June 2024

[Carlos]

Went to look for an Allium which I have been told that it's new by the expert botanist Jean-Marc Tison (the greatest botanist in France at the moment, probably. They have nog bloomed because of the drought but I found a few immature bulbs, and several Muscari atlanticum and Allium moschstum wity seeds.



That's up in a small mountain, below it's full of houses, but some plots remain more or less untouched, waiting to be sold...

I detected from the car some small Allium in bloom and there it was, another Allium sp nov I previously knew only from three sites 30 to 40 km further south...

They will be destroyed someday so I think I did no harm by taking some bulbs and seeds.

[Martin Bohnet]

Hope you're not too upset Carlos when I say that Allium is interesting, but not spectacular... I guess the land owners won't miss it much.

I'll start today with a comparison of Oxalis stipularis (small pale pink) with Oxalis magnifica

( 2 o'clock, biggest, purple) and Oxalis lasiandra

(7 o'clock, more flowers than magnifica per stalk, slightly smaller, closes slightly earlier in the afternoon, magenta purple) All of them interesting and useful, but all with the potential of becoming pot weeds when substrate is reused. All were already available at the EX.

Also from the EX is Arisaema candidissimum

, first flowering in the 3rd year after receiving them in EX04. Ophiopogon chingii was also offered in EX before (by me) but surprises me this year with excessive flowering.

Next one is Cardiocrinum giganteum

, which flowers for two years in a row for the first time for me. and i finally managed to stick my nose in there. brilliant!

Back to the smaller scale there is Anacamptis pyramidalis

Height:	30-60 cm (1-2 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple
Flower Season:	late spring to early summer
Life form:	tuber

and Gymnadenia conopsea

Height:	45-80 cm (1.5-2.6 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, white
Flower Season:	early summer

, both local natives, and in the bog Pogonia ophioglossoides goes rampant. There are no weedy orchids, they say.... Less weedy is is of course Disa kewensis, which of course grows in a pot in my climate.

Last but not least, and stayig in the same color family is Hieronymiella marginata

- the "half-naked" hibernation method seems to be the right idea for repeated flowering - it even slowly forms offsets, but it will take time to have enough for the EX...

[Emanuele Mura]

Lilies season! The Madonna lily being the most beautiful of them all. And I finally acquired a Sprekelia which flowered in a month or so after planting and it's showing signs of division already. Hemerocallis hybrids "Crimson Pirate" and "Stella de Oro" are flowering together for the first time.

[Carlos]

Hi, well, Martin, I wish I found a truly spectacular, stunning Allium, I think Uli's plant can be, but this is what I've got...

My "duty" is to try and name them if they are really new...

[Martin Bohnet]

don't get me wrong, Carlos, that silvery species from #5 is stunning and has, depending on ease of culture conditions, definitely ornamental value, especially if someone wanted to max the effect of a "black & white garden" with the silvery stem. It's just the #15 one that seems to follow the evolutionary idea of being completely invisible in a stack of hay...

[Carlos]

I get it. You have won some seeds of "number 5".Those other taxa closer to 'n° 15' seem to mimic dry grasses, for some reason, maybe to escape herbivores looking for the last green leaves to eat before the long summer drought..

Here another tiny jewel from Portugal. Number 20?

[Too Many Plants!]

Well, I wasn't expecting to be able to post a bulb flowering in the 101°F of late June. But here I am! Unfortunately I can't seem to locate the tag, and I'm not into disturbing the bulb while flowering or digging on my knees in 101°F for a tag 🏷�. To kill a gopher in my garden...for sure! But a 🏷� will have to wait. Maybe someone will recognize this (should be) South African species???

Forgot to mention...excited to see this bulbs very first flowering!!

Couple updated flower bud pics 6/26/24

[Too Many Plants!]

MORE June heat action! Pictured on a late June 101°F afternoon...here's a new round of Habranthus Robustus, (Mike thought was) Habranthus Robustus 'Russell Manning'.

And something else coming up I'll have to see if I can look up.

[Robert_Parks]

Not a lot of excitement with the Amorphophallus yet (I started them late, and it's been cold once they get outside), so I think I'll put in a batch of pretty summer bulb flowers that are keeping the local bumblebees happy: (mostly) Indigenous varieties of potato. They flower and set seed fairly easily. Very fast to bloom from seed or tuber.

[Robert_Parks]

Arisaema cf. consanguineum Dark Leaf and a few views of the grove of Amorphophallus ongsakulii inside.

[Robin Jangle]

Well, I wasn't expecting to be able to post a bulb flowering in the 101°F of late June. But here I am! Unfortunately I can't seem to locate the tag, and I'm not into disturbing the bulb while flowering or digging on my knees in 101°F for a tag 🏷�. To kill a gopher in my garden...for sure! But a 🏷� will have to wait. Maybe someone will recognize this (should be) South African species???

Forgot to mention...excited to see this bulbs very first flowering!!

It is a Crinum species - foliage resembles that of C. lugardiae but flowers will be needed to confirm.

[Arnold]

Arisaema candidissimum

[Rdevries]

Stenomesson flavum, coll. north of Lima Peru, van der Werf et al. 14458
Winter leaves, mid summer flowers

[Rdevries]

Bessera ramirezii , recently separated from Bessera elegans

https://www.biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.512.4.2

[Martin Bohnet]

@Robert_Parks love that blue potato. I once tried blue-fleshed potatoes, but they flowered pale lilac for me.

time for more orchids: Epipactis thunbergii, Bletilla ochracea

Height:	20-30 cm (0.7-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	yellow, white
Life form:	corm

, Bletilla striata

Height:	10-30 cm (0.3-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple, blue, white
Life form:	deciduous rhizome
Climate:	USDA Zone 7-9

'Blue Dragon', Bletilla striata

Height:	10-30 cm (0.3-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple, blue, white
Life form:	deciduous rhizome
Climate:	USDA Zone 7-9

'Trilips' and Bletilla 'Brigantes'

Height:	30-45 cm (1-1.5 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, yellow
Life form:	corm