2011 has been a hectic year! Too hectic to post on a regular basis, but I have found the time to try new plants.
So for my first blog in a while I'm going to feature my favourite newbies of the year.
The first delight bloomed in March; Pleione formosana. Depending upon your source they can have a reputation for being a bit tricky - not so! Grown in equal parts of multi-purpose compost, orchid bark, sphag moss and perlite they came up very quickly. The only special care that they got was to come indoors overnight.
After flowering, the solitary leaf emerges. Placed in a shady spot in the garden for the summer each pseudobulb produced four viable offsets for next year - this is important as the pseudobulbs tend to flower just the once.
The next gem of the year for me arrived in April; Hermodactylus tuberosus. After the hard winter of 2010/11 I had my doubts as to whether these tubers would survive. I need not have worried............
This outstanding Iris relative is already in leaf again, so hopefully should bloom earlier next spring.
Uvularia grandiflora flowered at pretty much the same time. I grew this on in a pot placed in a coldframe before planting out in March in a sheltered and shady spot.
Salvia "Wendys Wish" has bloomed prolifically since late May. Discovered growing in the garden of an Australian Salvia enthusiast it has been protected by the dreaded plant breeders rights. I this instance though I'm happy to live with this as the profits go to the Make a Wish Foundation. Unsure as to the hardiness at the moment though.........
Towards the end of May, the rare plant fair visited our area. I could have spent an absolute fortune! However, I limited myself to three plants.
The first was a replacement for one that I lost over the winter (Diplarrena morea)
The other two plants were Roscoea scillifolia.........
.........and Arisaema costatum.
I had already bought a tuber for this the previous autumn, but at this point it was a no show and I assumed that I had lost it. I ended up with two!
So for my first blog in a while I'm going to feature my favourite newbies of the year.
The first delight bloomed in March; Pleione formosana. Depending upon your source they can have a reputation for being a bit tricky - not so! Grown in equal parts of multi-purpose compost, orchid bark, sphag moss and perlite they came up very quickly. The only special care that they got was to come indoors overnight.
The next gem of the year for me arrived in April; Hermodactylus tuberosus. After the hard winter of 2010/11 I had my doubts as to whether these tubers would survive. I need not have worried............
Uvularia grandiflora flowered at pretty much the same time. I grew this on in a pot placed in a coldframe before planting out in March in a sheltered and shady spot.
Salvia "Wendys Wish" has bloomed prolifically since late May. Discovered growing in the garden of an Australian Salvia enthusiast it has been protected by the dreaded plant breeders rights. I this instance though I'm happy to live with this as the profits go to the Make a Wish Foundation. Unsure as to the hardiness at the moment though.........
Towards the end of May, the rare plant fair visited our area. I could have spent an absolute fortune! However, I limited myself to three plants.
The first was a replacement for one that I lost over the winter (Diplarrena morea)
The other two plants were Roscoea scillifolia.........
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