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Now an Indian Summer

© Michael Campbell

After all the rain the sun eventually reappeared. We've had good weather for the last two weeks. What little rain did come was mostly at night and, with temperatures in the 20 C range, above average for this time of the year, we are having what can only be described as an Indian summer.

High temperature and dry weather at this time of the year gives a nice show of autumn colour. The colchicums and crocus usually splattered with the first heavy shower of rain are standing to attention in military fashion. Viola Rebecca and Molly Saunders are doing their best to produce a late show. Cyclamen are magnificent after all the rain. They seem to enjoy the downpour just as they were awaking from their summer rest.

Hederifolium is almost a weed here at the moment, popping up in the most unusual places — even in the middle of some of my cushion plants in the scree bed, much to my annoyance, as they are difficult to remove without damaging the plant. I think that ants carry the seed to eat the jelly substance that surrounds the seed. Actually the growth inhibitor, once the ants remove the jelly, the seed germinates with no difficulty — which is more than can be said for the seed that I sow in pots. Most of the cyclamen seem to be hardy here for, as I increase my stock from seed, I plant them out in the garden and watch patiently to see what survives. They are planted to the north side of a Griselinia hedge, to protect them from the sun. The soil is dryish there and they mingle with the root which is the condition that is supposed to be to their liking.

So far I have had few losses, and the cat has been blamed for those. I had to cover them with chicken wire until the soil settled to stop him from digging them up.

To date I have planted Hederifolium, Coum, Repandum, Pupurascens, Parviflorum, Cilicium, Pseudibericum and Mirabile. Others may be hardy here but will have to wait until adequate stocks are available to risk planting outside.

Another plant, which is giving a beautiful display, is Fascicularia bicolour. This belongs to the Bromeliaceae family and is an evergreen rosette-forming perennial and has dense rosettes of linear, tapered, arching green leaves. At the end of the summer here it produces a cluster of pale blue flowers surrounded by red bracts at the heart of each rosette. There can be as many as four or five flowering rosettes on each plant, and each ring of flowers lasts only about two days. As they fade another ring opens, and the flowering period can last four or five weeks. The bracts last until the spring when they give way to the new flush of rosettes.

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