Haberlea vs Ramonda flowering

[Mark Griffiths]

I have several mature Haberlea ( rhodopensis and ferdinandi-coburgii) and Ramondas (myconi and nathaliae). Some are in a trough, others are under the greenhouse shading. All look healthy and they are literally almost touching in both locations.

But the Ramondas flower (alot) and I've yet to have a bloom from the Haberleas. It's been several years now.  Do they have a different requirement, light or amount of water?

thanks

[David Nicholson]

I've had an Haberlea for about five years and it's flowered for the first time this year. It's in quite gritty soil in a little planting pocket between the end of a step and a wall. So much so that I forget about it, rarely water it and have never fed it. Hard Haberlea life really!

[Mark Griffiths]

I gave my mum a Haberlea about 25 years ago and it's still doing well between peat blocks. The Ramonda has long gone.

It's a puzzler.

[Sarmienta]

Hi Mark

Ramonda,s are a lot easyer, but after some years the haberlea,s also flower well
I have them on different spots , but they don,t like sun.

[Lesley Cox]

My southern hemisphere experience is the opposite. Haberleas including the white rhodopensis, are much easier to grow and to flower than ramondas. I get a few flowers on these but masses on the haberleas. All are outside (ramondas in pots and troughs outside, haberleas planted out in cool beds) in shaded and leafy, gritty soil. I find they are all good as warning plants as they shrivel before anything else and so tell me watering needs to be done, then they have the pleasing habit of regenerating literally overnight. I think it is true to say that the haberleas have flowered best after they have been almost dried to death. Perhaps it's a reactionto bad treatment. In other words they are trying to flower madly and set seed rather than die without issue, so to speak. But I don't get much seed on any of them.

[TC]

I planted a Haberlea Rhodopensis into a north facing wall 20 years ago and it has survived everything the weather has thrown at it.
It has flowered every year since planting. Judging by the number of flower spikes appearing, this should be a good year
 My experience with Ramondas has been the opposite.  They lasted a couple of years then shrivelled to nothing, never to reappear.

[Mark Griffiths]

thanks for all the replies.

what seems to have come out if one suceeds with someone the other often doesn't which implies they do actually need different conditions. But not sure what that is yet!

[Pauli]

I wonder, if there are really two species of Haberlea (rhodopensis and ferdinandi-coburgii)

[Lesley Cox]

I think there ARE 2 species, or at least some diffrences in forms. One has quite glossy leaves (f-c) while the other has rougher leaves, hairier and a little more grey-green due to the hairiness. But then, consider Iris, with junos and reticulatas which are quite different in many ways, included in the one genus, let alone all the different rhizomatous types. Room there for many genera yet all are included - in the west anyway - in the one, Iris.

[Mike Ireland]

Mark
I grow Haberlea in very large pots, upto 2 foot across. They were originally potted using just ericacious compost, they are now so big I could never repot. 
They flower well on neglect and an occasional liquid feed of weak tomerite.
Just to slightly confuse the issue, I do have a good flowering plant growing in a lump of tufa, its been there for donkey's years.

[Mark Griffiths]

thanks Mike. I've also seen Haberlea and Ramondas happily flowering together in Oxford Botanic Gardens. Still trying to work out why it's not working here!