Summer on Sequoia

29 Jan '08 7:07 am

I can't recall seeing any like this over here. It almost looks like a blue Fritallaria imperialis .. just missing the topnotch.

31 Jan '08 2:31 am

Wow jack, what a find! I never thought of Agapanthus as a bog or marginal plant. I have never had too much success with them in my garden because they don't like the cold, wet winters, so I assumed they preferred well drained situations. I guess it's the cold they object to more than the wet. They are beautiful in that wild setting.

31 Jan '08 7:16 am

A. inapertus is deciduous and thus one of the more hardy species. I would guess this marsh drops to minus 3 degrees C regularly on a winter's night, and to as much as -10. It does so in my garden. Most Agapanthus species might battle with your summer heat - it is mostly a plant of rugged slopes where extreme heat doesn't last long and cooling winds and mists are the norm. On the whole they prefer warmer days in winter although they cope with night frosts. Perhaps your temperatures are simply too extreme - but A. inapertus might make it. Shall I save you some seed, Faith?

31 Jan '08 5:56 pm

Hi Jack
Just popped in to say how much your Cannas have inspired me.
I think I will do this to the bank beside the dam. I have yellow
ones already which are spreading and have planted some Tropicana but now I have seen yours I think maybe some other
colours will look good too. But I am avoiding the garden at the moment as I can't bear to look at all the work that needs doing. I broke my foot (Non gardening accident B.... Cleaning you know Housework ) Jan 10 so I am unable to do much at all.
But have made lots of plans for when I'm fit & able again.
Another 4 weeks in a Moon Boot and its so hot.But never mind
it will be cooler by the time I'm fit.
Keep those pics coming, I really enjoy popping in and seeing how your garden grows.

PS. I didnt realise there were other Agapanthus varieties
The ones we have here grow like weeds and have been banned in some places. Can you tell me about some of the others.

31 Jan '08 7:55 pm

Goose - to break one's foot doing housework is an extremely boring explanation - next time claim something like it happened jumping out of a moving aeroplane! Good luck - I can but imagine how frustrating it must be!

There doesn't seem to be a nice neat (South African) webpage filled with pics of agapanthus I can refer you to - the simplest info is this:
The genus Agapanthus belongs to the family Agapanthaceae and consists of ten species. They are divided into two major groups of evergreen and deciduous. Many interspecific crosses have been made between these groups, arising in seedlings of various heights and growth habits.

I myself know the many varieties (hybrids?) of A. praecox and then A. inapertus. You make me want to find out more. I will post if and when I learn something...

31 Jan '08 10:53 pm

Today, I am constantly feeling having a good dose of uplifting-feelings magical touch!!! I am just arriving here , from Christopher's Tea/Gardening ...uplifting post!!! And look at THIS!!!

Every body who really loves me, knows HOW MUCH I love the Agapanthus plants!!! ALL of them : tall or short, medium, frost-hardy or frost-sensitive, dark or light-blue of bloom colours!!!

And your post today, my sweet Jack, is FULL of blue Agapanthus-wonders!! PLUS, that other blue-wonder capture!! I would just like to be somewhere there with you, while you were close to them, capturing them, to just take a picture of the happiness of your face , while you were doing that!!! Cause, I know, how your face shines, while you capture SUCH beauties! Bless you!!

1 Feb '08 8:54 am

Thanks for the info Jack.
From your info I have found that
A.Inapertus ssp pendulus is available from a Nursery in the South Island so I will look into this a bit more.

As to the foot, my friends & family have had a good laugh over it as it was a Weta that caused it. I was cleaning windows outside,using the kitchen step stool. Holding on with one arm and cleaning with the other, when a Weta latched itself onto my holding on arm.
I hate these creatures and reacted accordingly.Letting go,loosing my balance of course and you know the result.Not as exciting as jumping out of a moving plane, but funny anyway.
Pic of Weta attached just in case you have no idea what I'm on about.

1 Feb '08 9:04 am

Dear Jack, what a generous offer to save seed for me. Do you think they would get through the mail?

And an aside to Goose. Sorry to hear about your broken foot, but the reason for the accident - a Weta! I have to admit I had no clue what you were talking about, so the photo helped. They look like a giant version of our common Cricket. I can understand why you might become unsettled with one of those clinging to your arm. Do they bite? Or just look fierce?

1 Feb '08 6:28 pm

Weta....

Are they indigenous? Can we blame you for them? Or Faith who calls it a "common cricket"? Most UNcommon I would say, if they weren't so darned common Exclamation

We didn't know them in SA till the late 70s. Now, I promise you, they crawl up through the drains (hate to think where they actually start from...) and defecate impressively and smellely in the bath from which they battle to escape. There they eventually die, emaciated and exhausted from their efforts. At which point one comes home from holiday to discover them...

They first appeared in one of Johannesburg's choicer suburbs, (in fact the ORIGINAL grand one) from which comes the name which has stuck: Parktown Prawns.

I venture that they are South Africa's most hated insects...

2 Feb '08 2:31 am

Whoa Jack. Don't be casting blame on our lowly "common cricket" now. Ours are about 1/6th the size of that creature in the photo. They are also a dark brown, almost black. They can be annoying if one does happen to accidentally get into the house because after dark they begin thier cricket seranade (which is a sound they produce by rubbing or sawing their hind legs together I have read). They hardly ever do get inside and they never crawl in through bathtub drains. They are actually kept as pets in some asian communities with little cages being specially built to house them. They are considered good luck or something like that I think. And remember the charming, Jimminy Cricket? They eat leaf litter or other decomposing vegetation, so they are really a good thing. Plus, fish love them, so they make great fishing bait. I don't know about the Weta, but surely even they have a place in the ecosystem.

Summer on Sequoia

Great looking agapanthus

Agapahthus

Agapanthus preferences

Canna

Footloose and fancyfree?

Your Blue Dream Magical Photos!!!!

Footloose and Fancyfree?

Agapanthus and other things

What a Weta?

"Not I said the little hen"