It’s not great for taking pictures in the garden so I brought a few things in and tried to get good pictures of them. Took a couple in the rain too.
One.
I’ll start and finish outdoors, pretty much the order the pictures were taken. This is Camellia sasanqua ‘Navajo’, which just about had its first bloom open last saturday. That blew away, to be replaced by this one. It’s smothered in buds and is right outside the window where I can enjoy it from inside. Quite strongly fragrant too. Don’t be told that camellias all need shade, this one and its two neighbours, sasanquas all, are in full sun and the better for it.
Two.
Fuchsia ‘Cotta Christmas Tree’. This is a species cross, a hybrid of F. decussata and F. crassistipula. Like many of the species themselves, it doesn’t usually start flowering until very late in the year. We keep this in a pot and overwinter it in a frost free greenhouse.
Three.
I think our three pots of the red Scarborough lily all need knocking out and starting again. They hardly flower at all. Being evergreen it’s not clear when that should be done but I’m going for early spring, just before they start into growth. If anyone has experience with them, I’d welcome advice.
Four.
At some point last year someone posted a link to the low down on the two species of Christmas/Easter cactus. I’ve forgotten it all. People keep giving them to us, we must have about ten, mostly in flower in various colours. They’re all beautiful.
Five.
Another Fuchsia. Maybe a form of F. fulgens or a hybrid of F. fulgens and F. splendens or maybe something else entirely. I think we used to sell it as F. speciosa, but there is no such species. You go to someone’s garden and see a plant and say “Ooh, that’s nice” and get a small plant thrust into your grasping hands. It has no label but you think you should be able to work it out. It’s another that has only just started to flower.
Six.
Back out into the rain and gloom to take a quick snap of this clump of Hesperantha. This colour form seeds all over the garden and this clump has actually been looking pretty good for a couple of weeks. They’re draped across a path and I get wet legs every time I push past them but at least they’re flowering, unlike the white one with just one spike; and standing up fairly well, unlike the red one, which is completely flat to the ground.
I’m driving up to Rosemoor this morning, which I’m not altogether looking forward to, for a meeting of the Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group, which I am very much looking forward to. Don’t suppose I’ll see much of the garden there. I’m going to be offloading a car full of plants onto someone, which is another step to emptying my tunnel ahead of moving it up to my allotment.
Post and go is the order of the day, I’ll be checking all the links on The Propagator’s blog when I get back.
garden ruminations 
‘Navajo’ was one of our main cultivars of Camellia sasanqua back in the 1990s and 2000s. Goodness, I can’t remember many of the others. There were maybe three that were similar to ‘Navajo’, like three different hues. One was quite white, with only slight blush.
I am sorry I have no experience with Scarborough lily. I know it is related to naked lady, but they are just too different.
Anyway, I am sorry I am so far behind schedule, and that I missed all these.
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Christmas cacti have such pretty flowers. I inspected mine for signs of tiny buds, nothing yet, mine usually starts to flower mid-November. Your camellia is very pretty, is it in a pot or is your soil right for it? I planted one during the summer from a pot (a gift to a neighbour which was thrown out). It was fine for a couple of months and then started to go brown so it’s now struggling in a small pot on my patio.
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My Camellia is in the ground, poor stony but acid soil, seems to be what sasanquas thrive on so long as it doesn’t get too dry.
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Cucumelons seem to be the marmite of the veggie world.
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I had the name for that Schlumberegea as I have it but I have forgotten it…move on.
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I went thru absolutely the same process as HeyJude – o, the camellia, nothing ever will be that beauti . . .wow, what a fuchsia – o dear, what a gorgeous Christmas . . . that fuchsia’s even better . . . o, so those things in the blue pot in my garden are hesperantha & can go into a bed. What you said to Noelle is perfect. Sharing is the best. Altho I kinda like having a brekky of cucumelons that I never share w/anyone.
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I grew cucumelons once and I’m quite relaxed about you not sharing them, with me at least. Roy Lancaster gave a talk at yesterday’s meeting and said with passion that the thing he hates to hear the most is gardeners telling him that they have the only plant of something in the country or in cultivation. That it’s no doubt quite often said as a boast in the expectation he will be impressed must make it even more galling. Some things defy propagation, an acceptable excuse so long as an effort has been made.
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All beauties today Jim. I started with thinking the Camellia was my favourite and then I saw the Fuchsia and then the cactus… so I stopped thinking of favourites and just drooled over the pictures! Sorry, not a pretty sight. I think it was Fred who did the low down on the differences and I have already forgotten which one mine is. I must say I do like your white one. I don’t envy you your drive to Rosemoor either in this weather. Safe journey home!
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The cactus thing must have been this time last year, might try to find it. Glad you enjoyed the pictures. The trip to Rosemoor was interesting and required re-routing, coming back was a breeze.
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At first glance I thought No:1 was a rose! You still have such a variety of plants and colours in the garden. Nice Six again.
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The amount and intensity of the pink in ‘Navajo’ varies greatly, it’s more strongly coloured this year than it’s ever been.
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I had hesitated to buy this camellia sasanqua ‘Navajo’ .. it’s a very beautiful flower!
I chose a white camellia campestris that will bloom later.
Very successful photos of the 2 fuchsias.
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That’s not a Camellia I’ve come across. I do love the sasanquas, for starting to flower when most things are stopping, as much as anything, and for not looking over-bred, like many of the japonicas and williamsii’s.
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Those Hesperantha are lovely. Would love a clump or two.
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If you’re ever down this way….
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They are such beautiful photos. What a contrast to my very autumnal six. The benefits of a frost free greenhouse are very apparent, the fuchsia ‘Cotta Christmas Tree’ is lovely.
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A glasshouse does massively increase the range of plants I can grow it’s true.
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Its always a pleasure to see what you post. The camellia is a treasure. Having been away for a week…there has been time for reflection, and time to realise that appreciation has to be not only sufficient, but also completely right as an end…no envy, no I must get that…well my garden is too small. Again thank you for sharing those lovely blooms.
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I was at a meeting of the RHS Rhododendron, Magnolia and Camellia Group today. Lots of people had brought along things from their gardens and talked briefly to the group about them. The car park was a flurry of people taking plants from their car to someone else’s and coming back with something else. Sharing stuff, even pictures of stuff, is the very best thing about gardening.
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Fabulous six. I adore F. Cottle Christmas Tree, it’s quite new to me. Hesperanthas seeding about? That’s never happened to me. Your red one makes a wonderful display. I have a very floriferous white one but I wish it would stand up straight. What a gorgeous Vallota, I repot mine in Spring.
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Good info on the Vallota thanks. I assume the Hesperantha spreads by seed, it certainly gets around.
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