX_M/s400/IMG_4226.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2444. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. michailovskyi multiflora.  Like it's namesake (I'm not typing that again) but with tons more flowers. What's not to like?. For some reason the central bulb's come up weeks before the others, leading me to believe I'd only bought one, so should bet a nice long show. If brown and yellow are your thing.</td></tr>
2445. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2446. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I5X8QgmXKSY/TVaYf7ygQmI/AAAAAAAAAr0/o0otp2Yt4Y8/s1600/IMG_4234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I5X8QgmXKSY/TVaYf7ygQmI/AAAAAAAAAr0/o0otp2Yt4Y8/s400/IMG_4234.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2447. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. pyrenaica. An easy one for the garden, in these parts anyway</td></tr>
2448. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2449. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hg7rJHNbOPg/TVaZQa_BI8I/AAAAAAAAAr4/lDJJVgIXlH0/s1600/IMG_4213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hg7rJHNbOPg/TVaZQa_BI8I/AAAAAAAAAr4/lDJJVgIXlH0/s400/IMG_4213.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2450. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. stenanthera. I wet myself when this poked through because instead of just a few nodding brown or green bells, it looks like this:</td></tr>
2451. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2452. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Fritillaria/Fritillaria_stenanthera1_JL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Fritillaria/Fritillaria_stenanthera1_JL.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2453. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stunning, n'est ce-que pas?</td></tr>
2454. </tbody></table>Actually I'm very fond of all Fritillarias and somethimes the simplest can be the most beautiful. You only have to look at our native F.meleagris to see that. What, you want to? Time to nick another pic from the web then...<br />
2455. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2456. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/31724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/31724.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
2457. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thank you, as ever, to the Scottish Rock Garden Club, of which I am a member, even though I don't live there anymore</td></tr>
2458. </tbody></table>Back to showing off my ability to fill a pot with (a carefully but quire randomly) mixed compost, plop in a bulb on its side (it's VERY hard to know which way is up so this way you can't be wrong, you just have to wait a bit longer).<br />
2459. <br />
2460. Ladies and gentelan, I give you F. verticillata (syn, thunbergii):<br />
2461. <br />
2462. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2463. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZbSmR2XhUk/TVacteYEooI/AAAAAAAAAr8/1uja1Y3OHvY/s1600/IMG_4197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5ZbSmR2XhUk/TVacteYEooI/AAAAAAAAAr8/1uja1Y3OHvY/s400/IMG_4197.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2464. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a tall but modest member of this genus and I shall now show you how small can be beautiful too:<br />
2465. <br />
2466. </td></tr>
2467. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2468. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dic.academic.ru/pictures/wiki/files/70/Fritillaria_verticillata_var._thunbergii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://dic.academic.ru/pictures/wiki/files/70/Fritillaria_verticillata_var._thunbergii.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2469. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plane Jane or understated elegance? I'll let you decide<br />
2470. <br />
2471. </td></tr>
2472. </tbody></table>Don't worry, we're more than halfway through now! F. Persica is one of the giants of the genus, outdone only by F. imperialis, that most horrible of cottage garden plants the Crown Imperial. You know, orange or yellow bells about 2-3ft hight. Can't stand it and don't think of it as being of this genus, although I know it is. Mum loved it so we grew it in Scotland (so it's hardy as f**k) and I also grew persica in Scotland along with Irises hoogiana and bucharica and all sorts of Lewisias in and shit in an alpine house. She'd ring me up every year when persica popped up. Until she got too ill and had to give up gardening. Not much fun in a wig anyway. Itchy. And she couldn't risk getting pricked and picking up an infection. I'll be back later.<br />
2473. <br />
2474. That's better. Right, let's get the rest of the Frits out of the way and move on to the exciting stuff!<br />
2475. <br />
2476. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2477. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HDSXtDIY6iI/TVbr3Yjs-mI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/O9nSMECUx1U/s1600/IMG_4191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HDSXtDIY6iI/TVbr3Yjs-mI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/O9nSMECUx1U/s400/IMG_4191.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2478. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. Persica, just up but wait till you see what it does next!<br />
2479. <br />
2480. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.prod.bulbsonline.org/ibc/imageset/images/4/44327.xml?size=large" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://www.prod.bulbsonline.org/ibc/imageset/images/4/44327.xml?size=large" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
2481. </tbody></table><br />
2482. <br />
2483. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2484. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--r6ZAjYCouM/TVblGZ7Nf-I/AAAAAAAAAsE/TOrOHfZXEUg/s1600/IMG_4216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--r6ZAjYCouM/TVblGZ7Nf-I/AAAAAAAAAsE/TOrOHfZXEUg/s400/IMG_4216.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2485. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. kurdica "Taylysh". Note the greenfly, which have since been dealt with. Frits are surprisingly prone to aphid attack but they're easy to squish. Failing that a bit of soft soap solution sprayed on drowns them</td></tr>
2486. </tbody></table>This one's from Azerbaijan (well, not that actual bulb, the species) but didn't seem to mind a London winter.<br />
2487. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2488. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botanicus.nu/images/1238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.botanicus.nu/images/1238.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2489. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You'll find a lot of them look a bit like this. Usually the ones with the fanciest names</td></tr>
2490. </tbody></table>And now the prize for the most leaves goes to the easy but rewarding F. uva-vulpis:<br />
2491. <br />
2492. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2493. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijs1-H8j3BE/TVbokYciplI/AAAAAAAAAsI/El_lZ22yH3o/s1600/IMG_4209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijs1-H8j3BE/TVbokYciplI/AAAAAAAAAsI/El_lZ22yH3o/s400/IMG_4209.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2494. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I get the feeling this one's going to multiply quite readily!</td></tr>
2495. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2496. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.biopix.com/photos/fritillaria-uva-vulpis-00002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.biopix.com/photos/fritillaria-uva-vulpis-00002.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2497. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Growing in conditions more like its natural habitat, Turkey, Iraq and Iran</td></tr>
2498. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2499. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OWvjd4y9ZaY/TVbqaedv47I/AAAAAAAAAsM/dfASkrD7Eus/s1600/IMG_4225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OWvjd4y9ZaY/TVbqaedv47I/AAAAAAAAAsM/dfASkrD7Eus/s400/IMG_4225.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2500. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F.carica and friends, since squished!</td></tr>
2501. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2502. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2007/290307/Fritillaria%20carica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2007/290307/Fritillaria%20carica.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2503. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one's a yella fella, from Turkey, and "best grown in the alpine house".  Nah, save that for the Aril Irises</td></tr>
2504. </tbody></table>And finally, because Fritillarias camschatcencis and affinis are too tiddly to bother you with, F. elwesii:<br />
2505. <br />
2506. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2507. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q3YhKCMpkF0/TVbyetfYRtI/AAAAAAAAAsU/tBUsfBJwHKQ/s1600/IMG_4284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q3YhKCMpkF0/TVbyetfYRtI/AAAAAAAAAsU/tBUsfBJwHKQ/s400/IMG_4284.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2508. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm sure I only planted one. Really! It's in a 4in pot! Still, I'm not complaining, this was one of the last to show signs of life and my, is it compensating! A sunny position and don't let it dry out, yes that ultimate oxymoron of well-drained, moist soil like it gets in Turkish woodland (it's a wonder you can move in Turkey without standing on one these things.</td></tr>
2509. </tbody></table>There are a few failures/late arrivals but apart from michailovskyi (the single variety) I can't remember their names. Actually now that I know raddeana's on its way, that might be it. And I have seedlings of F. whitalli popping up too but it will be at least three years I imagine before they flower.<br />
2510. <br />
2511. It's much the same story with these beautys too, Tulipa turkistana, sown late last autumn. I get such a buzz from these things; when obscure seeds germinate it gives me the sort of thrill I get when scuba diving<br />
2512. <br />
2513. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gqiemtQEp08/TVb3UzsZy5I/AAAAAAAAAsg/_Ih0i9HFFkk/s1600/IMG_4254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gqiemtQEp08/TVb3UzsZy5I/AAAAAAAAAsg/_Ih0i9HFFkk/s400/IMG_4254.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
2514. </div><br />
2515. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2516. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hHYYyK2zWnw/TVb4Q1al2xI/AAAAAAAAAsk/NGbWeqib_QA/s1600/IMG_4240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hHYYyK2zWnw/TVb4Q1al2xI/AAAAAAAAAsk/NGbWeqib_QA/s400/IMG_4240.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2517. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delphinium nudicaule seedlings sprouting. It brought the red gene to the hybridizers so pink could be obtained. I have 6 month old seedlings of D. zalil, an obscure yellow from Afghanistan, so prepare for orange delphiniums at a florist near you soon!</td></tr>
2518. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/delphinium-nudicaule1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/delphinium-nudicaule1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
2519. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2520. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EReZybQpwm8/TVb6R318kAI/AAAAAAAAAso/lncFOEVmcWE/s1600/IMG_4245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EReZybQpwm8/TVb6R318kAI/AAAAAAAAAso/lncFOEVmcWE/s400/IMG_4245.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2521. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mercifully saved "unknown" Delphinium looking good</td></tr>
2522. </tbody></table>Oh, I've planted up the top layer of the planter with a Camelia, white Pulsatilla vulgaris, Corydalis solida susp solida "Beth Evans" and Disporum megalanthus CD&R 24126 (this is the collection number kept in the records of the expedition team who collected the seed) and will refer to altitude, habitat and where they found it. I also sprinkled both planters with the single yellow Dianthus knappii in the hope they will soften the edges.<br />
2523. <br />
2524. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2525. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.asianflora.com/Colchicaceae/disporum-megalanthum-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="http://www.asianflora.com/Colchicaceae/disporum-megalanthum-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2526. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disporum megalanthus</td></tr>
2527. </tbody></table><br />
2528. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2529. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/120303/Corydalis%20'Beth%20Evans%20'%20v%20speciosa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="323" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/120303/Corydalis%20'Beth%20Evans%20'%20v%20speciosa.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2530. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Corydalis</td></tr>
2531. </tbody></table>And that will do for now. I'll save up my South African seedlings for the next time. Including that amazing Schitzanthus grahamii with the pink and yellow flowers. The lilies are also reaching for the sky, but that's for another day. Until then, may your garden grow. All the best,<br />
2532. <br />
2533. The Plantboy<br />
2534. <br />
2535. PS, just been to the flower market held in my road every Sunday (I have to be strong, although most of it  is short shelf-life stuff like Phalaenopsis and Hyacinths flown in from Holland where they are grown industrially (battery bulbs if you like) so if I buy anything it tends to be cut flowers as the live ones have been through half a dozen changes of environment in 24 hours and people wonder why the leaves start to fall off when they get it home. Good for xmas trees. They're already dead. However today I paid £6 for a dwarfish yellow (I love true yellow in my Rhodies!) Rhododendron with reddish foliage called "Princess Anne", either aimed at the Commonwealth market or called something else in Zimbabwe.<br />
2536. <br />
2537. And I bought some cracking clay pots, really chunky, a "Russian doll" selection of four fitting inside one another, from 3in to 10in, ideal for when the Pelargoniums arrive, as will he the two, foot-tall square ones. Try blowing them over!<br />
2538. <br />
2539. But what I wanted to tell you was that Fritillarias minuta, bucharica, pontica, kotschyana, hermonis ssp amana, and latakiensis and acmopetala "wendelboi" will be joing us soon. Now, this should only be attempted by a qualified botanist in lab conditions (I make newspapers) but what you do is gently turn the pot upside down, left (in 90% of us) hand ready to take the contents which will keep their shape. I did this with all of the above and as sell as much root growth, I was actually able to see the lead shoot because a lot had been planted on grit or perlite so the top layer came away to reveal very healthy growth that should be through by next weekend. Bucharica was actually up, it's just the tip was perfectly camouflaged in the flint gravel that topped the pot.<br />
2540. <br />
2541. So out of 20 species or varieties of Fritillaria, only F. montana failed due to rot. And it was a cold, wet winter. The only species that had the benefit of the bulb from was bucharica. So don't be afraid to try something that might fail. OK, don't spend up to £30 on plants that might fail but the manuals and instructions are imagining the worst-case scenario. Almost all those Frits should be dead, according to the "experts". They are very much alive and will soon be looking a bit like this:<br />
2542. <br />
2543. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2544. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hillkeep.ca/images/Fritillaria_latakiensis_IMGP2752x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.hillkeep.ca/images/Fritillaria_latakiensis_IMGP2752x.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2545. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. latakiensis</td></tr>
2546. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2547. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thealpinegarden.com/fritmin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.thealpinegarden.com/fritmin.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2548. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. minuta</td></tr>
2549. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2550. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/050406/Fritillaria%20bucharica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/050406/Fritillaria%20bucharica.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2551. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. bucharica (you can tell why i found room in the bulb frame for him!)</td></tr>
2552. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2553. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/9669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/9669.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2554. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. hermonis ssp amana</td></tr>
2555. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2556. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://webserver.realnet2000.co.uk/geetee.nsf/2260DAA9D64A722D80256EDE003EF2DD/$FILE/Fritillaria%20Pontica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://webserver.realnet2000.co.uk/geetee.nsf/2260DAA9D64A722D80256EDE003EF2DD/$FILE/Fritillaria%20Pontica.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
2557. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. pontica<br />
2558. <br />
2559. </td></tr>
2560. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2561. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kwekerijdeschullhorn.nl/img/assortiment/fritillaria/FRIT_kotschyana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://www.kwekerijdeschullhorn.nl/img/assortiment/fritillaria/FRIT_kotschyana.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2562. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. kotschyana (yes, they do get a bit samey, don't they?)<br />
2563. <br />
2564. <br />
2565. </td></tr>
2566. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2567. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botanicus.nu/images/954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.botanicus.nu/images/954.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2568. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And, finally, F. acmopetala ssp wendelboi (it's the green thing, not the blue Muscari in the background)<br />
2569. <br />
2570. <br />
2571. </td></tr>
2572. &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;So, let that be a lesson to you: all a plant wants to do is survive and pass on its genes. The last thing on its mind is dying.&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/02/bulbs-and-seeds.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YJ0l3BGSOIM/TVaVSIXSz-I/AAAAAAAAArs/gsft7cq-5bo/s72-c/IMG_4261.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-1088448982105720730</guid><pubDate>Sat, 05 Feb 2011 22:21:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-02-06T04:47:25.341-08:00</atom:updated><title>Up, up and away! (and silicon implants in plants)</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3NrZzDOhI/AAAAAAAAArk/EeS3lA1gtsk/s1600/IMG_3930.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;262&quot; src=&quot;http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3NrZzDOhI/AAAAAAAAArk/EeS3lA1gtsk/s400/IMG_3930.JPG&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;You know what&#39;s really annoying? I&#39;ll tell you what. To clamber around the roof with your digital SLR and its collection of macro lenses taking pictures of tiny seedlings, knocking stuff over and generally putting in a great deal of effort only to climb back in the window, change your shoes to avoid trailing mud into the house. And then realise you&#39;ve forgotten to put the memory card in! AAAAARGHH!&lt;br /&gt;
2573. <br />
2574. Well, it's now three days later and I'm actually glad I waited because  I had been attempting to photograph the first flowers of Iris danfordiae (it beat the snowdrop by a day). But when I went out today in the howling gale to try again, not only did I spot Iris reticulata "Halkis" bobbing away in a corner but as I moved the pots along the windowsill to cram Halkis in, who should I notice but "Katherine Hodgson?" So it's February 4 and three of my favourite genus are out already! Now, before you scoff at the amateurish nature of these photos, please remember: a ) It is VERY windy; B) I am balancing at unnatural angles with one foot between some pots of Rhododendron seedlings and the other balanced on a huge clay pot with a Lupin taking up valuable space (might have to be brutal with that fella); and c) I <i>am </i>an amateur!<br />
2575. <br />
2576. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2577. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU06VbdaqKI/AAAAAAAAAqY/zVRUG08JWdc/s1600/IMG_4018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU06VbdaqKI/AAAAAAAAAqY/zVRUG08JWdc/s400/IMG_4018.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2578. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Halkis" with those unique almost black ends to the petals<br />
2579. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
2580. </span></span></span></td></tr>
2581. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU07OfpeQQI/AAAAAAAAAqc/O8sCR2prxyo/s1600/IMG_4022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU07OfpeQQI/AAAAAAAAAqc/O8sCR2prxyo/s400/IMG_4022.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2582. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU09tbNNRFI/AAAAAAAAAqk/xflll6n8o-I/s1600/IMG_4012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU09tbNNRFI/AAAAAAAAAqk/xflll6n8o-I/s400/IMG_4012.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2583. <br />
2584. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All very nice and the first time I've grown it, having spotted it in some catalogue or other and deciding I had to have it. I've also been coveting the next offering for 20 years: Katharine Hodgkin is a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> hybrid of </span><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/ReticulataIrises#winogradowii" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Iris winogradowii</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/ReticulataIrises#histrioides" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Iris histrioides</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. When it first opens, the flowers have an ethereal color scheme that's hard to describe; a tinge of sea-green suffused with powder blue and fabulous intricate markings. It was just coming on to the market around the time my nascent Iridophilia was growing into full-blown mania but one bulb of this beauty 20 years ago would have cost you at least £30. For one bulb. And my pocket money was £5 a week. These days it has bulked up to the extent that it is quite affordable (though still the pricier end of cheap, if you know what I mean). Like all Reticulata irises it will grow anywhere except a bog but thrives in open, well-drained soil. If you have heavy clay, try digging in a bit of grit (I've discovered that pet shops - look under aquarium supplies - are a handy source of 4-6mm grit - and they deliver in quantities that don't require a crane). </span></span><br />
2585. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2586. </span></span><br />
2587. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2588. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1DVpc0nzI/AAAAAAAAAqo/jngkm_uGT9Q/s1600/IMG_4060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1DVpc0nzI/AAAAAAAAAqo/jngkm_uGT9Q/s400/IMG_4060.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2589. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bloom isn't fully open yet but you can get an idea of the complex markings here</td></tr>
2590. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1FDJnMBnI/AAAAAAAAAq0/XnLrtA6kZP8/s1600/IMG_4068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1FDJnMBnI/AAAAAAAAAq0/XnLrtA6kZP8/s400/IMG_4068.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2591. </span></span><br />
2592. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2593. </span></span><br />
2594. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I suppose you'll want some danfordiae too now? Better be quick before the bulb does that odd thing they always do in year two and, well, disappear. I assume little ricicles form during the season and take four or five years to mature, by which time the pot has been neglected or even binned. Any theories or similar experiences? I know I'm not the only grower to have suffered this phenomenon.</span></span><br />
2595. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2596. </span></span><br />
2597. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
2598. </div><br />
2599. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1HAxi-avI/AAAAAAAAAq4/XRRvLUIvkJs/s1600/IMG_4029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1HAxi-avI/AAAAAAAAAq4/XRRvLUIvkJs/s400/IMG_4029.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2600. </span></span><br />
2601. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
2602. </div><br />
2603. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1Hi4MFA0I/AAAAAAAAAq8/8CjT3Uo-Wd4/s1600/IMG_3995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1Hi4MFA0I/AAAAAAAAAq8/8CjT3Uo-Wd4/s400/IMG_3995.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2604. </span></span><br />
2605. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2606. </span></span><br />
2607. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1IN5MycFI/AAAAAAAAArA/tDuxxIR5inM/s1600/IMG_4033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU1IN5MycFI/AAAAAAAAArA/tDuxxIR5inM/s400/IMG_4033.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2608. </span></span><br />
2609. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well, whether or not I see it next year, we'll just have to wait. At least with three pots I can empty one out and have a good rake around! </span></span><br />
2610. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2611. </span></span><br />
2612. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Wind has knocked over Fritillaria montana which is not a disaster as half the bulb had rotted (it was left to the elements over winter, I just don't have room  in the bulb frame for everything. I had been beginning to think that the Frits that had failed to show any sign of life were probably goners until I spotted a lovely, fresh green shoot poking forth from F. carica...</span></span><br />
2613. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2614. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/050406/Fritillaria%20carica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/050406/Fritillaria%20carica.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2615. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright  SRGC<br />
2616. <br />
2617. </td></tr>
2618. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... So I'm not giving up hope on the rest yet. At a rough count I'm winning with affinis, camschatcensis, michailovskyi (the hydra-headed variety), uva-vulpis, verticillata, pyrenaica, and, erm, that's all I can remember at the moment.</span></span><br />
2619. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><br />
2620. </span></span><br />
2621. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2622. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU2qvFnEiQI/AAAAAAAAArI/Q23q6VQR2yI/s1600/IMG_4071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU2qvFnEiQI/AAAAAAAAArI/Q23q6VQR2yI/s400/IMG_4071.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2623. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fritillaria uva-vulpis looking most acceptable!</td></tr>
2624. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2625. </span></span><br />
2626. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2627. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU2rUeRpgiI/AAAAAAAAArM/gljZs2dxkGQ/s1600/IMG_4075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU2rUeRpgiI/AAAAAAAAArM/gljZs2dxkGQ/s400/IMG_4075.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2628. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. michailovskyi multiflora</td></tr>
2629. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2630. </span></span><br />
2631. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Also got all my juno Irises in rude health, although aucheri's leaves are still looking a bit wavy at the edges. I'd put this down to a beastie and sprayed but it made no difference and as it gets larger they seem to dominate less. Is it meant to be like this? Iris stolonifera continues to go great guns as do orchiodes, zenidae and svet-something. The five bucharicas that were so incredibly healthy when I got them remain steadfastly underground. Maybe it's just because I started them a bit later than the others. They were certainly corking bulbs. Hmmm.</span></span><br />
2632. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2633. </span></span><br />
2634. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oh, I've got a couple of these layered planters because if you can't go horizontally, and believe me, it's like a news editor trying to fit 2,000 words on to a tabloid page with a sidebar and nice picture up here, you must go vertically. They're brilliant, I think I might get one more. </span></span><br />
2635. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2636. </span></span><br />
2637. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2638. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU2urRP05XI/AAAAAAAAArQ/vKpOCkyWexs/s1600/IMG_3936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU2urRP05XI/AAAAAAAAArQ/vKpOCkyWexs/s640/IMG_3936.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
2639. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You plant it up layer by layer, backfilling with compost and then adding another layer of three space planter, giving you 9 pockets and the top layer to do with as you wish and watering is no problem because it all drains down from the top layer. The other one is a different brand which is slightly different but works on the same principle, but has three flattish water-soaked bags in the centre of each layer. They come dry, obviously, and you soak them for half an hour in a bucket (not a watering can like I did, it makes it very difficult to get them out once the magic filling eats up the water and expands massively. It has to be said, they look exactly like the silicon bags used in boob jobs, and have a similar texture (I imagine, never having had a breast enlargement operation myself, in fact I spend a huge amount of time trying to go the other way!) The centre of the top layer is empty, awaiting weather suitable for Tropaeolum incisum, which is waiting patiently in the cold (I don't have a hot) greenhouse for clement weather. The idea is the dwarf Rhodies, Iris collettii,  Primulas chionantha and secundiflora, Corydalis flexuosa, Anemone viridiflora (actually I think it might be dead) and a Tricyrtis hybrid, the name of which escapes me and is probably Japanese and hard on the tongue anyway, do their thing, covering the harsh plastic with green and bloom and then the Tropaeolum tumbles over everything. Although I hope the Tricyrtis and that primula at the bottom keep going.</td></tr>
2640. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/186962816_0039bd356e.jpg?v=1205801799" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/186962816_0039bd356e.jpg?v=1205801799" width="300" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2641. </span></span><br />
2642. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2643. </span></span><br />
2644. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm so good to you that I've limbed out the damn window in the dark to take a few photos of the the other and and example of the silicon implant (good flash too).  By the way,  if you buy one of either make (both sit in plastic trays) please be sure to get the drill out or, my favoured option, a phillips screwdriver and a hammer, and make plenty of drainage holes because neither tray comes with any, which is madness and WILL kill the plants in the bottom row, unless they're Gunnera manicata in which case I think you should go back and read the Ladybird book of gardening again as its 3m leaves may prove a handful in confined spaces. Speaking of handfuls...</span></span><br />
2645. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2646. </span></span><br />
2647. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2648. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU28tO9AEyI/AAAAAAAAArU/dFXt7D0oVHI/s1600/IMG_4078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU28tO9AEyI/AAAAAAAAArU/dFXt7D0oVHI/s400/IMG_4078.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2649. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm no expert on ladies' funbags but it does look alarmingly like the sort of thing you see on Nip/Tuck or whatever that US show about plastic surgery was called. They do expand impressively but I'm not sure how long they'll last or whether   they're really necessary if you have a watering can or hose - and, amateurs, I suggest you invest in one or other, a watering can is easier to control and less apt to blast seeds from their pots. (I'm being sarcastic.) And do they re-inflate? Don't worry, I'll do the test run, spending money I could have wasted on a £30 Lily bulb from Mr Christian and his Rare Plants. Actually my latest order cost £62. And I've already got one of them, oops!<br />
2650. <br />
2651. </td></tr>
2652. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2653. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3Bo8PuvaI/AAAAAAAAArY/ZRcIv3BtQGg/s1600/IMG_4077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3Bo8PuvaI/AAAAAAAAArY/ZRcIv3BtQGg/s640/IMG_4077.jpg" width="423" /></a></td></tr>
2654. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So this fella largely continues the Himalayan theme with dwarf Rhododendrons round the bottom (the one you can see is a (presumably-German) hybrid called Baden-Baden). Above is Meconopsis x cookie and Primula maximowiiczii and something else round the corner, oh, I know, a lovely Lychnis x arkwright with orange flowers. Not Himalayan but that's the beauty of just growing whatever you feel like<br />
2655. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br />
2656. </span></span></b></span></span></td></tr>
2657. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2658. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.puh.nu/vaxter/plantor/image/lychnis_x_arkwrightii-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="375" src="http://www.puh.nu/vaxter/plantor/image/lychnis_x_arkwrightii-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2659. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lychnis x arkwright</td></tr>
2660. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2661. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.edrom-nurseries.co.uk/shop/pc/catalog/Primula%20maximowiczii1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="323" src="http://www.edrom-nurseries.co.uk/shop/pc/catalog/Primula%20maximowiczii1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2662. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Primula maximowiczii<br />
2663. <br />
2664. </td></tr>
2665. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2666. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.about-garden.com/images_data/5948-rhododendron-repens-baden-baden-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="http://www.about-garden.com/images_data/5948-rhododendron-repens-baden-baden-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2667. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm hoping mine doesn't get this big</td></tr>
2668. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2669. </span></span><br />
2670. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Iris/Anthurrhinium combo looking good, as are the early planting of massive Lily hybrids:</span></span><br />
2671. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2672. </span></span><br />
2673. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3MD1mPM6I/AAAAAAAAArc/APOTHV8qa_E/s1600/IMG_3945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3MD1mPM6I/AAAAAAAAArc/APOTHV8qa_E/s400/IMG_3945.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2674. </span></span><br />
2675. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3MlX3q4FI/AAAAAAAAArg/RDfAw84TkvA/s1600/IMG_3940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3MlX3q4FI/AAAAAAAAArg/RDfAw84TkvA/s400/IMG_3940.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2676. </span></span><br />
2677. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Right, it's late, I might update tomorrow with some seedling action or I might not, if there isn't any. I probably kicked it over anyway.</span></span><br />
2678. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Would love to tell you  about all my lovely seedlings such as the red Delphinium nudicaule,  Primula laurentiana, Clematis Ladakhiana and many more but me have people coming round so I'll be banned from going outside in case I bring the garden back in with me so I'll save it for another post (ha, genius!) </span></span><br />
2679. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Enjoy the spring sap rising and gardening too! </span></span><br />
2680. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2681. </span></span><br />
2682. &lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;line-height: 21px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Times, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif;&quot;&gt;The Plantboy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/02/you-know-whats-really-annoying-ill-tell.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TU3NrZzDOhI/AAAAAAAAArk/EeS3lA1gtsk/s72-c/IMG_3930.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-6564027142421210914</guid><pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:37:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-27T13:25:30.281-08:00</atom:updated><title>It&#39;s Chile up here!</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
2683. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGpDLuwzDI/AAAAAAAAAps/S3Fasw6u47Q/s1600/IMG_3706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGpDLuwzDI/AAAAAAAAAps/S3Fasw6u47Q/s400/IMG_3706.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2684. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here they come! Iris danfordiae</td></tr>
2685. </tbody></table>Blimey! What a difference a sustained run of days above 7C makes! Suddenly I've got bulbs nosing on up and seeds, all open to the elements, shedding their coats like a hen party in a nameless northern English city. On the Tyne.<br />
2686. Some seed had been waiting a long time and has clearly finished stratifying, such as Tulipa Turkistana, Fritillaria Whitallii (it lost its label to the winter wind but it's definitely a Frit, I can tell by the seed cases still stuck to the end of the grass-like shoots, and I only sowed that, acmopetata (why?) and graeca var something or other and they still have their labels, ergo...). Narcissus serotinus and Rhododendron yunnanense also fall into this category, ie sown in autumn and tucked out of the way till this glorious moment.<br />
2687. <br />
2688. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2689. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGf2rCrjeI/AAAAAAAAApk/DckitGHo-Wg/s1600/IMG_3772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGf2rCrjeI/AAAAAAAAApk/DckitGHo-Wg/s400/IMG_3772.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2690. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tulipa Turkistana seedling. I know it looks like a shepherd's crook at the moment but one end has a root burrowing into the pot and the other will reach for the sun before the plant goes on to form something more recognisable as a leaf to soak up the sunlight and start really photosynthesising and building up a bulb</td></tr>
2691. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2692. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Tulipa_turkestanica_a1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Tulipa_turkestanica_a1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2693. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two to three years later</td></tr>
2694. </tbody></table><br />
2695. What amazes me are the ones that have been out there a month at most and many even less such as the red Delphinium nudicaule, Clematis Ladakhiana and Lathyrus aureus. They're joined by Iris attica, Dianthus arenarius, Primulas laurentiana and alpicola (the white form, I think) and, very excitingly, Digitalis thapsi (sprouting like cress). I say this firstly because it looks like a plant of great merit, combining the best aspects of the flowers of purpurea crossed with a Penstemon, with a more pleasing bushy habit than the former and secondly because it's so crowded up there that I kicked over a pot of thapsi seeds while trying to manoeuvre a sack of compost and hadn't realised I'd bought and sown it twice, such is my voracious appetite for propagation (stop sniggering at the back).<br />
2696. <br />
2697. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2698. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGktiU_WvI/AAAAAAAAApo/wFabxyCsuZA/s1600/IMG_3788.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGktiU_WvI/AAAAAAAAApo/wFabxyCsuZA/s400/IMG_3788.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2699. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look, you try taking a sharp macro photograph of nothing specific when you have impaired vision, it's raining and your bursting for a wee! Tiny Digitalis thapsi seedlings. There are about 100 more already. I only want one!</td></tr>
2700. </tbody></table><br />
2701. There is also life in the Cyclamen pseudibericum pot but on closer inspection I don't think the seedling is what it said on the tin, being a dicot and having no Cyclamen-like characteristics whatsoever. There are others but I'll have to go out and check when it gets light (I've already bathed, traipsed to the Post Office depot, got second place in the queue and picked up a couple of parcels; infuriatingly I was briefly on the roof taking pictures when the mail came yesterday so it meant a chilly walk in the dark or spending the rest of the morning in a queue there).<br />
2702. But back to those seedlings: of course it does mean a huge amount of that most relaxing and meditative of horticultural tasks: (sarcasm, Americans) pricking out. I spent most of last Sunday afternoon doing the Lewisias - 29, all but the biggest few not really needing it but i'm hopeless at what the packet so casually describes as sowing thinly and evenly. Especially when the seeds are black and would happily pass through the eye of the finest needle. So before they grew into one big clump of cruciforms I got my domestic fork out and went for it. I'd better get lots of yellows, peaches and oranges for my efforts.<br />
2703. <br />
2704. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2705. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGZHqOiLlI/AAAAAAAAApc/k-EEiMIcZEY/s1600/IMG_3682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGZHqOiLlI/AAAAAAAAApc/k-EEiMIcZEY/s400/IMG_3682.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2706. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One down, 28 to go...</td></tr>
2707. </tbody></table><br />
2708. Fortunately bulb seedlings should remain undisturbed for two years because there are literally 100 young Gladiolus tristis in their tray, I think every single seed must have germinated - no wonder it can become a weed in warmer climes. The tray's not really deep enough for two years' life but with their remarkable zest they'll find a way. It will be interesting to see what comes up in the Lily pot, which is deep enough (about 15cm) besides the few true leaves and odd cotyledon already there (a lot withdrew during the winter but will hopefully return). I suspect I might get another flush of juniors, as often happens with mixed bags.<br />
2709. Speaking of bulbs, I've managed to work out that Calochortus flower after their leaves mature. Which would explain all the thick, grassy leaves and distinct lack of bloomage. While C. 'Cupido' has been outside all winter and looks none the worse for it, C. venustus is slightly more tender and spent the winter at the bottom of the stairs, an area we don't heat and where all efforts at insulation and draught exclusion have been met with a shiver and is, as my friend Roger would say, as cold as a witch's tit (apologies now to witches everywhere, it was a quote taken out of context and I will not be offering my resignation. Some of my best friends are witches). It is, nonetheless, in rude health with leaves about 10cm high so I've been hardening it off, bringing it in at night. Exactly the same  treatment has been given to Gladiolus byzantinus and the thrilling Dichelostemma ida-maia, a proper exotic! Both are showing a couple of centimetres of growth.<br />
2710. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ornithogalum nutans</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (yes, I have a bulb problem, fuck knows what I'll do if even half the South African stuff germinates) is biding its time but  Leucocoryne purpurea,  in the cold greenhouse, has a couple of shoots that I'm sure sprang up overnight. </span></span><br />
2711. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2712. </span></span><br />
2713. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2714. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGc17rySzI/AAAAAAAAApg/T7cG6clA7RY/s1600/IMG_3814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGc17rySzI/AAAAAAAAApg/T7cG6clA7RY/s400/IMG_3814.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2715. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From those, should come... </td></tr>
2716. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2717. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Ornithogalum_nutans_bloemen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Ornithogalum_nutans_bloemen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2718. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...Something like this. Surely too beautiful to be hardy in the UK?</td></tr>
2719. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2720. </span></span><br />
2721. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So I said I picked up a few parcels: one was a systemic fungicide I should have bough last year given the  devastation wrought by rot on my Pelargonium species in the greenhouse (ironically the cold was no problem at all, something that might save my species Gladioli, Moraea and other borderline hardy bulb ambitions.</span></span><br />
2722. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There were also three Lilium pumilum (tenuifolium) bulbs from Pottertons. I must have ordered these months ago because that's the fourth lot! And they're meant to be rare! Also in there was a supremely healthy looking Rhododendron radicans in a 10cm pot. This would appear to be an old name for R. calostrotum ssp. keleticum, which I got in a recent goody box from someone else. However, it's the smallest species yet discovered so I should be able to accommodate both. The Pottertons specimen in  particular is just too healthy and sexy to give away!</span></span><br />
2723. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I might have to give away the Lily bulbs though as things in that department have reached saturation point. I've been thinking about how to provide colour round the lower parts of the plants and also when they finish blooming. I ordered nasturtiums last autumn to plant at the base because they gave an amazing late, late show last year but they're not self-supporting so I've also sent off for seeds of a red Ipomea  and also have tropical looking, half-hardy Mina lobata seeds so that should provide a tangle of vulgarity, in the best possible taste! I would have gone with sweet peas but they always seem to attract aphids like flies to a fresh cowpat. My nasturtiums always get blackfly but seem to be strong enough to shake them off (with a little help from organic spray).</span></span><br />
2724. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2725. </span></span><br />
2726. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2727. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.americangardening.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/mina-lobata_4681.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.americangardening.net/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/mina-lobata_4681.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2728. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mina lobata. Something to look at when the Lilies have passed - and hopefully cover the stems too because they must be left to build up a bulb for next year</td></tr>
2729. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2730. </span></span><br />
2731. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Not content with amassing a collection of the world's Lily species and quite a few hybrids too, I've also develped a fixation with growing bulbs from seed. The problem is most of the interesting ones are borderline hardy to tropical, ie, completely unsuitable for a London rooftop where everything is container grown, exposed to frost and, today at least, a biting wind. You already know about my pointless gathering of Gladioli and Moraea seesUndeterred I did a bit of investigation and found that Chile, the world's longest beach, also contains the world's longest mountain range and it is up there that some very beautiful and, more importantly, hardy, bulbs and other plants grow. Even better there is a mail order firm there that specialises in selling seed of many Chilean species and they really know their stuff. Having said that my order hasn't arrived yet and they are a bit on the pricey side but Chileflora.com has a huge range of seed from trees to succulents to medicinal plants to BULBS!</span></span><br />
2732. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So I put in my order, using the extensive info on the site to make my choices as most are extremely obscure and the should be dropping through the letter box any day now.</span></span><br />
2733. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">And if my magic germination touch continues I should be the proud owner of (I'm sure they won't mind me using their pictures since I recently sent them £40!</span></span><br />
2734. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2735. </span></span><br />
2736. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2737. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/NEIMG_3330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/NEIMG_3330.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2738. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alstroemeria versicolor<br />
2739. <br />
2740. </td></tr>
2741. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2742. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/CIMG_1508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/CIMG_1508.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2743. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Loasa lateritia</span></span></td></tr>
2744. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2745. </span></span><br />
2746. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2747. </span></span><br />
2748. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2749. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/BIMG_9785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/BIMG_9785.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2750. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lobelia oligophylla</span></span></td></tr>
2751. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2752. </span></span><br />
2753. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2754. </span></span><br />
2755. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2756. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/LagunaAlto15dic_1114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/LagunaAlto15dic_1114.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2757. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">Montiopsis sp.#42 (unfortunately it's the purple one, not the intriguing cream flowers)<br />
2758. </span></td></tr>
2759. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2760. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/LagunaAlto15dic_1112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="http://chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/LagunaAlto15dic_1112.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2761. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So I ordered them too, they're called Olsynium frigidum but look a bit like Caucasian Tulips</td></tr>
2762. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
2763. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2764. </span></span><br />
2765. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2766. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Rhodophiala_montana_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Rhodophiala_montana_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2767. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rhodophiala montana</span><br />
2768. <br />
2769. </span></td></tr>
2770. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2771. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/ImagesHigh/IMG_0369.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2772. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rhodophiala Splendens</td></tr>
2773. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2774. </span></span><br />
2775. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2776. </span></span><br />
2777. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2778. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5367774109_e97990911d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5367774109_e97990911d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2779. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333233; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Schizanthus coccineus</span></span></td></tr>
2780. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">This is just a tiny sample of the amazing array on offer. I'm sure I sent off another order the other day or maybe I was just play-ordering. Either way, you don't get many seeds but you do get very detailed cutivation instructions, because these are from considerable altitude, and germination  advice. No stratification seems necessary and temperature doesn't seem to be an issue at all. Sow and reap!</span></span><br />
2781. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2782. </span></span><br />
2783. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">I got the post man today although there's nothing exciting except 100 orange plant labels (I fancied a change) and, just in time, a "widget, dibber [and more, white] label set" for pricking out. The widget looks really useful actually, better than the old dining fork I was using!</span></span><br />
2784. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2785. </span></span><br />
2786. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFqME6f3FI/AAAAAAAAAo0/g1eeAHP7QeQ/s1600/IMG_3843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFqME6f3FI/AAAAAAAAAo0/g1eeAHP7QeQ/s320/IMG_3843.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2787. </span></span><br />
2788. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2789. </span></span><br />
2790. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Now, bit of a disaster in the "greenhouse" where my species Pelargonium seedlings have been over-wintering, along with various other neglegted things. All my Salvia patens cuttings have died due to neglect although the Penstemons are okay (but then so are the ones outside). So the arrival of the fungicide this morning was timely, if a little late as the three "survivors" looked like this:</span></span><br />
2791. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2792. </span></span><br />
2793. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2794. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFrTa48IsI/AAAAAAAAAo4/-tIeJsFuCNA/s1600/IMG_3799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFrTa48IsI/AAAAAAAAAo4/-tIeJsFuCNA/s400/IMG_3799.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2795. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh dear.</td></tr>
2796. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">So I gave them a good spraying and consoled myself with with fact that a consignment of 12 species and primary hybrids are being grown to order for my windowsills right now and will arrive after all frost danger has passed. Two named ones, a species called dichondrifolium and a primary hybrid, Lady Plymouth are much healthier but I'd kept the pots wrapped in the cellophane they came in and it turns out  her grace (or however one addresses a lady) was harbouring a real surprise!</span></span><br />
2797. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2798. </span></span><br />
2799. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2800. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFuguv2GEI/AAAAAAAAAo8/5AymXAE_z0I/s1600/IMG_3833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFuguv2GEI/AAAAAAAAAo8/5AymXAE_z0I/s400/IMG_3833.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2801. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now that's fungus!</td></tr>
2802. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">No idea what the fungus is and whether it's harmful to people or plant but it was unlikely to be doing it much good so it got a good dose of fungicide and they're already beginning to shrivel. If necessary I'll repot it, without the mushrooms!</span></span><br />
2803. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2804. </span></span><br />
2805. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">Finally, I had a couple of clay pans that I'd rescued from Scotland lying around taking up room and a bag of free mixed narcissus doing the same so I decided to unite one of the pans with the surviving bulbs, which are already growing in that cheapest of growing mediums - air, packing them in as I'm not planning on nurturing them, just let them flower one year and chuck 'em because there is a hell of a lot in the queue to replace them! But they'll add a splash of colour to the tulips on the windowsill that I'm also growing in that wasteful manner. Pelargoniums, regal and species, will replace them although everyone eill hopfully be looking at the Lilies! </span></span><br />
2806. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2807. </span></span><br />
2808. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">For the other pan I bought a mixed bag of red Glads, Freesias and Anemones for a quid or so. The Glads went in first as they'll need the most support:</span></span><br />
2809. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2810. </span></span><br />
2811. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFyHt8M_kI/AAAAAAAAApA/2kxnQkJ52cs/s1600/IMG_3822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFyHt8M_kI/AAAAAAAAApA/2kxnQkJ52cs/s400/IMG_3822.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2812. </span></span><br />
2813. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2814. </span></span><br />
2815. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFyxRlmIcI/AAAAAAAAApE/wQ4o1gN1kvg/s1600/IMG_3727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFyxRlmIcI/AAAAAAAAApE/wQ4o1gN1kvg/s400/IMG_3727.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2816. </span></span><br />
2817. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2818. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFzQIlIhuI/AAAAAAAAApI/voITja1tzGw/s1600/IMG_3729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFzQIlIhuI/AAAAAAAAApI/voITja1tzGw/s400/IMG_3729.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2819. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then the Freesias...</td></tr>
2820. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2821. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFzvdFUKxI/AAAAAAAAApM/TRW7SdnUhOg/s1600/IMG_3732.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUFzvdFUKxI/AAAAAAAAApM/TRW7SdnUhOg/s400/IMG_3732.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2822. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No, not raisins, Anemones. Don't bother trying to work out which way up they go, it's impossible. Just spread them evenly over the compost, cover, water and wait.</td></tr>
2823. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUF0g4CgdfI/AAAAAAAAApQ/szXS5vhL5a0/s1600/IMG_3737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUF0g4CgdfI/AAAAAAAAApQ/szXS5vhL5a0/s400/IMG_3737.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><br />
2824. </span></span><br />
2825. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;">And finally, for those of you who have been wondering about the black primula, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Primula euprepes SDR6036, it's still with us. I thought i was going to lose it to rot, and the central rosette did require whipping out but there are several very healthy ones clustered round it. And just to prove it...</span></span><br />
2826. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2827. </span></span><br />
2828. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGrwvF4GaI/AAAAAAAAApw/OfriVX0Em5Y/s1600/IMG_3695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGrwvF4GaI/AAAAAAAAApw/OfriVX0Em5Y/s400/IMG_3695.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2829. </span></span><br />
2830. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sorry this post was so long in coming, I'll try to keep them more regular but it's a bit weird spending your days off doing your day job! </span></span><br />
2831. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2832. </span></span><br />
2833. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Start sowing, keep growing and ENJOY YOUR GARDEN! </span></span><br />
2834. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2835. </span></span><br />
2836. &lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;line-height: 15px;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Times, &#39;Times New Roman&#39;, serif;&quot;&gt;The Plantboy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/01/its-chile-up-here.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TUGpDLuwzDI/AAAAAAAAAps/S3Fasw6u47Q/s72-c/IMG_3706.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-5532883817186010597</guid><pubDate>Wed, 19 Jan 2011 15:15:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-19T21:59:09.432-08:00</atom:updated><title>Fit Brit Frits hit sunny bit, no shit! To wit...</title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
2837. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2838. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXrpDdaI1I/AAAAAAAAAnw/A6ii_vxSbZI/s1600/IMG_3592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXrpDdaI1I/AAAAAAAAAnw/A6ii_vxSbZI/s640/IMG_3592.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
2839. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who cares if it's still January, it's Spring!</span></td></tr>
2840. </tbody></table>Just when you thought those Fritillaria bulbs you planted a few months ago had been eaten by a particularly agile mouse that had squeezed through the drainage holes, they start to come through, probably after the spell of mild weather since the turn of the year. The real stunners are still hiding but the more common ones such as camschatensis, uva-vulpis and the rare F. michaelovskyi multiflorus are up. There is also stunning news from the bulb frame that almost made me wet myself (well, I'd had four mugs of tea and going to the toilet involes climbing in a window so I was hanging on already (makes it really difficult to focus the trusty old SLR). Iris stolonifera, on which I'd given up, has sprung into life in a big might-even-flower way! This helped to off-set the horrible disappointment of the two Lilium amoenum bulbs I've been waiting months for from China arrived looing (and smelling) like a hospital sprout. So beware "canbeijing" on eBay, unless you like your bulbs slimy and dead. I'd make some dreadful pun about "can'tbeijing" but I'd get the sack from thee newspaper if they saw it.<br />
2841. <br />
2842. First up was F. camschatcensis, a brown/purple belled wonder from the eponymous peninsula in Siberia. So it's hardy then.<br />
2843. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2844. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTW2QCd68GI/AAAAAAAAAns/cjj4-tPE_J4/s1600/IMG_3614.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTW2QCd68GI/AAAAAAAAAns/cjj4-tPE_J4/s400/IMG_3614.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2845. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is larger than actual size but the final plant should be approaching half a metre in height</td></tr>
2846. </tbody></table><br />
2847. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2848. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTWsvIiuVJI/AAAAAAAAAng/4kJOgwliCLk/s1600/IMG_3601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTWsvIiuVJI/AAAAAAAAAng/4kJOgwliCLk/s400/IMG_3601.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2849. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fritillaria pyrenica. I note the label says "Easiest of the Fritillarias" Just ignore it</td></tr>
2850. </tbody></table><br />
2851. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2852. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTWuFDuoBlI/AAAAAAAAAnk/OlctgMXNMsk/s1600/IMG_3589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTWuFDuoBlI/AAAAAAAAAnk/OlctgMXNMsk/s400/IMG_3589.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2853. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fritillaria uva-vulpis. I'm sure I didn't plant that many ...</td></tr>
2854. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2855. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTWvF9iTmII/AAAAAAAAAno/Ts-t6i0wvs4/s1600/IMG_3599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTWvF9iTmII/AAAAAAAAAno/Ts-t6i0wvs4/s400/IMG_3599.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2856. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F. michaelovskvyi multiflorus, an odd little thing with clusters of flowers like its senior cousin (which hadn't come up yet and I've never had any luck with, despite it adorning garden centre displays each spring screaming "Only a moron couldn't get me to look like the ones on the packet!")<br />
2857. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
2858. </span></span></span></td></tr>
2859. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2860. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/40481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://www.bloms.co.uk/assets/www2/images/large/40481.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
2861. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It should look like this</span></td></tr>
2862. </tbody></table><br />
2863. The bad news is I think I've  lost two of my arilbred Iris hybrids to drips in my rubbish bulb frame from "Creative Garden Ideas". It cost almost £70 and I could have knocked up something much better for a tenner. Anyway, I just hope I got them out of there before the rot spreads, literally. Certainly the junos are doing splendidly with all of them up, cycloglossa being the last one to poke through.<br />
2864. <br />
2865. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2866. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXthBUaxXI/AAAAAAAAAn0/dH66OAdwO04/s1600/IMG_3552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXthBUaxXI/AAAAAAAAAn0/dH66OAdwO04/s400/IMG_3552.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2867. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Iris Zenidae might not flower this year, I fear the two spikes mean there are two bulbs down there building strength but that will only mean double bloom delight next year</span></td></tr>
2868. </tbody></table><br />
2869. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2870. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXua9gqk5I/AAAAAAAAAn4/BnCAGUQTADQ/s1600/IMG_3562.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXua9gqk5I/AAAAAAAAAn4/BnCAGUQTADQ/s400/IMG_3562.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2871. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a last-ditch attempt to cure the Arils, I've decided to expose them to the elements. It's crazy, it's dangerous but it might just work. Oh well, I could do with the pot anyway</span></td></tr>
2872. </tbody></table><br />
2873. But this disappointment was cast into the bin by the discovery of a lighting move to titillate my pleasure zones by Iris stolonifera - a regalia and thus technically more difficult to grow than the above "Aquilifer". Last week it was doing nothing, today  I noticed this:<br />
2874. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2875. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXwBWcJBuI/AAAAAAAAAn8/3WNqGnh856Y/s1600/IMG_3545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXwBWcJBuI/AAAAAAAAAn8/3WNqGnh856Y/s400/IMG_3545.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2876. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three spikes from the three-bumped stolon I planted last November. It's especially delightful because I really had/ve no idea what I'm doing! I didn't even know which way round to plant it as a horizontal stick doesn't really have a top. I hope each spike will produce heaven-sent brown and blue bearded blooms like the ones below</span></td></tr>
2877. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2878. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nftrt-iyJo4/ShwQFB9JY_I/AAAAAAAAAEE/vH_2BfdjbQw/stolonifera-clone1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nftrt-iyJo4/ShwQFB9JY_I/AAAAAAAAAEE/vH_2BfdjbQw/stolonifera-clone1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
2879. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's no-one to credit but great photo! Next year I should have some of my own!</span></td></tr>
2880. </tbody></table>Another sign of the mild weather is that two genera sown THIS year have germinated.<br />
2881. <br />
2882. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2883. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXySAUovuI/AAAAAAAAAoA/NPYQvKAJPL0/s1600/IMG_3522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXySAUovuI/AAAAAAAAAoA/NPYQvKAJPL0/s400/IMG_3522.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2884. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I thought these leaves of Anthyllis vulneraria var coccinea were algae until I took the freezer bag off. I also decided to do the same with the other 50 or 60 pots because every time it rained water just gathered on top of the pot so anything dicotyledonous would be squashed before life began.</span></td></tr>
2885. </tbody></table>Oh, it will look like this by the way. Only in container.  Not amazing but would be good in paving with alpines such as Dianthus and Thyme...<br />
2886. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2887. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://seemnemaailm.ee/goods_pictures/6537_anthyllis_vulneraria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://seemnemaailm.ee/goods_pictures/6537_anthyllis_vulneraria.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2888. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe I just grew up with too much broom and gorse...</span></td></tr>
2889. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2890. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTX6TSa0yMI/AAAAAAAAAoE/7sHovEfrF4E/s1600/IMG_3569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTX6TSa0yMI/AAAAAAAAAoE/7sHovEfrF4E/s400/IMG_3569.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2891. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lupinus versicolor: what a great pair of cots!</span></td></tr>
2892. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2893. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5pfmcZ4fVk/SjauNeVfSiI/AAAAAAAACOo/1I0hBSiAI2I/IMG_1446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5pfmcZ4fVk/SjauNeVfSiI/AAAAAAAACOo/1I0hBSiAI2I/IMG_1446.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2894. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why did I buy this?</span></td></tr>
2895. </tbody></table><br />
2896. I took delivery yesterday of another small consignment from Paul Christian, including Dactylorhiza fuchsii, a plant that used to, and I assume still does, grow with no human intervention near and in wild drifts in my old garden in Scotland; from pumice on a Beeching victim to my artificial wild flower meadow, it just popped up and spread. So it's a bit ironic that I had to bung PC £13.50 for one admittedly superb looking specimen!<br />
2897. <br />
2898. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2899. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nature-diary.co.uk/nn-images/0407/040707-dactylorhiza-fuchsii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.nature-diary.co.uk/nn-images/0407/040707-dactylorhiza-fuchsii.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
2900. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually, I'm beginning to wonder whether it was fuchsii in the garden because it became necessary to move one due to idiot local farmer who thinks  anything, plant or animal, alive that isn't wheat must die so my mother (she's dead now so you can't prosecute her under some Cites law, although I'm an accessory) and I carefully lifted a single specimen out of the way of his bulldozer while he just looked us from his cab as if we were mad. I was. She wasn't. Much. Anyway, the tuber on that was of the testicular varitety. Hence Orchis, Greek for testicle. But What I just planted was more of the Hitler variety, if you catch my drift. Perhaps it hasn't reached puberty yet...</span></td></tr>
2901. </tbody></table>Which reminds me: huge disappointment to receive 2 Lilium amoenum bulbs from China bought on eBay from a guy with good rep but both felt and smelled like something gross and as I picked them up scales started sliding off and disintegrating so it's not even as if I could have tried to rescue something that way. I've planted what remains but if anything green appears it's more likely to be ectoplasm than plant tissue. To be fair to the guy he refunded my money on receipt of the photos right away.<br />
2902. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2903. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTckqSzDdeI/AAAAAAAAAow/RKuRvbcbHsI/s1600/IMG_3627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTckqSzDdeI/AAAAAAAAAow/RKuRvbcbHsI/s400/IMG_3627.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2904. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See how shiny the scale is? That's not water, it's the stuff that lives under that really painful molar that squirts all over the dentist when the drill hits it</span></td></tr>
2905. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2906. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/images/unknown/Lilium_amoenum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/china/images/unknown/Lilium_amoenum.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
2907. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It could have been so beautiful...</span></td></tr>
2908. </tbody></table><br />
2909. But back to the much more reliable Sir Paul Christian...<br />
2910. Also in there was one of the few Lily species I don't have potted, sown or on order, lancifolium. It's nothing special but short of heading of to Asia with a spade and a lot of Yuan it's the best I can do just now. It's awfully familiar but  I'm sure there will be subtle differences when the time comes.<br />
2911. <br />
2912. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kolumbus.fi/niemi.olavi/Kukkia_5/album/slides/Tiikerinlilja,%20Lilium%20lancifolium%20IMG_0426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.kolumbus.fi/niemi.olavi/Kukkia_5/album/slides/Tiikerinlilja,%20Lilium%20lancifolium%20IMG_0426.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2913. One more Gladiolus for my potentially disastrous collection, this one's flanaganni or "Suicide Lily" due to its scarcity and propensity for growing in remote, moist cracks and the lengths to which collectors would go to get at it.<br />
2914. <br />
2915. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2916. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/diary/sizedPicture%204012605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/diary/sizedPicture%204012605.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
2917. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The so-called "Suicide Lily" or Gladiolus flanaganii was highly prized by Victorian collectors who weren't put off by its habit of growing in the most inaccessible places such as cracks in rock faces where water would trickle down and by waterfalls and on sheer cliff-faces in the high Drakensberg</span></td></tr>
2918. </tbody></table><br />
2919. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QxabWiAlfYg/S8lC2lPNzqI/AAAAAAAAVzY/JqWsKXzyHEc/s1600/102_0032a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QxabWiAlfYg/S8lC2lPNzqI/AAAAAAAAVzY/JqWsKXzyHEc/s400/102_0032a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2920. Finally, and this seems mundane in compariso<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">n when it's actually a highly-prized rarity,  </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Erythronium dens-canis niveum, a totally white variety from the tiny former Yugoslavian state of Montenegro (where spookily I've been - although I didn't see any Erythroniums but quite a lot of armed police and some nice mountains and lakes).</span></span><br />
2921. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
2922. </span><br />
2923. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There's a lot happening outside on the roof all of a sudden with not just the Frits and junos coming through but the various Reticulatas coming through: "Natascha" such a pale blue it counts as white; "Halkis", </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">originally discovered by Norman Stevens on Mount Halkis in Turkey.</span><br />
2924. <div style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> The flowers are a lovely rich blue with much deeper blades of almost navy blue, the whole set off with a vivid yellow crest</span></span></span>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbwYaeX_NI/AAAAAAAAAoY/tP0ZS_wcvwI/s1600/IMG_3554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbwYaeX_NI/AAAAAAAAAoY/tP0ZS_wcvwI/s400/IMG_3554.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"><br />
2925. </span></span><br />
2926. <div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Danfordiae, that odd yellow honorary member of the the group, is bursting out of the gravel. It will be interesting to see if it does its usual trick of flpwering and then disappearing next year. There are various theories for this, the most popular being that the main bulb dies leaving lots if little "rice" grains but surely they would send up a little leaflet? Well, I've tried not to over crowd them so I can tip one out after the leaves die back to have a good rummage around and see what's what.</span></span></div><br />
2927. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2928. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbxKE5f3XI/AAAAAAAAAoc/sv-B2Pu7pAg/s1600/IMG_3529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbxKE5f3XI/AAAAAAAAAoc/sv-B2Pu7pAg/s400/IMG_3529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2929. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are variously known as Galanthus woronowii ikariae, G. woronowii or just G. ikariae. Sod it, they're just Snowdrops (apologies to Galanthophiles everywhere who would doubtless find 50-odd blue irises a bit samey.</span></td></tr>
2930. </tbody></table><br />
2931. There are also a couple of Calochortus, one outside, one at the bottom of the stairs which is frost free but very dark so I have to bring it up to the living room each day. I need to find out when I scan start hardening it off; I don't want to make the mistake I made with Oxalis deppei which I had down there too and immediatelt put outside when one if the three corms broke through (the other two are biding their time but they have plenty of time to catch up.<br />
2932. <br />
2933. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2934. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbzIzRl0nI/AAAAAAAAAok/4lws0horGLQ/s1600/IMG_3519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbzIzRl0nI/AAAAAAAAAok/4lws0horGLQ/s400/IMG_3519.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2935. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Calochortus venustus, not sure of its hardiness - can anybody help me?</span></td></tr>
2936. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2937. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbzB4ziRgI/AAAAAAAAAog/nXCSFbTTUjY/s1600/IMG_3557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTbzB4ziRgI/AAAAAAAAAog/nXCSFbTTUjY/s400/IMG_3557.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
2938. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Cupido" is a very pale pink I just grabbed off the peg at a garden centre (although that's not the way to buy bulbs, always go to a specialist like van Meuwen or Parkers for your bulk buys and someone like Paul Christian or Jacques Amand for your treats.</span></td></tr>
2939. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3631/3422341131_72f169f7e0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3631/3422341131_72f169f7e0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2940. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/ProductImages/calochortus/Calochortus_venustus%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="http://www.easytogrowbulbs.com/ProductImages/calochortus/Calochortus_venustus%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
2941. Oh, and the tulips planted under the violas are making good progress, and that's also helped me to identify a pot that was squirreled but which is clearly red flowering dwarf "botanical - surely it's all botanical?" Tulips with red markings on the leaves. I don't think there will be any flowers due to overcrowding so once they've completed the cycle I'll find a nicer pot and spread them out. All my pots of bulbs have been totally neglected until this year, I even have one that I think might be Chionodoxa but as it has never flowered I can't say for sure. And there's a lovely old clay put I want to use for something stunning like Lilium Lophophorum that seems to have some old Narcissus coming u in it. I'll feed them fortnightly, let them die down and then find a more boring pot for them.<br />
2942. <br />
2943. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2944. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTb4b7VtxII/AAAAAAAAAoo/MM_bhLZ6xKU/s1600/IMG_3525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTb4b7VtxII/AAAAAAAAAoo/MM_bhLZ6xKU/s400/IMG_3525.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2945. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Definitely miniature Tulips. Akela, give it a survival badge, there must have been five max originally</span></td></tr>
2946. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2947. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTb5SeHJbrI/AAAAAAAAAos/EffZyZBpcsc/s1600/IMG_3527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTb5SeHJbrI/AAAAAAAAAos/EffZyZBpcsc/s400/IMG_3527.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2948. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They're not Tulips, Narcissus or any kind of Iridacae. They were pampered when I got them  but when they came up blind in their first year I lost interest. Unless one flowers next year after a good feed its bin time. I haven't exactly got the luxury of space up here. Especially after pricking out 29 Lewisias yesterday and taking two deliveries today, news of which I'll save  in case nothing else happens in the next few days</span></td></tr>
2949. </tbody></table><br />
2950. I've become obsessed with Gladioli species and other South African plants but equally confused by the seasons. All are ecxquisite but some flower in summer, some autumn and some winter. Apparently rain is the key. Only as the seasons are caused by the tilting of the planet and we're a lot higher up than Cape Town, it's not our summer, winter etc. And there is the added complication of a necessary dry period. I have bought six bulbs and countless seeds (I'm not including the European one's like Italicus or Papilio, beautiful as they are but I think I've mastered them) and I've had to do a lot of research on them and even then most of it is written by Americans which doesn't help much. The same applies to Moraeas (they look too much like Irises for me to ignore). Does anyone have any success with Gladioli species in the UK? I have limited glass cover (juno and regalia Irises) and an unheated polythene thing masquerading as a greenhouse. I am in central London's microclimate but if winters like the one just passed(ing) are to become the norm I will surely fail. Any advice would be great, even when to plant them is a mystery to me...<br />
2951. <br />
2952. Till we meet again, put a spring in your step for me<br />
2953. <br />
2954. The Plantboy<br />
2955. <br />
2956. PS Fritillaria whittallii is germinating. This excites me more than David Beckham with his shirt off. The label has blown away but by a process of elimination I have identified it as such (F. whittalli, not topless footballer&quot;. Will confirm in 3-4 years. Of course, not trusting my own brilliance, I bought a mature corm, although it&#39;s still sleeping.</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/01/frits-hit-sunny-bit-no-shit-to-wit.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TTXrpDdaI1I/AAAAAAAAAnw/A6ii_vxSbZI/s72-c/IMG_3592.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-2945278361797648578</guid><pubDate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:27:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-12T11:28:24.258-08:00</atom:updated><title>South African victory</title><description>&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
2957. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS3xxKRExRI/AAAAAAAAAm8/QwZxle8PbrQ/s1600/IMG_3491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS3xxKRExRI/AAAAAAAAAm8/QwZxle8PbrQ/s640/IMG_3491.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
2958. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've got some nice Hellebores out at the moment but no spotty ones</span></td></tr>
2959. </tbody></table>Morning! I took a few deliveries yesterday (fortunately I was in most of the day, thus avoiding that awful trip to the Post Office depot to stand in a queue with screaming babies and stinky dogs and angry, frustrated customers only to find the Royal Mail have lost a box of irreplacable first generation Cypripedium hybrids but don't seem that bothered about it and refer you to the world's most idiotically designed website with Gertrude or Agnes or whatever their virtual customer "assistant" (basically a bad search engine) is called. I had been there on Monday at 7am for two packages; one some goodies from Edrom nurseries, the other my monthly supply of contact lenses which, oddly, has fitted (fit?) through my letter slot every month for the last six years but on Friday apparently didn't, despite being exactly the same size as usual. And I'm pretty sure the letter box hasn't shrunk. Bloody idiots, as a social democrat I'm not often in favour of privatisation but the sooner we're rid of that idle bunch and their Hannibal Lecter people skills the better.<br />
2960. <br />
2961. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2962. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS30Pc5gyiI/AAAAAAAAAnA/OWQgBaLMrFY/s1600/IMG_3482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS30Pc5gyiI/AAAAAAAAAnA/OWQgBaLMrFY/s400/IMG_3482.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2963. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lilium candidum. Check my home-made woodland soil!</span></td></tr>
2964. </tbody></table><br />
2965. It's just as well I had the Lilium Candidum and Anemone nemorosa viridiflora from Edrom to put a smile on my face (now that I could see them in 20/20). The Lily is already well into growth with luscious green foliage about 10cm tall. It doesn't look like your typical example of the genus, ie there doesn't seem to be a single stem, more a collection of leaves. Perhaps it's just too young and will change as the weeks or, disappointingly, years, pass.<br />
2966. <br />
2967. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2968. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Moraea/Moraea_villosa_lp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Moraea/Moraea_villosa_lp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2969. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The stunning Moraea villosa. And it's mine! Only cost £17. Thanks to the Pacific Bulb Society for this picture. My bulbs are still resting</span></td></tr>
2970. </tbody></table><br />
2971. Then yesterday I got two little presents, one of which I hadn't been sure I'd ever see. On eBay I won five Gladioli and that blue Moraea villosa I'm always banging on about (there was quite a ding-ding battle for that but having seen a Google image of it I wasn't going to be beaten!) I had some concerns about the sellers, BulbsAfrica as they had no feedback and I was sending them sixty quid.<br />
2972. <br />
2973. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2974. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS32BcxPfaI/AAAAAAAAAnE/BA_qJAEqXiM/s1600/IMG_3452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS32BcxPfaI/AAAAAAAAAnE/BA_qJAEqXiM/s400/IMG_3452.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2975. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All the South African bulbs came individually bagged with a label and packed in dry vermiculte. Most also had several off-sets. Too good to be true? Yes, I'll probably get rain on it at the wrong time or something</span></td></tr>
2976. </tbody></table><br />
2977. But I needn't have worried: the bulbs arrived in good time with all the correct paperwork (not dug up from behind a rock in the Transvaal)  and are all dormant which is as it should be with many South African plants being winter flowering (our late summer), with each species individually wrapped in a paper bag with dry vermiculite, a label and most with a few free offsets (although all but G. Carmineus are tiny (but of flowering size, I'm assured) so a seive might be required to make sure I don't miss anything! The Moraea is similarly healthy. Some instructions would have helped, the only South African plant I've grown before being an Agapanthus (who buys a WHITE version of a plant famous for being so blue? A 15-year-old me being contrary, that's who. It should still be alive but the last time I was standing next to it it was under 2ft of snow).<br />
2978. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><br />
2979. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2980. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS34ZQtW2rI/AAAAAAAAAnM/CXlO5i1sdKU/s1600/IMG_3474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS34ZQtW2rI/AAAAAAAAAnM/CXlO5i1sdKU/s400/IMG_3474.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2981. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gladiolus carmineus, by far the biggest bulb of the lot</span></td></tr>
2982. </tbody></table><br />
2983. So sometimes it pays to take a punt on something you really want, although only if you can afford to put food on the table if it goes wrong!<br />
2984. <br />
2985. While we're on the subject of things from South Africa going wrong, the "greenhouse", despite being fully aired as often as practical has caught H1N1 or botrytis or some sort of pathogen (my weak area and why I'd be crap on Gardeners' Quesion Time). Suffice it to say that, even though I was keeping everyting as dry as possible so they were alive but not really growing, one of my Pelargonium species  seedlings, grown from a seed mix, got hairy and the leaves began to go. I removed it but by then it was rampant, leaving only the Penstemon cuttings in rude health (although the "tender" parent plants are about the healthiest things outside).<br />
2986. <br />
2987. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2988. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS35K656iEI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/jP6MHvJZl6I/s1600/IMG_3511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS35K656iEI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/jP6MHvJZl6I/s400/IMG_3511.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2989. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I never even got to know its name...</span></td></tr>
2990. </tbody></table><br />
2991. I've a larger species Pelargonium, P. dichondrifolium, which looks ok (it was a bit sad when the nurseryman sent it out so he very generously included a "Lady Plymouth" which is also doing ok. Pretty much everything else is on suicide watch and half a dozen blue Salvia cuttings that are looking less perky by the day (although I do have seedlings, it was such a stunning selection I wanted to do things asexually). Next winter I'll have to be more brutal and leave more space for the air to circulate.<br />
2992. <br />
2993. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2994. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS36E7-E00I/AAAAAAAAAnU/9aCmJvEgins/s1600/IMG_3513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS36E7-E00I/AAAAAAAAAnU/9aCmJvEgins/s400/IMG_3513.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
2995. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pelargonium dichondrifolium, off life-support and stable</span></td></tr>
2996. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
2997. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://geraniums.momcom.net/geraniums/dichondrifolium52009b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://geraniums.momcom.net/geraniums/dichondrifolium52009b.jpg" width="333" /></a></td></tr>
2998. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A mature specimen. There's something about the delicacy of the species pelargoniums that bit me at Kew and I have a delivery of 12 coming later (the nursery breeds them to order). Thanks to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">geraniums.momcom.net for the second image</span></span></td></tr>
2999. </tbody></table><br />
3000. I've had a few more deliveries, including the puzzling Iris maackii, which I grew from pukka Chilterns seed as a child and which turned out to be identicle in every superficial way to I. pseudacorus. But this one from Westcountry nurseries, which was fairly exploding with health out of its 10cm pot, in fact the first thing I did on unwrapping it was an emergency transfer to a 20cm pot. However, the label claims it is blue flowered, as I've seen mentioned several times before. All very confusing ... I will update you in April/May. The label claims the flowers are 4 inches across, so even if my contact lenses get lost in the Royal Mail's Large Hadron Collider, I should be able to tell the difference between blue and yellow.<br />
3001. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><br />
3002. </div><br />
3003. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3004. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS39RzRPNyI/AAAAAAAAAnY/bDsvHOSHjyE/s1600/IMG_3498.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS39RzRPNyI/AAAAAAAAAnY/bDsvHOSHjyE/s400/IMG_3498.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
3005. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SO CUTE! This is an almost actual size picture of Rhododendron keleticum. Well, almost</span></td></tr>
3006. </tbody></table><br />
3007. Also included was the world's smallest species of Rhododendron, keleticum, or R. calostrotum ssp. kelticum to give it its Sunday name, a tiny little thing with the kind of flowers a catalogue would describe as blue and everyone else as lilac. I have it in a dare-I-say-it vintage clay pot that was among a load I brought back from Scotland before they were thrown out (amazingly only 3 of a dozen broke - and my suitcase weighed less on the return trip, says something about my generosity or the weight of toys!). The flowers are disproportionately large (they have to be, the leaves are so wee!) making it even cooler.<br />
3008. <br />
3009. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.slacktopnurseries.co.uk/expression/images/gallery/plants/Rhododendron_keleticum_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="http://www.slacktopnurseries.co.uk/expression/images/gallery/plants/Rhododendron_keleticum_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
3010. <br />
3011. Now my collection is growing, it's getting harder and harder to buy Lilies as bulbs and plants, hence the pots of seeds stratifying out there. But I did get L. sargentiae as a potted bulb and something called a Bellingham hybrid which seems to be a rather gorgeous yellow-orange turk's cap with red flecks (makes a very refreshing change from black). Oddly, the hybrid Lilies are all bolting through but none of the species has made much of an appearance. There are a few green shoots if you brush a little compost out of the way but they don't seem to want to come out of hiding (mind you, neither would I in an English January).<br />
3012. <br />
3013. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3014. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS3-_fLdV0I/AAAAAAAAAnc/sx3AMoGtChY/s1600/IMG_3483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS3-_fLdV0I/AAAAAAAAAnc/sx3AMoGtChY/s400/IMG_3483.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3015. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Groovy slate, eh? It's there purely to prevent squirrel digging</span></td></tr>
3016. </tbody></table><br />
3017. Also in the parcel were a gorgeous little red primula called maximowiczi, a relative of that black one that is just about holding on, and Iris cristata, for no real reason other than it was there. Is my life-long love affair with irises cooling? Am I having an affair with Lilies? These and other questions will be forgotten by the time of my next post as I have some seeds to deal with, including one first found in a crevice in Tibet in 2003 (so that's a sure-fire success, ahem) and then write about. Speaking of which, this has got to be the first germination of the year. Sown on the 1st, noticed it today. It's only Lupinus versicolor.<br />
3018. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/01/south-african-victory.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TS3xxKRExRI/AAAAAAAAAm8/QwZxle8PbrQ/s72-c/IMG_3491.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-9175069598327646877</guid><pubDate>Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:13:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-10T02:30:36.909-08:00</atom:updated><title>The Gift of Life, and When Do I Give It?</title><description>&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
3019. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoj6skvV7I/AAAAAAAAAm0/KON2a4pU5cQ/s1600/IMG_3290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoj6skvV7I/AAAAAAAAAm0/KON2a4pU5cQ/s400/IMG_3290.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3020. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's Sunday and that means market day in Columbia Road, London, E2. It was strangely quiet today  so I took a few snaps. Nice Hellebores but none of the spotty ones I'm willing to swap a kidney for.</td></tr>
3021. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3022. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSojZZmapJI/AAAAAAAAAmw/s44B4tM0nX4/s1600/IMG_3288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSojZZmapJI/AAAAAAAAAmw/s44B4tM0nX4/s400/IMG_3288.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3023. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSokZqxKFmI/AAAAAAAAAm4/hODYf1TKl_s/s1600/IMG_3291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSokZqxKFmI/AAAAAAAAAm4/hODYf1TKl_s/s400/IMG_3291.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></td></tr>
3024. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
3025. </span></span></div><br />
3026. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Narcissus/Narcissus_serotinus/Narcissus_serotinus5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Narcissus/Narcissus_serotinus/Narcissus_serotinus5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
3027. Hello, sorry it's been a while but there's actually been some work to do up here on the roof, some good, some bad.<br />
3028. My main success story broke only yesterday as I was checking bulb pots in the rain and, half-heartedly picking up a pot of Narcissus serotinus, I spotted first one little green blade with a black sed pod on the top and then another and then began to lose count. Great news because it gives the seedlings the longest possible time to form bulbs during their growing season. The plant itself is a gorgeous, incredibly dainty little thing with starry white petals with tiny orange or yellow cups and thin, grassy foliage.<br />
3029. <br />
3030. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3031. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoLeVBmtzI/AAAAAAAAAls/JV-mYKXV4fg/s1600/IMG_3307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoLeVBmtzI/AAAAAAAAAls/JV-mYKXV4fg/s400/IMG_3307.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3032. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see why I missed them for a few days but now they are abundant and I have that feeling that only comes with successfully germinating something you didn't think was really going to happen</td></tr>
3033. </tbody></table>I have no way of germinating seed at the good, old 18-21C (I have the propagator but there's only one place in the house where it would get enough light and I'm not allowed to put it there - one man's daily thrill is another's heated plastic box full of germinating seeds) so my germination tactic for everything is to use the weather to replicate as far as possible the required conditions.<br />
3034. <br />
3035. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3036. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/46591644_763493ba71.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/46591644_763493ba71.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3037. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seeds with a tough shell will germinate faster if soaked overnight or very carefully nicked with a sharp blade. I always go for the former and it is extremely successful with plants such as Iris pseudacorus (the native yellow flag) and sweet peas</td></tr>
3038. </tbody></table><br />
3039. I often don't know these but find that if you follow a few basic rules, you stand a good chance of success, especially if you aren't in a hurry. Big seeds (SweetPeas, Flag Iris) need the hard outer coating loosened, a process known as scarification and this can be done in several ways, by far the safest being a good 24-48 hour soaking in water. The other option involves a steady hand, a very sharp knife and intimate knowledge of the inside of the seed. You're not looking to remove the seed coating, just nick it enough to allow the exchange of liquid and gases. The former method will take longer because it only softens the coat but it there's not risk to the embryo so It's my preferred option, although having said that I recently sowed some enormous seeds of Iris viriginica var. shrevei that were big enough to try option two fairly safely. The proof will be green and sword-like! Most seeds are far too small for this of course and if you're planting a forest, life is too short: nature doesn't have a Stanley knife.<br />
3040. The other process many seeds need to go through is stratification which varies with the genus and species but essentially it's recreating winter to fool the seed into thinking that it's spring. Most people do this with all manner of complicated behaviour involving bags of damp peat or vermiculite and the bottom of the fridge. What I tend to do to avoid this is sow the seed in autumn or winter. <br />
3041. Most seeds "need" cold, warm, warmer. Or variations thereof. But get the basics right and you have a better than 50/50 chance, even with "difficult" seed.<br />
3042. If the seeds come with instructions then obviously follow them. However, when you get to the level of sees swapping and buying envelopes of bizarre looking things from Namibia with only then name on the envelope, you need to follow a few basics. Use a suitable container; if you have lots of seeds use a big tray so they aren't crowded and you can prick them out without damaging others. Use a suitable compost, it's up to you if you go with peat (naughty!) or soil-based or one of the rapidly-improving peat-free varieties. Make sure it has some food in it, the amount being dependent on how long you expect the plants to be in it. Something like bedding pants are only going to be in a for a few months but something more ambitious such as Lilies or tree saplings would benefit from a handful of slow-release granules or blood, fish and bone. This won't last forever so an all-purpose liquid feed will be needed too.<br />
3043. <br />
3044. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3045. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoO7eOe5uI/AAAAAAAAAlw/RuT9beDzmv8/s1600/IMG_3298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoO7eOe5uI/AAAAAAAAAlw/RuT9beDzmv8/s400/IMG_3298.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3046. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Despite being sown in the autumn, these Lily seedlings were able to form "true" leaves and therefore, we can surmise, a tiny little bulb to keep it going for a short time but regular feeding (fortnightly in the growing season) will help to form a bulb of flowering size a year or two earlier than one left to fend for itself. Lilies vary hugely in the speed with which they attain maturity but good feeding can turn one of these little beauties into a 2m stunner in five years.</td></tr>
3047. </tbody></table><br />
3048. So, you've chosen your pot/tray and medium in accordance with what you're growing. If you have big seeds that will be in the pot a while you'll probably want to sow singly and at least 2cm deep, otherwise all the roots are going to get tangled. If it's something like Meconopsis or Primulas a large tray is best. Get the sowing surface as flat as you can (you can buy tampers for this but frankly, if you can't use your initiative and find something flat in the house or garden you don't deserve gorgeous drifts of blue in your garden). I tend to use the bottom of a large pot.<br />
3049. Sowing tiny seed such as poppies is fraught with danger: make sure it's not windy or your neighbour will wonder why they have green foxgloves in their garden. The BBC's expert plantswoman Carol Klein recommends mixing the seed with a little sharp sand before filling your left (or right if left-handed) palm with the mix and using the natural groove the palm forms to tap the seed on to the surface. This way you can see where you've been and sow thinly which will make life so much easier them it come to pricking out. There's no need to cover such small seed: take a watering can with the rose facing up and start pouring somewhere harmless, then when you have a  steady flow pass it over your seed tray a few times. This will be enough to settle the seed in. DON'T FORGET TO LABEL with the name and date, so you can make adjustments next year if needed.<br />
3050. With medium-sized seeds big enough to manipulate such as Lilies or Irises, use a pot or tray depending on how long you plan to keep them there and how many you have. With both I use a 4-5in squat pot (sounds like something you'd take to Glastonbury) and fill to 1cm from the top with a mix of compost, vermiculite, feed granules and, depending on the lily, some orchid compost which is ideal for recreating a woodland root-run. The Lily seeds are flat so once sown easy to push round with the sharp end of the label to give them all a bit of room because I leave them in for two years so they can build up a big enough bulblet to handle and pot up in a 10cm pot. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Once the seeds are distributed to your satisfaction,  you can either use a garden sieve to cover with compost but not lumps, or fill the the brim with perlite, or both. Irises are just the same but I soak them for a day or two (which makes them stick together so the label is essential for distribution or you'll get something akin to frogspawn. Push them just into the compost and cover, as with the Lilies.<br />
3051. Do this in the autumn (fall) and you'll probably get a decent showing before winter. Both my mixed Lily hybrids and Iris Douglasiana hybrids were treated in exactly this way and some of the Lilies managed true leaves before things got too cold (although they're all still in leaf, some yellower than others) and the Irises look great.<br />
3052. <br />
3053. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3054. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoR8PZWh8I/AAAAAAAAAl0/wDPsgYt2h14/s1600/IMG_3303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoR8PZWh8I/AAAAAAAAAl0/wDPsgYt2h14/s400/IMG_3303.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3055. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Of course this pot of Iris douglasiana contradicts everything I said about 5-inch pots etc but I wasn't wrong when I said they look great. And, more importantly, still germinating with daytime temperatures nudging 10C on a good day</td></tr>
3056. </tbody></table><br />
3057. Apart from the Narcissus, other genera to have germinated during this winter are Lewsias, Gladioli, Meconopsis, Primulas (of the candelabra sort), Rhododenrons (which damped off, a lesson learned), Digitalis, Clematis, and very rare Delphinium.<br />
3058. <br />
3059. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3060. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoTOcJA7VI/AAAAAAAAAl4/pWol48BqqaI/s1600/IMG_3378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoTOcJA7VI/AAAAAAAAAl4/pWol48BqqaI/s400/IMG_3378.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3061. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lewisia Coytledon "Sunset Strain". Another of those genera that fills this grower with pride when he manages to grow it from seed. And take such a great photo of it!</td></tr>
3062. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3063. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoUne9zv9I/AAAAAAAAAl8/Y4GrqHpEw9w/s1600/IMG_3362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoUne9zv9I/AAAAAAAAAl8/Y4GrqHpEw9w/s400/IMG_3362.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3064. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sublime Gladiolus tristis. See above for self-esteem boost, below to see into the future. I should thin these out but will probably leave them in there for two years before moving them on to individual pots, possibly their permanent home.</td></tr>
3065. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3066. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_tristis_a2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_tristis_a2.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
3067. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum! (Thanks to the Pacific Bulb Society)</td></tr>
3068. </tbody></table><br />
3069. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3070. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoWqB47KbI/AAAAAAAAAmA/ie1o7R7TDTE/s1600/IMG_3373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoWqB47KbI/AAAAAAAAAmA/ie1o7R7TDTE/s400/IMG_3373.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3071. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delphinium zalil from Afghanistan, the only yellow species I'm aware of. I've sown D. nudicaule, with red flowers. I'm hoping to be the first to produce an orange!</td></tr>
3072. </tbody></table><br />
3073. So what I'm basically saying is, (the Gladioli is an anomanly) unless it's a pitcher plant from a previously uncharted island off Kalimantan, or not hardy, or has unusual dormacy - and even then it's worth a go - is sow them in autumn or winter and if the autumn ones come up, bonus! If they don't, they'll get a thorough stratification over winter and should germinate in spring. It's not foolproof but it saves a hell of a lot of mucking about with bags of damp peat net to your lettuce.<br />
3074. I've planted a huge amount of species (not seed because everyone except Chilterns only seem to do 5 for £2.<br />
3075. Hardiness is something I'm having a real issue with at the moment, it being January and me being keen to get going with my South African (and similar) seeds. I'm assuming they don't need a cold spell to germinate as, while I know it can be cold at night in such parts, it's never frosty or anything. I have read about a need for big swings in temperature, so perhaps that's their version of stratification? Well, it's not something I can replicate so I'm just going to have to trust to luck. The propagator is not an option so I have to wait until weather warms up, I suppose and try them outside, although with so few seeds of most - literally five - I'll have to wear my lucky pants when I sow them!<br />
3076. It's confusing because the so-called Spider Iris (not an Iris at all) Ferraria ferrariola is rumoured to be hardy to -10C but I've no idea at what temperature they might germinate and, having trawled the web, I don't think anyone outside of Kew would.<br />
3077. <br />
3078. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3079. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/87/242517290_9075292631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/87/242517290_9075292631.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3080. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ferraria Ferrariola or "Spider Iris". I have five seeds. The plant is allegedly hardy to -10C but I am sceptical. Do I sow now and risk losing all five or wait?</td></tr>
3081. </tbody></table><br />
3082. I suppose I'll just have to be patient and enjoy the Lilies' progress, all the bulbous Irises ( and Frits, if any other than affinis are alive. Oh, and the dozen Rhodies I've sneaked past the censor.<br />
3083. <br />
3084. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3085. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoZUdWT3KI/AAAAAAAAAmI/0vr2n_ttiVY/s1600/IMG_3295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoZUdWT3KI/AAAAAAAAAmI/0vr2n_ttiVY/s400/IMG_3295.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3086. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calochortus venustus has been sitting at the bottom of the stairs, draughty but frost-free. It should look like this:</td></tr>
3087. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://arnica.csustan.edu/photos/800/Calochortus_venustus_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://arnica.csustan.edu/photos/800/Calochortus_venustus_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
3088. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3089. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoaimOq0bI/AAAAAAAAAmM/euMROOfjRkw/s1600/IMG_3326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoaimOq0bI/AAAAAAAAAmM/euMROOfjRkw/s400/IMG_3326.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3090. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One for the Galanthophiles, Galanthus woronowii syn. ikariae</td></tr>
3091. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3092. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dekeltenhof.nl/fotos/klein/bol/Galanthus%20woronowii(ikariae)%20%202005%20048-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.dekeltenhof.nl/fotos/klein/bol/Galanthus%20woronowii(ikariae)%20%202005%20048-.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3093. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No, I don't really get it either but I'm not going to turn down a pot of bulbs on the windowsill!</td></tr>
3094. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
3095. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSodQz-U_mI/AAAAAAAAAmY/B-q6Mg2sSBg/s1600/IMG_3328.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSodQz-U_mI/AAAAAAAAAmY/B-q6Mg2sSBg/s400/IMG_3328.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3096. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At last I have my own Iris "Katharine Hodgkin"! Obviously there are more than one, it's just that this one reached sunlight first!<br />
3097. <br />
3098. <br />
3099. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/northumberlanddiary/sizedIris%20Katherine%20Hodgkin1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/northumberlanddiary/sizedIris%20Katherine%20Hodgkin1218.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3100. </div><br />
3101. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And most importantly of all, all my junos are up and at it except, ironically, bucharica, the easiest of the most diffucult! Here are svetlanae, zenidae, orchiodes and aucheri, which I'm growing in the open (largely for reasons of space).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3102. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSofxCStWoI/AAAAAAAAAmc/w8bjggdII8o/s1600/IMG_3345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSofxCStWoI/AAAAAAAAAmc/w8bjggdII8o/s400/IMG_3345.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3103. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSogeoDh2hI/AAAAAAAAAmg/eHqOber9qLU/s1600/IMG_3351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSogeoDh2hI/AAAAAAAAAmg/eHqOber9qLU/s400/IMG_3351.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3104. </span></div><br />
3105. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSohBmD0YII/AAAAAAAAAmk/-nj7r_lWXIQ/s1600/IMG_3354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSohBmD0YII/AAAAAAAAAmk/-nj7r_lWXIQ/s400/IMG_3354.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3106. </div><br />
3107. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoh5u4WWnI/AAAAAAAAAms/Hu2ZqRZByi8/s1600/IMG_3338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoh5u4WWnI/AAAAAAAAAms/Hu2ZqRZByi8/s400/IMG_3338.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3108. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3109. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Oh, and nothing from cycloglossa yet. Hopefully next time I'll have more than affinis through as far as the Fritillaria go and all green shoots gratefully received. Good luck with your own seeds and bulbs and patience is a virtue. Not one I can get a handle on but...</span></div></td></tr>
3110. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
3111. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/01/latest.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TSoj6skvV7I/AAAAAAAAAm0/KON2a4pU5cQ/s72-c/IMG_3290.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-6033064368784244671</guid><pubDate>Sat, 01 Jan 2011 20:15:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-02T12:05:20.324-08:00</atom:updated><title>après la neige</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;I&#39;m a vegetarian who gives Christmas presents (unwanted I&#39;m sure but tough) of SSPCA hedgehog homes and &lt;u&gt;RED squirrel sanctuaries. &lt;/u&gt;I abhore the Tory hunting, shooting and drinking brigade (actually I just abhore Tories) &amp;nbsp;but if they could kill (reasonably humanely but don&#39;t knock yourselves out) the introduced grey sqirrel I would gladly buy them an a stiff brandy.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
3112. Now that the pots have thawed out, he or she is free to go looking for lilies, although  his sense of smell is rubbish because it goes through EVERYTHING else first. My tray of Meconopsis betonicifolia "Hensol Violet" and M. Grandis looks like someone's buildinga swimming pool for fruit flies in it.<br />
3113. <br />
3114. It's out of focus to spare you the real horror as some viewers may find the follwing scenes offensive.<br />
3115. <br />
3116. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3117. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8zYJuXcpI/AAAAAAAAAkc/-qnU1LCSrIA/s1600/IMG_3284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8zYJuXcpI/AAAAAAAAAkc/-qnU1LCSrIA/s320/IMG_3284.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
3118. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where once there were many promising seedlings, with adult leaves, there is now damp cpompost and perlite.,</td></tr>
3119. </tbody></table><br />
3120. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3121. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8z_gNjnUI/AAAAAAAAAkg/FuNst8sm32c/s1600/IMG_3281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8z_gNjnUI/AAAAAAAAAkg/FuNst8sm32c/s400/IMG_3281.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3122. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not as if they even eat what they find (I've no idea what this is other than a bulb that puts up leaves every year, doesn't flower, and dies back. So I thought if it had a bit more room it might help. I hadn't taken vermin into account. I wouldn't mind so much, actually, on second thoughts, I would, mind if they ate anything but they are only after Lilies, And probably Nomocharis cos they're beautiful and expensicve which has led to some novel means of protection!</td></tr>
3123. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3124. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR85Xp0zEZI/AAAAAAAAAkk/y9NPqNxLwhI/s1600/IMG_3238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR85Xp0zEZI/AAAAAAAAAkk/y9NPqNxLwhI/s400/IMG_3238.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3125. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fez's are actually coir pots I bought in a moment of environmental madness. They do the  job though (each is sitting on a pot of Lilies, You can also see my plan for supporting the big, blousy hybrids I bought in a daze from de Jager or Van Meuwen. They do look rather splendid actually in the catalogue so hopefuly those green rings which rise up the cane with the growth will work with nature to keept them looking good. I''m going the underplant with Tropaeolum majus "Whirlybird", a semi-double which will take over once the Lilies pass and keep going until the first frosts. It will also require watering morning, noon and night.<br />
3126. <br />
3127. </td></tr>
3128. </tbody></table><br />
3129. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3130. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR87pX14WTI/AAAAAAAAAko/QI0nq3u8458/s1600/IMG_3287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR87pX14WTI/AAAAAAAAAko/QI0nq3u8458/s400/IMG_3287.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3131. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I managed to get this cane in without spearing the bulb in the middle ( think) and you can see how the support works, a bit more subtle than other methods but possibly useless when trying to support a 2m blaze of colour. You can't really see from this pic but the squirrel has been here too yet the shoots remain untouched and he'd have to go 6in down the get at a bulb.</td></tr>
3132. </tbody></table>A lot of seedlings that were protected from rodents (are they rodents? Look like them) have carried on growing on the rare days when the temperature has passed 7C (the heat plants require to do their thing). I've also sown a lot in the last few weeks and inserted them into Tesco freezer bags, just the right size! The idea is that this gives those that require stratification (a cold spell) to germinate will get it, hopefully, unless this grey, warm (in relative terms) carried on till March. Many species I have no idea what I'm doing but I find that actually, if you sow them, lightly cover them and are prepared to wait, most things will reward you. My Iris douglasiana hybrids and, hearteningly, as I've many other species of the genus to sow, the glorious Gladiolus tristis have just carried on through and the Lewisia Cotyledon hybrids have actually increased, despite my dreadful seed distribution!<br />
3133. <br />
3134. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3135. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8_3-9BJXI/AAAAAAAAAks/2XCRuzR-okU/s1600/IMG_3280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8_3-9BJXI/AAAAAAAAAks/2XCRuzR-okU/s400/IMG_3280.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3136. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iris douglasiana hybrids lookin' good!</td></tr>
3137. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3138. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9AVWPYD4I/AAAAAAAAAkw/xlKroR82kSI/s1600/IMG_3279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9AVWPYD4I/AAAAAAAAAkw/xlKroR82kSI/s400/IMG_3279.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3139. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gladiolus tristis, by the hundred!</td></tr>
3140. </tbody></table><br />
3141. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3142. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9BKMYIXOI/AAAAAAAAAk0/9Ac5Vw38Zr0/s1600/IMG_3249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9BKMYIXOI/AAAAAAAAAk0/9Ac5Vw38Zr0/s400/IMG_3249.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3143. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lewisia Cotyledon "Sunset Strain" hybrids doing a great job</td></tr>
3144. </tbody></table>I have a new plan to try to cram more species into my tiny space and it involves something sold to me as a srawberry planter but there's no laws that says you can't fill it with Primulas, Irises, Rhododendrons, Corydalis, Tricyrtis and, when it warms up a bit, the centrepiece: Tropaeolum incisum.<br />
3145. <br />
3146. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3147. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9Dyftow1I/AAAAAAAAAk8/hQX2UBXRW00/s1600/IMG_3242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9Dyftow1I/AAAAAAAAAk8/hQX2UBXRW00/s400/IMG_3242.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
3148. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, it's not very pretty at the moment but it has just been planted up specimens right in the middle of their hibernation! When the Primula waltonii, Iris lacustris and collettii, Corydalis flexuosa etc settle in and bulk up, the plastic will less obvious. Especially when the the mini Rhodies on the top layer (williamsianum, "Wee Bee" and "Snow Lady" are joined by my (almost) literal crowning glory. So with this tumbling down fron the centre of the top after most of the other inhabitants have done thing.<br />
3149. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
3150. </span></span></span></td></tr>
3151. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3152. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pitcairnalpines.co.uk/ekmps/shops/pitcairnalpines/images/tropaeolum-incisum-%5B2%5D-980-p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.pitcairnalpines.co.uk/ekmps/shops/pitcairnalpines/images/tropaeolum-incisum-%5B2%5D-980-p.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
3153. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tropaeolum incisum. Bit more specieal than your average  nasturtium!<br />
3154. <br />
3155. </td></tr>
3156. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3157. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9I4S9rZAI/AAAAAAAAAlA/Ff6ez8wAGpQ/s1600/IMG_3256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9I4S9rZAI/AAAAAAAAAlA/Ff6ez8wAGpQ/s400/IMG_3256.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3158. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like this at the moment, all snug in the greenhouse (although being from the high Andes it is meant to be hardy but I wasn't taking any chances with the winter's unpredictability!<br />
3159. <br />
3160. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rhododendron.org/images/db/williamsianum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://www.rhododendron.org/images/db/williamsianum.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
3161. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rhododendrons.com/sales/images/m/1899_flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.rhododendrons.com/sales/images/m/1899_flower.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
3162. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.edrom-nurseries.co.uk/shop/pc/catalog/Rhododendron-Snow-Lady_gen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://www.edrom-nurseries.co.uk/shop/pc/catalog/Rhododendron-Snow-Lady_gen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In a few years the Rhododendrons will have out-grown their current home, it remains to be seen whether the Tropaelom is still with us, we'll just ahve to wait and see!.<br />
3163. <br />
3164. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9aB63V1nI/AAAAAAAAAlE/g0ypVTLxhEM/s1600/IMG_3244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9aB63V1nI/AAAAAAAAAlE/g0ypVTLxhEM/s400/IMG_3244.jpg" width="261" /></a></div>That's about half the seeds planted and protected from the squirrels<br />
3165. <br />
3166. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And most of the junos are showing signs of life. Aucheri and bucharica were left outside over the winter, in very well-drained conditions and aucheri  has broken through the papery protection at the growth tip. Bucharica is a bit slower but was only planted a bout 6 weeks ago.</span><br />
3167. <br />
3168. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9dCMXHj8I/AAAAAAAAAlM/o6MOrTtsmIg/s1600/IMG_3268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9dCMXHj8I/AAAAAAAAAlM/o6MOrTtsmIg/s320/IMG_3268.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span>The juno Iris Zenaidae can clearly be seen making its move, which will mean a regular soaking (it's under cover) and plenty of food with an eye on next year's harvest. What you really want is a bulblet or two and the main bulb to swell too, and then it might llok something like this:<br />
3169. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Iris/Iris_zenaidae_jmck_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Iris/Iris_zenaidae_jmck_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
3170. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9cx0GuNEI/AAAAAAAAAlI/tr0rmByK09Q/s1600/IMG_3263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9cx0GuNEI/AAAAAAAAAlI/tr0rmByK09Q/s320/IMG_3263.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.5px;"> </span></div>Iris Svetlanae is also making a move, with two spikes: this could be good news, ie two sets of golden yellow blooms, or bad news: two smaller bulbs that most likely won't flower but will also receive copious feeding (tomatoe food is recommended) without overdoing it and allowing salts to build up in the compost. Oh, It should look like this:<br />
3171. <br />
3172. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/1876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/1876.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>Other green popping up: Iris danfordiae (slowly) and Notholoirion thomsoniana (actually it's been up for months).<br />
3173. <br />
3174. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9njflBTtI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/tIilTM83-NA/s1600/IMG_3274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9njflBTtI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/tIilTM83-NA/s320/IMG_3274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
3175. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9oIZnkowI/AAAAAAAAAlU/qsZZBy7aftQ/s1600/IMG_3262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR9oIZnkowI/AAAAAAAAAlU/qsZZBy7aftQ/s320/IMG_3262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
3176. <br />
3177. <br />
3178. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After the squirrel put paid to my hope of raising Lilium canadense from seed by ploughing the pot I managed to order one on the internet. As well as one or two more... </span><br />
3179. <div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3180. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.senecahillperennials.com/uploads/images/plant_l-o/lilium_canadense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.senecahillperennials.com/uploads/images/plant_l-o/lilium_canadense.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L. Canadense</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3181. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/pumilum%20Yellow%20Bunting1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="333" src="http://www.the-genus-lilium.com/images/Lilium/pumilum%20Yellow%20Bunting1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L. pumilum "Yellow Bunting"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
3182. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3183. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/38656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/38656.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">L. sachalinensis RBS0235</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3184. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Lilium/Lilium_leuc_cent/Lilium_leuc_cent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Lilium/Lilium_leuc_cent/Lilium_leuc_cent.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div>L. aff.  callosum<br />
3185. <br />
3186. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.epimedium.be/foto's%20planten/bloembollen/Lilium%20taliense1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.epimedium.be/foto's%20planten/bloembollen/Lilium%20taliense1.jpg" width="272" /></a></div>L. taliense<br />
3187. <br />
3188. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gtpoulsen.dk/Lilium%20speciosum%20var%20album%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.gtpoulsen.dk/Lilium%20speciosum%20var%20album%201.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>Lilium speciosum<br />
3189. <br />
3190. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20xanthellum%20var.%20luteum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20xanthellum%20var.%20luteum.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>L. xanthellum var. luteum<br />
3191. <br />
3192. <br />
3193. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And that's not everything but it's all the Lilies, I think, cos we're getting quite obscure now. And it means I'll have a few surprises for you later in the year!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3194. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Happy New Year, happy hoeing and remember: if you haven't planted your snowdrops yet, don't bother, you're months too late</span></div><br />
3195. <br />
3196. <br />
3197. </td></tr>
3198. &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2011/01/apres-la-neige.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TR8zYJuXcpI/AAAAAAAAAkc/-qnU1LCSrIA/s72-c/IMG_3284.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-5466409055635884997</guid><pubDate>Sun, 26 Dec 2010 21:42:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-12-30T14:00:22.248-08:00</atom:updated><title>This Used to be My Playground part 2, now with added Lilies</title><description>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-family: &#39;Helvetica Neue&#39;, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
3199. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3200. </span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3201. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRUMhVLAJwI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/C5cISdBcdRA/s1600/IMG_3219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRUMhVLAJwI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/C5cISdBcdRA/s400/IMG_3219.JPG" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3202. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, at least it looks like a Himalayan scene...</span><br />
3203. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3204. </span><br />
3205. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome back to part two of what I suppose is my end-of-year report on the roof garden. Year one was just a case of getting some colour going with Pelargoniums, Nasturtiums and Petunias plus a few gems but next year should be all about Lilies, Irises and Primulas, fulfilling the Himalayan/Caucasus remit rather better than the ton of South African bulbs and seed in Part 1.</span></span></div></td></tr>
3206. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3207. </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all Meconopsis: I have two pots of betonicifolia, seedlings (if the squirrel has left me any) of "Hensol Violet" and grandis a pot of integrifolia seeds with one seedling so far, and mature plants of superba and napaulensis.</span><br />
3208. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3209. </span><br />
3210. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm 500 miles away so I can't show you the real things, which will look awful anyway, but you know betonicifolia:</span><br />
3211. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3212. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41fMR4mzr5L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="305" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41fMR4mzr5L.jpg" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3213. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The magical, mystical but not mythical Blue Poppy, M. betonicifolia</span></td></tr>
3214. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3215. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4659186701_6fc0d2328f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4659186701_6fc0d2328f.jpg" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3216. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The "Hensol Violet" strain of the above. Quite why I chose to grow it from seed instead of the real blue one I have no idea but I quickly bought a couple of plants of the blue fella. Plus the Hensol seedlings have four leaves and that's the one or two that survived the squirrel's hunt for lilies. Grandis was in the same tray (divided by a bit of cane). It should look like this:</span></td></tr>
3217. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3218. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flora-photography.co.uk/images/blue%20poppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.flora-photography.co.uk/images/blue%20poppy.jpg" width="300" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3219. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M. grandis: like betonicifolia but bigger and more likely to die after flowering</span><br />
3220. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3221. </span></td></tr>
3222. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3223. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://arboretum.harvard.edu/tibet/images/meconopsis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://arboretum.harvard.edu/tibet/images/meconopsis.jpg" width="260" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3224. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M. integrifolia</span><br />
3225. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3226. </span></td></tr>
3227. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3228. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kLbvjXvBL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="363" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kLbvjXvBL.jpg" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3229. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M. Superba, nice rosettes too. Sow seeds every year cos it flowers and then dies</span><br />
3230. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3231. </span></td></tr>
3232. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3233. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.abc.se/~m8449/Foto10/Meconopsis_napaulensis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.abc.se/~m8449/Foto10/Meconopsis_napaulensis.jpg" width="390" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3234. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M. Napaulensis. Also comes in yellow, blue, reds of all shades and probably white too. Forms stunning silky-haired rosette up to 3ft across before throwing up a metre-high flower spike and dying on you</span></td></tr>
3235. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3236. </span><br />
3237. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I'm going to bore you to death with Lilies and their close cousins, the Notholirion and Nomocharis. About half my lilies are seeds, some sown some unsown, the rest bulbs, almost all of flowering size.</span><br />
3238. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3239. </span><br />
3240. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's get the Notholirions out of the way first: a very easy and rewarding genus that clump up well and aren't fussy about situation.</span><br />
3241. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3242. </span><br />
3243. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3244. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.danielwinkler.com/f9e139a0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.danielwinkler.com/f9e139a0.jpg" width="267" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3245. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N. bulbiferum © Daniel Winkler</span></td></tr>
3246. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3247. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4530122455_f1f5400ec9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="304" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4530122455_f1f5400ec9.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3248. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N. thomsonianum, which sends up leaves in October. They don't seem at all bothered by the cold snaps, in fact they just keep growing. © Brian Collins on Flickr</span></td></tr>
3249. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are, in fact, beautiful pants, forming basal rosettes and sending up a 3f-4ft spike of lilac Lily-like flowers that are somewhat smaller than a Lily. That plant will then die (I can see a theme emerging) but it will leave behind plenty of bulblets which will flower in 1-3 years.</span><br />
3250. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3251. </span><br />
3252. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Nomocharis is a thing of enormous beauty and great variation and bloody hard to get hold of. I have N. aperta, N. Parthandina and N. mairei, the mose common ones.</span><br />
3253. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3254. </span><br />
3255. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3256. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1218/561953358_1509fa032b.jpg?v=0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1218/561953358_1509fa032b.jpg?v=0" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3257. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N.aperta. There is no guarantee my bulb will look anything like this, except for the general pink, spotty theme</span><br />
3258. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3259. </span></td></tr>
3260. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3261. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/madge/linn_nomocharis_pardanthina/600x/linn_nomocharis_pardanthina_600x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.gardenvisit.com/assets/madge/linn_nomocharis_pardanthina/600x/linn_nomocharis_pardanthina_600x.jpg" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3262. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N.pardanthina. Again, the spotting on my bulb is entirely random (and actually they've all been grown so close to each other in nurseries that I'm pretty sure none  is pure-bred anyway. Only seed from the wild could guarantee clean genes, and even then only if it had been growing far from any other species</span><br />
3263. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3264. </span></td></tr>
3265. </tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3266. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://zrehacek.myplus.org/os/obrN/Nomoch_mairei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://zrehacek.myplus.org/os/obrN/Nomoch_mairei.jpg" width="400" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3267. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">N. mairei. It's good to see it so happy in a pot as that's what mine will be growing in, the roof having no soil. Also good to see plenty of offsets.</span><br />
3268. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3269. </span><br />
3270. <div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Previously called Lilium giganteum but now known as Cardiocrinum giganteum is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever bought. I have C. giganteum yunnanense, which is in a pot which should hopefully keep the size down because in the wild, or in the woods at Glendoick Gardens near Perth (Scotland, not Australia) where I got it and have seen it flowering in stunning drifts in the shade of beeches and surrounded by just-passed Rhododendrons it would grow to some 3m, flower and yep, you guessed it, die. Fortunately it too will leave little presents which you can pot up or plant in a shaded nursery bed and they will flower quite quickly. The plant also makes HEAPS of seed. Each pod has at least 100 in it, sow in winter, with back and wait for seven years (really). Make sure the tips of the bulbs are above the soil or THEY WILL ROT. </span></span></div></td></tr>
3271. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3272. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3273. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://plantdatabase.co.uk/plant_imgs/size3/cardiocrinum_giganteum_var_yunnanense_I17298P95775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://plantdatabase.co.uk/plant_imgs/size3/cardiocrinum_giganteum_var_yunnanense_I17298P95775.jpg" width="263" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3274. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could do with a person in it to show just how tall it is</span><br />
3275. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3276. </span><br />
3277. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3278. </span></td></tr>
3279. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, having put it off, here we go with the actual Lily Lilies. I'm not going to split them by geography, type, or any other criteria, I'm just going to go for it. Where I have seed but no plant yet, I will put a little (S) and where I have the real deal, I will put a happy smiley face. No I won't , I'll put a (B). I'm also not going to include hybrids other than first generation, even though the dirty great containers of five huge bulbs that should get to 2m (I have a plan for support) and provide much of the structure of the roof. And one's called Tiger Woods, which is quite funny. Presumably it will damage the metal container on it's way up and then cross-polinate with all the other Lilies, except the other four in its pot before disappearing for six months and then never really reaching the previous height. Ha, Ha.</span><br />
3280. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3281. </span><br />
3282. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3283. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Lilium_amoenum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Lilium_amoenum.jpg" width="300" /></span></span></a></td></tr>
3284. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium amoenum: a rare and elusive species with a str ongly fragrant flower, the price being one flower per bulb. Native to Yunnan, China, at around 2,000m. Thought lost to cultivation in 1938 when the lsat known plant died at Bodnant Gardens but reappeared in the late 1990s so stocks are still low which is why I paid so flipping much for 2 of them on eBay! (B)</span><br />
3285. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3286. </span><br />
3287. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3288. </span><br />
3289. <br />
3290. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3291. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3292. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3293. </span></div></td></tr>
3294. </tbody></table><br />
3295. <div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></span></div><div style="font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.16667px;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.16667px;"></span><br />
3296. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9.16667px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3297. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://georgiavines.com/optimgs/seeds/unusual/liliumamabileluluteum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://georgiavines.com/optimgs/seeds/unusual/liliumamabileluluteum.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="350" /></span></span></a></div></td></tr>
3298. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium Amabile var. Luteum is from Korea and is usually orange but there are so many orange turk's caps  I went for the yellow. Can reach 4ft on slender stems that carry 6-8 well-spaced blooms. It increases quickly from stem bulblets, my favourite kind! Gives off a fragrance you either like or loath. Once established it can withstand drought quite well, a bonus for container gardeners! © Ron Moodycliffe (B)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 25px;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3299. </span></i></b></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3300. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3301. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.zwiebelgarten.de/images/big/lilium_auratum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://www.zwiebelgarten.de/images/big/lilium_auratum.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium auratum. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A legendary Japanese species. Actually best in pots, good news for rooftop gardeners and prefers an unshaded spot even though by nature a woodland edge plant in volcanic soils. Very large flowers, white with gold bands and spots, although considerable variation in the spotting and striping. (B)</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3302. </span><br />
3303. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/01-Lilium_candidum_madonna_lily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="363" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/01-Lilium_candidum_madonna_lily.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lilium candidum. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The fabled</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Madonna Lily</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is native to the</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Balkans"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Balkans</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Asia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="West Asia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">West Asia</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. It forms bulbs at ground level, and unlike other lilies, has a basal rosette of leaves through the winter, which die back in summer. A leafy flower stem, typically up to 1.2 m high, sometimes up to 2 m high, emerges in late spring and bears fragrant flowers in summer. Flowers are white, flushed yellow at the base. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It has long been cultivated, but is susceptible to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Virus"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">virus</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> diseases of lilies, and to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botrytis" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Botrytis"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Botrytis</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> fungus. One possible way to avoid problems with viruses is to grow plants raised from seed, hence (S)</span></span><br />
3304. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br />
3305. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://content.foto.mail.ru/mail/dibird/475/i-666.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://content.foto.mail.ru/mail/dibird/475/i-666.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="312" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ilium cernuum</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> A woodland gem of a lily from Russia and China, cernuum will delight your eyes with nodding flowers in candy-pink. It has the look of a minature turk's cap and has plenty of blossoms on branching stems to 3ft' (B)</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3306. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3307. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Lilium_ciliatum_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Lilium_ciliatum_(1).jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium Ciliatum. A beautiful species from NE Turkey, I'd been after it for ages and paid an eye-watering amount of money for it  (B)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3308. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3309. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3310. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Lily_Lilium_'Citronella'_Flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Lily_Lilium_'Citronella'_Flower.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium citronella. A native of Asia but I can't be more specific because the internet can't either. Apparently a vigorous grower, quickly bulking up by way of off-sets so the container gardener will need to both feed generously and left and divide before it becomes pot-bound which will either stop it flowering or cause your pot to explode, neither of which I'd encourage. When dividing, repot the new bulbs at the same depth you found them in the old pot and either plant then three, five or seven (always an odd number, symmetry and even numbers are the bane of the designer's life. Well, that and a certain correspondent filing twice as much as she was asked for - after deadline) (S)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3311. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3312. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7315px;"><a href="http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2009/12/13/Turtlegaby/e6b3bd-200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2009/12/13/Turtlegaby/e6b3bd-200.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></span></span></a></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium concolor var. strictum, also knows as the morning star lily, is a rarely seen species of great elegance from northeast Asia. Just about makes 3ft and flowers in June/July. Prefers moderately moist conditions but don't overwater and of course all your containers will have excellent drainage. Very hardy. The bulbs never go fully dormant so treat carefully even when the leaves have gone(B)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3313. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3314. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.scientific-web.com/en/Biology/Plants/Magnoliophyta/images/LiliumDistichum1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://www.scientific-web.com/en/Biology/Plants/Magnoliophyta/images/LiliumDistichum1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 6.36574px;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium distichum: Reaches from a normal 50cm or so, up to 120cm tall when robust or shaded. Despite its height it is a slender and very graceful species. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stem sits with a decorative cartwheel whorl of leaves in the middle. Above this the flowers are borne in spikes of up to 12 and are a shade of orange-vermilion, the petals spotted with red-purple. Each bloom is out-facing and more or less flat-faced (with only the petal tips reflexed). The flowers are not symmetrical about themselves, something you will recognise when you see them. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Readily grown and a humus rich soil in half shade. Still scarce plant in cultivation and  poorly understood in botanical circles too.</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">© Nick Kurzenko </span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3315. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3316. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pitcairnalpines.co.uk/ekmps/shops/pitcairnalpines/images/lilium-duchartrei-914-p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.pitcairnalpines.co.uk/ekmps/shops/pitcairnalpines/images/lilium-duchartrei-914-p.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="266" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium ducharterii. This is a real beauty</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and easily cultivated, found at medium to high altitudes in south-western China, growing in forest margins and moist hillsides, even marshy ground. Emerging from small scaly bulbs which produce plentiful offsets when happy, with stems 50-150cm tall carrying narrow grassy leaves crowned by an inflorescence of 1-12 scented turk's-cap flowers, white with speckling of wine-red. For a moist humus rich soil in shade, where it can form a colony.(B)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3317. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3318. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Lilium_fargesii_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Lilium_fargesii_(1).jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium fargesii, just one of several species with an irresistable green/purple combo. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It makes a small white bulb no more than 1.5cm across. A slender, short (15-20cm) stem bears scattered grass-like leaves.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-size: 11px;"></span><br />
3319. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-size: 11px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The flowers are Turk's cap, with broad petals. Plants are 1-6 flowered, each bloom 2-3cm across in a delicious shade of greenish-white. The petals are darker green in the centre and whitish at the edges and are spotted and dotted with chestnut brown. The whole flower is scented. As with many lilies this can be overpowering to some people. This is late flowering, at the earliest in late July in England and more usually in Aug-Sept.</span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First described by Franchet in 1892 but not seen in western cultivation until 100 years later, this is a native of grassy fields on the edges of woods at 1500-1800m N.W. Hubei. It reportedly grows at up to 2300m in Szechuan and Yunnan. It likes some shade and wind shelter coupled with good drainage, good air-circulation, cool to cold winters and humus in the soil. A dryish winter would elevate good cultivation to perfection.</span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Says expert and all-round good chap: "This rare species has fascinated me since I first knew that it existed, and being able to offer it at last is a personal milestone." So I bought it from him for about £20. (B)</span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3320. </span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Hanson's_Lily_Lilium_hansonii_Flowers_1842px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Hanson's_Lily_Lilium_hansonii_Flowers_1842px.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="333" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium Hansonii. I've actually got tons of these, having won some on eBay when I'd already ordered seed and a bulb from elsewhere. Shame it's not one of my favourites... </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a vigorous, stem-rooting, bulbous perennial with dense whorls of lance-shaped, mid- to dark green leaves and, in early summer, erect racemes of small, fragrant, nodding, bright orange-yellow, turkscap flowers. From what I can gather, it's from Korea and environs. (B/S)</span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3321. </span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/diary/sizedLilium%20leichtlinii4155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/image_files/diary/sizedLilium%20leichtlinii4155.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="263" /></span></span></a></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium leichtlinii,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from Japan. The yellow form has</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> reddish-purple spots and grows only in central Honshu, Japan's main island, among tall grasses in rich, moist meadows. The stem is purplish; the buds (and the outside base of the tepals) are woolly. Height  (2-4'). The flowers are smaller than </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L. lancifolium</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The variety </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">maximowiczii</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, synonymous with variety </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tigrinum</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, which I don't have, has orange flowers, below. (B)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3322. </span></span></span></span></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.quarryhillbg.org/home/quarryhill/images/Articles/1989.052_fl2_mm_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.quarryhillbg.org/home/quarryhill/images/Articles/1989.052_fl2_mm_1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="183" /></span></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.4px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3323. </span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3324. </span></span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/LiliumLancifolium.jpg/250px-LiliumLancifolium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/LiliumLancifolium.jpg/250px-LiliumLancifolium.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="273" /></span></span></a></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium lancifolium. This</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> species is native to northern and eastern </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Asia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Asia</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, including </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Japan"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Japan</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It is one of several species of lily to which the common name </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_lily" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Tiger lily"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tiger lily</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is applied, and is the species most widely known by this name. F</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Flower"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lowers</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> are borne on an erect stem 80–200 cm tall, clothed with the more or less linear </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Leaf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">leaves</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 6–9 cm long and 1–2 cm broad. It is one of a very small number of species that produce aerial </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulb" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Bulb"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bulblets</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, known as </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulb" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Bulb"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bulbils</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, in the leaf axils along the stem. These can be used to propagate the plant. Flowers  last for a short period of time before they wither and are replaced by newer flowers</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. (B)</span></span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3325. </span></span></span></span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: 15.6px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3326. </span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://kevinspence.com/IMGP2985.jpg%20lily1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://kevinspence.com/IMGP2985.jpg%20lily1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></a></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium lancifolium "flore pleno". Much as above with the obvious difference of rather more petals. "</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">flore Pleno" is a clump-forming, stem-rooting, bulbous perennial with dark purple stems bearing linear, glossy, dark green leaves and, in midsummer, racemes of nodding, double, orange-red flowers with recurved petals and dark purple spots. Presumably does the same bulbil trick as it's mum but I haven't grown it to maturity so that's conjecture. Perhaps my reader could help? (B)</span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
3327. </span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.botmuc.de/jpg/schachen_2010-07-07/lilium_lophophorum_var_lophophorum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.botmuc.de/jpg/schachen_2010-07-07/lilium_lophophorum_var_lophophorum.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="293" /></a></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium lophophorum (B)</span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Easy to grow but very slow from seed.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Short stems, just 15-20cm high, with disproportionately large, lemon-peel-yellow flowers each with long twisted segments, initially joined at the tips.</span></span></span></div></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-size: 13.2px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3328. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Likes cool, damp peaty conditions but good drainage. A lovely dwarf Lily which should be better known, especially in view of its strong but light fragrance of lemons. There is also an incredibly rare pink form, look:</span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rareplants.co.uk/uploads/images_products/645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rareplants.co.uk/uploads/images_products/645.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3329. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.georgiavines.com/cart/images/Lilium%20mackliniae300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.georgiavines.com/cart/images/Lilium%20mackliniae300.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium Macklinae is a tiddler compared to many we've been looking at, reaching 1-2ft. </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">It is </span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">found in the upper reaches of the Siroi hill ranges in the </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukhrul" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Ukhrul"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Ukhrul</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> district of </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manipur" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Manipur"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Manipur</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">,</span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="India"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">India</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, at an elevation of 1730m–2590m.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">This shade lover  has pale bluish-pink petals. In the wild it flowers in the </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Monsoon"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">monsoon</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> months of June and July. Here it may bloom as early as May. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The lily gets its name from Macklin, the family name of Jean, the second wife of plant-hunter </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Kingdon-Ward" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Frank Kingdon-Ward"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Frank Kingdon-Ward</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">; it was discovered in 1946. The lily won the Merit prize of the 1948 </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Horticultural_Society" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Royal Horticultural Society"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Royal Horticultural Society</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> at a Flower Show in </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="London"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">London</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> (but no longer holds an </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Award_of_Garden_Merit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Award of Garden Merit"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Award of Garden Merit</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">).</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">It is also the </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floral_emblem" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Floral emblem"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">state flower</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> of Manipur.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br />
3330. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><br />
3331. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Lilium_majoense.jpg/250px-Lilium_majoense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Lilium_majoense.jpg/250px-Lilium_majoense.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="310" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another stunning purple-on-green, Lilium majoense is </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a superb plant with slender, yet robust, growths clothed in disease-resistant waxy foliage below large, broad greeny-white bells with a large blackcurrant-purple zone in the centre. The white is sprinkled with imperial-purple. August. A very beautiful species. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Likes a sunny spot with only a little shade,but a well drained, humus rich soil where it can root down. (B)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br />
3332. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br />
3333. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.natuaragon.com/Fondos/Lilium%20martagon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://www.natuaragon.com/Fondos/Lilium%20martagon.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br />
3334. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/280704/Lilium%20martagon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2004/280704/Lilium%20martagon.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br />
3335. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalle-k.dk/Lilium%20martagon%20album.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.kalle-k.dk/Lilium%20martagon%20album.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium Martagon </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium martagon</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> (</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Martagon</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> or </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Turk's cap</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">lily</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">) </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> has a widespread native region extending from central </span></span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Europe"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Europe</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> east through northern </span></span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Asia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Asia</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> to </span></span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Mongolia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Mongolia</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and </span></span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Korea"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Korea</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. Several subspecies have been named. It is stem-rooting, growing between 1m and 2m tall. The flower colour is typically a pink-purple, with dark spots, but is quite variable, extending from near white to near black. The flowers are scented. Numerous flowers are borne on each plant, and up to 50 can be found on vigorous plants. The green stems can be flushed with purple or red and the leaves are elliptic to inverse </span></span></span></span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanceolate" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Lanceolate"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">lanceolate</span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, mostly in whorls, up to 16cm long and often lightly hairy underneath. (S/B/B)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-0" style="line-height: 1em;"></sup></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
3336. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shikoku-garden.com/photos/woodland%20perennials/LiliMede.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.shikoku-garden.com/photos/woodland%20perennials/LiliMede.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
3337. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lilium medeliodes: is a beautiful Japanese plant. Flowers are borne in a cluster of two to seven depending on vigour and vary from apricot to intense orange, with reflexed petals spotted and flecked in deep purple-black.</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Readily grown, this likes deep, damp, leafy soils in shade, but also appreciates good drainage. This makes fragile bulbs with tiny 'rice grains' attached and as they cannot be moved without some fragmentation. So do not expect flowers in the first year after moving. (B)</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3338. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3339. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.aprairiejournal.com/fall_2008/artwork/lilies/images/lilium_michiganense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.aprairiejournal.com/fall_2008/artwork/lilies/images/lilium_michiganense.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
3340. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium Michiganense. </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> Co</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">ommonly referred to as the </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Michigan Lily,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> this is present in the wild in prairie </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Habitat"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">habitats</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> in the eastern </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="United States"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">US</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Canada"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Canada</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, as far southwest as </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Oklahoma"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Oklahoma</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 28px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The flower is orange with spots (yes, another one). It is often confused with </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium superbum</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">s and </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilium_lancifolium" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Lilium lancifolium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium lancifolium</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. The leaf arrangement is typically whorled, but sometimes alternate just below the inflorescence and at the very base of stem.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;"><br />
3341. </span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20monadelphum.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20monadelphum.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium monadelphum </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">(syn. </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">szovitsianum</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">)</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"></span><br />
3342. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Narrow hairy leaves in dense spiralled whorls around the stem, stout spikes of scented, good sized, brilliant-yellow flowers with minute red speckles inside, all on stems less than a metre tall. An excellent, robust species. six years from from germination to flowering! (S).</span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3343. </div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3344. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thegardener.btinternet.co.uk/images/lilium_nepalense2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.thegardener.btinternet.co.uk/images/lilium_nepalense2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium Nepalense, one of the most coveted of the genus,</span></span></span><a href="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20pardalinum%20ssp.%20pardalinum%20NNS%2000-488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">is a native of the southern slopes of the </span></span></span></span></a><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaya" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial;" title="Himalaya"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Himalaya</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, from </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial;" title="Bhutan"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Bhutan</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> through </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial;" title="Nepal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Nepal</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> to </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttaranchal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial;" title="Uttaranchal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Uttaranchal</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. It grows up to about 1 m high, usually less. The bulbs are stoloniferous, and for newly planted bulbs, the shoot will often come up some distance from the planting spot. Flowers are few, often solitary, pendant, coloured pale green with a purple throat, and scented. It likes a deep humus-rich soil in which these can spread. A rich soil or feeding will ensure that the offsets made along the underground stem, reach flowering size quickly. Fully hardy in Britain, as you'd expect given its homeland! (B)</span></span></span></div></div><br />
3345. <div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3346. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20pardalinum%20ssp.%20pardalinum%20NNS%2000-488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.kalle-k.dk/L.%20pardalinum%20ssp.%20pardalinum%20NNS%2000-488.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small;"></span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lilium pardalinum</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, sometimes known as the Panther or Leopard lily, is a native of damp areas in the coastal ranges of California. Usually grows to about two meters but the tallest and most vigorousm.m. can reach up to 2.5m.  The flowers are turks-cap shaped, red-orange, with numerous brown spots, usually appearing in July. The bulbs are small, and many are usually clustered together on a rhizomatous stock. (B)<br />
3347. There are arguably at least five subspecies, including</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">...</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3348. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
3349. </span></span><br />
3350. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.kalle-k.dk/Lilium%20volmeri.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.kalle-k.dk/Lilium%20volmeri.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"></span></span></span><br />
3351. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium volmeri. Found only in bogs alongside pitcher plants  and by stream sides in the Siskiyou foothills on the California border, this lovely lily has intensely coloured flowers of red-orange, which have a contrasting paler yellow-chrome throat, dotted with purple markings. Says world expert Paul Christian of his stock: "These are seed-raised plants that are happy in a damp, peaty soil, and show none of the testiness that the plant is reputed to exhibit when transferred from the wild. Related to, but distinct from both </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L. pitkinense</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L. pardalinum</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">." So some debate there. (B)</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e7518; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3352. </span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/3736973632_cebc6bc7b6_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/3736973632_cebc6bc7b6_o.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e7518; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.4em;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium parryi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> is a rare species also known as the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">lemon lily</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Christopher_Parry" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Charles Christopher Parry"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Parry's lily</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. It is native to the south-western US and northern Mexico where it is a rare sighting in moist areas in mountain habitat. In </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="California"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">California</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> it is currently known from the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bernardino_Mountains" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="San Bernardino Mountains"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">San Bernardino</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gabriel_Mountains" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="San Gabriel Mountains"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">San Gabriel Mountains</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and a few remaining spots near </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palomar_Mountain" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Palomar Mountain"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Palomar Mountain</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> to the south. It is the only true lily native to </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Arizona"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Arizona</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, where a few populations can be found in the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huachuca_Mountains" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Huachuca Mountains"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Huachuca</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiricahua_Mountains" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Chiricahua Mountains"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Chiricahua</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rita_Mountains" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Santa Rita Mountains"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Santa Rita Mountains</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">An occurrence of the plant was discovered in </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonora" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Sonora"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Sonora</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> just south of the US in 1993. It's erect to about 2 meters in height from a scaly, elongated </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulb" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Bulb"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">bulb</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> up to 11 centimeters long. The leaves are generally linear in shape, up to 30cm ce long, and usually arranged in whorls around the stem. The flowers are borne in </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raceme" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Raceme"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">raceme</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">s of up to 30 large, showy, bright lemon yellow flowers. The trumpet-shaped, fragrant blooms have six curling </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Tepal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">tepals</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> up to 11 centimeters long, sometimes with a few reddish spots. There are six </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamen" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Stamen"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">stamens</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> tipped with large anthers up to 1.4 centimeters long. The </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynoecium" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Gynoecium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">pistil</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> may be 10 centimeters long. The flowers are </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Pollination"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">pollinated</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> by </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphingidae" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Sphingidae"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">hawkmoths</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. Threats to this species include </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grazing" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Grazing"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">grazing</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, recreation, natural flooding and human alterations in water regimes, and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horticulture" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Horticulture"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">horticultural collecting</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> of the bulbs and flowers. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">It</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> was named after </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Christopher_Parry" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Charles Christopher Parry"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Charles Christopher Parry</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> (28 August 1823 – 20 February 1890), a British-American botanist and mountaineer (B)</span></span></div></div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3353. <div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e7518; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3354. </span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.georgiavines.com/cart/images/liliumpensylvanicum300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="http://www.georgiavines.com/cart/images/liliumpensylvanicum300.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Iris pensylvanicum (syn dauricum) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">is also  sometimes called the Siberian lily, being native to  </span></span><a href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Siberia?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Siberia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Siberia</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, </span></span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Kamchatka?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Kamchatka"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Kamchatka</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, </span></span><a href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sachalin?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Sachalin"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Sachalin</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and the </span></span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Kuriles?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Kuriles"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Kuriles</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, northeast </span></span><a href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/China?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="China"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">China</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, </span></span><a href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Korea?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Korea"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Korea</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, and </span></span><a href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hokkaid%C5%8D?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Hokkaidō"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Hokkaidō</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. The Latin name is misleading due to an error by the botanist </span></span><a href="http://uk.ask.com/wiki/John_Bellenden_Ker_Gawler?qsrc=3044" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="John Bellenden Ker Gawler"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">John Ker</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">.</span></span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"></span></span></span></div></div><div style="height: 8px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">It</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> reaches a height of 3 cm to 70cm. The stem is hard, smooth and straight, the leaves linear to lanceolate, 4 to 5cm long and 3 to 4mm wide. The plant flowers in June and July with one to six upright, dish-shaped flowers. The seeds mature from August to September. The bulb is roundish with a diameter of about 2cm. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium pensylvanicum</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> is very undemanding and is easily cultivated. It is sensitive only in relation to drought. Thus the plant is popular in European and American gardens. (S)</span></span></div></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3355. <div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e7518; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3356. </span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e7518; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
3357. </span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3e7518; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://www.crug-farm.co.uk/Content/Uploads/lil681.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="363" /></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium poilanei  WWJ11679. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A beautiful highly scented species which formes slender stems with scattered lanceolate leaves, 1-2m tall, bearing from one to many yellow pendant trumpet flowers with recurving tepals, stained red in the base , in August-October. Mine is From a 2006 seed collection from the Tram Trom Pass in northern Vietnam, one of the few footholds that it has survived in, which unfortunately has since been devastated making way for a new road into China. Here it grew on shady vertical cliffs, rooting into cracks and narrow shelves. Best grown in a well drained fertile soil with plenty of moisture retention in part shade. (B)</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3358. </span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
3359. </span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.northernitalywalking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Lilium-Pomponium1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.northernitalywalking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Lilium-Pomponium1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lilium pomponium is perhaps the closest thing we Brits have to a native Lily, coming from the south of France and Northern Italy (still quite far away then). It groes to a little over a metre and the deep orange-red flowers are hermaphrodite. As long as the spoil is well drained it will cope with anything from sandy loam to hard clay. Prefers PH between 6-8. Needs a sunny spot although the edge of a woodland setting would do nicely. (S)</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3360. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mlight.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/lilium_pumilum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://mlight.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/lilium_pumilum.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium pumilum is </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">a bulbous plant native to </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Mongolia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Mongolia</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, eastern </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Siberia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Siberia</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Korea"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Korea</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and northern </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="China"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">China</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. It is a stem-rooting bulb that grows up to 1 metre high, though usually a bit less. The leaves are slender and grassy. It bears from one to 2 reflexed and nodding flowers, usually A beautiful waxy red, which may be spotted with black. The flowers are scented. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">It was once known as  </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium tenuifolium and </span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">may be short lived in cultivation, but tends to last longest in well-drained soils.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3361. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2007/210607/Lilium%20pyrenaicum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2007/210607/Lilium%20pyrenaicum.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">I<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'m beginning to know how a Galanthophile's wife feels: There all the same! This is L. pyrenaicum which grows like a weed with me and drops its little bulblets everyehere. It's just not easy to root into asphalt. Unfussy in the extreme, bulks up with almost panic-like haste and is about 2-3ft tall with a handful of quiet petit, perhaps an inch across, flowersper stem. This has comewith me fom Scotland where it thrived in an icy Siberian blast so no worries on the hardiness front. There is a red form, var rubrum: (B)</span></span><br />
3362. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3363. </span><br />
3364. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Lilium_pyrenaicum_var_rubrum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Lilium_pyrenaicum_var_rubrum.jpg" width="149" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3365. </span><br />
3366. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And possibly an orange as well. Great. But that might just be the red one.</span></span><br />
3367. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3368. </span><br />
3369. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
3370. </span></div></div></span><br />
3371. <div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nals2010.org/images/LrosthorniiBH_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://www.nals2010.org/images/LrosthorniiBH_2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
3372. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: verdana, arial; font-size: 11px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #555555; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium Rosthornii: A lovely Chinese lily which has become available only within the past few years, and only then after a considerable amount of confusion with </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium henryi (writes Paul Christian). </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">It makes a splendid display with well packed stems of about 90cm holding several blooms of a softer tangerine than </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">henryi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. Easy and readily grown in light shade in a humus rich soil outside. Despite its rarity, this is not difficult. (B)</span></span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3373. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.npsnj.org/images/lilium_superbum_green_central_star_572x700_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.npsnj.org/images/lilium_superbum_green_central_star_572x700_med.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lilium superbum. Oh hurrah, another orange Turk's cap! </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This fella grows from feet 3-7 high (not committing ourselved are we?), typically has 3-7 blooms, but exceptional specimens have been observed with up to 40 flowers on each stem. It is capable of growing in wet conditions. It is fairly variable in size, form, and colour: </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">range from a deep yellow to orange to a reddish-orange "flame" coloring, with reddish petal tips. The flowers have a green star at their centre than can be used to distinguish it  from the Asiatic "Tigerlilies" that frequently escape from cultivation.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The species ranges from New Hampshire south to </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Florida"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Florida</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and west to </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Missouri"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Missouri</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Arkansas"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Arkansas</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The roots were a food source for </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Native Americans in the United States"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Native Americans</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, and the flowers provide </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectar" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Nectar"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">nectar</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> for </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Hummingbird"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hummingbirds</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and larger insec</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ts.</span></span><br />
3374. <br />
3375. <br />
3376. <br />
3377. </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2537/3758167000_be8de3fea8.jpg?v=0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2537/3758167000_be8de3fea8.jpg?v=0" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7621677033896236647&postID=5466409055635884997" name="top"></a></span></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7621677033896236647&postID=5466409055635884997" name="top"><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><tbody>
3378. <tr><td align="center" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><table bgcolor="#d8e8d4" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; width: 950px;"><tbody>
3379. <tr><td bgcolor="#ffffff" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; width: 950px;"><tbody>
3380. <tr valign="top"><td style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 10px; text-decoration: none;" width="400"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: #333333; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><tbody>
3381. <tr><td style="color: #333333; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color: #333333; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><tbody>
3382. <tr><td style="color: #333333; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none;"><div class="description2" style="color: black; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An outstanding variety sought after for both its fragrance and late-summer bloom. The recurved, pendent flowers are white and crimson, and can reach 6in across. This is the last of the Lilies in our list to flower, and to our nose at least, it is also among the most fragrant. Up to six feet tall but more likely three, it likes a dappled position and will cope with a little sand as long as it is moist or clay as long as it free-fraining. (B)</span></div></div></td></tr>
3383. </tbody></table></td></tr>
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3386. </tbody></table></td></tr>
3387. </tbody></table></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3388. </span></span><div style="margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
3389. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/50/0a/c083a42d3ee61753f1356e5708c5000a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/50/0a/c083a42d3ee61753f1356e5708c5000a.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium wallichianum </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">is a bulbous plant native to the </span></span></span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaya" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Himalaya"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Himalaya</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">s. The bulbs are stoloniferous, with new bulbs capable of appearing some distance from the original. The green stem tinged with purple grows up to 2 metres high. The leaves are scattered, dark green, </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Linear"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">linear</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> to </span></span></span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanceolate" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Lanceolate"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">lanceolate</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and up to 25cm long. It bears up to four trumpet-shaped flowers, white to creamy-yellow in colour, held horizontally and up to 20cm across.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> It is </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">named </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">after</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> Dr. </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Wallich" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Nathaniel Wallich"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Nathaniel Wallich</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, an early 19th century Danish plant hunter, botanist and physician. (B)</span></span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
3390. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/lilium-washingtonianum1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/lilium-washingtonianum1.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Lilium washingtonianum</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> is a native to the </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascade_Range" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Cascade Range"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Cascade Range</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Sierra Nevada (U.S.)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Sierra Nevada</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> of western </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="North America"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">North America</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">. It is also known as the </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Washington Lily,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Shasta Lily,</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> or </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Mt. Hood Lily.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> It is named after </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Washington" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Martha Washington"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Martha Washington</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and not the state of </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(U.S._state)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Washington (U.S. state)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Washington</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">; in fact, as the northern range of the plant is near </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Mount Hood"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Mount Hood</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> in </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="Oregon"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Oregon</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">, it does not naturally occur in the state of Washington. Its range is limited to the states of </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; text-decoration: none;" title="California"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">California</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"> and Oregon. (B)</span></span></span></span></div></div></span></span></div></span></div></span></td></tr>
3391. </tbody></table></span></td></tr>
3392. </tbody></table><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
3393. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
3394. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
3395. &lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: small;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-size: 13px;&quot;&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;&quot;&gt;All of which is a very time-consuming way of saying I haven;t lost touch with my Himalayan roots. Even though I was born in Dundee. Merry Christmas and here&#39;s to a blaze of glory bext year! The Plantboy x &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2010/12/this-used-to-be-my-playground-part-2.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRUMhVLAJwI/AAAAAAAAAkQ/C5cISdBcdRA/s72-c/IMG_3219.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7621677033896236647.post-5053538655251845216</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:12:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-12-24T13:08:41.261-08:00</atom:updated><title>This Used to be My Playground part 1</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;When I embarked on this project in September (the diary, not the roof garden), it was my intention to write about the bearded Irises I had been growing, and the Himalayan plants I have been in love with since long before I made the trip to the Tsari valley some 10 years ago.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
3396. </div><div style="text-align: left;">However, it has evolved, through my exposure to new and exciting plants from all over the world, into something more than that. It had begun to lean towards bulbous plants, perhaps in a year it will be alpines from New Zealand (I hope not!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3397. </div><div style="text-align: left;">At the moment I have taken to South African bulbs, their beauty being surpassed only by their difficulty in cultivation. Lilies, always a favourite, have come to rival the Iris family (juno, oncocyclus and regalia even) for my affection, coming, like the Iris, so easily from seed although taking rather longer to flower!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3398. If every seed in every packet were to germinate, even though many provide fewer than 10 little embryos, there would simply be no room on the roof. That is a bridge I will cross when I come to it. The fact is I am so enamoured by plants there are times when I just have to have it; it's my life's passion, some would say an addiction, and has been since I was a very small child and my mother would give me a small patch in the corner of the veg patch to grow annuals.<br />
3399. <br />
3400. The very first things I grew myself rom seed were mixed cacti (in the greenhouse, not the ground). I also remember some compositae thing, it was called a Chrysanthemum then but probably has about eight syllables now,  (I think they may have been South African, ironically); and ornamental gourds. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would always answer  proudly: "the Queen's gardener".<br />
3401. <br />
3402. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3403. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/assets/chrysanthemum_rainbow_mix_fl29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/assets/chrysanthemum_rainbow_mix_fl29.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
3404. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At four or five years old I grew chrysanthemums like the ones aobe in my little patch, followed by ornamental gourds (below d'oh!)</td></tr>
3405. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/110/275698769_bcf931a73b.jpg?v=0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/110/275698769_bcf931a73b.jpg?v=0" width="320" /></a></div><br />
3406. When I was ten we moved to the countryside proper (not just a village but a house with a sprawling garden of about an acre of extremely fertile Angus clay (the area is world famous for its soft fruit and the house is right on the edge of what was a fruit farm. It has since diversified.<br />
3407. The house was the signalman's where two rail lines met, neither of which have operated for 50 years. But that stuff they use to lay the tracks on lasts a lot longer! The garden was completely exposed to the wind and my poor mother planted shrubs and saplings with a pick-axe. Only now are some of the really common ones: Fortsythia, Cotoneaster, Spirea etc, 27 years later, reaching maturity. Ironically, one of the worst performers was that coloniser of railway sidings everywhere, Buddleia davidii!. Here are some images taken today, I'm afraid you can't see much, it has been like this since November here...<br />
3408. <br />
3409. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3410. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSh-ffwsBI/AAAAAAAAAjw/ZxyFk-DVfNE/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSh-ffwsBI/AAAAAAAAAjw/ZxyFk-DVfNE/s400/IMG_0093.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3411. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the woodland area, taken looking east. Behind is a wall of conifers, not the dreaded x Cupressoparis leylandii but another , gentler hedging conifer which has never been trimmed and is perhaps 20-25ft tall, keeping the wind out perfectly and allowing me to plant so much more!  <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
3412. </span></span></span></td></tr>
3413. </tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3414. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSkBBu37zI/AAAAAAAAAj0/zOtiM6kbfQk/s1600/IMG_0096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSkBBu37zI/AAAAAAAAAj0/zOtiM6kbfQk/s400/IMG_0096.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3415. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moving 10m forward, everything on the right is growing in clinker, on the left you can just see the edge of the "Magic Circle" which is made of leylandii, largely to prove it is a good hedging plant if you bother to trim it twice a year. It's about 25m in diameter and serves no purpose other than to help break up the garden into "rooms". The Betula pendula is a 25th wedding anniversary present to my parents.<br />
3416. <br />
3417. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></td></tr>
3418. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3419. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSoR0qxJGI/AAAAAAAAAj4/6lWaaWE4-k0/s1600/IMG_0094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSoR0qxJGI/AAAAAAAAAj4/6lWaaWE4-k0/s400/IMG_0094.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3420. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This, honestly, is (was?) Rhododendron Falconeri. It was -10.2C last night </td></tr>
3421. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3422. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSwOYmm0UI/AAAAAAAAAj8/--mjARbbKJE/s1600/IMG_0098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSwOYmm0UI/AAAAAAAAAj8/--mjARbbKJE/s400/IMG_0098.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3423. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those were "mini" conifers when I planted them, expected to reach 2-3ft in their lifetime and that's a Deutzia of some kind on the left</td></tr>
3424. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3425. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSy4FGHkvI/AAAAAAAAAkA/mhk09Jebyh8/s1600/IMG_0099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSy4FGHkvI/AAAAAAAAAkA/mhk09Jebyh8/s400/IMG_0099.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3426. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're on the other side of those "mini" conifers now, looking south. There's a rockery under there. It used to be filled with Bulbinella hookerii, Irises setosa and lacustris, Dactylorhiza fuchsii and so much more. All now either massive or dead.</td></tr>
3427. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3428. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRS42MGZmhI/AAAAAAAAAkE/LJBW95MXn8w/s1600/IMG_0102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRS42MGZmhI/AAAAAAAAAkE/LJBW95MXn8w/s400/IMG_0102.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
3429. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a Magnolia Wilsonii grown from seed 16 years ago.  It began to flower aged about ten.  In the background is an air raid shelter/shed covered in Hederea helix, and in the bottom right is Rhododendron cilipense (a bloody hardy thing for a supposedly tender plant). I also had a blue Flexuosa, Meconopsis punicea, that thing with the with bells... Andromenda polifolia, Erythroniums... not sure what remains... (sniff)</td></tr>
3430. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3431. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRS73Jq_a_I/AAAAAAAAAkI/HiVlsDooLHM/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRS73Jq_a_I/AAAAAAAAAkI/HiVlsDooLHM/s400/IMG_0103.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3432. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And meet my mum! Magnolia "George Henry Kern", </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A cross between M. kobus var. stellata and M. liliiflora but more importantly its her gravestone, her ashes being scattered on the excavated soil in 2007. A lot prettier than a lump of granite!</span></span></span></td></tr>
3433. </tbody></table><br />
3434. <script type="text/javascript">
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3444. </script><br />
3445. <br />
3446. So, there we go, that's where it all started. There is a bulb house, where I grew Irises bucharica and Hoogiana, as well as a lot of the really hardcore Lewisias and others that have long been forgotten, a whole greenhouse with louvres down the side, but I'm not ready to go in there yet.<br />
3447. <br />
3448. So I dabbled in Himalayan plants; there was a pond below the rock garden and a bog garden with candelabra Primulas sowing themselves all over the place; the bed with the Deutzia contained blue poppies, Paeonia lutea, Roscoea, Daphnes, Cornus Kuosa, Iris bulleyana, I. chrysographes, I. orientalis, I. graminea, I. maackii, I. sibirica, I. prismatica, I. tenuifolia, I. latifolia and many more of the genus... And then I moved to London and everything changed. So far much of the planting list has been largely in keeping with the blurb at the top of the blog. But over the course of a few months that has changed dramatically.<br />
3449. <br />
3450. I'ts not that I've taken anything from it, I've just added to it!<br />
3451. <br />
3452. I recently won a load of Gladioli on eBay. There is room for these in clay pots on the window sill after the tulips have flopped. However, the vendor had zero transactions so I'm not getting my hopes up about seeing them. Fortunately PayPal will cover me as I paid a lot for them. Assuming they do come, here they are:<br />
3453. <br />
3454. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3455. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fynbos.sa.com/images/gladiolus/IRIDACEAE%20gladiolus%20gracilis%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://www.fynbos.sa.com/images/gladiolus/IRIDACEAE%20gladiolus%20gracilis%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3456. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gladiolus gracilis<br />
3457. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
3458. </span></span></span></td></tr>
3459. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3460. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.africanbulbs.com/Gladiolus%20saundersii09-02-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.africanbulbs.com/Gladiolus%20saundersii09-02-08.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
3461. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">G. Saundersii (C)Africanbulbs.com</td></tr>
3462. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3463. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_gracilis_x_priorii_closeup_mm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_gracilis_x_priorii_closeup_mm.jpg" width="387" /></a></td></tr>
3464. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">G. priorii</td></tr>
3465. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3466. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_huttonii_hybrid2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_huttonii_hybrid2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3467. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">G. Carmineus</td></tr>
3468. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3469. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Gladiolus_brevifolius_(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Gladiolus_brevifolius_(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3470. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">G. brevifolius</td></tr>
3471. </tbody></table><br />
3472. <script type="text/javascript">
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3483. <br />
3484. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
3485. </span></span><br />
3486. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
3487. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://bgbulbs.com/plant_info/wp-content/gallery/moraea/moraea-villosa-bd2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://bgbulbs.com/plant_info/wp-content/gallery/moraea/moraea-villosa-bd2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
3488. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a Glad, as the keen eyed and even seriously myopic among you will have spotted but Moraea villosa, a plant that last time is saw photographed was impossibly vivid, so I had to buy one to find out the truth and while it is beautiful, I think we can all agree that the above does not match the flourescence of the following, currently listed on a South African auction site.<br />
3489. <br />
3490. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Moraea_villosa2new.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Moraea_villosa2new.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3491. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Incidentally, if any readers out there have any tips on growing these in the UK and also on germinating seed (although G. tristis came up like cress). I have steadily acquired seed of other Gladioli and also Moraea, which I've decided fall within my original remit as they are so closely related to Irises. I've nothing better to do except watch awful Christmas TV so I might as well upload pictures of them, starting with the rest of the Glads, which are mostly unsown seed although G. tristis is sown and very much germinated seed. I have hundreds!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3492. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Gladiolus_cardinalis_red_6641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/Gladiolus_cardinalis_red_6641.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">  Gladiolus cardinalis , a stunning image from strangewonderfulthings.com, who officially rock</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (please let me use your picture)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3493. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_equitans2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_equitans2.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">G. equitans, with that beautiful flourescent yellow/green stripe. Sold! Hope it comes easy from seed!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
3494. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_teretifolius_Agulhas_cm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Gladiolus/Gladiolus_teretifolius_Agulhas_cm2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">G. teretifolius</span></div><br />
3495. <br />
3496. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images4.hiboox.com/images/3310/283d5758f42bede39a273e75102b8dec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://images4.hiboox.com/images/3310/283d5758f42bede39a273e75102b8dec.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">G. orchidiflorus</div><br />
3497. <div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3498. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_miniatus2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Gladiolus_miniatus2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">G. miniatus</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
3499. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nmmu.ac.za/photos/botany/FIL28A4F_Gladiolus_floribundus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.nmmu.ac.za/photos/botany/FIL28A4F_Gladiolus_floribundus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">G. floribundus</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3500. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.desirableplants.com/Gladiolus%20flanaganii%20G&L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://www.desirableplants.com/Gladiolus%20flanaganii%20G&L.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">G. Flanaganni</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3501. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3502. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
3503. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, that's a bit about where I came from and where the roof is going. In Part 2 I'll be going through the more Himalayan (and Caucasian) treasures I'll be growing this year. And next year, hopefully it will be my macro lens that's taken the photos, not someone elses. On that point, while a lot of these are free to use, if you are the copyright holder and object to my using it, please let me know, I don't want to piss anyone off!</span></div></td></tr>
3504. &lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://theplantboy.blogspot.com/2010/12/this-used-to-be-my-playground-part-1.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (chrissyboi)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GNsectKk_p4/TRSh-ffwsBI/AAAAAAAAAjw/ZxyFk-DVfNE/s72-c/IMG_0093.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></item></channel></rss>