What's flowering today

[bulborum]

Crocus minimus RBGG Corsica

A small crocus I collected near the sea

Roland

[bulborum]

Ambrosina bassii RBGG Sicily

collected in the full sun in January
almost impossible to find , so small
with funny ,wooden shoe shaped flowers

Roland

[bulborum]

Galanthus elwesii var. monostictus selections

Here two of them

Roland

[McDonough]

Ambrosina bassii RBGG Sicily

collected in the full sun in January
almost impossible to find , so small
with funny ,wooden shoe shaped flowers

Roland

Ambrosina bassii is a funny little plant, had to look this one up as I'm not familiar with it. Apparently is the only species in this aroid genus and is considered quite rare.  Found a PDF link on the plant; fascinating flower construction.  Roland, does it take any frost?
http://www.edb.ups-tlse.fr/equipe3/MG/publis/Ambrosina.pdf

[RickR]

So nice to see live flowers at this time of year.  Thanks, Roland.

Regarding Ambrosina bassii:
- Nature's wonders never cease.  I found that PDF, too, Mark.  I wasn't sure which end of the flower connected to the plant.  I thought the pointed end might be a spur, but once I saw it was an aroid, of course that clinched it.

I went out to see if I still had any Hamamelis virginiana (Witchhazel) still blooming today, but not really.  The near 0˚F (-18˚C) temperature we had a few days ago did nearly all of them in.

This was our Thanksgiving bouquet this year, featuring the Witchhazel.  Can anyone guess what the conifer foliage is? (Hint: it is only one species.)

               

[McDonough]

This was our Thanksgiving bouquet this year, featuring the Witchhazel.  Can anyone guess what the conifer foliage is? (Hint: it is only one species.)

Must be Microbiota decussata (Siberian Cypress, and several other common names)!  I really need to grow this, I have long admired it and it is very hardy (obviously, if growing in your climate Rick!). By the way, I like how you have extended the garden into the house, by showing us a number of times, cut floral decorations inside, really does bring the garden inside to enjoy.  Not sure why I never think to do such things.

[RickR]

Thanks, Mark.  I do grow Microbiota decussata. It is very cold hardy and another good one for foliage in arrangements.  But no, that's not what is in the photo.  Depending on how much sun it gets, Siberian (or Russian) Cypress will have a mauve winter color, and the undersides not so markedly different.  This spray was grown in mostly shade:

Top view    

Underside    

The underside is lighter green, but there is no white.  

[Lori S.]

Err, okay.... I'll display my general ignorance of trees and guess Thuja occidentalis... though I'm not sure how the clue would fit that?  

EDIT:  Oh, I think I get the clue now (doh!)... You meant that the green sprigs and the silvery sprigs are a single species, right?  (I was thinking before that you meant it was a monospecific genus.)

[bulborum]

I fount the Ambrosiana in corsica almost alone as single plants
In Sicily they where many times with a few together

probably because Corsica is much cooler in the winter as Sicily (plants hardly set seed)

The plant from Corsica I collected died the first winter (I forgot to bring in the pot)
one night -3°C was enough to kill it

so Mark be careful , where it grows there is almost never frost

The plants from Sicily slept one year

I will post later other pictures from plants with different leaf-shapes

Roland

[Hoy]

So nice to see live flowers at this time of year.  Thanks, Roland.

Regarding Ambrosina bassii:
- Nature's wonders never cease.  I found that PDF, too, Mark.  I wasn't sure which end of the flower connected to the plant.  I thought the pointed end might be a spur, but once I saw it was an aroid, of course that clinched it.

I went out to see if I still had any Hamamelis virginiana (Witchhazel) still blooming today, but not really.  The near 0˚F (-18˚C) temperature we had a few days ago did nearly all of them in.

This was our Thanksgiving bouquet this year, featuring the Witchhazel.  Can anyone guess what the conifer foliage is? (Hint: it is only one species.)

I was thinking of Callitropis nootkatensis, but I believe that genus has two species!

[Lori S.]

Platycladus orientalis?

[RickR]

Regarding the foliage in the vase arrangement, Thuja occidentalis and the very closely related Platycladus orientalis are not the identity either.  Trond, your guess of Callitropis (Xanthocyparis, Chamaecyparis) nootkatensis is a good one, as any species from that subfamily  has whiter undersides.  (And I wouldn't be growing the recently discovered species native to Vietnam.)  But again, wrong answer.

What is shown is Thuja koraiensis, which unlike the other species of the genus, possesses one of the most contrasting color changing in respect to upper and lower rsides of foliage.  Another pic:

              

[Hoy]

Rick, you know, I didn't understand that the  whitecoloured sprigs was the same plant at all - I didn't even recognize it as a conifer! I see it now. I too thought like Lori that you meant a monospecific genus

I don't think I have ever seen Thuja koraiensis, at least do I not remember any. Seems to be a beautiful conifer.

[Hoy]

Ambrosina bassii RBGG Sicily

collected in the full sun in January
almost impossible to find , so small
with funny ,wooden shoe shaped flowers

Roland

Roland, is this one hardy? I have never seen anything like it before.
Is the Crocus and snowdrops flowering now?

[bulborum]

Roland, is this one hardy? I have never seen anything like it before.
Is the Crocus and snowdrops flowering now?

Ambrosiana is absolutely not hardy
probably as soon as the soil freezes they die

they are wintergreen
so as soon as they freeze
you just have the corms under the ground

I found them 10-12 cm deep in Sicily
but just 5 cm deep in Corsica

The Crocus and Galanthus are now flowering

Roland