C IS ALSO FOR .................................
We only have the dwarfer Chrysanthemums due to lack of space. They start to flower towards the autumn and the flowers don't even seem to suffer after a few frosts. One lesson we have learnt is not to plant chrysanths in a position where they have artificial light i.e. street lights shining on them. This is because their flowering is triggered by the day light hours getting shorter. Hence if they have light shining on them all day and all night the flowers won't want to come.
Our cyclamen are the autumn flowering ones. We have tried to grow them directly from corms but had no success. We find they are better planted when they are in leaf. They seed themselves around beautifully. It is quite incredible the way the stem coils up as the seed pod forms; then when the time is right the coil springs open and disperses the seed. There is a story that in the past the tubers were baked and made into little flat cakes that were considered a love potion, which caused the person eating them to fall violently in love. Thankfully I've never tried it. I have a feeling it could result in stomach ache.
Although we often grow annual cornflowers; no photos - pre digital camera days again. This photo is of our perennial cornflower. Another of Micks acquisitions when he was at work (he does ask for seeds, cuttings or plant portions; gardeners are nice sharing people and no one ever said NO). This is another plant that seeds about well in our garden - a bit too well! I have to make sure I remove most of the seedlings or our garden would be overrun.
These are the annual cosmos we grow. They range in colour from white to dark pink. Although they are not hardy they do seem to last right up to the first frosts as long as I deadhead them regularly. They make a good cut flower too. We used to have a perennial chocolate cosmos but after a bad winter we lost it sadly. The smell of the flowers really was like chocolate.
I have in a previous post spoken about coleus. Easy to grow, easy to propagate from cuttings.
1 comment:
I wanted to comment on your cosmos on Saturday, but time caught up with me.
In South Africa these lovely flowers grow wild along the country's roads.
It is maybe one of the first flower names that children learn to say. The Afrikaans name is KOSMOS.
However, I never knew about the chocolate variety. Wonder if it is edible??
I also found your information on the chrysanthemums very interesting.
The Afrikaans name for your coleus is "Josefskleed", literally meaning "Joseph's coat" because of the wide variety of colors of the leaves.
My mom is also becoming addicted to your blog and your lovely photos.
Stay well
Post a Comment