Allium paradoxum

[Janne]

Hello,
I probably should not be asking this concidering my message count but I'm looking for Allium paradoxum bulbs/bulbils. If you do have too much Allium paradoxum var.normale it will do, but I'm actually more interested in real allium paradoxum. No one seems to be selling it which is a mystery to me...

Thank you,
Janne

[rob krejzl]

"No one seems to be selling it which is a mystery to me..."

Do you have plans to use it as a groundcover then ?

Seriously, this does have a bit of a reputation.

[Janne]

"Do you have plans to use it as a groundcover then ?"

Of course not. I'm planting it next to soldanella minima   Seriously I do know all about its reputation - someone must be weeding it or fighting to keep it out of the garden? This is once in a lifetime situation for you, I'll pay 3£ for 10 bulbs if you wish so that you can buy RoundUp to make your life easier

[rob krejzl]

Well I only have v. normale, just coming into leaf. Given where I am, sending them to you would be difficult, but if you get no serious reply I could send seed in a few months.

[Janne]

I guess people are worried about spreading such invasive species around. I can assure that it won't live long if it starts spreading. Besides odds that it will actually thrive enough to become a pest arent that good. Allium triquetrum for example survives here only with heavy winter protection. Many other common species decline in numbers until its time to plant new ones

[rob krejzl]

Coincidentally the latest Alpine-L digest has John Grimshaw talking of sweeping up & removing 3 barrow loads of bulbils from just a few square yards of ground.

[Maggi Young]

Janne is in Finland, I think,  so perhaps plants with "bad" reputations elsewhere have more chance of behaving better in that country!

[Janne]

Coincidentally the latest Alpine-L digest has John Grimshaw talking of sweeping up & removing 3 barrow loads of bulbils from just a few square yards of ground.

And I'm asking for a handful or two. Isn't it a little selfish not to share when one has so much Maybe He should consider taking my RoundUp offer...

Maggi, you could not have said it any better   Maybe

Annual minimum temperatures of -30C or more keep most plants in control in way you can't even imagine - sometimes hard freezes hit when there's no snow in the ground. I can only wish that Buddleja davidii would take over my small yard or that Narcissus pseudonarcissus would self seed around.  

I'm not saying that there are no invasive species in here, but a fact that a species is invasive in Central Europe or in New Zealand doesn't mean it must be invasive in here. It can be, like Impatiens noli-tangere or Lupinus polyphyllus but not necessarily.

If we stay on topic... In one danish document stated that A. paradoxum is sometimes a garden escapee, but it's unable to invade native vegetation. I honestly hope that will prove true in here also. Other option is of course that it will rot in the winter.

[rob krejzl]

Janne,

Glad you saw that my way.


Personally I feel a little frisson of foreboding whenever people mention things like Scilla peruviana or Calochortus uniflorus. The former I inherited with the garden, the latter I was foolish enough to pay for the privilege of having. Both need watching here.

Email me your postal address & I'll try to remember the v. normale in due time.

[Janne]

I do see your point.

Neither of the species you mentioned survives here outdoors. Scilla sibirica carpets the ground efficiently enough in here... I bought Lilium martagon and got rid of it few years later. At that point plants and seedlings were everywhere and its charmingly different scent had turned to a pungent odour that filled out the garden completely.

[Paul T]

Rob,

Calochortus uniflorus died out for me a couple of years ago for some reason.  Never could work out why.  There was just nothing left in the pot at the end of summer.  Go figure!!  I really liked the flowers on it too.  I find that Calochortus can be a bit touchy for me, at least some species.  Up until the year I lost it it had been the hardiest of the lot of them.  Maybe I just had a very selective mouse or something that went through that pot only and removed the bulbs.  And here I read that you have to keep an eye on it..... I wish!! 

It really is amazing the different experiences we all have here on the forums.  I never cease to be amazed on hearing what/how people grow their plants.  Such a cool place to be!!

[rob krejzl]

Paul,

Could be because I don't grow it in a pot .
I'm only glad that it doesn't set seed for me as well as produce bulbils. The Scilla is the bigger problem - all those flowerheads with tumbleweed potential.

[Paul T]

Rob,

 

Mine grew fine in a pot for about 5 years or so (I DID repot it within that time for reference) before it disappeared.  It didn't decline or anything, just gone one year.  I think it wasn't the pot that did it in!!  It's definitely something I'll grow again, that is for sure.  Too nice and so easy to grow (except when it disappeared!!  )