Whats looking exotic in August 2014

They are similar, but I would say that E. montbeliardii is very upright, and has narrower leaves - so noticeably longer-and-narrower in shape. I think it needs another year's growth before it is clear to see for sure The leaves on mine have got narrower and longer year-on-year.

Here's the E. montbeliardii at Wisley

 

Don't come here then!

I must make the effort - that looks great Jools!

Same here. They appear to prefer the cooler seasons. Brugmansia sanguinea is filling up with buds at a fantastic rate too!

Beautiful!

Peter - I suspect that your garden room needs a "hairy" Salvia. Maybe S.leucantha or S.oxyphora? Plus a couple of winter blooming Salvia too.

 

Joolz you have been hiding all of this WHY ?? it looks very jungle style that Strelitzia is huge , is it in a pot ?

Spruce

 

Hi spruce,thanks Yes i repotted this yr in a terracotta pot i bought from B&Q so i thought it wouldnt flower for a few more yrs,plus its not been a warm summer really so chuffed its done so well x

 

I must admit I don't know S. oxyphora, but I have several leucantha, which I love. Its the Salvia that Christopher Lloyd said 'he most drooled after'. I originally planed to have one inside to see how much better it would do than those outside - but I never found any space for it.

 

@PeterS your Iochroma australe is it grown from seed?
If so How long does it take to flower?

 

Taken at OBG.........................

 

Yes, it was quite a long time ago and I don't remember - but it was pretty quick. It was probably the first year, but if not it would have been the second year. They normally flower early in the year, but as often happens when you grow from seed they could flower late that same year. I also grew three shades of I. cyanea from seed and they all were similar.

LongK - after your post I did a Google of S. oxyphora. I had seen pictures of it before, but never grown it. There are such a lot of different Salvias - its difficult to keep up with them all.

 

How come? There are only about 900 plus species!!!

 

"Keeping up with the Salvias" ... a gardening analogy

 

Taipei Silk is reliably the first of the Toadies to bloom......................
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I am new to gardening, but I love this plant it is beautiful could I get more information on this plant,

 

Hi Ollie - yes its beautiful. There are just so many beautiful and exotic plants out there.

Hopefully, someone here will have grown it. But its always worth Googling as well. I like to look at lots of sites and then take a mental average. You can get a lot of conflicting information, but I find if you Google enough a consensus appears.

I like http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/108328/#b Even though its American, Dave's Garden always gives comments from people who have grown the plant, rather than just one company who wants to sell it. But there are plenty of other useful sources.

 

How much info do you want?
It's an intergeneric hybrid between T.formosana (1) and T.lasiocarpa (2)
(1)


(2)


The T.formosana side of its parentage makes it hardy whilst it gets its beauty from T.lasiocarpa.
It grows to about 30 or 40cm tall and over time will spread half a metre or more.
All Tricyrtis need a humus rich soil which is free draining. They do not like to dry out. Most appreciate some shade, although some of the species need heavy shade.
Start with T.formosana before spending lots of money on the various cultivars. Avoid on line sellers (the plants tend to be small) except for the rarer species. I would buy from small family run nurseries in your area instead (garden centres tend not to stock them now as they are late season blooming).

Here's my Tricyrtis album.