Moraea elegans

The greenhouse has been celebrating the oncoming springtime with a celebration all its own.  All those South African plants that don’t really make it on the outside in Maryland are just having fine time in the greenhouse.  Everyone that opens up is another surprise when I go out to the greenhouse.

Speaking of surprises I need to resolve the nocturnal dilemma that I mentioned in my last posting.  I had asked for an ID for the lovely white flowers that surprised me by opening only at night.  As it turns out I got two helpful replies that pointed toward Hesperantha cucullata.  I followed up by looking at the NARGS seed distribution for 2013 where I had gotten the mislabeled seed and found that there was Hesperantha falcata in the distribution.  I looked at the characteristics of the flower and I think this is the most probable identification.  However, Mary Sue Ittner notes that H. cucullata is frequently mislabeled as H. falcata.  At her suggestion I took the flowers into the house where we could observe the after dark behavior.  It turns out that they gradually opened as the night progressed, being fully open after about 9pm, with a gradually increasing jasmine-like fragrance that peaked about 2am.  It’s a wonderful plant.

Hesperantha falcata in the house

Hesperantha falcata

I’ve just returned from a week-long trip to Florida to photograph birds and many of the outside springtime flowers are beginning to come out.  But just to finish the greenhouse theme, let me share some of the other greenhouse flowerings that have occurred.

Gladiolus tristis

Corydalis wilsonii

Sparaxis Hadeco hybrid

Moraea setifolia

Lapeirousia enigmata

Calandrina spectabilis

And then to close with two of the Ferrarias.

Ferraria crispa form 5

Ferraria divaricata