As observed during November 2007
2/11/07
These two xerophytic members of the Bromeliaceae withstand neglect as long as they are in direct sunlight. Both native to Chile, central and southern respectively where they colonise large areas of ground that then becomes impenetrable.
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Fascicularia bicolor is the less vigorous of the two species growing in the garden. A plant in the south bed of the rock garden has the most intense red colour to the leaves of any I have seen in cultivation. This is a propagule from Combers original introduction in 1927, during his second visit to South America, collection number 1015. H.F.Comber found it growing 800 - 2000ft near the Indian village of Calafquen in central Chile. On departing Comber "then travelled by the worst road he has ever encountered". Harold Frederick Comber was born at Nymans Garden where his father was a noted gardener. He studied at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1920 and in 1925 was asked by the Andes Syndicate, comprising amongst others; The Hon. Henry D. McLaren; later Lord Aberconway of Bodnant Garden; A.K.Bulley of Ness; Col. Messel of Nymans to visit Chile and Argentina on a collecting expedition. As a student on the DHE course he obtained very good marks: 100% in Cryptogrammic Botany, 96% in each of Botanical Nomenclature and Classification of Plants showing him to be eminently suited to this opportunity.
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F. pitcairniifolia can be seen as a dense clump in the border to the south of the Front Range glasshouse. Don't be tempted to reach into the rosette of leaves; each is edged with saw teeth that will rip the skin apart. Conversely gently running your fingers up the length of the leaf will not cause any damage as the teeth all face in the one upward pointing direction. Comber described the leaves as scurfy. The flowers appear in a packed domed inflorescence in the base of these recurved leaves. Initially dusted with grey farina the petals are a lurid shade of blue. Opening from the outer circumference towards the centre of the inflorescence then fading brown. Fruits if produced are juicy, sweet and edible.
5/11/07
Not to be missed while walking around the Garden are two spectacular treats providing autumn colour.
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In the lower woodland is Carya cordiformis, native to E.N. America. It has light brown bark that is fissured in a regular but off hand pattern reminiscent of the Walnut family, Juglandaceae, of which it is a member. The towering golden yellow canopy is visible from many angles. It is here I shall refer you to W.J.Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles where Bean makes a passionate case for planting "Hickory". From preserving the tap root at the seedling stage thus ensure good establishment to appreciating the beauty of the genus as a mature specimen.
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Mespilus germanica also produces a golden effect through the turning leaf. These leaves are soft, downy to the touch. The "Medlar" is opposite the east end of the herbaceous border; regularly producing a good crop of its unusual s
haped fruit. The pointed protrusions from the eye are the persistent remains of the sepals fused to form the calyx.
9/11/07
Take a walk behind the glasshouses to appreciate a late flowering wild collected Hoheria from North Island New Zealand. Naturally a variable species which has resulted in several cultivars obtainable in the trade. This specimen was collected in the summit area of Mt. Donald McLean within the Tamaki Ecological Region, North Island. Hoheria populnea has rigid evergreen leaves of a chlorotic green. Their beauty is in the good vein structure, deep green above and below a drought induced, cracked earth appearance in a silvery hue. The flowers are borne on short stalks individually or in groups in the leaf axils of the current season's growth, opening from a globular bud encased in a crown of sepals to a flat face of petals with a profusion of anthers. Once open the triangular shape of the sepals is more evident as they reflex back at this stage.
Ideally planted in this sheltered location this tender species has made good growth in a decade. The older bark on the trunk is infused with lenticels giving weight to the common name "Lacebark".
12/11/07
Growing on the Chinese hillside is a fast growing woody plant. Collected as part of the Lijiang Project Expedition in China and introduced to the garden in 2003 as Desmodium. Labelled only to Generic level it has flowered well this autumn. The image shows Lesley Scott comparing it to type specimens of the Genera held in the Herbarium.
We now know it to be D. elegans from the free filament in the floral structure of the anthers. Leguminous, light purple flowers with red oxide sepals are borne in terminal racemes. Followed by multi seeded pods in a bow shape originally green, ripening brown. The trifoliate leaves are soft to the touch, mid green in colour. The linear markings on the young wood are a multitude of silver hairs. These fade with age.
Following last night's freezing temperatures and bright sun early this morning much of the canopy is exhibiting frost damage. Slightly tender for Edinburgh it will survive due to its falling and rooting habit rapidly making a thicket of growth.
16/11/07
Fuchsia arborescens. A native to Central America with lush foliage. The leaves are arranged in a whorl, three at each node. Each carefully positioned around the stem from the base up, to gain maximum benefit from the sun's energy. A conspicuous terminal panicle of miniature, light purple flowers gives reason to grow this tender member of Onagraceae. Take a moment to look closely at these individual flowers, their shape is composed of curved and angular lines topped by a prominent stigma also light purple in colour. Be quick to appreciate this specimen growing in the border to the south of the front range with the added benefit of residual heat from the glass houses before it succumbs to the combination of a clear sky, frosty temperature and bright sunshine in the early morning.
The weather conditions during the past two months have been exceptional for late autumn colour. Make the most of the remaining blooms on Salvia, Tulbaghia, Nerine and other representatives of South Africa's flora. Future frosts and shorter days will cull much of this prolonged floral display.
19/11/07
A plant that will revel in deep gloom conditions that would be deemed not suited to plant growth by many horticulturalists is Fatsia japonica. It will put on a decent spurt of growth each year once established in low light habitats. The sturdy stems are populated with visible leaf lesions remnants of the palmate, leathery evergreen leaf shedding. A native to Japan, our specimen is planted at the steps on the pathway leading up to the front lawn. Planted in 1968 when the front range was opened and the front lawns graded and landscaped it is now reaching its 40th year.
It is a showy plant while in flower. Teminal panicles composed of globose flower buds. The creamy green buds open with extended stigma and style, then resembling a moon landing craft. There is a delicate central boss containing the anthers. The whole exudes an interesting smell that attracts flies.
Growing large and lank the growth appears to enjoy mutual support within the framework due to the weight of foliage carried. It will regenerate from the base if heavy pruning becomes necessary.
23/11/07
Much needed at this cool, damp, darkening time of the year. A reminder of warm climes in the Southern Hemisphere. Cordyline australis is established in the beds south of the glasshouse foyer. The brown trunk is covered in a plating bark of corky appearance. The single trunk splits and branches at a height of approximately two meters once flowering age is reached. At each leaf base is a dormant auxiliary bud, essential to the plants survival. You can see regenerative ability in one of the cut trunks. In New Zealand where these grow as native flora the Maori used to grow and fell C. australis on a four year cycle to produce fructose. Steamed from cut stem sections this sweetening syrup has a biter aftertaste. Crowning the top of the plants is a mop of sword shaped leaves. Initially erect, with age and weather they bend and over time turn brown and fall against the trunk. Growing from some of the trunks are remnants of auxiliary aerial roots. These appear beneath the brown leaves gathered around the trunk where a moister atmosphere pervades. They soon dry and wither as this protection falls to the ground.
The plants are now all producing abundant quantities of small white berries each containing several black seeds. These are held in large panicles that droop down through the foliage. In warmer areas of Britain, often planted in seaside towns, self sown seedlings will result.
In the nursery are seedlings from an Unwin, father and son, collecting trip to New Zealand. The image shows the adventitious root system and more interestingly the vertical rhizome acting as the tap root growing down from the base of the shoot. The base of the mature trunk spreads concentrically to form a supporting base to the aerial growth. This is one of the few monocotyledonous trees that has secondary thickening, which differentiates the genera from most other monocotyledons.
26/11/07
From Ecuador to Argentina, Colletia spinosissima will defeat any grazing predator with the angled vicious green spines. These plants are often found as single specimens in grazed land, due to this growth habit, companion vegetation is often rich and diverse. The spines and young stems are green, photosynthesising in the absence of leaves. On maturing they striate brown.
A member of the family Rhamnaceae, the flowers, held beneath the spine axis, are pink in bud, opening white and delicately scented, if the flower is picked and pulled apart this scent deepens, reminiscent of a washroom hand soap. The corolla is tubular, folded back at the end, star like. The protruding anthers are covered in yellow pollen which once dispersed reveals the black surface. The filaments are fused to the side of the corolla tube, running up the centre of which is the translucent style. Seed pods are mahogany brown in three parts with a seed in each. In a moment of warmth these open and the seeds, (shiny dark purple), are projected a distance. In Chile they are parasitised by a Chalcid wasp so fertile seed is not often produced.
The specimen growing to the east of the Orchid house is in need of dead wooding, who will volunteer for this task?
Tucked to the back of a bed north of the Linnaeus memorial is C. paradoxa, the leaves modified to cladodes, flat, angled and also vicious with terminal spines.
The second image shows C. hystrix with pink flowers, collected in Chile and thriving at (costa del) Musselburgh in the garden of Pete Brownless. This area to the east of the city often registers overnight temperatures several degrees warmer than those experienced here in the garden making this type of planting more successful.
30/11/07
This week, succumb to the warmth of the Wet Tropics and seek out the stunning Hoya imperialis. Native to Malaysia and Indonesia, this tropical gem produces the largest flowers of the genus.
Growing in a pot of open bark/cork/charcoal mix, our 2003 introduction is currently in flower. The thick supporting stem is twining above head-height in the north east corner of the Wet Tropics glasshouse. Hanging down from the horizontal growth is a crown composed of eleven individual flowers attached by long flexed pedicles.
Each solid, waxy bloom is composed of green sepals, petals; rusty red inside, creamy white above and with very prominent (also creamy white) corollas. The ants seen moving all over the flowers are attracted to the nectar held within the floral parts. Reports say that there is a sweet fragrance in the evening and early morning, but there is no evidence of it from this flower.
Below is a section from the report Glasshouse Supervisor Louise Galloway wrote on her return from Sabah, Borneo in October 2006. Note the last sentence. The result can be observed in the successful flowering of our specimen.
"En route to Mt. Kinabalu we stopped off for a break at the home of orchid enthusiast Ben Chai. His garden was a riot of colour with many species of orchids; Oncidium, Paphiopedilum and Phalenopsis, an epiphyte lovers' delight with Hoya and Aeschynanthus literally dripping off purpose built posts.
He had an innovative way of growing Hoya (Asclepiadaceae family), that he assured me guaranteed flowering. This really intrigued me as we have a large collection of Hoya sp. at the RBGE and many are not yet formally identified so I really want to get them to flower to allow for scientific verification. Large pots were placed at the bottom of an upturned tree fern trunk filled with an epiphytic mix comprising chunks of Asplenium nidis, sustainably sourced of course, alongside sections of tree fern and charcoal chunks for the potash content, therefore it was incredibly free draining. As soon as the plants had reached the top of their pole they are trained horizontally along wire that links all the poles together - as soon as they start to grow horizontally they start to flower! Proof of the pudding as they say.....I have tried this method since returning home with great success."