Floral Treats

Dear Friends,
After weeks of unseasonable chill and damp, the sun has come
out and temps near 90 (same for humidity). This has triggered some
much awaited bloom.

1. Helicodiceros musciverous. I have written a few years
ago about trying this in the ground here and surprised at its
survival. You can still Google this and find it is only hardy to Zone
9/ 10. It has survived at least 4 years and perhaps longer, but this
year after a long cold continuous chill it came up strong and has
bloomed yesterday. The incredible (and incredibly stinky) flower
(inflorescence) is one of nature's wonders. Perfectly shaped to
resemble the rotted rear end of a dead horse (as it is commonly
known). The spathe spreads wide in a putrid sort of pink color. The
hairy tail-like spadix emerges from a hole (no imagery needed here)
and flies swarm too it like candy. The odor is as bad as you can
imagine for rotting flesh.

Considering its often reported tenderness I am thrilled to
have a blooming plant in the garden, stink and all.

2. Dracunculus vulgaris Closely related to the above in odor
and as another Aroid, this is a far more common plant in my climate.
I have 4 good sized clumps that bloom regularly. Two flowers open
yesterday and continue perfuming the garden today. The flowers are
well over a foot long and half that width looking like a slab of meat
that has gone 'off'. But the color is rich and robust with a deep
black imposing spadix to offset the weirdness. I have at least 6
flowers to go and anticipate each wonder as they open.

Recently Tony Avent, Tom Mitchell, Alan Galloway travelled to
Crete and Tony posted photos of this species in the wild with white
spathes, yellow spadix and a range of marbled colors as much as 6 ft
tall. Wow! Check out his Plant Delights blog if you haven't already.

3. Sisyrinchium patagonicum On a much smaller scale. I've
tried a variety of South American Yellow Flowered Sisyrinchium and
none have proven hardy in my climate until now (I wish S. striatum
'Aunt May' was hardier). After starting from seed last year and
planting out in mid-summer, the resulting plants have produced a
number of small yellow star-like flowers of bright clear yellow. A
first!

The flowers are one and one half times as big (but still
small) as our common (weedy) 'Blue-Eyed Grass' S. latifolium and a
good variation. Now I wonder if they'll set seed or even cross with
each other.

I also tried S. palmifolium without survival, but I have a
few more seedlings to sacrifice.

4. Iris speculatrix This is a fairly rare (in
cultivation) iris in the Chinenses Series. Originally described from
Hong Kong it grows farther north along the E. Coast of China. I've
grown this for years, but it has never been happy. At least 2 -maybe
three - moves and it has found a spot to its liking. The clump
doubled last year and now has 4 open flowers. The flowers are small
with a mix of pale lilac, white and yellow with an interesting halo
marking around the signal.

This is in the same group as I. odaesaanensis, I. koreana and
others. A good woodlander that would be happier a zone or 2 south of
here.

5. Iris 'Alley Oops' This was introduced a few years ago,
but I have finally grown a plant. The ancestry is unknown, but
guessed as a rare cross between I. pseudacorus and some Siberian
Iris. This is an odd chromosomal mix and surely it is sterile. The
flowers resemble I pseudacorus, but the falls have fine purple veins
washed with pale yellow. The yellow fades quickly to white. It is a
vigorous and intriguing mix of characters. So far, I 'think' I like
it.

Of course other choice non-bulbous plants are popping up
surely (in part) to our sudden change to warm weather. It would be
nice to be somewhere inbetween chill and sweltering like 'moderate'.

Oh well. Best Jim W.
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +