What's Looking Exotic In September 2013

WOW !! pete deff dont get shot of it unless it lands my way

 

Absolutely fantastic Pete!

 

I'm trying a couple of cuttings.

 

Amaranthus Illumination needs plenty of sun to retain its colours otherwise it can turn a bit greenish and once you have grown Foxtails it's your friend for life.

 

I got a huge packet of Aristolochia elegans as a freebie from Smartseeds (eBay) last year. I think I may have sent some to LongK ?? Probably still got plenty left if you are short Pete?

How does one harvest the seed from Amaranthus? Can I just rub my fingers through the tassels of flowers and rub the seeds out of them, or am I just getting the empty husks?

 

Thanks for the offer Kristen, but no thanks just now.
Only taking cuttings as a possible winter standby, should I lose the main plant.

 

I might just cut a few flowers off and let them dry and then separate the seeds out. I've got plenty of flowers to experiment with

 

Dahlia imperialis. Not a very imposing flower, but I was delighted to see it - I never thought it would flower outside in Yorkshire. The plant is a mere 6 feet high, compared with Hill House Nursery's plant which flowers in their greenhouse when it reaches 18 feet.


Pachystachys lutea. The flowers are white, but its the yellow bracts that make it.

 

Gorgeous. I purchased A gigantea a month ago but the flowers are quite small, but appear larger than your elegans. Maybe of hybrid origin. Does yours gave any scent?


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Peter, My D. imperialis is about 10ft high and not a sign of a flower bud, how did you do it?

Is it in a pot?

 

Not much in the way of scent thankfully.

 

Pete - its in the border for the summer. It's had a hard life. I thought the tuber had died overwinter - as it only revived very late in the season. I looked after it well last year (its first) and it reached about 10 feet. Again, I put it in the border, but it never flowered. This year, I had given up on it after its late start so I ignored it. Its obviously the late heat that has done it - but we have all had that.

My D. excelsa tuber never made it through the winter. It did flower last year, but was very brittle and kept breaking. I am sure that's why nobody grows it.

 

Plectranthus Silver Shield just flowering now with it's minute blue/white orchid like flowers.