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  5. Aptenia
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Aptenia

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Hilary

  • Hero Member
Aptenia
« on: September 16, 2011, 12:40:21 PM »
To lighten up a bit and change the subject from poisonous berries and pickled songbirds here is a photo of an aptenia flower.
The plant has spilled out of a pot and has now spread at least one meter along the balcony floor
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MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care
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MikeHardman

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    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: Aptenia
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2011, 01:04:56 PM »
Hilary - Don't they go!
I posted about mine here.
The underperformers in my patch are picking up speed (and green-ness) a bit, but the best one is decidedly romping away. Several times I have taken my secateurs to it and come away with a big bucketfull of cuttings, many of which have themselves rooted and are growing well elsewhere in my garden.
I notice various butterflies on the flowers now and then, too.
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Aptenia
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2011, 04:02:59 PM »
Just discovered a couple of self seeded Aptenia plants.
One has three or four huge leaves, about 11/2 inches long.
They are in a pot which ,although on the bright south facing balcony, doesn't get any sun because of the permanently lowered awning.
It gets watered once a week.
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MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

ezeiza

  • Full Member
Re: Aptenia
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2011, 04:48:32 PM »
What a great plant as a groundocover for the front of the border. Surprisingly impervious to -8 C in sandy soil.
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JTh

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Re: Aptenia
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2011, 05:04:48 PM »
I got some cuttings from a neighbour last year, but I could have added one photo to Mike's series, called 'No growth at all'
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Retired veterinary surgeon by training with a PhD in parasitology,  but worked as a virologist since 1992.
Member of the MGS  since 2004. Gardening in Oslo and to a limited extent in Halkidiki, Greece.

David Bracey

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Re: Aptenia
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2011, 06:45:12 PM »
Yes Aptenia is a great ground cover; it finally failed last winter but at temperatures above -8°C.  Are there any other colours besides the red variety?
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MGS member.

 I have gardened in sub-tropical Florida, maritime UK, continental Europe and the Mediterranean basin, France. Of the 4 I have found that the most difficult climate for gardening is the latter.
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MikeHardman

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    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: Aptenia
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2011, 10:16:54 PM »
Just to make a link to another posting re Aptenia -
http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=163
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Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England
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Fleur Pavlidis

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
Re: Aptenia
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2011, 10:31:03 PM »
Have split topic and am now trying to make 'cuttings' move to the right place under cultivation: click here to see Mike's suggestions for aptenia cuttings.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2011, 08:08:59 AM by Alisdair »
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MGS member, Greece. I garden in Attica, Greece and Mt Goulinas (450m) Central Greece
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