Sleuthing in April

Ever the over-optimistic gardener, I was set back by mid-April’s hailstorms and overnight frosts but watchful of the weather forecasts. And hence the planting out of some young nemesias and sweet peas I’d purchased was delayed until now. Only an established Rhodanthemum just coming in to bloom had to literally weather the storms and is looking rather aghast at the experience.

Perhaps because of a preference for botanical names I had overlooked this frost tender plant. The clue is in the common name – Moroccan daisies! Fortunately, one of the advantages of a potted garden is that clustered together they do give each other extra shelter. I could though have popped it into the poly greenhouse had I given it some thought.

With reference to botanical nomenclature I’ve recently purchased the RHS “Latin for Gardeners” but feel it is not as comprehensive as it might be. Why for example is Rhodanthenum hosmariensi not mentioned?

I had to search via ‘tinternet’ instead and find the name derives from Greek: rose+flower (though it looks more like daisy to us rose growers). The ‘hosmariensi’ part turned up no info but this variety ‘Casablanca’ (tr white+house) is patented (see HERE) by a couple called White and hence the flower colour? 😉

Following on from the last post “Tis the season for Semps“, I overhauled the whole succulent potagerie! Fresh grit and soil (JI#3) and some new Sempervivums to fill the gaps. This led me to ponder the few Sedums I have there too. They’ve now been added to the register which involved more sleuthing as 2 or 3 were given to me as nameless wonders.

Since many hardy sedums (aka stonecrops) are small, I recommend taking close-up shots to ID as images on the internet are often macros which gives a distorted perspective as to what the plant looks like as a whole. This tiny one eludes me for now.

If anyone can help please click the image below for a closer view, and leave your suggestions in the comments section.

Anyway, enough of sleuthing. Despite the planned move later this year, I’ve been buying more plants. Ludicrous though that may seem it makes good sense because I’ll be changing to a different garden style. Thus, some of my plants I shall leave behind or give away, even some of my favourite Salvias as it is not colour impact I want anymore. Besides, full sun is at a premium there.

This compact Forsythia (‘Mikador‘) earns a place in the new garden because, despite its popping colour, it still fits the theme and the new setting.

The genus ‘forsythia’ has no reference to Latin but is named after one of the RHS founders – William Forsyth (1737–1804), a Scottish botanist and royal head gardener. And to quote Forest Gump: “that’s all I have to say about that”… or anything else for now.