WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2017

John - your Brugs look so healthy. Mine usually have holes in the leaves, and I am never sure what causes them.

 

Pandorea jasminoides. @Victoria kindly sent me the seeds for this 5 years ago. It flowered a little last year, but has been glorious this year.


Lantana camara, showing how it starts off yellow and later turns pink.


Justicia carnea has lovely purple backs to the leaves.

 

@PeterS - the garden room is looking fantastic now

Ismene festalis.............
Ismene (Hymenocallis) festalis by longk48, on Flickr

The first bloom on Solanum pyracanthos.............
Solanum pyracanthos by longk48, on Flickr

Solanum pyracanthos by longk48, on Flickr

Bulbine frutescens is enjoying the better weather..............
Bulbine frutescens by longk48, on Flickr

 

Very nice Shiney. I have no idea what some of those are - but that's a wonderful stem on the Eucomis (pineapple flower plant).

That's a lovely flower LongK. I had one once - I think I still have it, but it has never flowered. I think that when you buy bulbs, especially if they are cheap, they can be years away from flowering.

I grew some Ixia bulbs this year. They produced some lovely very short foliage, but no flowers. Then at the Harlow Carr flower show recently I saw an amazing tall plant that I had never seen before - and it was an Ixia.

That's a seriously wicked looking plant - but a lovely colour flower.

 

Almost all the Ismene/Hymenocallis festalis bulbs sold are too small for flowering. I did buy a cheap Ismene "Sulpher Queen" bulb this year which flowered but it was badly deformed.

Here's a link to the Pacific Bulb Society pages on Ixia.............

Pacific Bulb Society | Ixia

That should help you narrow it down to the species.

I'm loving it!

It's not a Salvia. My quess is that it is Mimulus cardinalis.

Eucomis bicolor.

 

A better photo of Ipomea quamoclit.............
Ipomea quamoclit by longk48, on Flickr

 

LongK - I think that is one of the loveliest of the Ipomeas - such a shame its only an annual

 

I agree although it is producing plenty of seed

I've been doing a bit of poking around on the web and I see that the one that I have is actually Ipomoea sloteri.

Ipomoea sloteri 'Cardinal Climber' Seeds

 

That's interesting LongK. I have in the past purchased a plug named as Ipomea quamoclit, and noticed that the flower was the same but its leaves were not the same as the Google images of quamoclit. I have also seen almost identical plants sold as I. coccinea.

Your link clears this up :-
Ipomoea sloteri is an annual twining vine that was formerly known as Ipomoea x multifida. It is a hybrid between the Cypress-vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) and the related Scarlet morning-glory (Ipomoea coccinea).

But it's still only an annual, and I didn't have any success the second year with the seed.