WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2018

Unusual more than exotic.
Helwingia chinensis

 

This is the first time that I have actually got my hybrid Vriesea to bloom...............
Vriesea hybrid by longk48, on Flickr

Vriesea hybrid by longk48, on Flickr

 

Strelitzia in the evening sun.

 

Be another month before my strelitzia flowers
Came across a jar the other day, with about 40 strelitzia seed in it, must be nearly 20yrs old.
Soaked them and bunged them in, dont hold out much hope though.

 

@JWK, mine as you probably know lives outdoors all year. planted in the ground, and protected, just frost free in winter, it gets all winter rains.

 

I think I have had mine for about 5 years now and has been in the same pot for 3 years. I over winter it in the greenhouse, November to April. It has two flowering stems, this is the one first to open and it is only the second time it has flowered.

I don't want to risk it outside all year as I am not sure whether it would take the -6/7c's we can get here in winter!

@pete how do you protect yours at that height and do you protect the Protea next to it?

 

Well, @strongylodon it is a labour of love, one that I'm not sure I would start again

It has a timber framework that goes over the area around November, it gets modified each year as things grow.
Then it is a "simple" task of freezing my doo dars off on frosty night, putting blankets over the framework.
Strelitzia is good down to 0C and probably a bit lower, if frost is not allowed to form on the leaves.

Its been through all kinds of weather, even sub zero days when the blankets were laden with snow and left on for a few days continuously.
Probably gets some warmth from the wall behind it which has a radiator on it, which runs during the day only.

 

John - I do like that Aeonium. LongK, I think Kalanchoes are often overlooked. There is the ubiquitous blosfeldiana, but I don't think many people see beyond that. Your Dorothy is fabulous.

Pete, that's very informative about the Strelitzae - Its a really good sized plant. Mine is in a raised pot, but it is reaching my 8 foot ceiling now. Strongy I have always lusted after that Begonia, but I don't think I have room for one.

Clerodendron thomsonii is really pretty.


But this one, Lepismium bolivanum (in the hanging basket) is one of my silliest plants. However it's growing like mad and I am getting rather fond of it.


I have just been away in South Devon and on return Justicia carnea is almost over. This, along with many other plants came from Hill House a while ago. So I was very sad to read that Ray Hubbard the owner recently died. He was a really lovely chap.


Arisaema tortuosum in flower.


And this is Anthurium ellipticum in flower. All you get is huge leaves and this. But it's fun learning that there are other types of Anthurium. Scutellaria costaricana to the left.


Hoya bella


The orange plant is one of the more traditional Anthuriums, but I like the unusual speckled colour. Begonia rex to the left and a Croton to the right.

 

Epiphyllum.

 

How ironic that you posted tonight as we've just got back from the Greek cafe that we went to when you came to Oxford!
I spent an hour today deadheading 'Dorothy' and only done about a third of it! But there are still so many new buds coming through that it deserves a little effort on my part.

That's not A.tortuosum, this is..............
Arisaema tortuosum by longk48, on Flickr

 

I thought that I posted the news on here but having checked it would appear that I didn't. He was a proper gent A sad loss.

 

My apologies. It must be A. speciosum. I only have these two now - and I was too lazy to go and read the label.

 

Yes John, another plant that can take a very slight frost, and better for it, regarding cool winter temperatures, they hate stuffy atmospheres.
A couple of pictures from last March, just to show what the weather was like, it has been worse and they still survived under the blankets.
Once the thaw had started.

The rest of the garden.