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Geophyte discussions => Current Photographs => Topic started by: Martin Bohnet on April 02, 2022, 04:26:16 AM

Title: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 02, 2022, 04:26:16 AM
Actually, I think I'm growing tired of this, I posted very similar photos last year with Fritillaria imperialis
- and it's even more snow this time. I guess it's even more shocking for Arum creticum
- it's potted, though, so I might rescue it in case the night Sunday to Monday will be as bad as the forecast says. I have one plant in the ground, but that one is getting smaller and smaller, while the potted one thrives.
Next is Narcissus cerrolazae
- or N. jonquilla subsp. cerrolazae. Maybe one day we'll get Carlos Jimenéz to sort the species Narcissus out for us, he seems to be an expert. Anyway it's a long-lasting, well multiplying small plant I like a lot, though most people wouldn't spot it in a bunch of hybrids.
I've already mentioned Muscari latifolium
before, but that one gains something extra visually with that cap - doesn't look as wrong as that poor Echinocereus beside it...
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 02, 2022, 02:18:29 PM
Wow, snow. What a shame for the Frits. I really liked the crown imperials but I could not keep them going. Always had an interesting smell.

It is a bit cold here - a week ago the weather was lovely.

Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 09, 2022, 02:28:30 PM
Weather keeps being a mixed bag - a few warm days, some fallback to frost... so these images are from warmer and colder days...

Obviously, you need a warm night for Hesperantha cucullata
, so I had this open for exactly one night and it won't open again until monday I guess - on the other hand, the cold prolongs the fun with Pleione 'Tongariro'
Height: 0-10 cm (0-3.9 inch)
Flower Colors: pink, red
Flower Season: mid spring
- yes, that's the "near weed" I mentioned when commenting on David's Pleione, but other ones will open up soon - Pleione 'Sifaka'
Height: 0-10 cm (0-3.9 inch)
Flower Colors: yellow, orange, red
Flower Season: mid spring
is also already open. Maybe I'll do a seperate Pleione topic when more open up.
In the open garden, Ipheion uniflorum
starts up - a weaker year, unless there will be a second wave, which can happen. That yellowing leaves in the background are my Sternbergias so the first winter growers are on retreat. Last one is the flower you'll always miss unless really looking for it - my native Asarum europaeum
.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 09, 2022, 04:30:46 PM
Unremitting cold here - hailstones today - white tops on the Lake District hills. Mid-week 50 MPH (salt laden) winds which burned off the flowers in the front garden. I had Ipheion flowering all Winter - in the greenhouse. I have a really nice Freesia. I've got pots of them which refuse to flower, but this single one keeps going (photo 1). Photo 2 is... oh I'll think of it soon. Photo 3 and 4, show that Martin you are a serious gardener and (these days) I am not. Photos taken Friday 8th April.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 09, 2022, 11:56:06 PM
serious gardener? I'm a plant hoarder, no doubt, but serious?

My Allium ursinum
will still need a few weeks until it flowers. It once was uncontended as most agressive species seeding around, but these days Allium flavum
has taken up the gauntlet...
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 10, 2022, 04:28:05 AM
"gardener" in the sense of plant grower. There's a phrase "plantsman's garden" which means a space crammed with plants with no plan. A bit like "old man's garden" that translates as plants that have grown too big.

Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Diane Whitehead on April 10, 2022, 08:59:47 AM
You sure crammed the bulbs in.  What grows there in the summer?
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 10, 2022, 09:05:11 AM
Diane - you're looking at seven (plastic) terracota pots. In the Summer I'll put bedding plants in them - French marigolds, mesembryanthemums, that kind of thing. I also use similar pots for growing climbing French beans. The tiny size of the garden makes pots the way to go.

Yes I crammed the bulbs in, I bought what I bought and I counted, and divided by the number of pots, something like 18 tulips per pot and slightly less daffodils.

Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Arnold on April 13, 2022, 03:51:18 PM
Tulipa bifloriformis
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 15, 2022, 10:47:38 AM
Interesting Tulip - it's not present on the wiki yet, you may want to add it! 

So, why not start with a tulip, too, Tulipa sylvestris
to be precise, and add Fritillaria persica
, to stay in the Lily family.
You know that you've been on one shopping spree to much if things pop up in the garden you don't remember to have bought - to make it worse, I didn't find any record of buying Anemone ranunculoides
Height: 10-20 cm (3.9-7.9 inch)
Flower Colors: yellow
Flower Season: mid spring
Life form: deciduous rhizome
flore plena - but that's just nothing that would jump up by itself, don't you think? so -maybe a blind passenger in the copper knob Ficaria next to it? I wouldn't be angry if that's the way this happened.
Orchis mascula
Height: 45-60 cm (1.5-2 ft)
Flower Colors: pink, purple
Flower Season: late spring to early summer
Life form:  tuber
I do remember, and I'm happy it has grown considerably since last year, so, second flower spike in the 4th year in the garden. I like.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 20, 2022, 06:38:26 PM
20th April, the eyes have it

Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 20, 2022, 06:41:41 PM
20th April, more tulips
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Diane Whitehead on April 21, 2022, 08:46:39 AM
Trillium albidum from Oregon and northern California.

Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 21, 2022, 09:07:57 AM
Diane - that is a very nice plant. I suppose I've been bad, I simply deleted the inline version of your post, which gets the size right (in the thumbnail). I think that is the situation though (over to Martin?) inline images are not thumbnails, with the ability to expand when clicked.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 21, 2022, 10:26:02 AM
When you insert a picture you can specify the size in pixels or "auto" which I assume takes the size from the original image. Personally I would have forced everyone to use thumbnails at the end, or to have supported thumbnails inline, but that takes us back...
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 21, 2022, 11:46:06 AM
Trilliums totally hate me - forget about "they need time to establish" etc. not a chance. They diminish over 3 years and than do not return. multiple times, multiple species.

Inline pictures can be scaled by adding the width= parameter - see hints & tips (https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php?topic=18.0), but yes, I really seem to prefer the attachment version with the thumb. There is an older plugin allowing for inline Thumbs, but I don't think it works with 2.1 (yet?)

I surely can understand why people get totally frizzy about tulips. Next is Pleione 'Red Colobus', the first one in my collection I really find to be believable red. Nr 3 is Helonias bullata
Height: 10-30 cm (0.3-1 ft)
Flower Colors: pink
Flower Season: mid spring
Life form: evergreen rhizome
, the first thing to flower in the bog in spring - unfortunatelly before the bog looks somewhat nice - the dry spell we're experiencing leaves the spahgnum dry and ugly.

Last one is definitely a bamboo iris - Crûg Farm identified it as Iris wattii
, it could also be Iris confusa
in my opinion, but definitely not Iris japonica
. Anyway, I nearly would have missed the flower - I took it out of hibernation quarters 3 days ago and hadn't noticed the buds before.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Arnold on April 22, 2022, 12:14:36 PM
Tulipa ferganica
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 22, 2022, 01:26:14 PM
Once upon a time, there was a bleeding heart surrounded by 3 tiny Iris foetidissima
seedlings. I wonder if it will survive another season.
Geranium tuberosum
is actually something I bought to fill in the missing wiki images. But I guess I like it, a very welcome early appearance of that flower shape. Fun fact: the autoscale-images of this forum are of ideal size to add them to the wiki. I doubt that's a coincidence -  I chose the parameters accordingly  ;)
Drought and relative heat will surely not help to prolong the flowering time of Sanguinaria canadensis
. I guess I'll have to divide it again soon, it already collides with the Paradisea.
Melasphaerula graminea
had taken some frost damage as I was too confident with leaving it outside some time in February - still, the "monocot version of baby's breath" flowers as if nothing had happened.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: KenP on April 24, 2022, 09:26:04 AM
Boophone disticha in bud.B8C20214-46D6-4CE0-BDCA-BFA883821150.jpg
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: KenP on April 24, 2022, 09:49:13 AM
Martin I have a question or two. Please feel free to move this if this is the wrong location to ask a question. When I try to attach a file and hit the 'take photo' it goes to my camera but no image. I am using an iPhone XR. Also when I post a single picture it fills the screen. Multiple pictures I get thumbnails. How do I get thumbnails all the time? 
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 24, 2022, 10:02:33 AM
I'm afraid @Rdevries is our phone specialist, I really hate those things, they are doing too much on their own, just "thinking" what I might want - and they're bad at that.

 At least for big or thumbs I can say that depends wether it is included via the [attach id=xxx]name[/attach]command - you can see the bbc-sourcecode when toggling the text editor to source view - last Icon in the Icon bar. Things that are not included that way end up as Thumb below.

Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Rdevries on April 24, 2022, 10:38:25 AM
KenP you are in better shape than I. I only get expandable thumbnails regardless of how many snaps i attach. I would take picture first, edit if needed,  than attach from photo library. 
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: David Pilling on April 24, 2022, 05:20:29 PM
I think stick to thumbnail photos at the end, which expand when clicked. But if you want a large image, then it has to be inserted in the text of your message.

When you upload an image the necessary code appears alongside it.

Typical example:

[attach id=634]henricii2.jpg[/attach]

You can copy and paste it into the text.

And a button "Insert" appears, and clicking it will insert the image at the edit point in the text.

There are also options to control the size of the image - in pixels.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Arnold on April 24, 2022, 07:12:41 PM
Resnova magaphylla
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 27, 2022, 05:58:56 AM
Still some days to go in April, and over the first half of the Week we finally got the long-missed rain in Germany...

Potted Gladiolus splendens
Flower Colors: red
Climate: winter rain climate
actually is in flower for quite a while now, but now outdoor Gladiolus tristis
Height: 45-80 cm (1.5-2.6 ft)
Flower Colors: white, yellow
Flower Season: early spring to mid spring
Life form: deciduous corm
Climate: winter rain climate, USDA Zone 8-9
has at least proven that it not only survived the massive frost damage of Winter 20/21, but still is able to flower, though with a maximum of 3 flowers per stalk - this one bowed down towards Orchis mascula
Height: 45-60 cm (1.5-2 ft)
Flower Colors: pink, purple
Flower Season: late spring to early summer
Life form:  tuber
I mentioned earlier on.

Not far from the two, also at the warm south wall is Iris hoogiana 'Hippolyta', first season in open ground but doing quite well - Source isn't sure if this at least partly is more of a Iris stolonifera
- a definitely identified I. stolonifera next to it has also survived winter and grown but does not seem to want to flower this year.

Don't forget the small gems - Acis nicaeensis
Height: 10-20 cm (3.9-7.9 inch)
Flower Colors: white
Flower Season: mid spring
will be overlooked by 95% of visitors, I enjoy it anyway.
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: KenP on April 28, 2022, 02:57:50 PM
My swamp pink (Helonias bullata) and a desert orchid (Eulophia petersii).
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Martin Bohnet on April 30, 2022, 04:10:46 AM
OK, April leaves us gray&cold, and still with too little rain...

The color changer tulips don't seem to have such a big effect this year, maybe they had gotten darker with a little more friendly weather... 8 days between the pictures.

Next are two rather different Muscari, united in the struggle against an agressive strawberry I allowed to escape from a pot - you always want to pull them for their weediness, but it would be a shame before the fruit is ripe, don't you think? to make it worse, it's an all year variety, they have fruit for months...

Last but not least is Sparaxis bulbifera
- at least one thing that shines...
Title: Re: April 2022
Post by: Arnold on April 30, 2022, 09:29:26 AM
Last of the year for Lachenalias. Lachenalia nervosa.  Wonderfully spice scented