Look at me....Look at me....Look at me
Look at me....Look at me....Look at me
I vowed I would not buy any more Adenium seeds from Thailand, after I had sowed 100 about 3 years ago and they all turned out pink, not a yellow in sight. I have no will power so this time I have bought a selection of seeds from all over Thailand and Vietnam and they have started to germinate. I decided that because I had such a huge quantity (over 400 couldn't resist) I would use jiffy pellets ,then cover the tray with glad wrap and presto after just 3 days some are already sprouting. I have them tucked away in our shed which gets to about 30ºC in the height of the day so this I think replicated our humid Island summer conditions. With 400 seeds surely I should get some really good colours. The golf ball is to keep the glad wrap off the new seedlings just emerging, I just wanted to keep little one warm till the leaves are fully opened.
I haven't sowed my hooker lips.... pyschotria elata... see cover photo cause I ran out of jiffy pellets but have some more ( of cause) coming next week
Here you are Mya, I thought no one wanted to do it after nothing yesterday.
We missed the pinch and a Punch for the 1st of the Month.
Our Brugmansia thread has now merged into it's rightful place in the garden here, it was great fun while it lasted everyone, now we have our gardens, so exciting with Spring so close.
We came from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1365229/
Take it away Mya ...can't wait to see your pretties and everyone else's too.
Still getting Frosts here so we nay be depending on our Northern Gardeners right now.
Have fun everyone ...
chrissy
I've been looking at some of the Thai seed sellers but always wondered how AQIS is with importing from Thailand. Do you find it straight forward, or is there a lot of red tape involved?
Hi tropicbreeze ........
absolutely straight forward.
Customs did open the packet , left their little spiel and sent the seeds on, I guess you have to stress to whoever you're buying from to make sure they clearly label that they are Adenium seeds. My seeds from Vietnam had a certificate attached and wasn't even opened.
Below is a pic of my emerging Stictocardia seeds, lots coming on....
Thanks Mya, I might take the plunge and get some seeds. They have quite a few interesting things there.
all this talk about seeds made me wonder,so I looked up the MAF regulations & it seems there is a list of permitted seeds - as long as they have the correct paper work it is possible to import some things.
Included on the list to my amazement - brugmansia!
http://www1.maf.govt.nz/cgi-bin/bioindex/bioindex.pl
Reading the conditions for importing does make it seem like a huge undertaking so I can understand why the average person thinks that a home gardener wouldn't be able to bring anything exotic in.
Finally bit the bullet and dug my 5 year old Desert Rose out of the garden and what a suprise it was to see such a wonderful caudex buried beneath. It looks like a stuffed chicken with an afro hairdo.
So much sadness in recent times ... Anyway, I logged in to post this image of what I'm calling my Christmas bells (in August). With a gold dusting of pollen. Shame it's such a small plant.
Mya, that does indeed resemble a chicken! Just wondering, why are you potting them up? They seem to be thriving inground for you. (Not the bloody possums!)
This message was edited Aug 14, 2014 1:10 PM
My Strophanthus gratus (climbing oleander) recently purchased, is about to flower....Cestrum do you have this? it has a fragrance . If not, let me know.
I've decided to dig up all my Desert Roses and place them in big pots , they do so much better if they are potted , more flowers and foliage. It's about the only thing my wildlife don't touch that and oleander and diffenbachias and philodendrons, quite a few when you start listing them.
Mmmm, that's lovely, Mya.
It used to be on my list, before I gave up the tender tropicals. Now, apart from no space, I struggle to water what I have. (No rain to speak of for the past month.) But it should love your climate, so long as you can keep away the pests. You'll have to sniff it and tell me what it smells like :-) I remember (back when I was looking) seeing seeds come up for sale on ebay; it would be worthwhile trying them in your climate, I think, if you have the time.
Interesting about the potted desert roses. They look like very old bonsai when potted, so it's a bonus that potting suits them better than being in the ground. (Plus you can group them and make a real statement!)
Here are all three cousins, although the white one is looking a little worse for wear.
I brought these inside this evening. FFA is perfuming the kitchen :-)
Why am I showing you the nozzle of a watering can?
Because this little fella has taken up residence inside :-)
It's very nice to have a general gardening place to go....everyone's plants are gorgeous as usual and this thread will have such diversity.
Chrissy, my FFA is almost white this time of year.....mind you I only have one flower on it....
It's time for ranunculus and anemone in my garden, love the bright colours against a grey sky...
That is such a cute pic, Cestrum...
nice to see tropical plants when the weather here is so bleak.
I have daffodils coming up & my camellias are starting to bloom.
The hellebores are doing well, shades of pink/red & a lovely white at the front of the bed.
I should take photos but not going outside in this weather.
My tomato seedlings have made an appearance, delicate little tendrils just breaking the surface.
This is the first time I have deliberately grown tomato from seed :)
Normally they come up as volunteers in the garden where I have left split fruit to rot down.
I won't pat myself on the back until I plant them out in October - just because they are germinating doesn't mean they will grow.
It is a bit exciting though :)
Chrissy - your good wishes were effective...
My tomatoes heard you & I am amazed at how much growth happened in one day on a sunny windowsill.
pic 1 & 4 are the same seedlings, the container is one that held cherry tomatoes & has a lid with ventilation.
2 & 3 are the same container of seedlings, they took a day or so longer to show any sign of germinating.
Silly me didn't think to label the seed. I think one lot are from Arctic Plenty & the other - well either Early Girl or my stray volunteer.
It's always uplifting to see new seedlings germinate, something comes alive from what could be just a speck of seed! And that Clementine seedling is quite lovely--both brugs are a lovely rich yellow.
Flowering now is the Beaumontia, but it's climbed so far up that the only way to get a semi-decent photo is thru the window.
love the Clementine x, what sort of scent does it have?
Tantra is pretty too.
My splash of yellow comes from the daffodils emerging.
I even have one that is a little like the Clementine x :)
So lucky to have bought a house with hidden treasures in the garden.
That's beautiful cestrum ...it's frustrating when they scoot up out of reach (and the nose :-) )
I hope you are getting your fair share of rain.
So nice to see some sweet little seedlings and daffies Teresa as specially since it's a really wild wet and windy day ...haven't been outside (hate that) but we really need the rain.
I hate coming in here without a pictures so I will just throw in a couple of randoms.
Stay out of the weather if it's wild your way.
Enjoy if it isn't.
chrissy
We got about 30mm, which was much needed. Cold gusty winds today, although it could easily hit 35 degrees in the first week of Sept so I'm not complaining. Some brugs are spot flowering but not enough to tempt me into taking any new photos.
Here's a Brazilian red cloak, flowering for the first time. It's got a white tongue which reminds me of the shrimp plants.
I see what you mean. Fire spike: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1854/
My plant is considerably larger, though. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54077/
From last week: those four brug flowers before they ended up in the vase. (Both of the pale ones are FFA--one double, one semi-double, both beautifully scented.) Of the pink seedlings, Ph. x SS (second from right) has the best scent.
Dianne, so many people bulldoze a garden and never discover the hidden treasures left by previous owners. More than once I've heard of people buying a house with a beautiful established garden--and then demolishing that very garden. Turns out that they bought the property despite, not because of, the garden.
one of the reasons they say never go back...
it is heart breaking to see what was a much loved garden left to be over run with weeds or ripped out & turned into a generic 'easy care' garden consisting of bark mulch & the cheapest tussock grasses available.
I still hate that we had to remove a tree when we landscaped out the back.
I strongly suspect it was a Bauhinia but sadly don't have any good photos to get a proper id.
I've never had the good fortune in all of our moves to buy a house with an established garden...
By established I don't mean pittosporum and hedges, I mean camellias and magnolias.....no such luck, we always left them the way I wanted to buy one ......oh well, seeing this is our last move, the garden is now 6 yrs old and the magnolias are over 12ft and the camellias are half that, I think the daphnes and the rhodos have grown the best......you can't mention the brugmansias, they just grow and grow , what I chop down, they put up again....you can't help but love them.....they are like kids.....a pain sometimes but you wouldn't be without them...
Here is my first coldie for the year.....
I'm going to plant this one in the garden somewhere, I love the way the mid pink fades to a very pale pink, giving them two colours in a flush....
I've already dusted it with Arborea pollen....I thought the Arborea was a sang hybrid until it flowered, one of Chrissy's Arborea seeds from years before grew in a pot full of sang x seeds..lol....I topped up with old potting mix and the Arborea seed must have been in there...they wouldn't grow when I pampered them......
how wonderful to be able to grow brugs along with rhodos, daphne & magnolias.
I have a couple of rhodos, lots of camellias & a magnolia stellata that I love.
I had to add roses to the garden, they only had one sad old rambler out the back.
Hubby wants to build next time so that would give me a blank canvas to create the garden of my dreams...
That would be lovely for you Teresa and you would be able to take your M.stellata with you...they move so easily, whatever the size....is yours the pink or white? love them both.....
NZ is a brilliant place for bringing out new cultivars in the Magnolia family...I love looking at the new ones, they take ages to get here.......
http://www.magnoliagrove.co.nz/index.php/nz-raised-magnolia-collection?limitstart=0
This is Dovie, he/she has lived in the garden for a couple of years..
He is my constant gardening companion, Tilly ignores him completely...
Glad to hear M. stellata moves easily!
I have the white one, the buds have a faint tinge of pink & I just love the look of it, that it has a lovely fragrance is a bonus :)
Friday is always a good day isn't it ?
What pretty pictures ...love the contrasting Brugs cestrum, must be heavenly over your way scent wise.
Good luck moving that tree Teresa.
The coldies are cute Dianne.
Still quiet here but Spring is not far away.
Here is Fernando starting to wake up, he is in his pale Winter outfit.
The lovely Butterfly Bush from you cestrum is beginning, I love it.
chrissy
Not really all that fancy but it caught my eye today, I love the colours in Winter Succulents, some are a bit crispy but are looking like they are getting ready for Spring.
Anyone recognize this one ? it grows many ft tall and like all of them spreads. It has quite large leaves and the flower spike is almost 4ft tall.
It's raining again here tonight, looks like we are getting a few months rain all at once.
Spring rain is wonderful though (except for the triffid weeds).
chrissy
Interesting flower Chrissy.
Looks nice against that blue sky, our sky has been grey, grey, black, grey...
and every so often that brilliant blue we get pre spring.
Unseasonal rain here, falling lightly all day, quite lovely. One more week before winter abruptly ends and the HEAT HUMIDITY MOSQUITOES return with a vengeance.
Love the cold brugs. If I had the climate, I'd be growing and hybridising them like mad. So exciting, and such beautiful colours. Spring in colder climates is superb, everything bursts into life. I remember at this time of year smelling Pittosporum undulatum on my way to work in the chilly windy mornings, rugged up with overcoat, scarf and often hat, but knowing that spring was just around the corner. And then there's the brown boronia, just heaven.
Bauhinia, Teresa? I haven't been able to find out if it grows in Melbourne (I assume it does in Sydney), so am a little shocked to hear you might have had it growing in NZ. Can you find a picture online that resembles your tree? I'm intrigued.
Here are two batches of abutilon seeds showing the difference in size (and quantity) you can get. Most seedpods average around 15 seeds, but some have had only one and the largest has been about 70.
Forgot to say, love the buddleias too. That one you've shown Chrissy is B. salvifolia (from South/Eastern Africa) and one of the few that thrives here. It and one of the pink ones (with large grey leaves--I think Wayne had one?) are all I have left of my original buddleias--all the davidia plants died, and I had to dig out the Madagascarian one because it kept trying to take over the garden AND house--one tendril would turn into a thick 3-metre branch before you knew it. But I do miss being able to grow most of the buddleias.
Of course, there are compensations! Here is the unscented purple cestrum with the yellow shrimp plant in the background, flowering through winter.
They smell so good ...I think I still have all of the Butterfly bushes, love them.Yes this does get pretty rampant without a trim every little while, it does provide a bit of protection from the wind and sun for other plants.
It has turned into a beautiful day here.
Many years ago I had the coloured cestrums in my one of my gardens.
I was trying to remember all the plants and trees I have grown over the years ...wow it's quite a list LOL. Like most of us.
Of course that was before my Brug obsession.
...that triffid pink jasmine is driving me spare ! Amazing what an innocent little thing can turn into.
The Orchid trees line a street in Penrith so they can put up with the cold. I have seen them up in the lower Blue Mountains too. I sprouted quite a few seeds from you cestrum but they went to the garden in the sky in the really wet Winter. I think they might not like clay.
In my Woronora Garden Pittosporum undulatum grew wild up the rocky mountainside ...it was beautiful if a little strong because there were so many.
I hope everyone is enjoying their day ...it's been so nice here ...yes I know that heat won't be far away so enjoy what we have now.
chrissy
We lived in Williamstown, Cestrum and the Pittosporum undulatum was a street tree there and they were always in flower at Melbourne show time.....I always think of it when I smell them now.....
There was a Bauhinia at the front gate of the Geelong Botanic gardens, until they removed it a couple of years ago...it was about 15ft+ tall and flowered beautifully..
I have been looking for a more cold tolerant tree that could be what I had but only Bauhinea fits the bill...
leaf shape, flowers & seed pods all match.
I am so cross that I was talked into having it cut down!
http://www.trumpetflowers.com/text/care-and-grow-bauhinia.htm
Mind you the big snow we had might just have killed it anyway - I lost a few plants to snow damage & those all rated higher on hardiness.