Sternbergia 2014

[pehe]

Hi could anybody tell me what species of sternbergia this is please. Thanks John.


sternbergia by johnstephen29, on Flickr

Hi John,

It is probably sicula. Lutea has normally broader leaves, but there are also hybrids between sicula and lutea, which could look like that.

Poul

[johnstephen29]

Thanks Poul I'd lost the label and couldn't remember what it was.

[Pauli]

What is your opinion - is this plant virused?

Can a virus from the Amaryllidaceae spread to Iridaceae (Crocus)?

[johnralphcarpenter]

Clumps of Sternbergia lutea are starting to flower in the garden.

[David Nicholson]

Clumps of Sternbergia lutea are starting to flower in the garden.

Angst, angst and more angst

[Tony Willis]

Sternbergia greuteriana

[pehe]

A very nice form of greuteriana, Tony!

A promising cross of my own:

1. Sternbergia lutea x sicula Dodona Gold. A pot of seedling under glass. There are two flowers from each bulb in some of them.
2. The same is also flowering well in the open garden

Poul

[krisderaeymaeker]

Sternbergia greuteriana

Absolutely stunning Tony . Perfect form and so well grown ....

Here some flowers of S. lutea and sicula. Both are kind gifts from very kind forum members.....

[ikizzeki]

S. lutea and Colchicum variegatum flowering in my garden and around..

[Susann]

 Question from a total novice; I got three Stenbergia bulbs from a friend that bought them from Janis Ruksans in a conference last weekend. They are awake and need to be planted urgently I guess. The problem is that I have absolutely no experience regarding the genus. The bulbs were given to me as "Stenbergia". I suspect they might be Stenbergia aurea (?) as I overheard a conversation about that species at the conference. My winters are rain, rain and rain and then suddenly -20 with no snowcover and from end of December-beginning of January hopefully snowcover until spring. But not necessary. It can also be an all rainy winter. Summers are OK, lots of rain but usually also a lot of sun. The natural soil in the area is sand, and we are about +200m above sea level. I have several rockeries if that would be a good idea?

[krisderaeymaeker]

Hi Susann ,

Sternbergia lutea......
I think that winter is no problem , certainly not with snow cover. But to get good flowering plants they need a dry summer and dry rest. When there is no such dry rest they only make leaves and even rot in summer.
So it would be wise to take them out after leaves died and store them in a dry place until july/august.
But after said this  ....you certainly can try them on a very warm/dry and hot spot. I have some clones who  doing wel outside. And summers in Belgium can be wet to.

[ChrisB]

Kris, I just bought a nice potful of them from our members stall last Saturday.  There are a couple of dead flowers on them right now and the foliage looks very strong.  They are in a clay pot.  Should I keep on watering them now or let them dry out?  I'd love to see them flower well next year....

[krisderaeymaeker]

Kris, I just bought a nice potful of them from our members stall last Saturday.  There are a couple of dead flowers on them right now and the foliage looks very strong.  They are in a clay pot.  Should I keep on watering them now or let them dry out?  I'd love to see them flower well next year....

Hi Chris , sorry if I confuse you .... they stil need moisture right now. In Greece and all the other places they grow they have wet and mositure in autumn and wintertime. It is also important to feed them now because they are very hungry .
In late spring - here this happen around the beginning of april (depends from year to year) - the leaves start fading away ....
If you grow them outside (planted out in the garden)this could be the right time to lift them and give that dry rest.     

[Susann]

Kris, I just bought a nice potful of them from our members stall last Saturday.  There are a couple of dead flowers on them right now and the foliage looks very strong.  They are in a clay pot.  Should I keep on watering them now or let them dry out?  I'd love to see them flower well next year....

Thank you for the advice. Maybe this is a good reason to finally install the roof over my alpine bench. It has been on the priority list for three or four years. I actually went to town two weeks ago to buy the plastic for the roof, but I could not find the right sizes. I will plant them in the bench then, its a raised one built by tree trunks. the soil mix is sand, old compost and peat.

[Tim Ingram]

Here is a line from one of the old AGS Bulletins for David and his angst:

...Little enough is to be seen in my garden in November, but this is the season when the sternbergias come into their own. I believe I only grow 26 species but they give me great satisfaction...

This year the only clump we grow on a raised bed has actually made a superb display, as did a plant of Cyclamen graecum. Something to do with our very mild and wet winter followed by some quite dry and hot summer weather? (seems a long time ago now?). I think the main reason it has started flowering well is partly because it has been growing in the same spot for quite a few years and become nicely mature and congested, and it is only in the last few years that it has flowered well. I must try more of these 26 species