New Themes

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I've created a few new themes for my blog. I was hoping to be able to put together a CSS Switching option where you could choose your own but it does not sound easy in blogger with the widgets etc. so at least for the time being it'll have to be only one at a time.

Here are the options:

Clematis.

Clematis 'Rebecca' is one of my favourite new plants (and one of the most common Keywords that people find this blog from Google).





Heuchera.

Heuchera 'Obsidian' & Calamint. The pairing was a happy accident, these two plants have worked together well since they found themselves as neighbours.





Hosta.

Hosta 'Striptease' was one of the first Hostas that caught my eye. Nice green colours with this theme.



Opuntia.

Opuntia macrorhiza is easily one of the most unusual and interesting plants in my garden.



Phalaenopsis.

Phalaenopsis. Classic, elegant, long lasting. My favourite NOID.



Osteospermum.

Osteospermum cv. is one of my favourite annuals. I had one last year and will almost certainly be getting the same one this year as well.



There will be a poll in the sidebar open for a week though odds are I'll have already changed the theme by then.

Comments encouraged. If I were to change the theme from time to time to cycle through these how often could it change without bothering you? Or do you prefer fewer changes with the theme?

And don't forget to visit my 100th Post to tell me if I should buy a Cactus or an Orchid.

100 Posts

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Ending March off on a high note this is my 100th post. I couldn't have imagined having this much to say but I guess I've managed to come up with a lot of things to talk about.

I decided to get myself something nice to mark this milestone - but I haven't got it yet. It'll either be the Echinocactus horizonthalonius or the Epc. Yucatan I've also been considering. I still haven't really decided. Thoughts?



Astrantia major 'Dark Shiny Eyes'

At this point I've used the tag Hardy 16 times and Tropical 65 times. April starts tomorrow and there will be much more coming up in hardy plants over the summer, tropical... not so much - shouldn't be any new tropical plants being bought, basically just interesting things the plants I already have will be doing. Of course there will be just as much going on outside, especially at work.

And... yup. Actually that's about it. I'll have a new plant probably Saturday or at least I'll have made up my mind by then. And otherwise I should start to have pictures of things going on outside coming soon.

Sarcoglottis sceptrodes in bloom

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There are many orchids grown for their leaves. In some cases, such as Ludisia discolor the flowers are nice, just not the showiest part of the plant. When someone says that Sarcoglottis sceptrodes is grown for its leaves... they mean it.



Sarcoglottis sceptrodes in flower.


Sarcoglottis sceptrodes closeup.


Sarcoglottis sceptrodes closeup, from another angle.

The plant is 23" from the top of the pot to the tip of the spike. I'm not sure I'd use ugly to describe the flowers. Certainly not beautiful, but interesting for sure. They have become slightly more yellow with time but nothing significant.

Wish list addition: Paphiopedilum Winged Flight 'Elektra' HCC/AOS

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I saw this image at the AOS home page (it's not there anymore, hasn't been for a long time now) and the only other site I found any picture of this form has made it impossible to link even to the page the picture is on and has made it pretty clear he doesn't want people to look at it (hint - Google image search the name exactly as it appears in the title).

It is the result of a cross between P. Berenece & P. lowii which apparently scored a 78 (80-89 inclusive out of 100 would have made it an AM/AOS (Award of Merit/American Orchid Society vs Highly Commended Certificate - See here for more on AOS awards)) and was named "Elektra."

Paph. Winged Flight is a simultaneous multifloral, which is pretty self explanatory - multiple blooms all open at the same time. These can put on a fantastic show though a sequential may last longer (at the expense of each individual flower not lasting as long).

I'm mostly using 'Elektra' as an example here - It's a fantastic looking Paphiopedilum But it's not the only really nice looking Paph. Yes I would like to have an 'Elektra' but it's more the idea that I love.


Paph. Michael Koopowitz 'Norma' HCC/AOS is a good example of a very dramatic simultaneous multifloral Paph that's also been awarded.

Many of the most dramatic Paphs also happen to be Simultaneous bloomers. I like the horizontal petals on Paphiopedilum Winged Flight a lot though the long twisted petals of P. Mount Sander (for example) are undeniably stunning as well. Both the horizontal and vertical petals give a very graceful very formal look to the flowers and really on any given day I might prefer one or the other.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that there are a lot of really cool Paphiopedilum cultivars and I don't have any of them. A good Paph is a pricey Paph, my collection will not grow fast but a Paphiopedilum that will send up multiple spikes each year each with multiple blooms (or even just a single spike with multiple blooms) is a Paph worth buying.

Wish list: Echinocactus horizonthalonius

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I'm considering buying this Echinocactus horizonthalonius. It's supposed to be one of the only (if not the only) Echinocactus that will bloom when small, young and in a pot. It must already be a few years old too from the size of it. The flowers are large and pink in the spring. Fragrant too apparently.

The thorns are pretty cool looking for the rest of the year it isn't in bloom.



Echinocactus horizonthalonius

Very tempted... It is expensive but it looks like it's already a few years old so maybe it's worth the price.

Toronto Gesneriad Society Show, 2010

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I went to the Toronto Gesneriad Society Show earlier today. It was my first day off since I started working last Saturday so I told myself I would decide to go or not based on whether I slept though it or not. I didn't.

Here are some pictures:


Episcia 'Ember Lace' - If I could grow Episcia at all this cultivar would be at the top of my list.


Episcia 'Blue Nile'


Streptocarpus 'Purple Panda'


Streptocarpus dunnii


Saintpaulia 'Demer's Pixie Belle'


Saintpaulia ionantha subsp. orbicularis


Chirita liboensis - My favourite of the show. Large Dark leaves with huge numbers of flowers. The plant was pretty big as well compared to the Chirita cultivars I grow. Very striking.


Columnea pulchra 'Orange Crush'


Kohleria 'Pink Shadow'


Sinningia sp. Florianopolis

New Plant: Crassula ovata 'Gollum'

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Crassula ovata 'Gollum'

I was checking out the succulents today at work when I noticed a broken piece of a large Crassula ovata 'Gollum.' It already has a few roots started and I'm very hopeful it'll do well for me.

C. undulata followup

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C. wendtii "03"


C. wendtii "03"

Remember my C. undulata which had a spathe developing? Well it's not a C. undulata at all. It's another C. wendtii. I will call it "03"

New Perennials for 2010 + New Plant.

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I spent all yesterday being trained - part of this included talks from a number of suppliers each of whom talked about the new introductions they're carrying.

One of the most exciting perhaps was the Heucherella 'Golden Zebra' because it has very similar foliage to Pelargonium 'Vancouver Centennial,' only hardy, and with more of everything.

There were a few double Helleborus from the "Winter Jewels TM" line - 'Painted Doubles' was the nicest we saw in flower. One that was supposed to be white was actually pink, and one that was supposed to be purple was also pink, and they were both very nice but just not as nice as 'Painted Doubles'

Heuchera 'Mint Julep' was nice as well. Would be excellent if you've had bad luck with Brunnera 'Jack Frost' but want similar colours in your shade garden.

Hosta 'Niagara Falls' was an interesting new take on a common plant. This site has a nice picture of one. The veining is nice enough I guess but the undulated leaf margin is a really nice touch.

Sedum telephium ssp. ruprechtii ‘Hab Gray’ has yellow flowers. Cool.

I walked away from the meeting with a Colocasia 'Diamond Head' which I'll take a picture of on the weekend. Solid black leaves (they uncurl green but seem to quickly darken) on burgundy petioles. And it can get big.

I'm also beginning to feel less strongly about needing that orchid. There are actually two and they're still there. I might wait and see if they go on clearance when they finish blooming.

Update: The Colocasia has some pretty bad hard water marks on the leaves, picture will be delayed.

Spring flowering Witch-Hazels

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I'd posted a picture of Hamamelis virginiana flowering in November and was was pretty alright all things considered. The trouble is that there's so much going on in November that it doesn't seem quite as special as Hamamelis x intermedia which flowers in late winter. Nothing* flowers in late winter here so this is pretty impressive.



Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane'


Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' looks an awful lot like Hamamelis virginiana. I suppose it's an easy colour to work with with spring bulbs so that may not be a bad thing.


Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' - Somewhere in between the previous. More interesting colour than 'Arnold Promise' but not as full looking as 'Diane.'

'Diane' is by far my favourite. I'm not a huge fan of Witch-Hazels but that's got loads of colour in March, right when you need it. I'm not sure I'd ever get one though. If I did though it would be 'Diane.'

* I'm exaggerating, but only a little. Sure there are early bulbs and the like but this seems to be the only big shrub that flowers before spring technically starts. Magnolia, Cercis canadensis, and various Dogwoods and Ornamental Cherries and the like all usually wait until April to do anything.

Plant ID & an Orchid

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So there's this plant that looks a lot like a Senecio rowleyanus but the leaves are elongated to a point, more the shape of the leaves on a Sedum morganianum but with the growth habit and colour of Senecio rowleyanus. Any ideas?

I also fell in love with an Epc. Yucatan today.



Epc. Yucantan

It may be coming home from work with me this week. I didn't check if it was fragrant though my Epc. (Now Gcy.) Kyoguchi is slightly fragrant.

Everything is telling me I should steer clear of this plant but it's perfect and I need it.

Oh, and I think I have thrips. In my terrarium. I'm only seeing signs of damage on my Cryptocorynes which I will soak for a few days and keep a very close eye on everything else in there. What should I use on the other plants?

Haworthia flowers

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The buds on my Haworthia limifolia var. limifolia opened on the 19th - the same day my cat decided to bite the developing bloom stalk. It had reached 14" tall at that point. It finished opening the first flower in water and had its first flower fully open that night.

I'll be keeping it as a cut flower to see how it does. you may see another picture you may not - you can blame the cat if you don't.





Haworthia limifolia var. limifolia flowers

The divisions continue to do well. The main plant and the babies spent some time outside while it was warm. I miss those days and look forward to their return. The current 14 day trend tells me that won't be soon. The thing about a 14 day forecast is that it will change, hopefully for the better.

Snowdrops & More

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I went for a walk today to break in my new work shoes. Ouch. I should have been doing that a while ago but with only a days notice for starting... Well, three band-aids on my right heel, 2 on my left. It will be a fun day hauling cinder blocks around.

Well anyway on my walk I decided to have a look at a tree I've seen from the car and always wanted to find out what it is. I was right:



Abies concolor - probably subsp. concolor

I've got a bit of an evergreen crush on Abies concolor subsp. concolor. But not even close to the space to put one. And I tend to overcrowd. But not with trees, shrubs or evergreens. That way leads to hideous permanent pruning mistakes.

I also noticed this patch of Snowdrops in front of a Euonymus.



Galanthus nivalis

The pairing with the white variegated leaves might work well but unfortunately the white of the Snowdrops just makes the Euonymus look drab. They would probably work better against a very dark green background like you might get from a Yew (Taxus sp.).

I'll likely get some snowdrops this fall and I've got a few places in mind where the snow melts fast in spring.

Misc.

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With the fantastic weather we've been having recently I've been called back to work from my extended winter "vacation" and I start Saturday. Posting may be reduced, at least at first until we start getting interesting plants in, when it may increase. I've got a few posts pre-written that will start popping up as well. Apparently they need all benches outside setup by Sunday. I imagine I'll be too tired and sore to want to do much posting after that.



Heuchera 'Obsidian' & Calamintha grandiflora

My favourite Rose (Red Carpet sort of NOID) already has new growth by the looks of it, and my favourite Clematis looks like it might be starting soon. I don't have much by way of bulbs - basically just Daffodils and they're not open yet and my Euphorbia myrsinites isn't quite there yet either so on the whole there's not much else going on outside. I'm thinking I might trade it in for a more upright, not blue-leaved Euphorbia. Or maybe something else.

And so I also ended up signing up for Last.fm, you can add me if you'd like.

And... that's about it.

Opuntia macrorhiza glochids & Rooted cutting

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When I posted pictures of my Opuntia macrorhiza flowers the question of glochids came up (as always when Opuntia are being discussed).



Opuntia macrorhiza, closeup.

The answer is yes. It has a lot of glochids.

While I was cleaning up around it last week I found a pad that had I guess mostly rotted off the main plant. Well I'd been planning to root a cutting and replant behind my barbecue to see if I could get it to grow there, so I cut off and picked up the cutting to find it had already rooted. Awesome. Though I doubt it'll get enough sun.

I'm pretty sure the rot was because of Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) which was outgrowing its place. It was moved but it left behind some leaves on the pads of the cactus (I guess it was spring at the time?). Well, see the glochids above. So I guess I left the leaves and one thing (rotting leaves) lead to another (rooted cutting) and here we are. Yay!



Opuntia macrorhiza still looking a little deflated but otherwise in good shape.

So I've cleared up everything from around the Opuntia so it's got a lot more airflow (note to self do that in the fall in the future) and all's good.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, March 2010

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My second Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Spring is still not quite here in spite of some fantastically warm weather so once again I can only show you what's flowering inside my house right now. It's nice to be able to note that every single plant I posted last month is still flowering (with the exception of the Saintpaulia NOID which had already been flowering a pretty long time).


And this month you get more of the same - Orchids and African Violets. Enjoy!



Phalaenopsis NOID - I think there's a point where on orchid becomes so boring it becomes beautiful again.


Ludisia discolor - About all I'm going to get out of it. The bottom flowers are starting to close.


Saintpaulia "NOID 0022" - The flower's not in the greatest shape but this is the best focus I've gotten in an African Violet picture yet - Check it out at full size.


Saintpaulia "NOID 0010" - This one's nice.


Saintpaulia 'Ness' Orange Pekoe' - Interesting colour, doesn't do much for me otherwise though.


Saintpaulia "NOID 0011" - It took me a while to notice those blue spots on the petals. I think this could become one of my favourites if I can bring out those spots more in the future.


Saintpaulia "NOID 27"


Saintpaulia "NOID 0027"

Ostrich Fern Fertile Frond

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Matteuccia struthiopteris (Ostrich Fern) Fertile Frond

Unlike the infertile fronds these ferns produce in the spring the fertile fronds remain standing through the winter.

New orchid growths

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Yesterday I was having a look at my Oncidium Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' AM/AOS (Sorry, I just like typing its name out in full) and noticed that the new growth that was on the plant when I bought it had finally decided it was not going to grow again. Boo. Well then I noticed two new growths. So I watered it and fertilized it. It's also sending out new roots.



Oncidium Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' AM/AOS Growths.

Later that afternoon I was checking in on my Cymbidium NOID to see if it needed water or anything and found that it too was growing. Yay! I see two so far. This year it will live outside for the summer until the nights get cold in the fall and spikes are developing.



Cymbidium NOID Growths.

Wish list addition: Dyckia spp./cvv./hybrids

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Dyckia is a genus of terrestrial Bromeliads from drier climates than many other Bromeliads (similarly they resemble Agave/Aloe/Haworthia more closely than they do most other Bromeliads).



Dyckia brevifolia - Based on that spent bloom stalk these seem to be polycarpic growers (flowers several times from one plant) unlike the majority of Bromeliads which are monocarpic. I would not want to have to remove those dead leaves though.
(Photo by Michael Wolf used under CC license from here.)

They have some pretty prominent spines as well, which they show off to great effect (Dyckia 'South Bay', first plant in the link.) While others prefer to look fantastic with uniformly beautiful colour (Dyckia 'Cherry Cola'). At least on some plants these spines are soft, meant to act as a way to diffuse heat. I'm still not sure I want to handle them too much, but maybe that's an added bonus from these spines for the plant.



Dyckia sp. looking very dramatic somewhere warmer than here.
(Photo by anniesannuals used under CC license from here.)

Looking at pictures I've found I have some significant preferences in Dyckia. I seem to like long, broad leaves with somewhat prominent spines but no larger than... half (?) the width of the leaf on a plant that forms more of an upright mound of slightly curved leaves rather than the strongly down-turned and twisted leaves of some species.

I have been going through Dyckia Brazil and saving the pages of Dyckia that have caught my eye:
Dyckia sp. - green, long broad straight leaves. Nice.
Dyckia hebdingii affinis - Silver, long narrow straight leaves with shorter spines to match the narrow leaves.
Dyckia 'Stardust' - Dyckia brevifolia (pictured above) x Dyckia fosteriana results in a a plant more attractive than either parent.
Dyckia spp. - All three species on that page.
Dyckia sp. - Unnamed form with very nice long straight leaves and black spines. Nice.
Dyckia spp. - Two groupings, all nice plants.
Dyckia 'Red Devil' - Nice.
Dyckia hebdingii - Very nice.
Dyckia sp. - Love this one.
Dyckia 'Mother Africa' - Perfect.

I don't imagine I'd pass one of these up if I saw it for sale. I don't think I've ever seen one for sale but it's on my keeping my eyes open for and buying asap list.