Viewing comments posted by valleylynn

Per Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:
'Pacific Feather Power' is one I'm suspicious of being marmoreum and arachnoideum and one of the seedlings from PFP X self gave a nice red marmoreum type. Several of the cobwebs from this group are reddish too.

Kevin

Kevin, do you have any ideas of what is behind 'Killer' that it would produce such a tiny child such as 'Red Hot Chili'?

JungleShadows said:Lynn,

The pod parent is 'Killer', a wide-leaved and big rosette so it's pollen parent must have differed considerably in form and size, with more pointed leaves, waxier and smaller. The progeny from 'Killer' X self varied from small ones like 'Red Hot Chili' to huge ones like 'Big Six-O' and everything in between. About half of the seedlings were red/ green bicolors and the rest reds to red-purples so LOTS of genes segregating. It has been exciting to watch each generation and their combination with the 'Jungle Shadows' group that gave the exceptional dark self-colored rosettes and dark base of the leaves seedlings.

There is a F3 seedling that we have jokingly called "Killer on Steroids" as it's like a MUCH brighter 'Killer'. it's being evaluated for introduction now. I selfed it and will plant that seed to get the F4.

Kevin

JungleShadows said:OK for one Pekinese was not hybridized per se. All of Helen's introductions were small seedlings that came in the box with the plants from Sandy MacPherson. Being frugal, Helen planted these and named any that appeared distinctive. Pekinese was one of these.

It isn't pure arachnoideum but probably has a bit of marmoreum in it. It doesn't look like the typical tufted from tectorum X arachnoideum. No indication of any roller in it. The flowers are typical semp flowers and it has fertile pollen. Any semp X roller hybrid is sterile.

Kevin

From Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Lynn,

Yes I grew Ramses way back. It was a sort of a sooty red with fairly broad leaves for the time. Think Helen sort of repudiated it after the newer reds started coming out from Skroki and me. That was 45 years ago though and a lot of water has gone over the dam since then!

Kevin

According to the Oregon Fuchsia Society in Portland, OR this may be hardy in zone 8 if the crown is planted deeply, to protect it during the winter.
I will be giving this a try as soon as the weather warms up enough to put this young plant out in the garden.

Native range is SW. Colombia to Bolivia. Might be hardy to zone 7.

MelissaHopper said:My Borscht semp is doing something different.

The biggest rosette, the one in the middle, has started to get ruffles on it's leaves. I have never seen this before.


Closeup

Bigtattoo said:Melissa, the 'Borscht' you sent me is showing some rippling as well. I wonder if this is a winter anomaly. Don't some semps develop warts in winter, then they disappear with new growth in the spring? Could this rippling be a similar effect? Kevin, Lynn, anybody??

JungleShadows said:The ripples are due to uneven growth. Groups of adjacent cells are growing faster than the surrounding cells so the cells from the rapidly growing areas bulge upward. The bumps are in the center of the leaf not the edges. These seem to be a proliferation of cells at these points in the leaf.

This line is full of watermarks and they are likewise due to differences in cell expansion and wax deposition.

It will be interesting to see if down the line I can make these features more or less constant.

Variety is the spice of life!

Kevin

This plant can be hardy to zone 8 if kept protected from too much winter rain. If it is overly wet, freezing temps will kill it.

JungleShadows said:

What I have seen marked "Engles" should actually be 'Engle's 13-2'. It is similar but not identical to 'Purdy's 90-1' and 'Aymon Correvon'. When they did the Dalton project to determine the correct names, the thought was that 'Aymon Correvon' ( then recently renamed from "Correvon's hybrid") is the correct name for all three. Helen Payne STRONGLY disagreed with this decision. Since then she was proven right. At the Dalton project, plants going into bloom were quickly removed so that none of the stock plants could be contaminated by seedlings. However, the blooms of these cultivars are different, especially comparing 'Aymon Correvon' to the other two. 'Aymon Correvon' is also BIGGER than the other two. 'Engle's 13-2' has the most compact rosette and leaf shape, with 'Purdy's 90-1' a bit more elongated.

All three are from a montanum X wulfenii cross, probably F1, as that hybrid tends to be sterile or nearly so. I was looking at my notebook from my youth and in '68 I tried to raise seedlings from both 'Engle's 13-2' and 'Purdy's 90-1' and did so each year for 4 years with NO seedlings. My notebook says "seed looks odd, lots of chaff". Both montanum and wulfenii are diploids and their chromosomes must be enough different that it's impossible or nearly so for them to produce normal gametes. Each year here in Oregon I let the bees try to cross 'Aymon Correvon' and each year I dutifully plant the seed, noting "more chaff than seed" still. Despite planting all the open pollinated seed from 4-6 stalks each year not a single seedling has germinated. 'Greenwich Time' which is montanum X calcareum cross (again two diploids) has netted me ONE seedling. It is a nice one though!

Hope that helps!

Kevin

Makes a very pretty little clump.

Here is Betty Bronow's description:
Linear leaves. Red purple tips and outer leaves. Deepens in winter. Cilia. Satin, Small.

This is Alpine Gardens description:
Green centers with mulberry. Very pointed and fringed outer leaves, Dark tips.

Discovered by Jack Broxholme of Burlington, Ontario around 1999, as a sport of the plain green species form.
This plant makes a wonderful alpine/rock garden plant and can be easily pruned for desired height and spread.

A selection by Diana Reeck, from a batch of E. grandiflorum seedlings. A clumping form that is deciduous.

I have removed this euphorbia from my garden. It reseeds everywhere. Sad, it is beautiful.

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:'Greenwich Time' is from 'Cleveland Morgan' X calcareum. It goes through a couple phases, sometimes looking like a more purple larger version of 'Cleveland Morgan' and sometimes looking like a velvety calcareum. Helen didn't believe me when I told her the pedigree as she had never had calcareum bloom. Several years later a box arrived from Helen with a blooming calcareum and a note attached saying "I believe you now".

It was from my very first year of crossing, If you cover the calcareum stalk you will see that it makes TONS (well maybe not tons, but lots) of pollen. I dud use 'Extra' and 'Guillaume' in crosses last year and rediscovered what I had known in '64: calcareums make lots of pollen!

The only bad thing about 'Greenwich Time' is that it's a cross of two diploids and nearly sterile. I had one seedling last year and about 6 this year from open pollinations. I do save those as they are likely to be odd combinations of things genetically.

Kevin

A comment from the breeder of 'Holly Jolly'.

JungleShadows said:Holly Jolly is one of the more unusually patterned Killer seedlings and it did SCREAM XMAS because of the red and green coloration. It's not as big as some of the others from those groups.

Oddly enough I haven't used it much in crosses. I was concentrating on the bigger siblings. (much to Bev's chagrin!)

Kevin

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Weirdo isn't quilled but it is ODD. Splits and produces rosettes at strange places and never has a proper center. Very unkempt!

Kevin

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Aymon Correvon and Belladonna are nearly sterile. Aymon Correvon is a montanum X wulfenii cross so two diploids with different chromosome counts. It is the plant equivalent of a mule. Belladonna is montanum X somebody but i'm not sure who. I still try each year to cross on to Aymon but so far not seedling one. Greenwich Time is montanum X calcareum and i have exactly ONE seedling. It is a nice one though!

Kevin

A quote from Kevin Vaughn:

JungleShadows said:Aymon Correvon and Belladonna are nearly sterile. Aymon Correvon is a montanum X wulfenii cross so two diploids with different chromosome counts. It is the plant equivalent of a mule. Belladonna is montanum X somebody but i'm not sure who. I still try each year to cross on to Aymon but so far not seedling one. Greenwich Time is montanum X calcareum and i have exactly ONE seedling. It is a nice one though!

Kevin

This plant is in full bloom on December 2, 2017. We have had weeks of cold rainy weather. As soon as the sun comes out the blooms open up, even though it is in the 40's for day time temps. I live in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Pacific Northwest.
We have had a couple of frosts so far and they have not stopped this amazing plant.

I started out with the plant in March of 2015. I originally planted it in a mostly shaded area. It bloomed sparsely and became very leggy. In 2016 I moved it to full sun in fast draining sandy loam with a top dressing of chicken grit. This year it started blooming in early summer and is still going strong in October.
The leaves have a wonderful scent, bees and hummingbirds love the blooms.
I tried collecting seed this summer. Not sure if I have anything viable as I don't know what the seed should look like. Next spring I will try dividing it for new plants.
I understand that the life span of this plant is about 4 years.