Virtual Garden Tour 2000-2021

Discussion in 'How's It Growing?' started by Margot, May 15, 2020.

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  1. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    They're saying 'Rainbow' is a Hillier plant and the Girard introduction looks like it. So, either Girard sold the British introduction to the market over here as 'Girard's Rainbow' or the Girard plant is an independent occurrence of the same type of variation.
     
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  2. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Here are a few more photos of plants blooming in my garden that I've been able to drum up lately. Nothing compares to the incredible volume and variety of plants that @pmurphy shares but I hope you enjoy these. Reading this thread is a highlight in my day.

    From left to right, row by row:
    Fuchsia magellanica - growing crazy; blooms and blooms and blooms much to the delight of hummingbirds
    Hydrangea paniculata 'Phantom' - gorgeous, great dried when it turns pinkish
    Artichoke blossom (just alive with all sorts of bees burrowing down into the flower)
    Anaphalis margaritacea (a BC native plant very attractive to insects)
    Platycodon ???species inherited from former owners
    Liatris spicata - blooms from the top to the bottom (unlike most)
    Daylily - name not known but if you can tell me, I'd love to know
    x Chitalpa tashkentensis - thanks to Wendy for providing the name
     

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  3. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    And both are in the market here ? I don't mean just that suppliers use both names, but the British Hilliard plant was imported here by people other than Girard and might not have anything to do with him? And also there are the ones he either brought over or grew? So it would never be clear which name to use?
     
  4. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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  5. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, lovely selection Margot, I believe the Day lily is Hemerocallis fulva Orange day-lily.
     
  6. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks @Acerholic but my daylily is not just plain old Hemerocallis fulva. There is a H. fulva still growing here from previous owners but it is quite a bit more orange. I know fancy Hemerocallis cultivars have proliferated over the past 30 years but I still admire the simpler ones more.

    Have a great day . . . yours is beginning as mine ends.
     
  7. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @Margot, definatly not plain !!. Good that we can share on this thread , so the seasons become extended. Have a lovely day to you also.
     
  8. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Have just taken these before the heat arrives. At the end of the week with temperatures reported to be in the high 30's, everything is going to look rather wilted!!?
    My favourite today is definatly my Athyrium painted lady fern 'Burgundy lace'.
     

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  9. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I believe image #5 is Platycodon grandiflorus, possibly 'Astra Pink'.

    I also love seeing artichoke flowers - so many people recognize an artichoke in the super markets but very few would identify it with this flower :)
     
  10. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks @pmurphy. Now I can use the proper name for my balloon flower in my list of plants. It is the most delicate shade of pink. As for the artichoke flower, I would not have recognized it either until I saw this one bloom a week or so ago.
     
  11. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    And both are in the market here ? I don't mean just that suppliers use both names, but the British Hilliard plant was imported here by people other than Girard and might not have anything to do with him? And also there are the ones he either brought over or grew? So it would never be clear which name to use?

    I have not made a study of this subject, have no background information other than the remarks in the Hillier book. I have noticed that material offered locally by retailers is presented as 'Rainbow' and that the OAN Buyer's Guide web site also uses that name only.
     
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  12. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I finally remembered to look up today - I blamed my husband for his height, which made me trim one of the lower branches so that I didn't notice the tree had started flowering.

    Persian silk tree leaves (I love the way they look)
    Persian silk tree flowers
    Blue wheat harvested today
     

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  13. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    So beautiful - the second photo should be framed.

    Question - does the blue wheat self-seed if you don't pick it? I'd never heard of it before.
     
  14. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I don't know if it will in this zone as it's the first year I've tried it.
    I did however leave some of the stalks still ripening to see what will happen next spring, and I'm going to try sowing some of the seeds in my covered Garden in the fall to see if drier conditions would also make a difference to survival.

    Utrecht Wheat Seeds | Saltspring Nursery
     
  15. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    @pmurphy, I second that regarding photo 2. Only heard of Utrecht blue wheat, is that what you have there P.
     
  16. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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  17. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    Only a couple today...but I was also in for a shock, or two.
    We may be enjoying the summer weather but the plants have obviously decided that Fall is coming....I was even telling my husband the other day that plants are "looking tired" - we often host a summer social (for an exotic plant club) that takes place in mid-August (obviously not this year) and I can usually keep a lot of the plants looking great until the end of the month but not this year.

    Canna - first year it has flowered and the tag said 'Lucifer' but it doesn't look like it
    Chinese wisteria is flowering again - it started flowering twice a year about 5 years ago
    Flowering maple - one of the plants that I will be overwintering for next year's plant sales
    Shock #1 orange candleflower - I watered on Monday and there was no sign of color.
    Shock #2 Cornelian cherry dogwood - as I said, I watered on Monday and there was no sign of color...I even trimmed off a branch that day and had to look hard to make sure there was no fruit on the limb.
     

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  18. Margot

    Margot Renowned Contributor 10 Years

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    All very lovely - looking in their prime if you hadn't said differently. I'd like to slow down a bit in the garden - sit in a cool spot and admire for a while. The weeds are all at bay for the time being so the main thing is to keep everything watered; a challenge on days like this.

    I'm trying to ignore the Arbutus menziesii leaves which have been falling since May 15. The picture shows only a small area where they are thick. It's impossible to ever clean them up because they just keep blowing around, even from across the street. I expect they'll quit falling just in time for the Garry Oaks to begin. :-(
     

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  19. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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    I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem, my Arbutus unedo, aka strawberry tree, has been dropping leaves (like every other year) since about then as well.
     
  20. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor

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    I like the red poppies

    And a huge old kolkwitzia in the background
    Linnaea amabilis - Wikipedia

    Referring to Eric’s photo below - posted May 19/20
     

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  21. Acerholic

    Acerholic Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout Maple Society

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    Totally agree P, same over here, it seems this year we have had a lot of early colour from many plants including my Acer Shirasawanum's, but now they are starting to look like they are ready for Autumn now.
    Whilst out walking we are noticing a lot of leaf drop from trees that normally hold on late into October. Could this mean not so much colour this Autumn !!!??? I hope not.
     
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  22. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    This was a posting @Margot did on June 29 that included a photo of her Acanthus. Ron B replied that the leaves look like Acanthus mollis. I commented that I was happy to be able to now distinguish the two species, being A. mollis and A. spinosus. I was feeling so clever walking around distinguishing those two until I read Douglas Justice's August 2020 In the Neighbourhood - UBC Botanical Garden, in which he features Acanthus hungaricus, calling it the most common species. Which I never heard of. There are photos in the blog.

    Douglas has sent me a little more explanation, said I could share it:
    Acanthus hungaricus (syn. A. balanicus) has dissected leaves with deep, broad sinuses, the base of the sinus is a flange of leaf tissue that parallels the midrib. The spine tipped lobes are not particularly sharp. In A. spinosus, the lobe tips are sharp and numerous and the sinus is narrower and does not terminate in a flange along the midrib. The two species apparently hybridize, and intermediates are occasionally encountered.​
    He did not mention Acanthus mollis, but that seems to have quite a wide flange along the midrib and the lobes are more rounded than pointed.
     
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  23. pmurphy

    pmurphy Contributor 10 Years

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  24. wcutler

    wcutler Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator VCBF Cherry Scout 10 Years

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    Well, it's not fair throwing cultivars into the mix!
    I wonder if we're not going to be seeing Acanthus dioscoridis over here, though - most of what came up for that is in the UK.
    The Acanthus hirsutus is hairy/fuzzy - that one's easy.
    If Douglas's description works, it should be easier to use than what is written on that page, which seems to apply to all of them - "four rows of purple shrouded white flowers". I agree that "more open" and "paler in colour" is not particularly useful.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2020
  25. Nik

    Nik Contributor

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    We have plenty of frogs, toads and salamanders in the yard, but I was surprised to find this tree frog hiding between the leaves of Ficus elastica on our back deck. I was about to remove the yellowing leaf above it when I noticed it. The leaf stays another day..
     

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