Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
jblaschke

First bloom of 2009!

jblaschke
15 years ago

I got home late yesterday, and it was cloudy and overcast, getting dark quickly. As I was walking to the front door, a flash of color caught my eye.

The Lady Margaret I planted in the bushes in front of my house last summer had opened the most spectacularly gorgeous flower I've ever seen on a Lady Margaret. The red was very, very deep--maroon practically. And the extended coronal filaments had almost no white on them, just a half-hearted fleck here and there, certainly not the rings normally found in a LM. The core of the flower still had the white starburst, but man, that dark flower was dazzling. Sadly, conditions were unsuitable for a photo.

I know many passis produce richer colors in their flowers when the weather is cooler, but I wasn't expecting this!

Comments (9)

  • karyn1
    15 years ago

    Sounds beautiful. It's still too cold to keep anything outside here but I have some that are blooming sporadically inside. Unfortunately the colors are very washed out inside, even under the HID lights.

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    15 years ago

    Sounds real pretty. I have buds on Victoria, Anastasia and Lav. lady so far.
    The lav. lady bloomed once already this year. the hummers seem to love that one and found it right away.

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    I hope we can keep this thread alive since Spring is just starting in much of the country.

    Two days ago my first opened--P. x exoniensis from Strybing Arboretum. This is "cheating" since it was in bud when I bought it in early March. However the number of buds between it and a second plant has tripled since I got them: 50+ between two one gallon plants (that desperately need to be repotted...). 4 more flowers should open in the next 4 days on the two plants. One plant belongs to someone else and is only here temporarily.

    The flowers are pendant and close to 5 inches across; this one is propped on its side so you can see it.

    Very soon to bloom (a couple days)--P. 'Lavender Lady'--tons of buds

    Soon to bloom:

    P. edulis 'Nancy Garrison (source Grassy Knoll)--many buds.
    P. 'Blue Horizon' (source Annnie's Annuals) a number of buds.

    In case someone is interested in P. x exoniensis and can't make it to a Strybing Arboretum monthly sale (in SF), Grassy Knoll sells it as does Kartuz. I can recommend both of them; I've mail ordered Grassy Knoll. Otherwise drop me a note in a few months--I will probably have material for cuttings at some point. I have not successfully rooted it yet, though.

  • passionlove
    15 years ago

    Love that beautiful exoniensis!!! Mine still does not have buds!

    Here are my first blooms of 2009:

    Passiflora Reflexiflora

    P.Blue Caerulea

    P.Kermesina

    P.Lady Margaret

    I have also already had a ton of P.Lady Lavendar flowers too. That vine is so free-flowering. So is my Reflexiflora, Lady Margaret and caerulea.

  • angellilly
    14 years ago

    Beautiful flowers passionlove,they put quite a show!My collection is not that big,it consists only of some P. edulis seedlings and a blue Caerulea(Had also a white Caerulea and yellow edulis but died on me...grrr...).Blue Caerulea finally bloomed after 8 years(from seed):

    Spot the flowers! :-D
    {{gwi:1126230}}

  • mark4321_gw
    14 years ago

    I thought I'd add a couple:

    P. edulis 'Nancy Garrison'

    P. 'Blue Horizon'

    A couple non-Passifloras for variety (I hope that's OK...):

    Aristolochia trilobata

    {{gwi:36224}}

    Cerinthe retorta

  • angellilly
    14 years ago

    Aristolochia looks like a carnivorous plant!Very cool!(its ughllyy!!i order you to throw it away..no wait!...just give it to me!) lol

  • mark4321_gw
    14 years ago

    The Aristolochia smells pretty bad, too. It does attract flies that way and traps them for a while, but only for pollination--they are released unharmed.

    I have another one--a picture of last year's flowers. This one actually smells exactly like Lemon Pledge. I'll try to avoid straying from the thread too much and just give a link to a picture. This is A. gigantea, 8 or 9 inches:

    http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m393/mark43210/Aristolochia/?action=view&current=Aristol_gig2_2.jpg

    A friend (not me) dissects these:

    http://www.alsgh.com/serveimage.php?key=94
    (scroll down)

    http://www.alsgh.com/blog/2008_08_01_archive.html

    I do take cuttings of these occasionally, by the way.

  • angellilly
    14 years ago

    The flowers look like rotten meat...yummy!Too bad nurseries here sell common tropical plants,if i had the chance id buy one!

Sponsored
Peabody Landscape Group
Average rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars8 Reviews
Franklin County's Reliable Landscape Design & Contracting