PUSHING THE BORDERS

Call me an old f@rt, but I'm really getting to like Iris now!

Nigella (Love In A Mist) is common enough, but I now have N.orientalis happily self seeding in my garden.................


Not the most prolific bloomer, but fills a gap. I appreciate it for its subtle markings...............


I decided to get serious about overwintering Lotus berthelotii last year and it was worth the effort as it blooms well much earlier..................

Albuca nelsonii is not as good as last year as it's dividing.....................




It's still rather good though........................


Salvia stolonifera is new from seed this year so this bloom is a bonus................

Dracunculus vulgaris.....................




Echeveria (elegans?)..................


Albuca humilis.............

I prefer foliage colour and form to flowers so I particularly like this bit of garden at the moment.
Colocasia 'Pink China' and Alocasia odorata
IMG_1945 by atropica2012, on Flickr
Ophiopogon japonicus and Borinda papyrifera
IMG_1946 by atropica2012, on Flickr

Know what you mean Andy, good foliage at the present, we have no gales for a couple of weeks now so the leaves are looking not too bad!

I can never resist taking pictures of this Passion Flower
passiflora mission delours seedling 003 by charliepridham, on Flickr

020 by charliepridham, on Flickr

charlie wrote:
I can never resist taking pictures of this Passion Flower

If it were mine I would be snap happy too!

Arisaema tortuosum is one of my favourite subjects with the camera and (rather late) it is in bloom....................




It is blessed with fantastic stalk markings...................



Impatiens niamniamensis makes a great summer bedding plant in fairly deep shade (it gets early morning sun here).................


As the cold approaches I just cut the ends off and strike them up for next year.

That is a very exotic looking Impatiens. I had the 'Congo Cockatoo' form some years ago and managed to kill it.
Some of my impatiens in flower at the moment

Impatiens kilimanjari by atropica2012, on Flickr
Impatiens puberula by atropica2012, on Flickr
Impatiens tinctoria by atropica2012, on Flickr

AndyC wrote:That is a very exotic looking Impatiens. I had the 'Congo Cockatoo' form some years ago and managed to kill it.
Some of my impatiens in flower at the moment

Impatiens kilimanjari by atropica2012, on Flickr
Impatiens puberula by atropica2012, on Flickr
Impatiens tinctoria by atropica2012, on Flickr

Lovely Andy!
I used to grow I.kilimanjari but stupidly gave it away for my first winter here before waiting for the cuttings to take. Is yours hardy?

I use I.niamniamensis as annual bedding plants along with other staples such as Plectranthus argentatus and Tradescantia purpurea. What they have in common is that they strike easily from cuttings and overwinter easily. All three add exotic interest to the beds for very little effort.

LONGK wrote:I used to grow I.kilimanjari but stupidly gave it away for my first winter here before waiting for the cuttings to take. Is yours hardy?

I don't find it hardy like the other two, I bring it into the greenhouse for the winter where it is very easy to look after. Other hardy Impatiens I grow mainly for foliage are I. stenantha and I. omiana
Impatiens stenantha has very small yellow flowers not worth writing home about but I love the foliage.
Impatiens stenantha by atropica2012, on Flickr
I was given some seeds of this annual and quite like the results although the flower colour would be hard to mix with anything else.
Ipomoea 'Crimson Rambler' by atropica2012, on Flickr
A very good ground cover for shade is this saxifrage
Saxifraga stolonifera by atropica2012, on Flickr

I'm really, really pleased with this - first bloom on my seed grown Salvia dolicantha.................