Brodiea terrestris

[Palustris]

I have been given a large number of small bulbs of this. Anyone grow it? And please, any information on Winter treatment of it would be gratefully received.
TIA

[Maggi Young]

Lucky you, Eric.
A friend, now moved elsewhere, used to have this growing very well in her  sloping , south facing garden in Aberdeen - they were happily naturalised  there so I hope they may prove similarly "simple" for you.

[Palustris]

Can I extend it to Brodiaea capillaris? Got a few dozen of those too.

[Maggi Young]

I don't know Brodiaea capillaris - might it be B.  capitata ? ( Which is a synonym of Dichelostemma capitatum )

That has quite a wide natural  range I think, in area and elevation, so it may well be a candidate for a hot-spot. Worth a try if you have a good number.

[Palustris]

Yes, it could well be B.capitata. The labels are incredibly difficult to read.
Would be nice if we had a hot spot to plant things in, but sadly we ain't.
We are probably much colder in winter than Aberdeen.
Thanks.

[Maggi Young]

The garden where they flourished in Aberdeen was well set up on a slope, facing south, so the effects of wet in summer or winter were minimised - even in a warm year like this has been I don't think they'd be too happy in our garden, just half a mile away!

[Ed Alverson]

The garden where they flourished in Aberdeen was well set up on a slope, facing south, so the effects of wet in summer or winter were minimised - even in a warm year like this has been I don't think they'd be too happy in our garden, just half a mile away!

Not sure about this species in particular, but many Brodiaeas (and Triteleias) come from mediterranean climates where the soils are wet or saturated in the winter, and very dry in the summer. Often the leaves have died back due to summer drought before the flowers emerge. The soils can be very clayey, becoming brick hard in summer, or a just shallow layer of organic soil over bedrock. I don't have a particular impression that they are difficult plants to grow, probably the main thing to avoid would be excessive wetness when dormant in the summer.

Ed