Formosanum 2016

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KyushuCalanthe

Just call me Tom
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
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Location
Kyushu, Japan; warm temperate/subtropical climate
My clump of C. formosanum is even better this year, up to 19 flowers on as many stems. This was bought as a single growth back in 2006.

CypForm1SM_zps3cl0q9kv.jpg


CypForm2SM_zps2cukf2zi.jpg
 
It is a beautiful plant and honestly I do nothing to help it along. Interestingly, the native C. japonicum just hangs on. As for other Cyps, they all struggle for me, so this is my sole triumph in that genus. Summers here are truly subtropical, similar to Atlanta or Charleston, and virtually all Cyps hate that. Even C. kentuckiense thrives for a time, then has trouble. If I could grow in the mountains then more would make it.

What is the begonia you're using as a ground cover?

That is a Saxifraga, S. stolonifera, the "strawberry variety" with pink flowers and purple leaves. It is a weed! (but a pretty one)
 
Just stunning Tom. I'm stopped from being envious when I think how much colder it would have to be in Canberra to grow these.
 
What about hybrids with C. Kentuckiensis? Like Lucy Pinkepank? Or Giselle?

Cyps in general are on the edge, or really over the edge, here. The summer is impossibly hot for most. I have Victoria (pubescens x fasciolatum) and Philipp (macranthos x kentuckiense) at the moment. They grow, but do not flourish. I've also grown and flowered Gisela (macranthos x parviflorum), Sabine (fasciolatum x macranthos), and Aki (pubescens x macranthos), but eventually I lost all of those. It is frustrating, but not surprising.
 
Cyps in general are on the edge, or really over the edge, here. The summer is impossibly hot for most. I have Victoria (pubescens x fasciolatum) and Philipp (macranthos x kentuckiense) at the moment. They grow, but do not flourish. I've also grown and flowered Gisela (macranthos x parviflorum), Sabine (fasciolatum x macranthos), and Aki (pubescens x macranthos), but eventually I lost all of those. It is frustrating, but not surprising.

You are growing these in the ground?
Have you tried "zeer pot" or some evaporative cooling method?
 

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