colchicum
A fantastic year to be growing plants. We had hardly a rainy day all season. Now with the coming of September rain clouds have been gathering and we’ve had a good dump of moisture. A lushness is being replenished in the lands. The plants are thoughly enjoying the precipitation. Thus I have finally been relieved of my watering duties for a few days; here I have a moment to share a few photos.
A few days ago, as if only for moment my Heurnia Kennedyana bloomed. I acquired this plant via a cutting from the U.K. and have had it for nearly 3 years now. It grew from a grape sized piece to the specimen pictured below. I’ve tried many types of steplia over the years but haven’t had much success. Gangs of mealybugs seem to always gather and gnaw and just when you think they’re all gone you spot a few more. For some reason Heurnia Kennedyana hasn’t had a single one on it. It responds to it’s place on the windowsill and likes a drink weekly in the summer. The flower bud was no bigger than a dime, was spotted one day, flowered the next, and was done. A brief moment for a most unusual flower. Makes me think of surrealist artwork. I thought it might stink but it didn’t have a scent.
And while we’re talking flowers. I caught this gymnocalycium species flowering the other day as well.
Oh?
Autumn colchicum are already popping up…
Now to start planning the great plant migration. So many potted succulents need a warm home for the winter.
Ciao
Whew! What a week!
The weather in Victoria seems to be declining steadily, shorts have been replaced with pants and a sweater seems almost essential to leave the house in the morning. The temperature has dropped down to 10 C and I fear a frost is right around the corner. Everyday after work is a mad dash to catch some sunlight and sort my plants into various groups of tenders, tropicals and succulents. With the sun now almost completely set at 7:00pm, the few hours I have after work are precious. It’s like cleaning up after a big party, the garden is slowly but surely dismantled and cleaned up. For the moment it’s a complete mess, no time to worry about day to day tidying, I have to find warm homes for my plants before it’s too late. My house is absolutely stuffed, and everyday I bring another load to the greenhouse.
“Oh hey (insert boss’s name here) mind if I overwinter some plants at the greenhouse?”
“Sure thing Nat, just put them in the corner”
(Evil laughter as a cube van pulls up with 1 million plants)
Passiflora caerulea loves the cool autumn weather.
Luckily I have excellent boss’s that encourage such plant madness or life would be much more depressing right now. While the first bay of the main house slowly fills with strange tropical specimens, a couple friend’s and I embark on building a greenhouse of our own at the back of the property. We got the A-OK from our fearless leaders and hope to get started pretty quick here. If everything works out it should be roughly 40ft long and 16ft wide, not bad for a couple of plant geeks.
I must admit at this time of plant dismantling I’m a bit overwelmed by it all. It’s only now that I get to see the sheer volume of my collection, and quite frankly it’s a bit out of control. A quick walk around the house counts a staggering 90+ potted plants, not including any cuttings or would be seed projects. Outside is a fully stocked garden 360 around the house, and now the greenhouse at work slowly fills up. I suppose my mission this year was to learn about plants, and what better way of doing it then to grow them. You’ve got to grow them to learn about them. I would say books barely scratch the surface with the idiosyncrasies of plants, watching them you seem to learn something new everyday.
With the cold chill in the air today I decided to take the matter of saving my tree echium into my own hands. I can”t wait for a truck any longer, I folded down my seats in my VW Golf and managed to get it in. The guy who car pools with me often makes a jokes when there isn’t any plants in my car, as if something’s amiss. You know when you’ve gone down the deep end when.
Quickie Fall Tour October 2011:
Autumn spiders are out in full force.
A valentines day Gerbera that I bought for my girlfriend, allowed to rest, is now in the midst of another impressive display of flowers. Excellent.
Some fall asters I bought from a gardener near Shawnigan Lake really brighten up the place.
A sumac bonsai has great autumn colors.
Autumn colchicum spring out of nowhere.
Flowering from May until frost works just fine for me, Abutilon megapotamicum is a must have. While some treat this as an annual, this one is definitely getting stored in the greenhouse this year.
Last but not least, the cyclamen. If there is any reason to love fall, it’s these amazing little showstoppers.
Oh?
Thanks for stopping by!
