... out in the garden.

2nd September 2012

Hedychium densiflorum UK4
The weatherman grimly intones that summer is over, at least for statistical purposes. He has the same smile as the crocodile watching the Wildebeest cross the Mara River. He can imagine the tide of holidaymakers migrating to the south-west to be devoured in the autumn rain. On a lighter note the wind shifted to the south and I was able to light the bonfire. Tra-la-la.
Cold enough to put a winter duvet on the bed but still warm enough to wake up at 4.00 am and take it off again.
The Hedychium that were moved outside in spring have done far better than the ones still in the greenhouse. They were slower to get started but made up the ground rapidly once they were moving. If I had anywhere flat to stand them, they would all come out for a couple of months. I have a feeling that a couple more trees will have to come out to make space.
This is one of the clones of H.densiflorum that David Constantine gathered together for assessment because they were growing well in gardens in the UK. In the greenhouse it has had pinkish flowers, but outside they have been much paler, bordering on pale apricot. It reminds me a bit of the Ludlow, Sherriff and Hicks collection LS&H 17393 from Bhutan which is also hardy and as pale in tone as aforementioned holidaymakers sitting in their shorts at a beachside cafe watching their scones absorbing raindrops.

2nd September 2012

Nerine 'Joan'
The first Nerine flower has opened. I'm not ready for the summer to end yet but there's no point living in denial. The evenings are drawing in and baked potatoes have started to look more appealing than chips. One positive result of the rush that seems to have engulfed this year is that the most tender plants sheltering in the greenhouse were never moved outside for the summer. As a consequence, I dont have to find space to move them back again!
This is a pale silvery pink selection of N.sarniensis that came to me three years ago from Bob Brown at Cotswold Garden Flowers. It has divided fairly vigorously and flowered reliably but I haven't managed to trace any details about it's history.

2nd September 2012

Haemanthus humilis
This was a big surprise in the greenhouse. I grow a couple of the evergreen Haemanthus species that come into the conservatory through the winter and look cold. They all went out into the greenhouse in June to enjoy the summer light and there was no sign of buds then so this big ball of pink fluff was unexpected. They get a hard time of it through the winter because I rarely remember to water them and I was pleased they haven't objected.
I got this as a seedling in 2010 and it has grown vigorously to reach flowering size so soon. The species comes from the Eastern Cape where it occurs in a number of isolated populations. Flower colour varies from pink to white, leaf size from 10-60 cm.

2nd September 2012

Sinningia conspicua
All of the Sinningia seem to be good in flower, but some of them are compact and some of them sprawl. They produce tubers that will take a fair bit of cold in the winter, but they all seem to prefer warmth in the summer, which means they have to be grown in pots under cover. Those that sprawl start to cause problems.
This is my second attempt with this species. I was first tempted to try it by growers in the USA who were succeeding with it outside. In a cool shady house here it flowered well in the first year but didn't make it through the winter. Fortunately Dibleys have been trying it as a flowering pot plant and I was able to replace it. It had grown well through the summer and the tuber has grown to a good size. I will dry it off and bring it inside for the winter. I have a scarlet species in flower at the moment in the S.cardinalis mould, and it is always worth trying to hybridise Gesneriads. I would be very happy to raise a pale flowered plant that was as eager to please as the red parent.

To find particular groups of plants I grow, click on the genus name in the table above. Click on the "Index" box at the top of the page for the full list.
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