What's Looking Exotic In July 2014

I have spare seed Peter. Very easy and should bloom in year two.

There are a couple indoors at OBG - P.alata (in the Orangery and P.quadrangularis in the Lily House with is uber tropical).

 

LongK - that's very kind. I would love some seed. They won't take up as much space over winter as most of my stuff.

That's interesting that some Passiflora may be happy in heat. Unfortunately we are back to the space problem. Of all plants, tender climbers are one of the most difficult to keep, because they like to climb up a wall or support and consequently can't be moved. I do have one or two climbing up a pyramid of canes in a pot, but that doesn't really do them justice because they can never grow very high. Already all my wall and roof space are spoken for - and I still have more small climbers growing in pots, with nowhere to put them.

Having mentioned the downside of tropical climbers, they upside is that I love them. They give a tremendous display over a huge area compared to a plant in a pot.

 

Lantana camara from seed this year. The leaves are thick and really quite smelly.


Plumbago carpensis, from seed a couple of years ago. That's not its foliage of course - its Chamaerops humilis. The Plumbago is sitting on a bench but has now reached the roof of my garden room.

 

Datura wrightii...................


It is last years tuber regrown and it smells lovely out there tonight!

 

Cautleya spicatum ready too flower soon

 

Hippeastrum cybister "Chico" in bloom. For some reason it died back in the spring rather than blooming but has decided to bloom now instead.......................

 

Albizia is just starting to bloom, hoping we dont get much rain in the next few weeks.

Just a general shot of a corner of the allotment, I thought it looked kind of tropical,....... if you discount the spuds.


Morning glory and passion flower,

Strelitzia and Bougainvillea,

 

Superb variety of things you grow Pete - absolute magic,
thank you,
Jenny

 

You think correctly! It's looks fantastic!

This tiny thing may not look too impressive to you guys, but it looks good to me. It's a flower bud on my Cajaphora hibiscifolia and they are bursting out all over the vine.................


Three of my favourite vines - white and blue forms of Sollya heterophylla and Rhodochiton..............

 

Pete - that really is a superb tropical looking picture.What's that tall thin thing that looks like an Echium in front of the big palm?

I presume the Passion Flower and Ipomoea are inside. And is that the perennial Ipomoea indica rather than one of the annuals? Mine is extremely vigorous and looks likely to fill my garden room in one season. I have already had to cut off a runner that was over 20 feet. So do I have to cut it back really hard in late autumn ?

LongK - I had to Google Cajophoro - never heard of it, but I gather Charlie says that it can sting! Most obscure - fantastic. I am looking forward to seeing the full flower.

Your Rhodichiton has done well - mine's half the size. I have only grown it once before, and it was a really lovely plant and long flowering.

 

It seems to have lost its sting though!
It came from Charlie by way of a swap, but hopefully it will set a few seeds for me.

 

Thanks Peter, the thing that looks like an Echium is in fact an Echium, you are correct.

It is indeed Ipomoea indica, but I always grow it outside in a bigish pot along with P. "anastasia", the good weather this year means the Ipomoea is flowering about a couple of weeks earlier than usual, it will go on now until I cut it back hard in early Nov.

The passion flower, once established in a decent sized pot flowers from June.

I usually take cuttings of the Ipomoea in Aug, to overwinter, as I usually discard the big plant after two summers, they just get too pot bound to grow well after that.

 

I couldn't believe that it was an Echium as it looks about 28 feet tall. Perhaps its an optical illusion and is really only 26 feet tall.

Thanks for the info on the Ipomoea Pete - that's very informative. I can well believe that it needs to be replaced every couple of years or so. I can't get over its vigour. I had been cutting off all its runners, but next year I will leave a couple as I have already seen them trying to put down roots.

I Googled this yesterday - there was not a single link. Today there is just one link to your post in this thread! I think that is some sort of a record.

 

It probably would be had I not spelt it wrong! Try Caiophora hibiscifolia

 

No - I understand they are both valid spellings . I did look under Caiophora and there was some more info. But no one, anywhere, in the world seemed to be selling this plant or seed under either spelling. That makes it a bit special.