Image of the day

[RickR]

When Peter Korn was here in Minnesota giving a presentation, he told me that it was not unusual for him to find Lilium mackliniae seeds germinating while still in the (I assumed still upright) pod.  I am very envious, Dave.  I have germinated seed of more than 25 Lilium species,but twice I have tried germinating these seeds with no success.  Peter wondered if the seeds were viable to begin with.

[Toole]

Great find! And they're already germinating! I'm sure you gave those seeds an assist

Damn ! I gave them away to a visitor this arvo before reading Rick's reply Mark.

When Peter Korn was here in Minnesota giving a presentation, he told me that it was not unusual for him to find Lilium mackliniae seeds germinating while still in the (I assumed still upright) pod.  I am very envious, Dave.  I have germinated seed of more than 25 Lilium species,but twice I have tried germinating these seeds with no success.  Peter wondered if the seeds were viable to begin with.

I've seen a similar thing here while out in the 'hills' very late in the season of Celmisia germinating in an upright seed head still attached to the plant .(i have a pic of that somewhere which i 'posted 'on the SRGC forum way back.....).

I generally have heaps of viable seed of the Lilium.PM me with your snail mail details if interested.

Cheers Dave.

 

[RickR]

Thanks so much, Dave.

Image for today, a Hieracium villosum:

               

[WimB]

Thanks so much, Dave.

Image for today, a Hieracium villosum:

Very nice, Rick. Looks warm and hairy 

Here's one which had catched my eye yesterday:

Colchicum 'Lilac Bedder'

[Schier]

Rick, I do like the Hieracium villosum, so lovely and fuzzy. I tend to have a very soft spot, no pun intended! for many of the grey/blue hairy fuzzy leaved plants.  I love some of the verbascum and salvia with felty  foliage, they certainly aren't alpine, but then again, my gardens are quite the mix!

[Hoy]

Slugs and rain damage the Colchiium and Crocus flowers in the moist weather we have now but Rhododendrons are happy!

Rh. fortunei (or a cross - it is a seedling) has produced several flower buds waiting for spring. Another twig has big fruits that ripen later this fall. The buds of Rh bureavii is almost hidden among the hairy petioles while an unknown seedling has put out a new shoot - the second this year, as it does every year.

      

[Lori S.]

Lovely pix, everyone.

Here are some fall larch scenes from Panorama Ridge in Banff N.P.:
        

[AmyO]

Wow Lori!! Absolutely spectacular! I was out to Yellowstone 2 years ago for the first time and was just blown away by the surroundings! You are lucky to live near such an amazing place as Banff!

[RickR]

Sempervivum arachnoides 'Minus'

          

[Hoy]

Lori, yellow larches are better than green rhododendrons!

Rick, are you sure you haven't helped with some Xmas decoration?

[Todd Boland]

Spectacular scenery Lori...I'll see it for myself this coming weekend!  I'll be in calgary for Thanksgiving.

[Hoy]

The fall is inexorably upon us. We had 3 days with sun and warm weather with new warmth records for October several places yesterday. Today it is back to normal - rain, but still good temperatures. However the forecasts say snow in the mountains the next days.

At home some plants like the "mini-kiwi" (Actinidia arguta) get the fall colour and ripen fruits while its big cousin the kiwiplant (Actinidia deliciosa) still is green. The third cousin (Actinidia kolomikta) has completely coloured red. Hydrangea anomala petiolaris still bears spent flowers among the yellow leaves. A climbing Clematis (C. orientalis or some relative) still produces plenty of flower buds.

   

[RickR]

Hoy, do you have male and female of each of your kiwi species?  If not, do you have females without males that still produce fruit?  (Then cross pollination would be easy between species.)

[Hoy]

Rick, the "minikiwi" is the strain 'Issai' which is self fertile. The kiwiplant (deliciosa) is from seed and is mostly a male plant but I have got some small fruits on it. (The plant suddenly appeared on the compost heap several years ago and is hardy, growing up to 4m each year.) Kolomicta is a male plant. Males have the best leaf colours. It is impossible to get female plants here!

[Todd Boland]

The A. arguta at our BG finally produced some fruit this year.  We had a female for years but no male.  I bought us a male 4 years ago and it prodcued a single cluster of flowers this year.  I was the 'bee' and hand-pollinated the feamle, managing to get 12 bertries.  Unfortunately, our summer was so cold this year, the fruit will never ripen.  Maybe next year will be better.

Fall bulbs are blooming...Cyclamen, Crocus and Colchicum.