2025 in the round

[Chad]

An unnamed 'garden centre' water lily.  Notable because the crows have left it alone this year. 



Dendrobium thyrsiflorum after only a week of being taken out to the tunnel and watered.


I agree with Martin about hardiness of Hippeastrum. These took the winter before last uncovered and standing in water when the polytunnel cover failed.   They could do with weeding and potting on now.  The reds seem to come first, there are other colours to follow. 


New to me this year, but I'm hoping it will be as hardy as the Hippeastrum. Bought as Sprekelia formosissima, but I understand it was shown to 'nest' inside Zephyranthes. Since Sprekelia was named first, all the Zephyranthes should have had name changes into a, now huge, Sprekelia genus. Thankfully some common sense was applied and Sprekelia was 'sunk' into Zephyranthes instead. So the Jacobean Lily became Zephyranthes formosissima last year, just in time for me to try it.

Chad

[MartinNicklin]

Chad that Dendrobium is STUNNING! Give me that over your Aralia any day!!!

[LostInJapan]

Nice Dendrobium Chad. I love all Dendrobium, but unfortunately many of them have short lived flowers, so you need to pick which ones to grow carefully.

I've found Sprekelia to be easy in this climate, but it doesn't flower well unless in dead-on full sun. I tried it out in a slightly raised bed in well drained, near inorganic substrate one year. I grew like a fiend, but after 6 weeks of continuous rain (summer monsoon here is no joke), it began to rot at the roots, so I had to lift it. Back in a pot, in continued to grow well, and flower abundantly the next year. While in growth I've found it to be a heavy feeder and also to want a lot of water provided the drainage is perfect. In winter I keep it out of the rain and let it dry quite a bit. Really stunning flowers, but overall a poor garden subject in this climate.

Your waterlily reminds me of one that my dad grew in a "goldfish pond" he constructed back in the 60s. I spent hours in the summer watching frogs sitting on its leaves hunting water striders. I miss those days!

[ian s]

A few of ours this year
This bamboo iris always looks a bit rough but lots of flowers this year

I think the buds are nicer before they open on Aloe plicitalis

Crinum asiaticum

A hardy garden orchid, a Calanthe hybrid of some sort

[AndyC]

Thanks Chad. Just did that and all became clear. I had a lovely big floriferous Colquhounia which died last winter. Can't see any signs of life. I thought it looked like that in form and leaf shape but the leaves on mine seemed more grey.

Sorry Martin, missed your post. Good job Chad was on the ball.
Was you Colquhounia a particular form?. Apparently they can be quite variable depending on origin, not so much in appearance but in hardiness.
Burncoose sell a C. coccinea var. vestita from western China which they claim is hardy down to -5C. Pan Global had a variety 'Nepalese Flame' which Nick claimed as being a 'good hardy form' from high altitude Nepal (doesn't appeaar to have it for sale now).
Mine came from Steve Mules (Lower Kenneggy Nurseries) with no variety named on the label. I will have to ask him where he sourced the seed from.
It is quite possible that mine would not have survived had I not planted it against a south-west facing wall and in free draining soil.

[MartinNicklin]

I think I bought it from Dingle nurseries but not sure because I get stuff from all over. It spent years outside sheltered by other plants and I was very fond of it. I’m annoyed, having trawled through my thousands of photos, that this blurred rubbish is the only picture I took of it. Mine certainly wasn’t a named clone. I might get another because it was a lovely shrub.

[Paul S]

You might also see 'Nepalese Flame' under the collection number Schilling 2458. Seed was collected at 2740m in Nepal, so should be very hardy. Steve did have that for a while, which is where I got mine from, so worth enquiring with him. I would say that, having grown and flowered this one, none of the other forms hold a candle to it. The intense and vivid scarlet flower colour really shines out compared to some of the dirty orange ones out there.

[MartinNicklin]

I wonder Paul if that’s the one Nick Macer used to sell which he claimed was by far and away the best. I think anyway this shrub is worth growing for the lovely foliage.

[Paul S]

I believe it is.

[Paul S]

Best picture I can find of mine.