Image of the day

I have had plenty of earwig damage on other lilies, but never a nibble by anything on L. majoense. I couldn't say about the lily beetles; they aren't here in Minnesota yet.  But my guess is that this species might be somewhat resistant, as the leaves are very thick and waxy.  Perhaps someone else has had some experience?

Another interesting thing: Lilium 'White Henryi' is never bothered by earwigs, but the just opening buds seem to irresistible nighttime/morning "livetraps" for them.  I can shake the buds in a jar and catch them easily.

RickR wrote:

Wainwright wrote:

Rick, I was interested to hear of your success with the lily scales - what temperature do you have in your linen closet?

That would be 70F (21C).  Hybrid lilies produce scale bulblets pretty easily and aren't nearly as moisture sensitive, but species can be more tricky, depending on the type.

By the way, Lilium majoense is much more cold hardy than literature reports.  I have had plants growing here in zone 4 for four years, and blooming for two years.

Rick, I am impressed of your L majoense lilies! It is a species I have wanted to try for years. How do they tolerate wet winters, do you know? And what about slug resistance?

Rick, that lily is stunning!  I wish I had more patience to grow lilies from seed but then, lilies don't really do well for me on the whole  :-[

Hoy wrote:

Rick, I am impressed of your L majoense lilies! It is a species I have wanted to try for years. How do they tolerate wet winters, do you know? And what about slug resistance?

Our ground freezes solid 1 to 4 feet down, depending on our snow cover and temperature.  Winter wet isn't such a problem as much as you, Trond, although, compared to a montane climate it is.  My plants do grow in clay based, rich soil, but I can't say if L. majoense is any more or less tolerant to wet winters, compared to other lily species.  I also have Ll. distichum, martagon, fargesii, formosanum, f. var. pricei, concolor varieties, taliense, lankongense, duchartrei, tsingtauense, szovitsianum, and various asiatic and trumpet hybrids all growing in the same garden.  I'm not claiming they all do wonderfully well, but they do all bloom.  It is too dry in the summer to support moisture loving lilies like Ll. canadense, pardalinum or parryi.

Regarding slugs, the leaf texture would seem to point to resistance, but I don't know.  Slugs love cacti too, if it weren't for the thorns.

by the way, I was excited to see seed offered in the NARGS seed ex from a dwarf form of L. pardalinum.  I did get some, but most lily species are self infertile so I am not holding my breath.  Dwarf genes crossed with normal genes would likely result in a normal phenotype.  On the other hand, apomixis is not unheard of in Lilium species, so I might get lucky.

Many thanks, Rick. You have given me courage to try, at least :D

Well....all I can say is WOW!! What a fantastic blue! Thanks for that pic on this coldest day of the year....26 Below 0 farenheit last night!

Another stunning image Cliff!

This is Campanula makaschvilii...or at least that is what the seeds say!  It bloomed for the first time last summer.  It looks very similar to C. alliarifolia, but more compact.

That's what I call blue, Cliff!

Todd, I have a plant also labeled C. makaschvilii or something like that but it is much coarser than yours. Yours the better one!

Lori, the Banff mountains and flowers are always impressive :o

What? No images of the day? I have been absent for some time (more travel--this time to Oregon) but I am back in time for an ungodly cold snap. Ugggh. Wish I was back in Oregon!

My image is of so-called Iris bucharica 'Alba' (which I believe is actually Iris wilmottiana 'Alba') whose icy white flowers are appropriate to our frigid cold this week (36 hours below zero Farenheit: rising to nine above today and making things feel positively TROPICAL!): the low this weekend is expected to be ABOVE freezing (and it was 70F last Saturday). Which explains why we and our plants are schizophrenic. There were snowdrops blooming everywhere last week, and hazelnuts ready to burst bloom. As opposed to Portland, Oregon where it was early spring with lots of Sarcoccoca blooming everywhere, and Hamamelis and the first blooms on Mume and pears...and of course Camellias in full glory.

I did a short blog on Tropicalismo vs. reality (namely alpines) for the Gardens:

http://www.botanicgardensblog.com/2011/02/02/brrrrrrrrrr-its-cold-out-th...

Valeriana montana is surprising tolerant of very non-alpine conditions.  I have it as one of my experiments, growing in crazy pavement haphazardly set in very heavy clay that dries rock hard in the baking sun.  Experiment reults:
Ok as ground cover, but not very floriferous.

Valeriana montana

It seems some of you are back in business after a rather dull month ( I mean with little activity in the green sector).
All your nice shots of flowers make me longing for the spring! Although the snow has disappeared weeks ago the weather is rainy and barely above freezing temps. The snowdrops has started to show and the witch hazel flower but not much else.

However, I visited London, Norwich and a small place called Holt in Norfolk last week. Lots of spring flowers to see: snowdrops, winter aconites, mahonias, prunus, crocuses etc. Mindrefreshing sights :D
Sorry, no pics!

Skulski wrote:

I grow (V. montana) too...  It's fragrant but I have never noticed the fragrance wafting around. How about yours, Rick?

Honestly, I don't think I ever stuck my nose in it...  certainly no wofting about.
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How about a different kind of "image of the day"...

Germinated Lilium monadelphum var. szovitsianum seed, from last year's NARGS seed ex, in the first stage.  In its first season, it produces a tiny bulb, from which a leaf will emerge the following season.

Oh, how cute are those seedlings, I'm amazed that almost instantly the sprouting seedlings create tiny bulbs.

Booker wrote:

Welcome back to the fold Mark.
A cheery image for today ... Pulsatilla alpina ssp apiifolia under the Eiger.

Thanks Cliff, I was suffering forum withdrawal symptoms!  That's a splendid plant, and it looks surprisingly tall and robust, perhaps inspired by living on the doorstep to the Eiger.

Hello Mark, did you fix the problems?

Interesting photos from a wide range of topics!
Here is my contribution, it is a witch hazel growing at the main entrance where I work (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida').
Some spring plants have started the season now.

Not today and not a plant either but as beautiful as any flower :D a  Cucullia lactucae gnawing on a sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis).

Arrhenatherum elatius ssp. bulbosum 'Variegatum'

Grows about 10 inches here and the seed heads are only a few inches higher.  More hardy in my zone 4 climate than any variegated sedge I've tried.  One might think that with all the little "bulbs" it produces at the soil surface it would be invasive, but not so.  This is a well behaved, clump grass.

Trond, looks like winter is losing its grip for you with witch hazel blooms.  We have had 5 feet of snow in the last 3 weeks with several more storms heading our way.  Looks like a very late spring for us. I have literally been shovelling everyday..I am getting sick of this!

At the risk of mortally offending Todd, I am happy to report this weekend has been very balmy--60F: the mountains of snow at every parking lot are still daunting, but on level ground the snow is melting like butter on a hot skillet: freshets are everywhere, and the ground is absorbing some much needed moisture. The brash steppe sun was toasty all day, and snowdrops and hellebores that were opening just before the last few weeks of arctic cold, are emerging again and continuing their pageant despite -20F! Knock on wood..but we seem to have precious little evidence for the cold snap: the agaves, nolinas, dasylirions and other marginal succuolents around town don't seem to have singed, and the various Atlas Cedars and evergreen magnolias look just fine...I think a very long, dry summer and fall must have put everything into a state of complete dormancy. Of course, a week or two of this and everything will explode just in time for ANOTHER cold snap (such is Colorado!)...Most years the Adonis amurensis is out by now (it often starts in January): I haven't looked, but I suspect one must be blooming somewhere in my garden or Denver Botanic Gardens: here is a picture from last spring about this time. I have never seen the Winterthur March Bank, but I am told there are hundreds there...but even a single plant is heavenly! Happy Valentine's day to all of you! (A day early that is...)

I hate you Panayoti!  ;D

Me too, Panayoti.

Well, I will thank you Panayoti ;) I can't grow Adonis like this anyway!
What a difference the strong sunshine does even if it is biting cold ;D

Although we have some sun these days the air is Arctic cold and the sun doesn't give any warmth at all :-[ :(

Yes please! Better rain than dry cold.

Lovely Erigeron, Lori: what a great involucre! And the lake in the background...

Over 70 yesterday: the freshets are drying out and the snow is only in shady spots now, and the vast Himalaya drifts in parkinglots are shrinking into black and muddy Appalachians.

Snowdrops are out everywhere suddenly, the first crocus are open and Adonis and Hellebores are open too! I declare springtime! (tentatively....)

Here is my back yard...there is a 4.5 foot fence NOT visible on the left side of the yard.  Spring is NOT here!

Todd, you do make me feel guilty! (sort of)...

I got blisters yesterday afternoon cutting things back in the garden. I will not mention that it was shirtsleeve weather and that I had to wear a hat (it was so sunny)...I shan't tell you that things are poking up everywhere. Of course all this in time for another half dozen snowy spells we are sure to have into April or even May! There are advantages to long snow cover...

Stunning images Paul...although with every current flower pic being posted I get more depressed  :-[

In my desperate attempt to have spring as early as the rest of you, I brought a few of our potted alpines into the cool greenhouse at work.  Three of the primula bloomed within 2 weeks.  Here are some 'studio' pics of
Primula marginata , Primula veris and Primula 'Freedom'

Great images Todd!  And dazzling us with innovative usage of inline image posting.  If it is any consolation, we still have a 2-1/2' (75 cm) ice-hard layer of snow on the ground, frustrating when it reached nearly 60 F today.

Paul, I'm fascinated with Calostemma, first encountering this unusual genus on the pages of the Pacific Bulb Society.  So I googled Calostemma to come up with a couple links for this message, and see that you are all over the web with Calostemma images :D  Here's the PBS Calostemma page (you're on that one too!):
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Calostemma

They vaguely remind me of Tulbaghia, with the united corona, and sort of Allium-esque too... I think I'm in love ;D  I suspect however they would not be hardy here.

All your nice flowering plants whether it be from studios or deep south make me sick of longing for spring :-[
Here we have neither snow nor rain but dry cold weather (well cold....not compared to the North of Norway which has -40 to -50C/-40 to -58F these days; Here it is -2C/28F).
The soil has frozen solid once more and the lakes are ice-covered.
The world is grey :(

Please continue showing colors!