The Niche Nursery: Autumn, Winter or Spring?

It's hard for plants to know what season it is at present. Hours of sunlight are increasing after the shortest day, & cooler temperatures have only just arrived though they are hardly at winter levels.

Coneflower (Echinacea) seedlings preparing to flower; these are usually dormant over winter & bloom in autumn.

Chinese Ground Orchids (Bletilla striata) producing flower spikes on new growth for spring; these also flowered out-of-season in autumn.

Platycerium hillii, the Cape York Elkhorn, producing new nest or basal leaves in winter.

Colocasia 'Black Magic', still producing new growth; note the greener fresh leaves at the plants' centre. C. esculenta is usually winter dormant, often dying down completely at this time of year, especially if wet during cold. This plant has been kept on the north side of the shed & is not sitting in water.

Microclimate has a lot of influence on a plants' growth & condition:-

Pachypodium lamerii or Madagascar Palm in good winter condition; these plants often defoliate during winter, & as a group are prone to rotting when cold & wet. This has been avoided by placing the pot on the sheds' sunny side, using a potting medium with good drainage & keeping watering to a minimum.

This giant specimen was moved in mid- December, as growth really hits its' stride.

The root system was cut through just below the stems' base, & the top removed for ease of handling. Plant was left in dry semi- shade for a day to allow the wounds to congeal, then sealed with Steri prune, left for a few more days, more Steri prune applied & only then potted up. The top was also a success:-

Most of the leaves were removed or trimmed, & the above described procedure applied.

Timing of the transplant was the key here, working with the plants' growth period.

This is Pachypodium saundersii, a hardy species commonly grown. One of the plants' branches has rotted during the cold wet spell we had the other week. The arm has been cut through to allow drying out of the diseased area (dark colour in photo). When first incised the area was soft & filled with brown putrid fluid. Sulphur can be applied to the wounds' surface to further promote healing after trimming back to healthy tissue. I suspect the potting medium has begun to break down & hold too much moisture; repotting will be done in late Spring when the plant is in active growth & can recover from the root damage that ensues from this procedure. Major disturbance at present will most likely exacerbate rotting, resulting in the plants' death.