whats in flower?

I've been tied up lately, and not had a chance to do much, let alone wander round my garden.

When I did go for a stroll this morning I was surprised what was still flowering out there, and loads of my seeds are coming through, especially a tray of Angelicas which I'v been desperate to grow for ages, but never suceeded so far.

The seasons are certainly mixed up, I still have Ricinus and bananas going in the borders.

What have you got flowering in your garden?

this morning I saw pelargoniums, with bees busy around them
Mimulus
Lobelia trailing
scabious
roses
ceonothus coming into flower already
clematis chirrosa in full flower
chamomile
cosmos
hollyhocks
fuschias

I'm intregued as to what I'll find next as it all seems to be out of sync.

nothing

Lovely to see your post sue

Evert - Nothing at all!!?? All under the snow?

Here rosemaries, toothed lavender, yuccas, camellias, pelargoniums, agastache, daphne that I can think of, but it's dark outside - will try and hunt some more things down tomorrow :)
But all looking very soggy at the moment.......

Well - finally under the snow thank god.. It was so dark here because of the "warm" weather. And Wet. Hated it. Now getting cold and Espoo is covered with snow and looking pretty again :) It will probably melt just before Christmas though.. too bad.

Clerodendrum thomsoniae is starting to bloom inside, that's all.

Unusually, we seem to be a bit colder than you Sueone, normally, this time of year we've appeared to be pretty much the same.

Calendulas are still flowering, some primroses, Schizanthus, some stocks, Jasmine nudiflorum, Solanum jasminoides, Viburnum 'Dawn' (very early) and unless I'm mistaken, that's pretty much it. Indoors, the Lachenalia viridiflora I've been growning from seedlings, finally bloomed, in a month or two L. latifolia should make it's first floral appearance too!

The Schizanthus appeared in the pot containing Gladiolus cardinalis, I was so excited when red buds appeared, I bought it in flower last year so I know they are/were in there! Still it's a beautiful flower and has produced several long blooming flower spikes.

Ah I love Lachenalia Debbie - can you get a pic? That's great to have them flowering from seed. When did you sow them?

This is a bad picture and it's been more grey than sunny recently so they are terribly etoliated but here's a pic I took today.

I got the seedling bulbs among some other species in spring 2001, I think the trader told me he'd sown them the previous autumn, they were certainly tiny and no more than a year old. I'd been growing a L. aloides clone for a few years prior to that and had a soft spot so I jumped at the chance to obatin some more. If the conditions of growing were better they may all be in flower this year, next year I might try to rig up a sunlight bulb but they grow and flower for such a long time it would cost half a fortune to run *G*

Thanks Baa :)
Cute little plants.
Yes, I've wondered occasionally about getting lights, but have decided against, at least for the time being.
Will look forward to seeing your other Lachenalias when they perform if it's no bother. These are great. I don't remember seeing viridiflora before

I wish I was good with indoor plants, but I'm not, I 'm completely useless. they die on me without fail.

the only one that performed was a plant that a friend gave me a cutting of for my birthday, that flowered spectacularly in the summer, and is just about hanging on in there!!...:-)

What's a toothed laveneder? never heard of that one before Philomel.

Baa, I'm determined to get a vibernum this year, I keep reading articles about the scent.

Evert, does everything die off under the snow? or do some things come up through it?I suppose when you talk about snow there you mean a thick layer, here , we think of 1/2" as thick, and the whole nation comes to a halt!!...:-)

Mmmmm, we must have gone to the same school on indoor plants sue :)

Lavandula dentata is rather less hardy than officinalis (I'm just wondering how it's faired in last night's hard frost - must go and look later) It has pretty wavy-edged leaves
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/78260/index.html
However if you keep it dead headed, it will flower more or less year round
It just likes very well drained soil and plenty of sun.

Yes, a lot of viburnums are really deliciously scented - I love them, you've reminded me I must look out for some for here....

Most things show no sings of life during the winter, but some plants stay green under the snow. Sometimes some Bellis or Helleborus is blooming through the snow but it's rare.

But I'm used to it - it's incredibly beautiful here today, all blue sky, the trees are covered with snow and everything is white, just as it should be during the Christmas time! :)

I sowed anomathica laxa this year and it is now in bud outside. Also, the libertia formosa have lots of buds on it! This weather is very confusing. We have had loads of rain and wind (and some frost) here in Ireland but still the garden doesn't seem dead for this time of year. I grew a geranium maderense this year and decided it had got rust. So rather than kill it, I decided to plant it on top of our 'clay pile' in the corner of the 'field'. It is thriving there despite the weather and looking very healthy. Sparaxis bulbs are shooting about 4 inches tall and they shouldn't but up until the spring.

I too am useless with houseplants but our house is quite dark inside (well that's my excuse anyway!)

Sue

Some Lachenalia are easy peasy indoor plants, almost hardy, they take a great deal of neglect but you do need light!

Prudence, your poor Sparaxis are in for a fright when it frosts again, must have been very mild for you so far.

Hi Debby. I think the worst weather is yet to come. Jan and Feb are our coldest, frostiest months but if it snows, it only lasts a few days. The Watsonia is around a foot tall at the moment but in a sheltered spot, and the echium pininana is still going strong, although if it croaks, I won't be too disappointed!

Hi Hilary. This will be your first winter in France and it will be interesting to see how long your winters are.

Just a thought - it is now one day past the shortest day of the year, so from now on the days will be getting longer thank goodness.

A Happy Christmas to you all .

Sue

It already seemed to be light a few minutes later last night - an optical illusion due to the lack of any cloud cover....
It's frosty this morning, but with clear blue skies. Yesterday, after the sun melted the frost, it was warm enough to picnic :)

I love the fact that it doesn't get dark on our time here until 5.45pm. None of the old dark at 4 o'clock blues ;oD

Oh thanks for reminding me Prudence! The Parahebe is still in flower, I've been waiting for it to go dormant to see where to split it for you.

I hope the winter isn't too harsh for you and a Merry Christmas to you too.

Philomel, today I don't think the sun came up here this morning LOL I've got the living room light on (ugh, feels far too decadent).

Hilary, you are 1 hour ahead over there. I know here in Ireland we get longer summer days than England ie. it doesn't get dark until 11.00pm. Unfortunately the midges come out when the sun isn't so strong, so we don't really avail of the longer days for fear of getting eaten alive.

Debby, I'm a bit confused about the parahebe! I have the white flowering parahebe which is evergreen. Do you have the blue one? I know I was interested in the Ceratostigma that you have.

We had gales last night and rain (again). I have just bought myself a polytunnel and was hoping to get it finished before Christmas but was told that the weather has to be warm/hot before putting on the plastic, otherwise the plastic will go baggy. Oh darn! I'm really hoping for a very mild/warm February (which we had last year) to get it done. I'm so excited about next spring and can't wait to see what 'borderline' plants survived the winter, plus all the plants I did from seed earlier this year that will flower next year.

Sue

O love it when Christmas is over, things quiten down, and you have time to wander and look for things that seem to appear through the soil in seconds.

A very merry Christmas , and a happy new year to you all.xxx

i won't be on here for a while I think as I have children coming and going over the next few days, and irt looks like Armagedon here at the moment, why is it that it always looks a mess when you're trying to tidy up, and you can guarentee that that one unexpected visitor will arrive just as it's looking at it's worst, then no-one notices it when it's tidy!!... :-)