Six on Saturday #54 (May 2, 2020)

The last ten days or so have been warm enough at night that I have finally felt confident to start moving tropical plants out to their summer quarters. The hummingbirds also arrived about ten days ago, and I have seen the year’s first aerial dogfights around the feeders.  Horticulturally, we have entered the “great green interlude,” the period after the peak of spring bulb and azalea flowering, but before the blooming of the summer perennials.  Although the first roses are opening, and there are still a smattering of bulbs and orchids flowering, the predominant color in my garden is the green of fresh new leaves.

1. Gladiolus x byzantinus

A welcome splash of bright magenta comes from half a dozen Gladiolus x byzantinus bulbs that I received in a trade with a gardener in Texas last year.  This plant from southern Europe has been considered a synonym of G. communis, but Kew currently has it listed as a natural hybrid, G. dubius x G. italicus.  An old heirloom bulb in southern U.S. gardens, G. x byzantinus starts growing during the winter and blooms in spring, long before the hybrids derived from African species like G. dalenii.

2. Philadelphis inodorus (Appalachian mock orange, scentless mock orange) with unusual flowers

P. inodorus flowers with six petals

P. inodorus flowers typically have four petals, but this year I have a stem covered with six-petaled flowers.  The shrub originated as five or six seedlings that I grew in a single pot, so it is possible that the unusual flowers are produced by one of the seedlings, rather than by a single branch that has sported.  However, the plants are now inextricably tangled together, so the only way I’ll be able to propagate this weirdo (assuming it is stable) will be to root a cutting.

Typical P. inodorus flowers

3. Bletilla striata var. albescens

I purchased this orchid as Bletilla striata var. alba, but the flowers exhibit very faint lavender coloration on the labellum.  Therefore, it would seem to be var. albescens, rather than var. alba which should have pure white flowers.  It does not seem to be as vigorous as the typical colored variety, but I think it has its own delicate charm.

4. Phlox nivalis (trailing phlox, pine phlox)

Moss phlox, P. subulata, is often sold by local nurseries as a native plant, but it is primarily a species of the northeast and midwest.  In North Carolina, P. subulata is found only in a couple of counties in the mountainous west of the state.  The superficially similar Phlox that grows throughout the piedmont is P. nivalis. I grew this one from a small cutting collected in Durham County.

5.  A couple of sages

Above, Salvia officinalis (culinary sage) in our herb garden.  Below, Salvia lyrata (lyreleaf sage), a common spring wildflower/weed.  Unlike S. officinalis, which grows as a semi-woody shrub, S. lyrata has a rosette of soft leaves that look vaguely like a dandelion.  I find S. lyrata particularly difficult to photograph, because its flowers stick out in all directions.

6. New plant bench

Last weekend, I built a wooden bench to house my pachypodiums and some of my tropical bulbs during the summer.  The bench is 7′ long x 4′ wide x 2′ high (2.1 x 1.2 x 0.6 m) and is constructed from pressure-treated pine.  It occupies the space formerly used for growing tomatoes, necessitating a search for a new place to grow that crop, but it should reduce spilled gravel and water damage on our wooden deck.

The Propagator is the host of Six on Saturday.  Head over there to see his Six and find links to the blogs of other participants.

Six on Saturday #53 (April 18, 2020)

This week started with the screech of a tornado warning emanating from every iphone in the house. We scrambled out of bed, turned on the TV, and saw that the putative tornado was a few miles southwest of us, tracking northeast.  Deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, we got the kids up and took shelter with the spiders in the crawl space.   Luckily, the storm broke apart before reaching us, so after a few minutes we were able to go back in for breakfast, a little soggy from the rain but otherwise unscathed.  Strong winds the rest of the day stripped most of the remaining flowers off the dogwoods but did no other damage to the garden.

After the storm on Monday, the rest of the week has been sunny and dry, though cool–we flirted with frost on Wednesday and Thursday morning, but even the volunteer tomato seedlings that are sprouting in the vegetable beds were unaffected.

1. Myrmecocattleya Memoria Louise Fuchs

In the greenhouse, Myrmecocattleya Memoria Louise Fuchs is perfuming the air.  This orchid is a primary hybrid of Myrmecophila tibicinis, famous for its hollow pseudobulbs inhabited by ant colonies, and Cattleya bicolor, a very tall and spindly Brazilian biofoliate species.  This particular plant is actually the product of self-pollinating a first generation Myc. Memoria Louise Fuchs, but under the rules of orchid nomenclature, it retains the same grex name. Its pseudobulbs are relatively short and stout, like those of its Myrmecophila parent, while genes from C. bicolor have shortened the inflorescence.  Both species tend to have clustered flowers, but this plant has inherited fragrance and rich purple color from C. bicolor, and nicely crisped petals from M. tibicinis.  All in all, a good result of hybridizer’s efforts.

2. Rhododendron cf. periclymenoides

I featured this deciduous azalea in a Six on Saturday last April, but the flowers then were not at their best.  I am almost sure that it is R. periclymenoides, the native pinxter flower.  I now have a second plant on the other side of the house–an R. alabamense that I purchased from a reputable source last autumn has also bloomed out as R. periclymenoides.

3. Rhododendron austrinum (Florida flame azalea)

Another North American deciduous azalea. This plant was in one of my earliest blog postings, but it is so lovely I couldn’t resist showing it again. The early butterflies love it.

4. red azaleas

Next up, two evergreen azalea hybrids.  Above is Rhododendron ‘Wolfpack Red’, one of the CarLa hybrids resulting from a collaboration between horticulture departments at North Carolina State University and Louisiana State University.  This clone is named for the NC State Wolfpack, whose colors are red, white, and black (but predominantly red).

Below is an unlabeled hybrid that I bought several years ago at Costco.  I really like the color of this plant–its red is at the orange end of the spectrum, unlike most red azaleas which have hints of pink or magenta.  I may try propagating it this year, but my success rate with Rhododendron cuttings is not high.  Maybe air layering would be better?

5. Narcissus ‘Thalia’

Narcissus ‘Thalia’ is a century-old hybrid that was recommended by Scott Ogden in Garden Bulbs for the South (Timber Press).  This is my first year growing it, but I really like the gently nodding white flowers.  I hope it comes back next year.

6. Epimedium ‘Stoplights’

I keep falling for pictures of spidery Epimediums in garden catalogs, and when they bloom I am always surprised by how tiny they are and how brief the flowering season is.  This one is no exception.

The Propagator is the host of Six on Saturday.  Head over there to see his Six and find links to the blogs of other participants.

Queen of the abyss

One of the common names of this species makes it sound like a demon in a medieval grimoire or a villain in a fantasy novel.  The alternative, Brazilian edelweiss, is more than a little twee.  Take your pick, or just refer to it as Sinningia leucotricha.

S. leucotricha grows as a lithophyte in Paraná State, often on cliffs and steep hillsides which presumably accounts for its picturesque English name (itself apparently a translation of the Portuguese rainha do abismo). Each deciduous stem, topped with four softly felted leaves, emerges from a massive tuber that enables the plant to survive long periods without water.  The bright orange flowers are produced in the spring, as the new stems mature, and bear all the hallmarks of hummingbird pollination.

I have been growing my S. leucotricha since 2001, and it is currently in a 8-inch (20 cm) diameter pot. The tuber hasn’t grown noticeably in the last five or six years, at least not above ground, and I suspect that it is long overdue for repotting.  It is potted in gritty, fast draining soil and is grown in the brightest part of my greenhouse, together with the Pachypodiums and other succulents.  Although some tuberous Sinningias are hardy in my garden, S. leuchotricha‘s long dry dormancy and habit of growing exposed at the surface would certainly make it a poor candidate for cultivating outside. For best appearance of the furry foliage, S. leucotricha should be protected from overhead watering, grown in the brightest light possible, and not overfertilized.

S. leucotricha has a definite growing schedule that must be respected.  My plant starts to go dormant in early autumn, at which point I stop watering entirely. Once the stems are completely dry, I snap them off.  The plant stays completely dry for several months, but I give it a little water in late January or February when I see fuzzy little bumps forming at the top of the tuber.  Once the stems are in full growth, I give it a thorough watering about once a week, allowing the pot to dry between waterings.  It blooms now, March into April, and after the flowers dry it doesn’t grow again until the next year.  The leaves stay green–well, white–all summer, and I continue watering, but the plant doesn’t visibly do anything.

Dobo lily

I’m particularly fond of orange flowers and flowers with tubular or bell-like form, so the Dobo lily, Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus…well, how could anyone not like this little bulb?

C. brachyscyphus is from South Africa, and its native range in the Eastern Cape and southern KwaZulu-Natal is bracketed by Port Elizabeth and Durban.  In nature, it is primarily a summer grower but may be evergreen if winters are mild [1].  In my greenhouse, it seems to prefer growing in the cooler late winter and early spring months–fresh new grass-like leaves are produced as soon as the days start getting longer in January, and it generally goes semi-dormant during the heat of summer.  This year, it has been flowering since early February, and new inflorescences are still appearing.   In common with other Cyrtanthus species, it seems to flower best when bulbs are crowded together in a pot, but overall it is much easier to grow and bloom than many of its congeners.  Although I grow it in my greenhouse, I suspect it would do equally well on a sunny windowsill.

Reference

1. Duncan, G., Jeppe, B., and Voight, L. (2016)  The Amaryllidaceae of Southern Africa, Umdaus Press, Pretoria, South Africa.

Six on Saturday #51 (January 25, 2020)

There still isn’t a lot going on in either the garden or the greenhouse, but by carefully hoarding interesting sights, I have managed to scrape together the first Six on Saturday of the year.  1-3 are in the greenhouse, 4-6 outside.

1. Paphiopedilum liemianum (mottled leaf form).

Although I have four or five slipper orchids in bud, this is one of only two that are currently flowering.  It’s hardly surprising that  P. liemianum, from northern Sumatra, is flowering now, because it flowers almost constantly.  It’s one of the sequential flowering species of section Cochlopetalum, and it is a great choice if you have only a small orchid collection.  The inflorescences produce one flower after another, each one opening around the time that the old one drops.  By the time an inflorescence is exhausted, a new growth has usually matured and is ready to flower.

Typically, P. liemianum has plain green leaves, but this clone has an attractive mottled pattern.  Its flower is fairly small and poorly shaped compared to some of the line-bred forms that are available, making me suspect that the parent plant was selected for breeding primarily on the basis of its unusual foliage.

The other slipper currently in bloom is Paphiopedilum villosum, which I featured in November.  Paph flowers last a looooong time.

2.  Monolena primuliflora

This unusual plant grows as an epiphyte or terrestrial in rainforest from Costa Rica to southern Peru and adjacent Brazil.  The flowers, while pretty, last less than a day, but the seed capsules are almost as attractive as the flowers and are significantly longer lived.  The thickened rhizome suggests a plant that can tolerate some drought, but looks can be deceiving.  The plants wilt and shrivel rapidly if the soil dries out.

I have lost track of how old this plant is.  Maybe ten or twelve years? In theory, I grow M. primuliflora in pure sphagnum moss kept constantly moist, but I think the sphagnum has all rotted away and new rhizome is just rooting into old decayed rhizome.

3. Lachenalia sp. (L. aloides?)

I received these unlabeled bulbs as part of a trade about seven years ago.  They have been growing in a 3-inch pot for about the last five years, blooming reliably in midwinter and going dormant by late February or early March.  I think they are the South African Lachenalia aloides var aloides (cape cowslip).

4. Lentinula edodes (shiitake)

We have harvested and eaten the first few shiitake mushrooms from the log garden that I inoculated with mycelium fourteen months ago.  No sign of the lion’s mane mushrooms yet.

5.  Phoradendron leucarpum (oak mistletoe) growing on Carya sp. (hickory)

Although it looks a lot like European mistletoe (Viscum album), our native oak mistletoe is in a completely different genus.  I’m not sure if P. leucarpum can be substituted for European mistletoe in magic potion, but it seems to work just as well at Christmas time.  The only difficulty lies in harvesting it. This mistletoe is about 40 or 50 feet up in one of our taller hickory trees.

6. Fuligo septica (dog vomit slime mold)

Fuligo septica is the most common, or at least the most conspicuous, slime mold in our garden.  Its aethelia (fruiting bodies) commonly appear on the hardwood mulch that I spread on the flowerbeds.  Often they are an extremely lurid, almost fluorescent yellow color.  This aethelium is somewhat pale but quite large–63 cm diameter.

The propagator is the host of Six on Saturday.  Head over there to see his Six and find links to the blogs of other participants.