WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2017

Curcuma roscoeana. Another totally underwhelming picture! I looked under a bench today and saw this. Again it has made my day. I purchased two rhizomes in early April. They spent a couple of months on a heat pad, and then I gave up. But rather than throwing them away, I just pushed the pot under a bench. Now one has come to life after 5 months.


This is what it should look like eventually, so I am delighted that it hasn't died.

I think there is a moral in all of this - patience.

I have read on sites that Heliconia rhizomes can take months to come to life. Also I have tried to grow Tacca from seed three times without success. I was explaining this to a friend and he said that he had raised Tacca from seed. He said that only about one seed germinated quickly, and it took another year for the rest to germinate - but he said every single one germinated eventually. I suspect I was just too quick to give up.

Patience - grasshopper.

 

Superb JWK

 

Lovely Brug JWK - and fantastic garden.

PeterS - you grow some really interesting things! There used to be a nursery called Jungle Plants (I think) that I thought did heliconias, but I have just searched and can't find them, so maybe they've gone.

 

Thanks Caroline. There doesn't seem to be anyone in the UK that regularly sells Heliconia. Hill House has just offered H. schiedeana for the first time and is the only one I can find on the internet.

However Himalayan Gardens in Scotland Buy plants online Flower Bulbs, Alpines, Hardy Tropicals offers some interesting stuff at reasonable prices. Their site shows H. rostrata but twice when I ordered one they said they didn't have it. Their other items are interesting and I got the Curcuma from them, so I will be ordering from them again.

 

I had the Scarborough Lily for years in the UK indoors and brought it here where it lived outdoors in the ground for many years where it multiplied and bloomed every year. Sadly they died.



Peter, I have Tacca seeds (T. chantrieri and Tacca integrifolia, black and white) but I am not very optimistic as I believe I am too hot/dry ... but we will see.

I am delighted however that I have managed to germinate two Gloriosa rothschildiana having lost them after several years. The Gloriosa were planted near the Valotta in the shade.

 

Sorry, double posted.

 

@PeterS & @JWK Those plants are ...STUNner's!!! for sharing plants that i would unlikely get to see grown in privately owned UK gardens

 

Five years ago we bought our caravan/cabin on the river. Three years ago we planted a Yucca that was in a pot on our patio at the van. Each year t'other half hoped it would bloom. We have sold the van and hand it over end of the month ... guess what has bloomed?

 

Passiflora Lavander Lady /Amethyst, it's in here as it is only half hardy. It gets cut down by temps below -3c and takes a long time to come back. This is only it's second flower!

 

I have the same problem with the more interesting Passiflora.

Swainsona formosa continues to look fantastic. The blooms last far longer than I remember them lasting the first time..............
Swainsona formosa by longk48, on Flickr

Swainsona formosa by longk48, on Flickr

Swainsona formosa by longk48, on Flickr

 

Love that passion flower strongylodon......
Not too far away a nursery stocks several varieties of tender varieties some of them supposedly suitable for outdoor growing down here. Think I will try one. Does Lavendar Lady "run"/invade?

 

Avocado?

 

Yes avocado aldi super six 3rd year lol

 

That is absolutely amazing @longk