What's Looking Good October 2024

@NigelJ how distinctive do you find cyclamen africanum? I've grown some from seed, and the foliage and flower form (auricles etc) look just like hderifolium!

 

@Goldenlily26 do you have a photo of your hedychium? Id love to see them!

 

Sorry, I do not own a mobile phone. All of my best friends are now dead so I would end up talking to myself!

 

@Plantminded how do you get on with the Hakonechloa? Does that area stay fairly moist? I've really struggled with Hakonechloa but I'm determined to find a spot in my garden that will suit them. I think the areas I've chosen are just too consistently dry and get too much hot sun in the afternoon.

 

I've got it in several areas in my garden @DevonDays, including under the Acer in the photo which is shaded all day but quite dry because of the Acer, in an East facing border which gets sun until mid afternoon, again fairly dry soil, and beside my steps which gets sun all day and the soil is very dry.

My soil is sandy and doesn't retain moisture well. They need regular watering in their first year while getting established but then become more drought tolerant. In summer, if there has not been much rain, I water them when they show that they need it by curling slightly.

You could try moving yours to an area that doesn't get hot afternoon sun and add some organic matter to your soil. I grow mainly the variegated variety, H. aureola, which may be more drought tolerant than the green one. It's worth a try, the colour varies according to location and adds a bit of interest.

 

My Thunbergia has started to flower again, a good value annual climber!



Uncinia rubra, gets more colour in sun.

 

Crinum asiaticum (Spider Lily) blooming ...

 

A few more plants that are still out. I want to see if the new fibre reaches to the dining room where my laptop is. Old Internet had a WiFi extender.



Wow! I did a batch of 6 and it was so quick. Couldn't do that before. Also the signal says it's weak, but it's better than the old one.

 

Isn't it? I fell for the pink variety this spring. Although it's not in a huge pot, it's got massive, scrambled up through a Gelsemium and simply hasn't stopped flowering since April. I also discovered that cuttings root very easily I'm keeping fingers crossed that it will survive winter here under the roof. So many supposed 'annuals' do keep going from year to year.....

 

Yes @noisette47, they are certainly vigorous. Mine has attempted to scramble over everything in that border, plus the lawn .

 

@CarolineL I find it quite distinctive; the flowers are taller and larger, the leaves are less ivy like and larger; it is also later than C hederifolium. I grow it in the same area of gravel as what was supposed to be C confusum, but if it ever was is now lost in a mass of seedlings many, if not all of which are hybrids with C hederifolium which grows elsewhere in the garden. There are no seedlings around the C africanum.
I got it from a nursery nr Wrexham,quite a few years ago and they've grown it outside (south facing spot) since 1994, which makes me think the RHS hardiness rating of 3 is incorrect.
I'll try and remember to get a picture of the foliage when it is fully unfurled.

 

Parahebe 'Snow Clouds'



Fuchsia 'Dollar Princess'





Tricyrtis



Rose 'Francine Austin'



Autumn comes to the hedgerows



Peperomia quadrangularis flowering ...
(with cobwebs )



Fuchsia 'Phyllis'
(and a pot on its side !)

 

I grow that Hakonechloa in virtually full sun @DevonDays, in a raised bed with other plants, but it won't be as hot here as in some other areas. I have it in various sites, but it tends to lose the colour the more shade it has. The shadiest site I have it in is north to north west facing, and against a fence so it gets very little sun apart from a little in summer later in the day, and still has decent colour.
It does best with lots of moisture, and I never have to water them here regardless of where they are, but we have a generally cooler, damper climate here, and clay soil, so if you can choose the right site, it should do better. I'd have thought you'd get enough moisture for it, so if you can just find somewhere with a bit of shade to prevent it drying out but not getting too green, that should work.

 

@Michael Hewett that white rose looks good with the fuchsia

 

@NigelJ hmm looks like my seed (from AGS distribution) was mislabeled!