South African Bulbs 2014

[fermi de Sousa]

Steve, that's extraordinary as looks what's in flower right now in our rock garden!
cheers
fermi

[Steve Garvie]

Very nice!!!
Wish I could grow mine in a rockery!

[Paul Cumbleton]

I have a very few spare bulbs of Daubenya aurea which I am currently offering on ebay. This is the first time I have ever sold anything on ebay but I plan to offer a few items from time to time – though this will only be occasionally. Mostly it will be South African bulbs, but also perhaps Pleione and anything else I happen to have spare of that hasn’t already gone to friends or been taken to AGS meetings and the like.

My ebay identity is “unusual-plants”. You can find my things by doing an advanced search (click on the word "advanced" in the top right corner of ebay's home page, select "search by seller" from the options on the left then enter unusual-plants in the search box). There will be a few more things added in the next few weeks.

Please note that as a new seller on ebay I CAN ONLY SELL TO THE UK until I have met their requirements for international selling. It will take at least 3 months to do this and I will let you know as soon as I can supply further afield (and then it will be UK + EU only).

Cheers
Paul

[Gerdk]

Here is Gladiolus flanaganii - surprisingly easy in cultivation

(during winter inside)

Gerd

[fermi de Sousa]

Here is Gladiolus flanaganii - surprisingly easy in cultivation

(during winter inside)

Gerd

Hi Gerd,
they look great - do you keep they as dry bulbs inside and plant them in spring? Or are they potted up and you plant them out after the frosts are over?
I have some seedlings but not flowered it yet.

Here's a tiny lapeirousia which I thought I'd lost as I don't even remember seeing foliage last year!
Lapeirousia montana in a mauve form,
cheers
fermi

[Gerdk]

Hi Gerd,
they look great - do you keep they as dry bulbs inside and plant them in spring? Or are they potted up and you plant them out after the frosts are over?
I have some seedlings but not flowered it yet.

Thank you, Fermi,
The bulbs were kept dry and cool in the basement (about + 10 ° C here) over winter and planted outside at the end of April.

Gerd

[Paul Cumbleton]

Pictured below is a plant I received simply as "Drimia sp" from the Kamiesberg. You can see that it makes quite a nice show with prettier flowers than most Drimia can boast. When mature each bulb is capable of producing 10 or more flower stems. These appear quite late - usually June, after the leaves have died down. The leaves are like grass (the picture shows leaves on young bulbs - they make a lot more leaves per bulb than this once adult). Sorry about the poor quality of the close up picture. Does anyone know what this plant might be specifically?

By the way, thanks to those of you who have supported my sales on ebay. I have added for sale a small number of seeds of South African bulbs recently. These are on a fixed price "buy now" basis. You can see all my offers at http://ebay.eu/1n3uCgm .

[Maggi Young]

A delicate and very attractive plant, Paul - I have NO idea what it might be!
But,  the PBS  says :
Drimia nana, syn. Tenicroa nana, has wiry leaves enclosed in a sheath and mauve flowers with green and white patches. It is found in Namaqualand and flowers in summer. At least one accession described the habitat as shady mossy ledges in the Kamiesberg.

Isotype : http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/pre0665215-0?history=true

May be worth investigating that possibility?

[angie]

Paul thanks for letting us know that you are selling your spare bulbs on ebay 

Angie 

[Paul Cumbleton]

Thanks for that info Maggi, it sounds a possibility. Sadly I cant view the isotype you gave the link to as you need to have some affiliation to a participating institute for that website. There is very little other info on the web about this species, certainly no description or photo, just the distribution and the fact that it has only been collected 7 times by scientific institutions. I'll have to try 'analogue' means of finding out more!

Paul

[Maggi Young]

I appreciate the difficulty with accessing the Jstor info, Paul - very frustrating - but I hope someone with access might be able to access it and share it with you.

Please: Is Anyone able to help with this?
http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/pre0665215-0?history=true

[johnralphcarpenter]

Watsonia angusta has put up multiple flower spikes this year.

[jshields]

I appreciate the difficulty with accessing the Jstor info, Paul - very frustrating - but I hope someone with access might be able to access it and share it with you.

Please: Is Anyone able to help with this?
http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/pre0665215-0?history=true

The only bad thing I've ever found about being retired is the lack of access to technical journals.  I have to bug my friends too much who are not yet retired.  Wish I could help!

[Paul Cumbleton]

Maggi, I sent your suggested identification for my mystery Drimia to the person who supplied me the original bulb. He was able to access a botanical description to check - and it fits. So mystery solved - this is Drimia nana. I have a fair number of seedlings coming along so should be able to make this available in the not too distant future (probably next year). Thanks for helping sort this out!!
Paul

[Maggi Young]

Result! I am so pleased the ID has been found. Can't  say I have ever seen or really known of this plant before other than the PBS reference but it is a real charmer for sure. Flower colour is a winner too.