More flowering at the moment

1 Nov '06 9:54 am

I have a crimson (all one colour) GB and a yellow one which I think is a hybrid but it's only all yellow not bi-coloured.

I bought a 'Black Barlow' the other day, must be similar to 'Nora'. It's not in flower yet so I could only go by the description. I hope it'll be nice.

1 Nov '06 6:26 pm

It seems Nora Barlow was the original 'frilly very double' aqualegia. Now there are many varieties available and they tend to be called 'something barlow', which is quite an odd way (speaking as a linguist) to give new meaning to a word!

27 Dec '06 12:29 pm

I'm off to do some work in the garden now as the weeds are taking over. Unfortunately they don't stop growing and spreading while I sit here enjoying this addictive forum.

I hope you enjoy these pics taken on my walk around the garden this morning. Smile

28 Dec '06 4:27 am

i love your calla lilies, goose. What's the difference between a calla lilly and an arum lily? Or are they just different names for the same thing? Arum lilies are my favourites, they grow wild here. The afrikaans word for them is varklelie, which means pig lily! Not sure why. Maybe the pigs like to eat the bulbs?

28 Dec '06 7:03 am

Hi Lynne

Both the Calla Lily & the Arum Lily are from the same family
Zantedeschia, which all come from South Africa.
The arum is Z. aethiopica, the yellow calla is Z.elliottiana and the maroon is Z.rehmannii. The latter can have flowers ranging from white & pink through red to deep purple. I would just love to see these growing in their natural surrroundings,
I think they would look stunning. The Calla is very popular with Flower Growers here as they have a long shelf life. They export them all over the world. I was looking at these to grow at one stage but decided to stay with Freesias which I just sell locally.
Pig Lily? It would be interesting to find out why they are called that - maybe Jack might know.

28 Dec '06 10:23 am

Fabulous pics Goose Very Happy

A quick question...
Can you tell me what the name of the pear is? What does the fruit taste like, is it a dessert or bottling (sp) pear?

hehe, perhaps another....
Do you have to give different growing conditions to the hydrangea's to keep the colour or are they bred to stay that way? I am a bit slow when it comes to hydrangea Anxious

28 Dec '06 6:21 pm

Hi Goose
I found this with a google search:

"Despite its graceful appearance, the calla is referred to as "pig lily" in South Africa. In Cape Town, it blooms so prolifically, bordering banks along streams and spangling watery meadows, that its beauty is often taken for granted. The name "pig lily" refers to the fact that the fleshy roots of the calla are a preferred delicacy of the porcupine, a creature commonly called "pig" in this region. The common calla (Zantedeschia aethiopica) also grows along the banks of the Nile in Egypt. Ten species of the calla are native to Africa, seven of which are found in the northeast region of South Africa."

Actually, I have never heard porcupines referred to as pigs here, although Wikipedia says the name "porcupine" comes from Middle French porc d'espine "thorny pig.

So, now we know!

4 Jan '07 4:31 pm

I do envy your plants you have growing at the mo.
I have '5' plums growing at the mo (and not much of anything else, fruitwise). Very Happy

(photos as and when) and.... I'm off to the garden centres soonest to buy some hydrangeas. I've given up trying to grow them from cuttings here. The soil just won't co-operate.
At the old place (clay!!!) no problem. Here (sand!!!) which you'd think would be good, isn't. Razz

So I'll buy some. I want each and every one but I'll start with just a couple of 'em for near the front gate. I think perhaps a blue lacecap and we'll see what inspires me when I hit the garden centre for the other one.
I do have a not very happy quercifolia sulking which I hope will perk up and do better next summer.

5 Jan '07 12:01 am

[quote="Jack Holloway"]Nice to catch up with you again, Goose! Isn't this a wonderful time of the year!!

Yellow clivias! Are they as horrendously expensive for you as they are in SA, the home of the clivias? We had the closest to tulipomania here when they were first released, with SEEDS selling for 20 times the cost of a normal clivia, and mature plants 50 times as much.

That was exactly my reaction Smile

Our local garden centre had a cracking creamy yellow one for sale last year, (in the exotic houseplant section) but horribly expensive.I managed to resist.

I've tried the orange ones planted outdoors in a sheltered part of the garden, just as an experiment; R.I.P. Global warming will have to progress a bit more before clivias grow in Scottish gardens. (Why is that, when agapanthus are perfectly happy here..grr).

More flowering at the moment

Barlow or not barlow

Some More flowers'n'plants

beautiful!

Calla

Very Nice :)

pig lily

Re: Hi again Goose!