Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Galanthus => Topic started by: bulborum on January 31, 2012, 03:25:17 PM
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We got at the PBS forum a question about growing Galanthus in Southern California
Maybe one of the members with more experience as I have
can give some ideas
Roland
At 06:17 AM 1/31/2012, you wrote:
2012/1/31 Harold Koopowitz
And I am still looking for a Galanthus that will grow in Southern
California.
Harold
Hi Roland:
We have a Mediterranean climate. With winter rainfall but only about
35 cm per year. Winter temperatures rarely go below freezing and we
might have frost 5-8 times per year. Summer temperatures usually do
not get above 30C. Using USDA climate zones I place us as zone 9/10
border. I grow lots of narcissus but have trouble keeping N.
asturiensis, N. cyclamineus and N. poeticus.
Despite this I am able to grow plants like Primula auricula hybrids
and Fritillarias. The frits are in pots and get 3 months in a large
refrigerator.
Harold
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I cannot speak for the Mediterranean climate but the rainfall here last year was less than 40cm. The established snowdrops mostly seem okay about this.
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I would have though the more tender Mediterranean snowdrops, like reginae-olgae and ikariae, would be the best bet. Gracilis also tends to enjoy hotter and drier conditions than most. And elwesii is always worth trying.
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Martin - Do you think peshmenii would do in S. California? I assume rains come during winter time there or are they very late winter?
Would any of the species need a cool spot amongst rocks as many do in the wild?
johnw
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Galanthus elwesii and G. peshmenii do alright for us in our rock gardens in our climate which is supposedly "Mediterranean".
cheers
fermi
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Martin - Do you think peshmenii would do in S. California? I assume rains come during winter time there or are they very late winter?
Would any of the species need a cool spot amongst rocks as many do in the wild?
johnw
I would have thought that G. peshmenii , G. fosterii & G. cilicicus would also would be worth trying (as well as G. reginae-olgae , which Martin mentioned).
By way of illustration, G. fosterii occur naturally at about 1000 ft in southern Lebanon, where the summers are very long and dry - it seems to do quite well in a shaded spot, amongst limestone rocks - it flowers later than here in the UK, which suggests to me that the rains must come later in the winter.
Dependent upon when the rain starts, it may be necessary to water g. reginae-olgae & G. peshmenii in September to get them going (it may also be necessary to put them in a cold store for a couple of weeks in September to trigger them into growth).
In their natural environment G. reginae-olgae seems to grow best between rocks, where its roots can remain cool & moist during the summer months.
Forum member Oron Peri manages to grow G. peshmenii in Israel and may have some useful advice to offer.