Whats looking exotic in August 2014

Naranjilla or Solanum quitoense is forming fruit now,


Even got a couple of ripe ones lower down,

Plumbago is also a bit late for some reason, but is coming out now.

 

Hey Pete, that is amazing ... I have lost most of mine due to my lack of gardening this past year as I've told you. I must get back into doing things when our heat of the summer subsides in a month or two.

 

Not when it comes to food!!

 

I can tell summer is almost at an end because the first of the fall type bulbs is in flower. This is Amaryllis belladonna 'Fred Meyer':

Most people think there is only the pink type, but I found this white.
I have a problem area - too sandy with builders sand, so in the search for a ground cover, I am trying Bulbine frutescens 'Hallmark'; from the top:

from the side:

It is already 23" tall, and keeps growing as the flowers open.
My Eucomis pole-evansii has grown to around 5' tall:

On the left is the shorter Eucomis autumnalis, and the pink flowers are a dwarf crepe myrtle that is around 18" tall. I also have a nice clump of E. bicolor

 

All looking good Wylie , great to see you back on here

Spruce

 

Spruce - I love that Eucomis 'Pink Gin'. I find some Eucomis are a bit underwhelming but that's a cracker.

Kristen - that's a wonderful jungle feel you have got there - and all hardy I assume.

Pete - that Podrangea is one I have got to try some time


LongK - I am sorry to see your Bomarea are starting to go over. Everone is saying how the seasons have come foreward. I can't believe the above - Canarina canariensis. As you know its a tuber that rests over the summer then starts to grow as winter approaches. Mine's already nearly 6 foot high and it shouldn't even have started. I only recently noticed it and realise that I should have pinched it out much earlier.


I was sitting in my garden room having a cup of coffee and noticed a beautiful fragrence, which turned out to be orange blossom - Citronella microcarpa, alias Calomondin.


I love this one - its so silly. Alocasia 'Calidora'


Coleus blomei. I was casually Googling to see if there was a cultivar name for this Coleus. When I discovered a site with many cultivar names but no pictures. It was all about the hallucinogenic effect of chewing Coleus leaves . I had no idea.


This is a funny little foliage plant, its a Salaginella - is it martensie?


Tibouchinea urvilleana is lovely. Its covered in buds and blooms now.

 

Superb collection tonight PeterS,
Thanks for the info. on coleus - not a suitable leaf to add to a salad to impress your guests then,
Jenny

 

No need to be sorry Pete. The move into the ground has produced an incredible plant!

Unknown to me mine has come back into growth too. Two shoots lost due to lack of water though..............

 

Mostly, or "ish" There are several Brugs along the jungle path, they are plunge-potted and come in, and a couple of Ensetes, but the rest of the Bananas are Musa sikkimensis (one Basjoo, although I think the leaf on that is less paddle-shaped, and doesn't have the purple colouration, so I am less taken with that, although it is more hardy), so a cold winter will set me back with the Sikkis.

Lots of Bamboo, some Fatsia, Arundo donax and so on as Backbone. The Tetrapanex rex are fairly hardy (I protect the growing point) and hopefully the Dicksonia antarctica will survive with some fleece in the crown ...

I've no wish to be too bleeding-edge with hardiness, got enough to do in my garden without adding chores for fleecing / light-roping and so on!

 

Thanks Peter its even bigger and with more blooms open 1st time growing with me and worth the xtra £ , but your Alocasia looks stunning

 

I need some of that sunshine you all have
Part of my tropical theme section,gazebo in the way if i stand further back

 

Joolz - what a fabulous Strelizia, I am very envious - and a lovely jungley picture with a beautiful Ensete 'Maurelii', which has to be one of my favorites.


Asclepias curassavica. This has been a real star this year. Its been continuously in flower since March, and now has seed pods to prolong the interest a bit further.


Iochroma australe has come back into flower.


Berkheya purpurea - a spiney daisy from South Africa


Asarina erubescens - this seems to be a larger (and hairier) version of the more usual Asarina scandens. I gather it can get up to 6 or 8 feet, but the obelisk that its on isn't that tall.


My Plumbago, from seed, has finally matured.


A mixture of Clerodendrum thomsoniae just visible on the extreme left, then a pink Pentas lanceolata (Egyptian Star) on the left, a bit of Scutelaria costericana (bottom centre) and a red and purple Gloxinia on the right.

 

Jungle seeds are adamant its montbeliardii they sold me? Its over 6ft already
Strelitzia im suprised at,it only had 1 flower before i went on hol 3 week back ,dont think it likes these cold temps this week bless it
You all have fantastic plants and lots of them Il catch up one day hopefully
Im the more envious one x

 

I wouldn't question that. I just assumed 'Maurelii' as its the more common one.

I now have several 'Maurelii' and I am looking forward to overwintering them with trepidation that I might get it wrong and some anticipation that if I get it right there could be no limit to how big they could grow. I will try and keep one or two small ones growing over the winter in my garden room at 10C. But any large ones have got to be overwintered in dormant state.

 

I now have several 'Maurelii' and I am looking forward to overwintering them with trepidation that I might get it wrong and some anticipation that if I get it right there could be no limit to how big they could grow. I will try and keep one or two small ones growing over the winter in my garden room at 10C. But any large ones have got to be overwintered in dormant state.[/QUOTE]
I was hoping i could put mine in daughters bedroom over winter but shes decided not to go to uni So im going to have to try dormant state too,i tried that with a maurelli and failed so i dont hold out much hope for it...it was good while it lasted i tell myself x