Popular Posts

Friday, September 29, 2017

Colchicum psaridis





"The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach."


 Henry Beston



Colchicum psaridis,
This one is said to grow on open, stony hillsides from Southern Greece to Turkey. It's one of the smaller species and I could see it as a rock dweller far more than a meadow or woodland species for sure due to its habit. 

This was new to me, the flower in the middle has formed a propagative appendage in place of the Anthers and other flowery reproductive bits. I've seen a lot of Alliums do this but never saw a Colchicum do it.

Back to the rainy pattern more typical of fall, I busted butt last night and go the harvestable honey frames pulled out of the hives, just ahead of the cooler weather and 5 day run of rain forecasted to hit. That was an achievement that felt really good. I'm running a bit behind on my fall garden prep. Still needing to get a bunch of stuff done in the vegetable garden, I have grapes to harvest that this rain is going to mess with. But the honey capture did sure take a load off. Hopefully able to shake this stupid head cold by the weekend and get some productivity done.

Rain and showers with highs in the low 60's and high 40's over night. 

Cheers,
Mark 

Monday, September 25, 2017

Garden Scenes

“That country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain.”

Ray Bradbury



A mix of  the fall blooming Colchicums as we hit the Autumnal equinox

The kiddo has had to read a bunch of Ray Bradbury lately as she started her freshman year in high school. I guess it's been awhile for me now, as I don't remember many of the stories she tells. It's something to hear her talk about how amazing all his ideas were and to imagine they were written in the 1950's!

Glad her teacher is capturing the imagination like that and good to see an inspiring teacher come out of the public school system. 

I'ts apparent I don't really have all that much to say about the flowers on here. I spent a brief few moments of a weekend afternoon trolling through the garden looking at some of the fall Colchicums. So above are a few, there are more starting in by the fence at the entrance to the property now. Most of the excess bulbs have been planted out, although I still have a few bags to go. I have found it makes good science to save some in a bag for as long as possible to see how they store.

The weather man said it was the 3rd driest summer in recorded history, with something like 57 days without a rain drop. And look, the autumn crocus didn't mind a bit!

Cheers,
Mark

Friday, September 22, 2017

Colchicum tenorii

An Italian species...if you look closely, in this less than spectacular photo, you can see the charicteristic purple anther crooks.

Can't seem to find much on the internet about the habitat, which is disappointing as I've always liked biotype plantings and true to ecotype companion plantings when possible.

The rain is moving Eastward and warmer weather is in the forecast. Supposed to be back in the 80's by mid week.

Cheers,
Mark

Monday, September 18, 2017

The Rain Has ReturnedThe

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The late season Rock Garden

The rains have returned to the Willamette Valley finally, cooler temps and an actual ground soaking rain is here! I don't know if I have ever been so excited about a change in the weather, but it was such a long hot summer and since have the state is burning it's long overdue. 


 Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla)
A very cool visitor to the greenhouse was noted with the cooling weather and oncoming dampness. Talk about beneficial insect control for the greenhouse!

A few more of the fall bloomers have started in and I'll update them as they do, with the rain here it might not make for as perfect of pictures, but I know the bulbs appreciate some cooler temperatures and some moisture in the soil now. 

Rain for the next three days, and temperatures in the low 60's. Perhaps, fall has begun. 

Friday, September 15, 2017

Colchicum 'Glory of Heemstede'

Colchicum 'Glory of Heemstede'
One of the old hybrids apparently originating form the Dutch suburb of Heemstede, one of the major bulb growing regions in the Netherlands. Apparently Linneaus spent some time here way back in the day. I just snapped a pic of one of the pots because I liked the way the light was hitting it, but this hyrbid is one of the great colonizers and I'll post up some pics of the patches of it around the gardens and grounds. I would say we are entering the mid season bloom period now with the fall bloomers.

I should try to be more educational with this blog so here ya go:



Note the subterranean ovaries? We will explore this adaptation in an upcoming blog entry

Glad to have gotten some nice pics when I did, rain is in the forecast for later this weekend and according to some of the long range weather forecasters and bloggers, it looks like we have la nina developing after early predictions of a neutral winter. Could this weekend be the true end of summer and the start of Oregon's legendary rainy season? Stay tuned to find out.

Cheers,

Mark

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Colchicum variegatum

Colchicum variegatum

Most of the information you can glean off the web lists this as a somewhat tender species, which I suppose then should come as no surprise it doesn't increase very well for me. But it's hard to pass it up with such sublime tesselations it certainly is a standout. My form has somewhat more linear tepals then most of the pictures I've seen on the web. Maybe I'll coddle this one a bit more to see if I can get it to clump up for me. It truly is one of the more spectacular species. Hailing from Southern Greece and Turkey might explain the somewhat tender nature.

You can feel fall start to creep in finally, the temperatures have moderated in the valley and we even had a sprinkle last weekend although it was dry by the next morning.

Cheers,
Mark

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Colchicum laetum

So Prometheus was a good guy and helped out the humans, I think the biggest thing he did was give us fire, which of course changed the course of humanity. Zeus got pissed and chained him to a rock on a Mountain peak, where an eagle or vulture would stop off and eat on his liver all day. Overnight, because Prometheus was immortal, his liver would regrow. So there he stayed chained to a rock on that mountain getting his liver eaten all day in agony, for thousands of years. Since it's said that the Mountain to which Prometheus was chained was in the Caucasus Mountains, sometime in those thousands of years, Prometheus must have watched Colchicum laetum evolve. Or maybe not if he couldn't see the lower elevation forest, Steppes and foothill meadows from Southern Russia down to the Caucasus Mountains.




Colchicum laetum
With it's starry flowers and bright yellow anthers, doing it's thing in Early September. I'm hoping someday to make a phenology guide to the fall blooming bulbs in Western Oregon. So this year you may see some double daily posts as I begin tracking them year to year.

Smoke, haze and fires all around.
Cheers,
Mark

Colchicum davisii



“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” 
― Dante Alighieri




Colchicum davisii

Only described as recently as 1998, comes this Turkish species from the Amanus Mountains.

I really like the lighter color with the heavy tesselations and the tendency for the flowers to stay closer to ground level. The Autumn crocus are coming on hot and heavy now. I'm gonna make every effort to document them all.

The ash is falling thick from the smoke filled sky as I write this, one can almost picture Dante, ascending the 6th circle, oh wait no, that's actually the willamette Valley. So many forest fires and the "valley of sickness" is a haze filled crucible that smells of burning pitch. We need rain soon.

Cheers,
Mark