Re: Isoplexis sceptrum from Madeira

>--- Gill Pound <Gill.Cei@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>>  Hi David
>>
>>  I have grown I sceptrum in the Languedoc region of
>>  France (Med climate,
>>  approx = US zone 8, borderline 7) from seed supplied
>>  by Thompson & Morgan of
>>  Ipswich, UK and I isabellina from seed from Chiltern
>>  Seeds, UK  Both came
>>  easily from seed  Both seed cos have websites.  So
>>  far have kept them in
>>  unheated greenhouse over winter tho they did survive
>>  - 6ƒ during a
>>  particularly cold spell around Xmas  Have flowered I
>>  sceptrum in a pot this
>>  winter and its been good tho a bit leggy, shall try
>>  it against a sheltered
>>  wall this year.
>>
>>  Bonne courage,
>>
>>   Gill Pound
>
>Thanks to all of you for the info on sources and
>growing conditions of the various Isoplexis.
>Encouraging news all, and I hope to get some I.
>chalcantha and I. sceptrum going in the garden.  The
>colors are such a perfect match for the Juanulloa
>mexicana I already have in the garden, as well as the
>bronzy new growth of Gordonia axillaris.  I have a
>fondness for orange/bronze flowers and foliage
>combinations for shade...
>
>Related to plant questions previously asked:  Is
>anyone also growing the various Phebalium species or
>Diplolaena angustifolia or other species from
>Australia?
>
>TIA,
>David Feix
>Where spring has sprung, and the first sky blue
>flowers on Iris confusa 'Chengdu' are blooming, one of
>my favorite "exotic" species Iris.  It looks more like
>a miniature clumping bamboo when not in flower, and
>some rare orchid with 50 or more flowers on the 3 foot
>tall branched stalks over a 6 week period.  Its only
>faults; the slugs are very fond of the foliage, it
>does tend to run in the garden like a bamboo, and it
>is abit tender for colder mediterranean gardens...
>
I also saw I. sceptrum in the Thompson & Morgan catalog as well as 
the Seeds of Distinction catalog a couple of years ago and bought a 
packet. (Can't remember from which company unless I go look at the 
label.) They are in one gallon pots outside, and I just saw this 
morning that flower buds are forming on one of them!

I think they should have bloomed last year as well, but (and this is 
a general complaint) neither the catalog nor the packet indicated 
that they are from a Mediterranean climate. I was led to believe, for 
some reason, that they might be tropical and barely hardy in Calif., 
so I kept them inside all winter last year and up through December in 
my "tropical" greenhouse/shelter this winter until I found out (maybe 
from this list) that they were from Madeira which has basically a 
mediterranean climate. So I took them out of the greenhouse so they 
would get some winter rain and some winter chill. The benefit became 
noticeable within a week with new, brighter green, growth and now the 
flower spike starting to form. To me, there is a big difference with 
saying something is tropical or semitropical and barely hardy, or 
from a summer rainfall dry winter location such as eastern South 
Africa, and saying something is mediterranean and barely hardy--i.e., 
it wants winter rain and cool temperatures but not much below 
freezing. All of these are barely hardy, but require different 
treatment in the winter here in South. California.

-- 
--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10
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