Flowers and Foliage July 2008

[Brian Ellis]

It certainly does Hans.  Thanks.

[art600]

Hi Arthur,

Please try if the following link works:

http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk64/jeepeebee1/

Hans

Hans
Works perfectly.  You have some very nice plants

[t00lie]

Hans

 Scilla latifolia in your online album ,(page 3),is a beauty.Not one i've ever seen before.

Cheers Dave.

[David Nicholson]

David,
 I water Lewisia rediviva from about now (when people who keep bulbs in pots start to water them) and keep it watered though out the winter. When the first flower buds start to show in about March I stop watering completely and allow the soil to get like dust (they sit on a shelf in the greenhouse) The leaves will die down but the flower buds continue to grow, flower and set seed. They are then baked until it is time to water them again.
For seedlings I keep them growing for their first summer/autumn

Hi Susan, I nearly missed this one so sorry for being so late in replying.

Now you have given me a quandry, on two counts! Firstly, you say 'water from about now-when people who keep bulbs in pots start to water them' NOW? in the past I haven't watered my bulbs in pots until late August when I couldn't wait any longer for the BD's 'September shower' Am I leaving things too late?

My second quandry is on your particular watering regime for Lewisia rediviva. Up to now I have based all my Lewisia cultural regimes around an article Philip Baulk, of Ashwood Nurseries, wrote in an AGS Bulletin in 1988. As far as L. rediviva is concerned he says:-
                          '........After flowering is finished in May or June it completely disappears into it's layer of grit and will not re-emerge until late September/early October. By the end of October a nice tuft of deep green leaves will be clearly visible and the plants can be re-potted. Only the bare minimum of water should then be given until the turn of the year when a gradual increase in watering will be needed to match a second burst of growth.......' 

Now, given my inability to get L. rediviva to flower at all I am happy to try a different regime but yours does seem to be nearly the opposite of Philip Baulks? Maybe my L. rediviva hasn't been reading the Article!

[gote]

David,
I used to grow rediviva very sucessfully until the mice tiook them all.
I kept them in a cold frame on sandy soil (no bottom in the frame) on slightly sloping ground.
The soil was a mixture of 1 part well rotted cow manure, two parts sifted peat, three parts coarse sand and four parts loam. Some bone meal was added.
As soon as they died down I put on the glass and kept it until the snow was gone in the spring. They were doing OK on the moisture from below.
I cannot say that this works in a different location but I grew them in commercial quantities and of course they flowered well. Otherwise I would not have any seed.
Göte
 
 

[Susan Band]

David,

I would treat them the same as your bulbs until about March/ April then stop watering them completly, the tiny flower buds should be starting to show by then. The flowers will continue to develop, although the leaves die down, and open in late May. Any seed is ready quite quickly in the papery seed heads. It is surprisingly, one of the larger Lewisia seed.
Have you more than 1 pot full? Try both methods.

Susan