The forum seems to be very quiet at the moment, so here are a few photos taken in late August and early September, as the bulbs start to awaken. Many of these are flowering before the first watering, which I did last weekend.

Haemanthus humilis
My photos from August featured this large pink Haemanthus. The inflorescence has collapsed now, and the huge round leaves are expanding.

Haemanthus coccineus v coarctatus

Following on from H. humilis, this inflorescence appeared, on a new bulb from a very generous friend.

Haemanthus incarnatus
Here it is with a neighbour - Haemanthus incarnatus which flowered for me last year.

Strumaria gemmata
Also in the greenhouse, the first Strumarias are flowering. S. gemmata is always the first for me, putting up a head of flowers when bone-dry after the summer.

Strumaria karooica
Next is S. karooica, snaking out of the ground. This has been particularly spectacular this year.

Strumaria aestivalis
Last one for now, Strumaria aestivalis, though S. tenella has lots of buds and should be in flower soon.

Habranthus tubispathus
Another imposter from the exchanges, the ubiquitous Habranthus tubispathus, this time masquerading as Rhodophiala andicola.

Rhodophiala bifida
This is my main pot of Rhodophiala bifida, which flowers without fail at the end of August, so I have never managed to hold it back to the autumn shows, despite withholding water.

Sternbergia sp
Yet another imposter, this pretty little Sternbergia was grown from seed as S. colchiciflora, which it definitely is not. It is probably S. greuteriana, if you agree with that nomenclature, or if not, S. sicula.

New cold frame
Outside the greenhouse, I have been rebuilding one of my cold frames in the last month; its predecessor, made from scaffold planks, rotted away, and ceased to retain the bank at the edge of my property. When I have finished work I will have to help replace my neighbours fence.

The new one should be a lot sturdier. Now all I need to do is build a superstructure to keep the rain and frost off, using polycarbonate sheets.

Colchicums
The colchicums in pots started to bloom just as I was replacing them in the frame.

Colchicum x byzantinum album
A very generous gift last year. It took a year to settle down, but has been beautiful this autumn.

Colchicum atropurpureum

Colchicum autumnale Nancy Lindsay

Colchicum x. Jaroslava
This one came from Janis Ruksans.

Colchicum cilicium
This one is my favourite - the yellow stamens always make it seem to glow.

Colchicum hybrid
Another product of the seed exchanges. This appears to be a hybrid of some sort, grown from seed received as C. kesselringii.

Scilla autumnalis
The final plant from the bulb frame at the moment. Beautiful but quite ephemeral.

Agapanthus
Just a few shots from the open garden. This agapanthus is grown in a pot, so I can put it under the greenhouse bench in the winter, away from the worst of the frost, but they are very greedy plants, and hard work to grow in pots; every year the pot is crammed full of thick white roots, and the plants need space and food to bloom well.

Japanese windflower
A white anemone, backlit by the evening sun.

Schizostylis coccinea
Again backlit by the sun

Helianthus
As you would expect after the wet summer we have had, my big perennial sunflower has been wonderful this autumn.

The bulbs in the greenhouse (Haemanthus and Strumaria) are South African, and need to be kept frost-free in the winter. They are winter growing, flowering in autumn or spring, and are kept dry through the summer. My greenhouse heater is set to come on when the temperature drops to 3 degrees C. In fact, most will stand a light frost on the leaves, but if the pot freezes through you will lose them, as with many other bulbs from Mediterranean climates.

South African bulbs are not easy to come by in this country; many growers raise plants from seed from South Africa. Some of mine have come from gifts from, or exchanges with other growers. If you are seriously interested, the best thing to do is look up (google) the South African Bulb Group. They are having a meeting on 21st October in their usual hall in Winchester (although the website is not up to date and makes no mention of this). At the meeting there will be a members sales table with a wide variety of bulbs and seed.

I guess this throws further light on the variety of plants that AGS members grow; you may well see Strumarias at the autumn shows, though most Haemanthus will be over by then.