Have only just got around to looking at this excellent set of photos, I have a couple of comments from the previous days photos: the pink flowered orchid is likely to be a species of Stenorrhynchus , related to S. lanceolatus . Stenorrhynchus species often flower before the leaves emerge, hence the ...

Mirabilis jalapa comes in many colour forms, and often has flowers of different colours on the same plant, so the yellow flowers may not be that significant for identification purposes.

That looks very similar to Mirabilis jalapa, could it that or another species of Mirabilis?
see this picture:
Mirabilis has very prominent pulvinii at each node and a very large root tuber, and strongly scented flowers, if you are not familiar with it.
Ali

Hi Tobjorn
do you mean Impatiens tinctoria?
It is a tuberous perennial, not very hardy, see this picture
Ali

I grew some from seed in 1999 when they were offered by chiltern seeds. Got loads of seed in the packet (about 40). Sowed half in a pot in the usual way (without the chalk, incantations or joss sticks), the other half sowed and then refrigerated for 4 weeks. Got two seedlings in each pot! Perhaps I ...

Ian thats a nice trough, I have a couple of home made hypertufa troughs with alpines in, might try a go with a few of the many opuntia nad echinocereus seedlings I grew last year. What kind of compost are they in? Have you restricted your planting to seedlings grown from a specific locality, if so a...

sandi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I used a nail clipper on my mixed Opuntia seed and > got good results. They also germinated in two > weeks so a lot faster than usual for Opuntias. That's a neat idea, I used a scalpel, which was a bit hazardous to the fingers. M...

Have you tried chipping away at Opuntia seeds? I find they mostly germinate OK without any special treatment, but the 'hardy opuntia mixed' from last years BCSS seed refused to germinate, so I experimented with slicing off an area of the hard seed coat in 10 of the seeds, slicing down far enough unt...

Stuart Estell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Interesting - mine's been in the greenhouse, and > has been purple all year! I guess the night temperatures are colder in the greenhouse than indoors, mine was tinged purple at the edges in the summer, then went into a la...

Hi Stuart I had one from Ralph earlier this year too, mine is just like yours, although the buds on mine are a little behind yours I think. I was surprised that mine got buds this year as it is still very small.I think it is the cold rather than the light which makes it purple, mine didnt colour up ...