July photos

[Arnold]

Haemanthus humilis A very early blooming South African  bulb.

[Robert_Parks]

Mark Twain didn't actually say "The coldest winter I spent was a summer in San Francisco." Oxalis tenuifolius doesn't care who said it...

Oxalis massoniana agrees, the container of bulbs partly intended for the BX are all in pots out front now...we'll see if they decide to go down for Indian Summer.

[Martin Bohnet]

I usually try not to comment on image quality @Arnold, but with just a little bit of levels correction you'll get this:



That's better, isn't it?

So, what's going on in my garden? I've got Amorphophallus myosuroides

Height:	10-30 cm (0.3-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	white
Special:	attractive foliage
Life form:	tuber

in flower - that's actually inside - as it doesn't smell and flowers multiple times a year it is a nice house plant. Ipomoea pubescens

Height:	150-250 cm (4.9-8.2 ft)
Flower Colors:	purple
Special:	climber
Life form:	tuber

has liftable tubers and deals well with dahlia-like storage for winter. staying in the purple realm, this is Liatris pycnostachia (right) in comparison to Liatris spicata

Height:	60-100 cm (2-3.3 ft)
Flower Colors:	purple
Flower Season:	mid summer
Life form:	corm

- mostly  the former one looking like the latter one on steroids, though the "correct" disambiguation is via the acuminate and squarrose or sometimes reflexed phyllaries. Meanwhile Allium flavum

has started the fireworks season - I'm beginning to understand why this is feared, though, seedlings pop up everywhere.
Macleaya × kewensis is a monster of a different size - it has a fleshy rhizome and seems closely related to Sanguinaria canadensis

, leaf shape and reddish drying sap are virtually identical. I've been yet reluctant to add it to the wiki, still licking my wounds from trying to add Romneya coulteri which DOES behave geophytic for me.

[Arnold]

Arisaema consanguineum from Ellen Hornig formerly at Seneca  Hills nursery

[mrhomick]

Nerine laticoma
The nerine season is starting with the species Nerine laticoma

flowering. The bulb and plant enlarges a little each year but has not split. It is however self fertile and has crossed with other species.

[Arnold]

Clinanthus variegatus

[Rdevries]

Prospero autumnale
In a short pink and a taller purple form

These are not nearly as aggressive as the Barnardia. 

[Martin Bohnet]

call it proof of concept, Amorphophallus myosuroides

Height:	10-30 cm (0.3-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	white
Special:	attractive foliage
Life form:	tuber

does actually flower again - and adds more leaves.

On the black side of the spectrum: Pelargonium sidoides

(EX03_058) and Veratrum nigrum

, and even more oddly colored my favorite form of Gladiolus dalenii

Flower Colors:	red, yellow, green, patterned
Climate:	summer rain climate

- the top part of the spike has a massive sunburn, though...

definition of reliability: Eucomis zambesiaca

. Staying in the white realm, here's a white form of Calopogon tuberosus

, and the very tiny Bletilla formosana


Last but not least a little gesneriad from a free add-on on ebay, labeled "achimenes mix" - happy about any IDs on this one.

[Diane Whitehead]

The label in its pot says Eucomis vandermerwei, with seeds from Gordon Summerfield, but the flowers are the wrong colour, and are sweetly scented.  I grew Eucomis montana from Silverhill seeds, but have no pot labelled as that.

What might it be?

[Martin Bohnet]

definitely not Eucomis vandermerwei

, you'd see that on the very first leaves. More likely Eucomis zambesiaca

, but that one stays more compact for me  in full sun (see above). Maybe a little hybridization with a whitish Eucomis comosa

? I find the dark ovaries are not as prominent in those as in Eucomis montana