Whats looking good in November

Kedi - thank you. I would love some seed. I have always fancied trying to grow that plant since Victoria first showed your picture on a thread some time ago, and no one knew what it was. I think it was Bob that first identified it, after a sunflower prompt from Pete.

4 meter is a good height. I might have to cut a bit off to get it in my hall to overwinter it. :D I am slowly making my own version of Florida inside my house, with Brugmansias, Iochroma, Fuchsia arborescens, Echiums and some others all growing happily under lights. :hehe:

 

Lovely pictures Shiney. :thumb: It always amazes me how some plants keep growing through frosty weather.

 

You have a lot going on in your garden, Shiney, and those red leaves look so beautiful.

I remember seeing a pic of the iris a year or two ago and I think I asked about it flowering at this time. It is a real wonder flower. I think it has it's seasons mixed up, but I wouldn't complain as it is a rare treat to see such during the winter. Thanks for sharing with us.

I had some of the berries directly below it, got them from the garden when Sis lived on the Isle of Wight. Unfortunately, it turned out to be yet another seed that refused to sprout and grow for me.

 

Lovely photos everyone:gnthb:

Shiney you do have a lot of leaves to clear up and I must say you have got loads of flowers still going in your garden compared to most of us.I thought i was doing well with the odd one or two that we have in flower.:D

Kedi,Shiney is right about the Iris.It is Iris Unguicularis or Iris Stylosa and this is the time of the year you will find them in flower,although at the moment there is no sign of flowers from any of my plants in the front garden so I put it down to the fact that I am further north than Shiney and his garden soil might be a bit better than mine:D

 

An amazing display as always Shiney.

I shall squeak something in before the month ends. It is forecast to be raining today, however, it's wall to wall sunshine so I went out and captured my Euphorbia pulcherrima (Poinsettia to you and me) colouring up nicely for Christmas. It is about 3.5 meters tall and growing up through the Lantana hedge.

 

Victoria - lovely to see your Poinsettias again. I will always remember that thread two or three years ago, when we wondered where the flowers were. I was amazed when you showed us the size of yours.

But its a sore point. With your giant plants in mind, I recovered a couple of Poinsettias after Christmas last year from friends. I cosseted them through the cold weather, and then planted them out in the garden and told them their target was 8 feet. Whilst they seemed happy all summer - they never made more than one foot. :D - so its no more Christmas for them then. :dh:

 

0) Hello PeterS

I'm pleased you are pleased to see my Poinsettia again ... I shall put more pictures up around Christmas when it will have flushed out more.

There are two types of Poinsettias as I was told when I bought mine here about 12 years ago .. those for the 'casa' (house) and those for the 'rua' (road/garden). The house ones are the ones everyone buys for Christmas .. they are here for sale also. in various colours. These particular plants are hybrids and 'brought on' in greenhouses in Holland specifically for Christmas enjoyment. It is virtually impossible to keep them .. yes, I know a few people have had them re-flower, but ...

The road/garden ones are hardy and live forever ... if you dig one up and leave a smidgen of a root, another sprouts ... the one of mine in the photos above is a root sprouting from five years ago.

They are hardy to a certain extent .. they can be cut back to the ground with frost and then go to sleep for a few months but when the warm Spring weather comes they come back to life. They root very easily from cuttings .. the hardy ones that is. I can always send you one after flowering when they are cut back and you could have one blooming next Christmas if you like. No pressure for you to have another pot or space in your garden invaded .... :hehe:

 

Hi Victoria - I have learnt from you yet again. In my ignorance, it never occured to me that your pictures were of the naturally occuring species, which is different from the hybridised varieties that are sold for Christmas. However, when you think about it, its quite logical. To get all the different colours they have clearly been selectively breeding, which is what you would expect in such a lucrative market.

It has some parallels with the Salvia splendens that I grow. The one that I grow can apparently reach about 9 feet in its natural habitat, though mine only make about 4 to 5 feet. But the ones that you see in the garden centres are very short, highly hybridised variations, rarely reaching 1 foot high.

Thank you so much for your kind offer of a cutting. I love growing all kinds of unusual things, but I really must be firm and say no. I am just running out of space, both in the garden in the summer and space to overwinter things. And yet I have still sown a load more seeds recently in my light box, including a lot more Brugmansia - and they do take up space. But thanks so much for the offer. :luv: