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.
