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SRGC Bulb Log Diary |
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BULB LOG 17 22nd April 2003
I have been driven to write the log a bit early this week by the rain, it is very welcome as we have had a very long period of dry windy weather and the plants will enjoy the benefits of the heavy rain. Although it is never the same as a good natural period of rain we have been watering this last week we especially noticed that some of the Trilliums were drooping.
Trillium erectum Trillium erectum seems most susceptible to this dryness especially when the sun was on them. This is one of a lovely group of seed raised plants, it is a lovely pale pink, the one in the back ground is quite a bit darker in colour, it is very difficult to choose a favourite. 
Trillium grandiflorum & roseum Last year a batch of seedlings started flowering -they were raised from our own seed collected from the Trillium grandiflorum ,on the left, which grows close to a clump of the roseum form, on the right. We were delighted to find that a number of them had definite pink tinges from the minute they opened. 
Trillium grandiflorum seedling While none that have flowered so far are as strongly coloured as the roseum form, they are very attractive. Some have a pink flush on the outside of the tepals, some have it on the inside and some have it both outside and inside. After looking closely we can predict the plants that will be pink flushed because they all have a dark purple line around the edge of the leaf as well as a purple stem. We are also hoping that one of our seedlings, from wild collected material at the type locality of the roseum form, will flower this year for the first time, it has exceptionally dark glossy purple stem and leaves, watch this space for news. 
Trillium ovatum Trillium ovatum is the west's answer to T. grandiflorum and in many ways I like it better. In most years it starts flowering two or three weeks earlier than grandiflorum but this year they are out at exactly the same time. 
Trillium chloropetalum One of the Trillium chloropetalum plants that form nice clumps in cultivation. 
Trillium rivale At the smaller end of the trilliums we are lucky that Trillium rivale is so at home in North East Scotland this is a selected form growing in a frame but we have it all over the garden amongst dwarf Rhododendrons etc. It is a plant that does not like too much wet when it is in its' summer dormancy period but on the other hand it does not want to get too hot. The dwarf shrubs help by using up the summer moisture and providing the shade to keep the wee trillium cool. 
Corydalis incisa 'Vermion Snow' Also in the same frame is Corydalis incisa 'Vermion Snow' a very beautiful white form of this small bulb. It is perfectly happy growing in the open garden here and as it flowers a wee bit later than most of the other corydalis it is a welcome extension to their season. 
Frit house Back to the Frit house where some plants that have not been successful in being pollinated are starting to show yellowing in their foliage, a sign to reduce the amount of watering that they get. Each pot is assessed as we water, those still fresh and green get water in the pot and the ones that are going back get most of the reduced amount of water that they require from the plunge, so we just water the plunge around their pots. It is also time to spray again for green fly as the systemic insecticide we use will be wearing off by now and green fly numbers are starting to increase as the temperatures rise. 
Frits lusitanica & whittallii On the left is seed raised Frit lusitanica, (the shorter Spanish version of Frit pyrenaica) you can see some colour variation, and on the right is Frit whittallii with beautifully tessellated elegant flowers. 
Frit stribrnyi & tubiformis On the left here is Frit stribrnyi, a rare Frit recently re-introduced from Bulgaria and now finding its way into our seed exchange and on the right, a Frit tubiformis seedling that falls somewhere between Frit tubiformis and the sub-species moggridgei, it has huge bells on a very short stem. Ah the sun has just come out so I am going to sign off now and I have not mentioned an erythronium once so I will leave you with a picture. 
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