South African Bulbs 2015

[Robert]

Fermi,

Lovely Moraeas. Do you grow them out in the garden or only in pots protected from frost?

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert,
I grow most of them in the garden - M. bipartita is in pots as they are relatively new; M.macronyx gets lost in the garden and is so nice to smell that I prefer to keep it potted. They aren't protected from frost where I grow them,
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

Thank you so much for the information. I have a batch of Moraeas that could go out in the garden soon. I think we could be a bit colder at our farm here in California. Most likely I will keep some back-ups in pots in case things go wrong out in the garden.

Fantastic plants being posted from you folks in Australia and New Zealand. We have nothing like this at all in this part of California. Most of the creative plant activity occurs near the California coast, a long way from where we live. It is very inspirational for us who are very isolated. 

[Jupiter]

Fermi I grew Moraea macronyx from seed and it flowered this year. Three blooms, each time the bud opened during the day when I was at work and each time it was finished by the time I got home in the evening! I never saw it properly out. 

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi I grew Moraea macronyx from seed and it flowered this year. Three blooms, each time the bud opened during the day when I was at work and each time it was finished by the time I got home in the evening! I never saw it properly out. 

Plants like that deserve a visit to your workplace
My co-workers got used to me bringing in a box of plants in pots for me to photograph when they opened.
And Moraea macronyx (Macro-nix or Macron-ix?) is certainly worth sniffing!
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

A couple more flowers have opened on Lapeirousia oreogena, so here are 2 more pics.
Hesperantha latifolia is small but has "flower power"
Geissorhiza inflexa is just starting but really needs more sun to open up fully!
Ixia rapunculoides is an old favourite that I've only just got back to flowering size and I need to find a place for it in the garden,
cheers
fermi

[Anthony Darby]

Babiana ringens, complete with perch for pollinating birds. Tomorrow's evolution lesson sorted. 

[t00lie]

Babiana ringens, complete with perch for pollinating birds. Tomorrow's evolution lesson sorted. 

Nice Anthony .I've seen it flowering in an alpine house near Gore but my bulbs refuse to bloom.

[Anthony Darby]

Seed was labelled "Scampton March 2012" and just grows in a pot amongst all the others on the gravel border at the back of the garden.

[fermi de Sousa]

Not as flamboyant as yours, Anthony, but this Babiana pygmaea isnow flowering now;
Lachenalia bolusii x 2
Gladiolus abbreviatus
Geissorhiza ornithogaloides
cheers
ferni

[ashley]

Great plants Fermi.
The lower back of those lachenalia leaves is fantastic

[fermi de Sousa]

The lower back of those lachenalia leaves is fantastic

Hi Ashley,
almost as good as some of the Arisaema!
Lachenalia mutabilis, just starting to flower,
cheers
fermi

[Rimmer de Vries]

from the other end of the spectrum Nernine platypetala from Mpumalanga is in bloom here in the Northern Hemisphere

[t00lie]

Gladiolus abbreviatus
cheers
ferni

Fermi
What an oddball .... however I like it .

[johnralphcarpenter]

from the other end of the spectrum Nernine platypetala from Mpumalanga is in bloom here in the Northern Hemisphere

A real beauty!