South African Bulbs 2016

[johnralphcarpenter]

Haemanthus albiflorus, all 27 flowers opened now. Can't capture them all in one pic.

Amazing, Mr Amazing!

[fermi de Sousa]

Babiana stricta forms now in flower,
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Moraea spathulata - first flower for the year
cheers
fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Some lachenalias in flower now:
Lachenalia pustulata;
close-up;
Lachenalia orchioides v. glaucina;
Lachenalia splendida in the garden,
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

I finally have had time to enjoy your postings of South African bulbs. I do have one question....  how dry or moist do you keep your Lachenalia bulbs when they are dormant? I have a number of different species coming along from seed very well and the bulbs for the most part have started into growth again. The bulbs were keep moist while dormant without any harm (at least this is how it appears). My thoughts are that they may want to be drier while dormant - or perhaps some species will like drier conditions. Any thoughts on this?

We have a large batch of Babiana stricta coming on from seed. Looks like they will bloom this year for the first time. I hope we get some good variation in flower color as you have.

Cheers

[ArnoldT]

Robert:

Very good question which I think is hard to answer on a wholesale level.

My Lachenalias spend our East Coast summers in a cool basement and just now are placed in the greenhouse after being repotted and watered once.

I do have some losses of some bulbs.  I can't leave them in the greenhouse due to the high temperatures that occur there in summer.  I'd be interest in how others over winter the Lachenalias.

[johnw]

I summer mine on the top shelf of the ghouse where they won't get watered by mistake and as well on shelving in the much cooler coach house, bone dry and alongside Nerines - the Nerine do get a modest drink every 3 weeks as their roots are perennial.

I also store big tubs of L. aloides in full sun in a hatefully hot empty commercial ghouse where it often goes to 120F/130f around noon.  These get with zero water, and a few tubs started shooting a week or two ago.


john

[Robert]

Arnold, John -

Thank you for the information. I might have "dodged a bullet" by keeping the bulbs too moist during their summer dormancy. One pot full is in growth now. The other pot full has not started into growth, however I did check on the bulbs and they seem quite healthy.

With our extreme summer heat it can be questionable about moisture levels during dormancy, and for me, especially with something new. My plan was to keep the bulbs fairly dry, however I was out-of-town frequently this summer. This created difficulties and I needed a simple plan while I was away. I guess it worked this time around. 

[fermi de Sousa]

... I do have one question....  how dry or moist do you keep your Lachenalia bulbs when they are dormant? I have a number of different species coming along from seed very well and the bulbs for the most part have started into growth again. The bulbs were keep moist while dormant without any harm (at least this is how it appears). My thoughts are that they may want to be drier while dormant - or perhaps some species will like drier conditions. Any thoughts on this?

Hi Robert,
Like Arnold and John we keep our lachenalia bulbs in pots dry over summer, usually under cover but not necessarily protected from the heat.
I'm not sure if some are more susceptible to desiccation but it's hard to know why some bulbs don't come back in the autumn/winter.
We do have some lachenalia in the garden which are grown where we don't water over summer but it does sometimes rain and we don't seem to have many losses there,
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

I appreciate your reply. I certainly value your experience and observations. Your climatic conditions are very similar to ours - something that is wise to consider. In the future I will treat Lachenalia as I do our California native bulbs - potted plants placed in dry shade. I find that in general there is little or no desiccation of potted bulbs if they are left growing in place, undisturbed in at least a 01 gallon nursery container (01 gallon is a standard size nursery container in California). Sometimes we have desiccation issues when the bulbs are left in their 10 cm square seed pots. I tend to move the germinating seedlings into 01 gallon containers as soon as possible. This has worked very well for us.

[johnw]

I'm not sure if some are more susceptible to desiccation but it's hard to know why some bulbs don't come back in the autumn/winter.fermi

I'm have a feeling you could be quite correct but having so few bulbs of some species I'm hesitate to do a trial by fire.  We need a good "care" chart.


john

[johnw]

Since the late 80's I have been growing this strong pink Nerine under several names. N. bowdenii 'Pink Surprise', N. bowdenii 'Pink Distinction' and even N. bowdenii 'Pink Triumph'.  Most images of these three are hopelessly muddled on the internet.  It flowers extremely late, usually in early November.  Now Malcolm suggests it is in fact Nerine 'Pink Triumph', a cross of N. undulata x N. bowdenii.  Shocking that it has weathered nearly thirty winters in this climate, once when I was dividing them I noticed that though they were quite deep in the ground several of the necks had frozen off at some point in the past. I presume it is significantly more tender than N. bowdenii itself.

This year two white Nerine bowdenii are going to flower and I hope to cross them to see if I can get some healthy whites.  The first flower of a white from Ken Hall opened (pictured) and N. bowdenii 'Bianca Perla' is just about to open.


john - to 21c today, rain tomorrow but not a drop from the Hurricanes.

[fermi de Sousa]

Here in the "deeper South" it is spring and more South Africa geophytes are in bloom:
Ixia trifolia;
yellow ixias with dark centre;
Babiana spathacea;
Moraea setifolia;
Geissorhiza monanthos;
cheers
fermi

[Rogan]

A colourful Massonia species about to enter dormancy:

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Rogan,
it's probably as attractive now as when it flowered (especially attractive to seed collectors )
Another one from us - Geissorhiza radians
cheers
fermi