FFF261 - CONGO COCKATOO

Impatiens niamniamensis, common name Congo cockatoo or Parrot Impatiens, is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae. It comes from tropical Africa and can be found from Cameroon through central and East Africa, up to Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Angola. It grows in moist and shaded bushlands, at an elevation of 350–2,400 metres above sea level.

Impatiens niamniamensis grows about 60–90 centimetres long. This evergreen, perennial species has an erect, succulent, brown stem resembling wood. Leaves are simple, ovate-oblong or elliptical, spirally arranged, about 10 cm long. This plant produces bright and colourful bird-shaped flowers (hence the common name Congo cockatoo) with a long, curled nectar spur. These unusual flowers are usually scarlet red and yellow and can reach a length of about 3.5 centimetres. Fruits are explosive capsules of about 14–16 mm.

These plants can tolerate temperatures as low as about 2˚C,  but they won’t survive even a light frost. Temperatures of 7˚C and above are ideal for this tender perennial. It prefers a location in full shade, especially if you live in a warm, sunny climate. Although the plant will grow in partial sunlight in a cool climate, it won’t tolerate bright sunlight or hot summers. The plant performs best in rich soil, so dig in plenty of compost or well-rotted manure before planting. Water the plant regularly to keep the soil consistently moist but never soggy. As a general rule, one weekly watering is sufficient unless the weather is hot, but always water immediately if the foliage begins to look wilted.

A layer of bark chips or other organic mulch keeps the roots moist and cool. Pinch the growing tips of newly planted to encourage full, bushy growth. Cut the plant back by about 10-15 cm if it begins to look tired and leggy in midsummer. Fertilise the plant twice during the growing season, using a general purpose liquid or dry fertiliser. Don’t overfeed because too much fertiliser creates a full, bushy plant at the expense of blooms. Always water immediately because fertiliser may scorch the roots.

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FFF260 - 'RICE FLOWER' PIMELEA

Pimelea ferruginea is a small shrub in the family Thymelaeaceae native to southwest Western Australia. It was described by Labillardiere in 1805. Shown here is the hybrid Pimelea 'White Solitaire', which has beautiful balls of snow white flowers that contrast nicely with the small, glossy dark green leaves. It is a lovely compact shrub.

This makes a wonderful dwarf feature shrub for the front of a sunny garden bed or in a pot or rockery situation. Trim back behind the spent flower heads at the end of spring. Good in sun or part shade, and does best in well drained soil types. Feed with a good low phosphorus plant food in spring.

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FFF259 - GEUM 'LADY STRATHEDEN'

Geum commonly called avens, is a genus of about 50 species of rhizomatous perennial herbaceous plants in the Rosaceae family, widespread across Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa, and New Zealand. They are closely related to Potentilla and Fragaria.

From a basal rosette of leaves, they produce flowers on wiry stalks, in shades of white, red, yellow, and orange, in midsummer. Geum species are evergreen except where winter temperatures drop below −18 °C. Geum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the grizzled skipper.

The cultivars 'Lady Stratheden' (shown here), and 'Mrs J. Bradshaw' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

The semi-double blooms of 'Lady Stratheden' are golden yellow, saucer-shaped and like magnets to bees. This hybrid of the Chilean native, Geum chiloense, is easily grown from seed and offers an airy, old-fashioned look to the summer garden. Throughout the year, this hardy, clump-forming perennial offers a low mound of fuzzy scalloped leaves. The foliage is evergreen in all but the coldest of winters.

The flowers are large, semi-double and rise from tall, well-branched, wiry stems. They first appear in late Spring, and if well cared for and deadheaded they will continue to bloom sporadically into Autumn. The blooms are followed by attractive fluffy seed heads. Avens grows best in full sun or partial sun with some afternoon shade. It manages well in average garden loam with ample drainage.

Plants can be short-lived if subjected to cold, wet soil conditions in Winter. Healthy clumps should be divided every three to four years. Popular and easy to grow, 'Lady Stratheden' is grown for its lovely, old-fashioned blooms, so it is a great candidate for cottage gardens or any informal perennials border. Its flowers also compliment garden fresh flower arrangements.

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FFF258 - BOTTLEBRUSH & RAINBOW LORIKEET

This has been a very busy week and I am sorry I have not visited your blogs to see your contributions for last week's Floral Fridays. You all know that I always appreciate your photos and news from your part of the world. At least today I was able to grab the camera and rush out at lunchtime to take some photos in the garden and in the park across the road. We've had a glorious Spring day today and the flowers looked their best.

Callistemon species in the family Myrtaceae have commonly been referred to as bottlebrushes because of their cylindrical, brush like flowers resembling a traditional bottle brush. They are mostly found in the more temperate regions of Australia, especially along the east coast and typically favour moist conditions so when planted in gardens thrive on regular watering. However, two species are found in Tasmania and several others in the south-west of Western Australia. At least some species are drought-resistant and some are used in ornamental landscaping elsewhere in the world. This red bottlebrush is a common garden and street tree in Melbourne.

The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia and Tasmania. Its habitat is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas. Several taxa traditionally listed as subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet are now treated as separate species Rainbow lorikeets have been introduced to Perth, Western Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Hong Kong.

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FFF257 - KANGAROO APPLE

Solanum is the type genus of the family Solanaceae, which contains such well-known economic plants as the potato, tomato, tobacco, egg plant (aubergine) and many more. In Australia there are 117 species, of which 87 are endemic.  Solanum laciniatum or Kangaroo Apple, a common name shared with the closely related S. aviculare, occurs in temperate regions of New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and associated islands on a range of soil types. It forms a large shrub 4 m high by 5 m wide.

Solanum laciniatum produces two types of foliage: Large lance-shaped or irregularly lobed juvenile leaves 300 mm long by 250 mm wide and smaller generally entire lance-shaped adult leaves 150 mm long by about 30-50 mm wide. Both types of leaf are a rich dark green on the upper surface, and a lighter green underneath, with conspicuous veins. They are held on dark green succulent stems, which turn black, then a rough light-brown, with age.

The five-petalled flowers are 30-50 mm across, bluish-purple, with bright yellow anthers. The flowers appear spasmodically in spring and summer in clusters of 3-5 in the leaf axils. The egg-shaped berries, 20-30 mm long, begin green and small when unripe and then become a bright orange-yellow with a warty appearance when ripe. The berries are poisonous while green, but edible once orange (then called the 'bush tomato'). The plant is also used as a rootstock for grafting eggplant.

Solanum laciniatum has been cultivated at the Australian National Botanic Gardens since 1969, with no frost damage or major pest or disease problems apparent. As a fast-growing species, hardy in most soil types and conditions, except salt spray, S. laciniatum is ideally suited as a screen plant, in the understorey of a wind break, or for bank and erosion stabilisation. It has also been used in soils with a high concentration of heavy metals when reclaiming mine wastes. For the home gardener S. laciniatum is ideal as a quick growing screen plant, while slower shrubs are establishing.

Since the mid 1960s S. laciniatum and S. aviculare have been cultivated and studied in the USSR, NZ, India, Egypt and other countries. The plants, and in particular the young foliage and green berries, contain a series of steroids (including the toxic alkaloid solasodine), which are of commercial value as raw material for the manufacture of contraceptives.

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FFF256 - DEWFLOWER

Drosanthemum ("dewflowers") is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae, native to the winter-rainfall regions of southern Africa. Most species bear colorful flowers. The name Drosanthemum means "Dew-flower" in Greek, and refers to the characteristic shiny translucent papillae, which cover the succulent leaves and flower buds.

The species shown here is Drosanthemum hispidum (Linn.). It is a succulent, mound-forming perennial, 60 cm tall, 90 cm wide, leaves up to 2.5 cm long. These leaves and the stems are covered with papillae looking like dew drops or glassy beads, glittering in the sun, hence the common name. Flowers are profuse and a rich purple or lavender. Blooming in summer, this plant forms a dazzling mound of colour for the well-drained garden.

The plant requires full sun and regular watering in summer. It should be kept rather dry in winter, and it does better with good drainage. It is a salt resistant plant.

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FFF255 - GERALDTON WAX FLOWER

Chamaelaucium uncinatum, Geraldton wax, is a flowering plant endemic to Western Australia. It is an erect shrub 0.5 to 4m high, bearing white or pink flowers June–November. The name uncinatum means "hooked" in Latin, in reference to the tips of the leaves. The flowers (somewhat resembling those of the tea tree) last a relatively long time after cutting, making the plant popular in horticulture. It is widely cultivated throughout Australia, both in home gardens and in the cut flower industry. Purple-flowering cultivars have been developed.

Geraldton Wax is relatively hardy and fairly easy to grow in a Mediterranean climate with well-drained sandy soil and a sunny aspect. It can be grown in areas of higher humidity, such as Sydney, but tends to be short lived. It is also good in pots. It has the tendency to 'fall over' and may need support. It is very drought-tolerant and has aromatic leaves. The hardy characteristics have led to its use as a root stock species for grafting species of the closely related featherflowers of genus Verticordia.

Many varieties are commercially available, named both for colour and for early/late flowering times. In the wild, Geraldton wax is most commonly white with varying tinges of mauve. The deeper purple forms are selected varieties propagated commercially: Chamelaucium "Early Purple" Chamelaucium "Purple Pride", etc.

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FFF254 - BLUE FLAX LILY

Dianella caerulea, commonly known as the blue flax-lily, blueberry lily, or paroo lily, is a perennial herb of the family Asphodelaceae, subfamily Hemerocallidoideae, found across the eastern states of Australia and Tasmania. It is a herbaceous strappy perennial plant to a metre high, with dark green blade-like leaves to 70 cm long. Blue flowers in spring and summer are followed by indigo-coloured berries. It adapts readily to cultivation and is commonly seen in Australian gardens and amenities plantings.

Dianella caerulea is a strappy herbaceous fruit bearing plant to about 1 metre high, with a thick spreading rhizome under the ground. The bright green leaves have straight or toothed margins, and may reach 75 cm in length and 0.3-2.5 cm wide. The small (1-1.6 cm diameter) flowers bloom in spring and summer (August to January); the perianth is pale to a dark blue, or green-blue, and the anthers at the centre are yellowy brown. These are followed by small roughly spherical indigo-coloured berries which range from about 0.7 to 1.2 cm in diameter. These fruit are edible.

The plant is distributed through a range in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland. It occurs in a wide range of habitats, from coastal heathland and even sand dunes.Believed to have been first propagated in England in 1783, Dianella caerulea is commonly cultivated in gardens, and is sometimes seen as a low-hedging plant in public spaces and amenities plantings. It is very hardy and long-lived, and suitable for rockeries. It is tolerant of poor drainage and responds well to extra moisture.

Plants attract fruit-eating birds and butterflies in garden settings. The smaller denser forms in particular have potential for small gardens. Dianella caerulea is a very hardy (snow and frost hardy) and long-lived plant once established. It can tolerate damp conditions but prefers moist well drained soil. It adapts readily to cultivation.

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FFF253 - NARCISSUS 'MELANY'

Narcissus is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names including daffodil, daffadowndilly, narcissus, and jonquil are used to describe all or some members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are generally white or yellow (orange or pink in garden varieties), with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally described by Linnaeus' in his "Species Plantarum" (1753). The genus is generally considered to have about ten sections with approximately 50 species. The number of species has varied, depending on how they are classified, due to similarity between species and hybridisation. The genus arose some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe.

The exact origin of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is often linked to a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youth of that name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English word 'daffodil' appears to be derived from "asphodel", with which it was commonly compared.

The species are native to meadows and woods in southwest Europe and North Africa with a centre of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced into the Far East prior to the tenth century. Narcissi tend to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are also insect-pollinated. Known pests, diseases and disorders include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, mites and nematodes. Some Narcissus species have become extinct, while others are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism.

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FFF253 - SPARAXIS

Sparaxis (harlequin flower) is a genus in the family Iridaceae with about 13 species endemic to Cape Province, South Africa. All are perennials that grow during the wet winter season, flower in spring and survive underground as dormant corms over summer. Their conspicuous flowers have six tepals, which in most species are equal in size and shape. The genus name is derived from the Greek word sparasso, meaning "to tear", and alludes to the shape of the floral bracts.

Sparaxis tricolor, known by the common names wandflower, harlequin flower, and sparaxis, is a bulb-forming perennial plant that grows in well-drained sunny soil. It gained its name from its colourful flowers which are bi- or tri-coloured with a golden centre and a small ring of brown surrounded by another colour. Although the plant is native to southern Africa. It is present in California and Australia as an introduced species after having escaped from garden cultivation.

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