ARS Tasmania Newsletter – October 2018

• Date: 3rd October 2018
• author: Lesley Gillanders

IN MY GARDEN

The early Daffodils are finished but there are still mid season ones producing their golden blooms. The little hybrid of Kens which he named N.'Camp Hill' after the campsite used by the men making the road from Huonville to Hobart in the early days. Woodbank now occupies the area. The little Daffodil is white with a golden trumpet and only grows 15 cm high. Next to it is N.'Pink Blossom' with white blooms to 40cm high and a deep pink trumpet. N.'Russ Holland' is a favourite of mine with large flowers which open yellow then the trumpet fades to white. A new hybrid Ken has obtained is N.'Regina' a pretty pink in contrast to the small white flowers of N.'Xit' and the gold of N.'Ferdie'

Chionodoxa forbesii we saw in flower in Turkey. It is a paler blue than C.sardensis. Years later Ken was able to obtain seed and it has grown so well that he has been able to divide the clump and place them around other parts of the garden. I have noticed over several years that when Fritillaria imperialis and F.persica produce their tall flowering stems we experience strong winds which flatten both if they are not staked. F.imperialis made an unbelievable sight in Iran, where it covered several hillsides with its majestic orange to red flowers. I carefully gathered some pollen from some of the red shaded blooms but unfortunately, they went into a battered envelope which was discarded before coming home. F.persica has numerous small black flowers up the 60cm stems.

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