Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – September 2016

 

Grevillea victoriae

I’ve decided not to focus on the asters this month but to showcase four plants which have just started to flower and whose flowers I am always thrilled to see.  They all need to be sought out in the garden as they can be a little shy.

First up is Grevillea victoriae which has wonderful exotic orange flowers. Similar to Grevillea ‘Canberra Gem’ but flowering later.  Last year I thought it hadn’t flowered but discovered all the flowers at the bottom of the shrub.  This year the shrub is a year older and has been moved into a sunnier location and the flowers are beginning to appear higher on the shrub so I am hoping that next year it will look amazing.

Unknown Nerine

I have started to extend the bulb season in my garden with the inclusion of Nerines.  This is the first to flower and is from a hugh pot full of bulbs that I bought for a couple of pounds last year at the local HPS group.  I was really thrilled to see it, and its fellow flowers, as it shows that I have found a good location for it and confirms my plan to plant more Southern Hemisphere bulbs in this particular area.

Massonia

I am always pleased when the Massonia flowers in the greenhouse.  I had a Massonia pustulata but I think I lost that and as its name indicates the leaves were quite blistered looking so its not that variety, maybe I will find the label one day but either way I am pleased it has flowered again.

I have various Colchicums of differing quality and these are always the first to flower and are slowly but surely beginning to spread.  They are one of those plants whose flowers appear under the foliage of other plants but as you pass something catches you eye and you find yourself on your hands and knees looking to see what the colour is from.

So those are my 4 secret gems for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day – for more GBBD posts visit Carol at May Dream Gardens

Wordless Wednesday 20/8/14 – Colchicum

Plant of the Moment: Colchicum

This week’s plant of the moment is Colchicum, though to be honest I have several plants that I would like to do a post on but I was so surprised to see the Colchicum had flowered that it is now my pride and joy.

I bought my bulb last year at the Malvern Autumn Show, which is on again this weekend.  It was one of those impulse buys and I was a little dubious as the bulb was already in flower but was sold unplanted if you see what I mean.  I treated it like some rare orchid when I got home and planted it carefully in a pot with some moss around its stem to set off the flower.  After it had flowered I kind of forgot about it until the spring when a guilty voice reminded me that I really needed to do something especially as a grub thing seemed to be taking up residence in the pot.  In my haste to find a new home for the bulb I decided it needed somewhere where it was unlikely I would accidentally dig it up and I assumed that it wouldn’t mind a big of sun.  I now discover that it likes deep moisture retentive soil!!  My soil has a lot of clay in it and so retains the moisture despite sometimes baking in the sun.

Anyway last weekend I was walking past the border and something low and pale winked at me.  Looking down I saw that the Colchicum had returned and was flowering away – one flower was out and a second was in bud.  They do look a little strange as there are no leaves which I expect is why they are sometimes called ‘Naked Ladies’.  I think the variety I have is Colchicum autumnale and no those aren’t thistle weeds either side of it but Morina longifolia.

So its off to the Autumn show this weekend and Colchicums will not be an impulse buy this year but at the top of my shopping list along with some Camassias for the bank.