Seasonal Plants of Interest, October 2011
25/10/2011
A second flush
Francoa appendiculata, a Chilean native that looks, by the leaf size, to be settling into the soil and situation on the
Chilean Terrace at the garden. This is now sending out a second flush of flower spikes, 300mm tall and with
stunning magenta pink flowers. The dried seed heads remain in place bleaching to a light brown
standing sentinel to a job well done. This is a clump forming evergreen herb that degraded and shredded through last winter but recovered admirably to flower profusely in mid summer and again through this present month.
From the image ants can be observed within the flower. Searching for nectar and in the process pollinating.
18/10/2011
A mass of Miscanthus
In the Biodiversity garden is a planting of Miscanthus, the silvery strands of the flowers are most attractive. As a
mass, with the sunlight playing on the flowers an attractive purple hue appears through the flowering
canopy.
This is the cultivar Flamingo of the sturdy herbaceous species M. sinensis. Forming a dense rhizomatous rootstock it grows up to 1.8metres. In America the species is now an escapee and not welcome in the wild. The vigorous mass of growth it produces annually makes it a suitable candidate for bio mass production.
11/10/2011
Waxing and waving
Saxifraga cortusifolia bears large waxy deciduous leaves and is one of the plants of this genus that thrives in damp soil within a shaded overhang. Native to N.E. Asia where it colonises shaded stream sides. The flower stems
shoots up to 300mm and are covered in white star like flowers. The pink dots that are the anthers stand
out, borne at the end of the filaments. The flower is composed of five petals; two longer and three shorter. Taking a closer look the longer pair have staggered indents to the edges. These all drop leaving the stamens surrounding the pointed green double ovary capsule.
4/10/2011
Deepening colours 
The autumn colours exhibited by Vaccinium smallii growing in the east valley of the rock garden are
magnificent.
These deciduous leaves have taken on the deepest red shades that autumn will produce. A suckering shrub growing to one metre and similar in dimension. It is native to C & N Japan where it is found growing on mountainsides at the margin of forests. Here it is sometimes referred to as the “vinegar tree”; the leaves when chewed are sour and leave an acrid taste in the mouth.