Autumn Treasures at Holymoorside

A talk to the Chesterfield AGS group covering the Spring Treasures at Kew, lined up a few Autumn treasures courtesy of Ju Bramley, my host for the day. It was getting a bit late for many of them but there were still quite a few fresh flowers in bloom - and the sun came out now and then!!

Lets start with Crocus cancellatus ssp cancellatus which refused to open properly but looks pretty good from the outside!

The ever popular Crocus goulimyi from the Pelopponese in a nice bicoloured form

 Crocus goulimyi var leucanthus was at it's best, a couple of pots of the 'normal' white form

Crocus goulimyi 'Mani form' quite distinct with sharply pointed petals

Crocus boryi or is it C. laevigatus?

Crocus laevigatus - with smaller flowers this looks spot on?

Crocus mathewii had sadly had it's day, many of them by the look of spent flowers, The white flowers with deep purple throat are utterly gorgeous and seem to grow very well in pots here!

Not so bad from a side view either!

Have I saved the best until last? Crocus robertianus freshly open and a very pale sumptuous flower!

Oxalis massoniana was throwing out a few flowers as it emerged from it's long Summer rest!

Crocus treasures indeed, the garden was slumbering but looking as though it would be spectacular in the Spring.... 

AGS Loughborough Autumn Show

Loughborough autumn show and a resurrection of the blog! I'll be generous with images, short on words as that's the only way this is going to happen, In general it's the pictures you want to see too! Apologies where exhibitor's plants are missing too!

Here's the Farrer medal plant - Sternbergia sicula, courtesy of Bob and Rannveig Wallis.

Closely contested by the best Cyclamen - this mighty exhibit of Cyclamen graecum subsp anatolicum from Martyn Denny,

A couple of Certificates of merit....  Firstly Colchicum alpinum (Jim Mcgregor)

Secondly, Oxalis perdicaria 'Citrino' (Keith and Rachel Lever)

Another impressive Sternbergia sicula (Ian Robertson)

Aruncus aethusifolius - how about that for Autumn colour!

A splash of silver from Lupinus lepidus.

And a silver orientated 'arrangement' (Anne Vale)

Autumn show means Autumn Gentians and these three were my pick of the bunch....

Utterly adorable - Gentiana farreri 'Silken Star group' (Keith and Rachel Lever) whichever way you look at it?

A Gentiana sino ornata hybrid (Anne Vale)

And Gentiana 'Braemar' (David Boyd)

Autumn shows also mean berries (or fruits cones etc...) The trophy for best best pan in cone seed or fruit or autumn coloured foliage went to this mouthwatering (hmm not sure I'd eat the berries though?)  pan of Gaultheria crassa 'John Saxton' (Keith and Rachel Lever)

Then there's Gaultheria mucronata 'Mother of Pearl'

And how about this Aussie 'bowl of oranges' from Harry Roberts? Ground cover believe it or not!

Nertera granadensis 'Astrid'

A trio of Crocus... Starting with Crocus goulimyi.

Crocus kotschyanus.

And the mouth watering blooms of Crocus mathewii

Colchicums aplenty including the sumptuous goblets of Colchicum speciosum album

Cleaning up on the prizes in the Novice section was this Colchicum autumnale album for Andrew ward (best plant and best bulbous plant)

And how about this gorgeous pink Colchicum cupanii ssp glossophyllum

Petrocosmea are popular plants nowadays and here's a trio to whet your appetite?

Petrocosmea aff lodioides

Petrocosmea forrestii

Petrocosmea minor

Plenty of Cyclamen of course and despite the smallest of flowers, Cyclamen intaminatum can pack a punch when covered like this (Robert Amos)

The beauty of Cyclamen graecum is often in the foliage and the densely flowers pans can obscure the beauty of the leaves (goodness me, isn't that terrible). Here's some good examples of the variation!

I'll end with my favourite Autumn onion - Allium callimischon ssp haemostictum - check out thosae lovely spotted flowers in the closer view!

Don't forget to check out the main AGS website for more images, full class results and a whole lot more -  here

Twin scaling Snowdrops - ensuring success!

The moment of truth... The bags of twin-scaled Snowdrops are opened and not a green / furry failure in sight! I never fail to admire how nature ordains this means of survival into the Amaryllidaceae. For this sequence, a healthy bulb of Galanthus plicatus 'John Long' had been chopped into pieces and placed into a bag of fungicide treated moist vermiculite last June....

Everyone's a winner :-)

Despite all the fiddling and care at the incubation stage, it can all still go wrong!  I've evolved a belt and braces method against fungal losses.

The twin scales are place into a ziplock bag.....

Green Sulphur (the belt)  is added and the bag shaken / stirred.....

They are then potted into clean 3" plastic pots. A mix of equal parts JI No 2 / perlite and grit is filled to within 1" of the top - figs 1&2.

The sulphur treated twin scales are then pressed into this open mix (leave the dried scales attached) - figs 3&4.

More of the potting mix is then added until the twin scales are covered fig 5

A top dressing of coarse grit is added fig 6. Oh and DONT forget to label the pot as you go along!

The first watering of these pots is done using a systemic fungicide! (Thats the braces!)

Once leaves are noted, the pots are then watered with 1/2 strength general fertiliser on a regular basis.  The bulbs should then reach flowering size after two growing seasons.

 In three years time you could be staring at a clump like this :-)

I'm giving several talks this Winter on the theme of 'Special Snowdrops' including:

Wolverhampton Hort Soc 14th November 2012
AGS Essex group 29th November 2012
Stone Chrysanthemum and Dahlia club 10th January 2013
The Ashwood Snowdrop Day lecture on 3rd February 2013
Hardy Plant Society Snowdrops Group (Leominster) 17th February 2013

Contact me for more details or if you would be interested in a talk on the theme of Snowdrops (I have several) suitable for garden clubs or conference audiences

Glad you came up?

Isn't it nice when 'surprises' pop up in the garden? I'd discarded some 'dead' pots from the alpine house following the killer Winter of two years ago. Clearly not as lethal as I thought.....

This was the sight that caught my attention on the 10th September, gorgeous salmon coloured flowers over a fan of foliage merely 6" tall.....

The flowers lasted nearly a week before shrivelling up - only to be replaced by just as many new ones. The whole plant was less than 12" tall :-)

And pretty stunning they were too! Eat your heart Gladiolus flanaganii - I may have a new favourite?

I had suspected Gladiolus oppositifolius ssp salmoneus would be 'one for the garden' when sowing this amongst a dozen or so other species from Silverhill seeds several years ago. And of course I planted it there with that in mind ......

Now where's all the other surprises waiting to shoot up?