Sunday 29 December 2013

White Doves on the Greenhouse



 Now that it is mid-winter I have been looking through my photos to remind myself what the garden was like in summer. I found these of my doves exploring the roof of the greenhouse.

 
 
 











 




Here is Charles, he is my favourite.

 
 
Mademoiselle nest building.



Charles showing off.



 
Charles sunbathing after a bath in the food dish.

 

Cup and Saucer Vine

 
Cobaea scandens is a tropical perennial vine in its native Mexico. The bell-shaped flowers are 2in or more in diameter, the green calyxes remain at the base of the flower and become the saucer - hence its common names, cup and saucer plant or cathedral bells.
It is grown in cooler climates as an annual which due to its vigorous growth, produces vertical cover and large exotic looking blooms at the end of the summer and into the autumn.


Last night we had the most severe frost of the winter so far, and up till now both my varieties of Cobaea have survived and continued growing. There was even a few flowers up until two weeks ago. The date today is 29 December!

Planted as seed in early February 2013, indoors on heat they germinated well. The 'Alba' variety shown on the above left was slower and slightly less vigorous all the way through growth. The plants are easy to tell apart with the Alba having green stems on new growth and the purple variety has reddish purple stems. I planted approx. 6 vines in a clump. They are very badly behaved vines from a young age and will grab anything within reach with their slightly sticky, multifingered tendrils. Next time I will germinate them in their own pots with their own stakes.

My plants are on a trellis along a north, south axis so get the benefit of sun all day from either side as the sun moves over the garden. They have reached well over 20 feet and have started to explore the shrubs and trees planted along the fence.
The flowers are on longish stalks that hold them out in front of the leaves. The blooms on both strains darken to an inky purple with age, the 'Alba' is soon indistinguishable from the purple as the greenish cream colour is lost quickly. I couldn't detect a strong scent from the blooms, just a very faint sweetness. In their native Mexico they are pollinated by bats. Seed will set if they are pollinated by a large insect such as a Bumblebee.
The leaves are 4in long, composed of four leaflets and a tendril with many little hooks on it, which it uses to climb.
Charles Darwin was so impressed he studied Cobaea for his book The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (1875).

If my Cobaea does not survive the winter (I have mulched it heavily at the base... ) I will certainly be growing it again.
It ticks all the boxes for an impressive tropical climber that makes good cover, has the most gorgeous big flowers and lasts well into the winter in a sheltered garden.

























Saturday 28 December 2013

The Devils Backbone

Commonly known as the Devils backbone or Veldt grape this is my cutting of Cissus quadrangularis. It grows very commonly in Kenya in dry scrubby bush where is usually scrambles over low thorny shrubs in a tangle of jointed and twisting branches.
In fact most people mistake it for a Euphorbia. (I did) It is fleshy and almost cacti like in appearance and resembles several species of Euphorbia that are common place in its habitat.

There is some question as to where it originates as it is widespread in Africa, Southeast Asia and Arabia. It is reputed to have considerable medicinal properties and is grown commercially as a bone healer. It has been used medicinally since ancient times and lists among its capabilities to have antifungal, antioxidant, antibacterial and analgesic effects.



Knowing of my love for unusual plants, I was given three pieces of Cissus from a plant that had originated near Lake Baringo in Northern Kenya.
It is a very tough plant (I haven't killed it yet!) and gets its name from the quadrangular nature of its stems - being 4 sided with a sharp leathery edge along each angle.
Being succulent in nature and not able to find any information on how to root it, I treated it as such.
I let the cuttings dry as I would a cactus for about two weeks. They did not form a scab but I went ahead and planted them as I was now back in the UK and it was the end of December.
I used a cactus and succulent mix with a top dressing of grit. I think I also mixed in some grit with the compost to make it as free draining as possible.
Being long and not having much weight I had to anchor them to a stake pushed through the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot.
I left them on the dry side in a warm/cool east facing windowsill above the boiler for about 3 months. I watered sparingly with bottled water, as I thought it might be a bit of a shock for it to be exposed to our chlorinated and very hard water until it had started to grow.
Once the days started to warm and lengthen I moved the pot to a southern facing windowsill and watered once a week.
Six weeks later little nubs appeared at the joints!
The nubs turned into little growths with a tuft of leaves, at which point I decided it needed the greenhouse.


 The leaves give it away as being part of the grape family. They are very 'grape like', it also produces tendrils another grape trait.
It becomes quite stiff and rigid once the growths mature, and it is a rather ungainly and awkward plant to house. I think I will have to re-pot and use a framework to support it next year as it otherwise hangs and will break.


The new growths are big and healthy, unfortunately the end of summer came just as it seemed to be getting into its stride.
It is now back indoors in a cool windowsill on the dry side. It has dropped most of its leaves but it is deciduous in its native habitat, the leaves shrivel and drop in the hot dry season. leaving just a tangle of bare limbs.
I will wait to see if it ever flowers.


Leopard Love

My Africana ansellia threw its first spike this year after spending the summer in the greenhouse. I have had this plant for about two and half years from a seedling size. It is still quite small by Ansellia standards but at the moment I am quite grateful as they have monstrous potential. In the UK southeast climate, I'm sure it will be much more restrained in its growth habit.



There has been a noticeable difference in the cane it produced out in the greenhouse from the ones when it grew in windowsill culture.(Pre greenhouse)  Bigger, faster growing and much more robust.


The spike grew fast! Right out of the tip of the cane. This cane grew more sets of leaves than previous ones and I could hardly believe it when a tiny little nub then appeared.

My greenhouse is south facing and tucked up against a wall and the back of the house behind the wall. It is very sheltered but gets full sun exposure apart from around midday, when a large topiary shrub and a Horse Chestnut tree, throw some shade over it in the height of summer just when its needed. I also throw some frost fleece over my orchids that need screening from the very hottest part of the day as well as using some greenhouse shade cloth that I hang up. (The summer this year was exceptionally and unusually hot.)




As the buds developed I could see the spotting develop. The spotting on my plant is quite heavy which is what I hoped for. I have another Ansellia yet to bloom, but it is labelled as "alba" fingers crossed for next year.


The flowers were long lasting, ( I didn't make a note exactly how long which of course I now regret.) On occasion I could detect a sweet, honeyed, musky scent from the flowers but it was not always present and was at different times of the day. Maybe it was temperature related - again must take note!
Ants found the plant attractive and visited the flowers, but no seed pods set.