South African Bulbs/Geophytes 2017

[johnralphcarpenter]

You'll be lucky if you get a reply.

[ArnoldT]

Ralph:

Have you tried.

Could save me a couple of key strokes.

[johnralphcarpenter]

I subscribed to his "Quarterly Magazine", but only ever received the first one. Emails of complaint are unanswered.

[Robert]

A kind forumist shared some Ixia seed with us. Of coarse they are easy-to-grow, but never-the-less a pleasure in our California garden. 



An Ixia viridiflora hybrid.



Close-up



We are getting a full range of colors on the Ixia viridiflora hybrids. More will be opening over the next week to 10 days.



Ixia rouxii - They bloomed for the first time last year and were not very impressive. This year they look great.



Ixia raouxii - there is some variation in the flowers. Some are very nice.

[fermi de Sousa]

Robert,
it's good to see other people growing ixias!

Amongst the autumn blooms here I found the first Polyxena longituba in flower.
I unpotted it and a pic of the whole plant
Yes, I know it's now considered to be a lachenalia, but I'm not changing the labels just yet!
cheers
fermi

[David Nicholson]

Yes, I know it's now considered to be a lachenalia, but I'm not changing the labels just yet!

Two great minds speak as one!

[Robert]

Robert,
it's good to see other people growing ixias!

cheers
fermi

Fermi,

Ixia, Sparaxis, etc. can seed around in our garden but they really are not weedy. Many will cross with each other and we get all sorts of interesting combinations - many lousy ones too, but they just get pulled out and they are gone. 

[Steve Garvie]

Cyrtanthus spiralis

[johnralphcarpenter]

Wow!

[François Lambert]

Flowering for the first time for me : Moraea Huttonii.  Sown in spring 2014 and thanks to mild winters I have been able to have them keep the leaves over winter.  One of the few - perhaps the only one - summer growing Moraea that I can grow here.

[Steve Garvie]

Merwilla plumbea (Also known as Scilla natalensis)

[angie]

Merwilla plumbea (Also known as Scilla natalensis)

Now that is beautiful .

Angie 

[Steve Garvie]

Thanks Angie.
Now that the frosts have gone it is outside in a large pot in full sun alongside a large bulb of Boophane disticha. If the rain doesn't stop they will need to come back in under glass. 

[ArnoldT]

Steve:
you have a summer growing Boophone disticha?

[Steve Garvie]

Steve:
you have a summer growing Boophone disticha?

Hi Arnold,
I have both summer and winter growing Boophone.

I began growing Boophone and Brunsvigia over 20 years ago -mainly from Silverhill seeds but also bulbs purchased from Paul Christian. I subsequently lost interest as the kids came of school age and my collection was grossly neglected for years. Despite the complete neglect a number of species survived and slowly increased in size (this despite some very hard winters when greenhouse temps fell below -2C). I think the main reason why so many of the plants survived was due to the fact that they received very little water (they were in large pots plunged in a sand bed which remained just damp in the winter as a consequence of water dripping into the plunge from a cracked greenhouse pane). About 5 years ago I got back into growing bulbs and set about restoring the greenhouse and salvaging what was left of my collection. Over that first winter I almost killed a number of species as a result of overwatering (many of the pots were draining poorly and I was too heavy-handed with the watering). I almost lost my single large bulb of Boophone ernestii-ruschii due to rot. The roots and most of the bulb rotted but I managed to excise the rot through "radical surgery" and save most of the base plate but the plant was reduced to a fraction of its previous size and is only now recovering.

I have one large and two small bulbs of Boophone haemanthoides -all of which are definite winter growers having just dropped their leaves in the last 2 weeks. B. ernestii-ruschii is also winter-growing but tends to produce new growth two months later than haemanthoides and here it holds its leaves until mid-June. I have a pot of Boophone disticha raised from Silverhill seed (I have no record of the provenance of this seed) which is almost evergreen in that it is currently shedding older leaves now but is also producing new growth and looks good from late summer through into the Spring. I have a large bulb of B. disticha from the Eastern Cape which is winter-dormant but is now producing new growth. I also have two smaller distichas -one labelled as "Highveld form" and the other from the Eastern Karoo which are almost evergreen but produce new growth at the end of winter and grows throughout our summer. Finally I have a very attractive form of Boophone from the Port Elizabeth area that produces new growth in the early autumn and remains in growth until mid June before dropping its leaves.

My understanding is that all B. haemanthoides forms (including ernestii-ruschii) come from winter-rain areas in Southern Africa and so are winter growing. Boophone disticha has a much wider range in the wild extending from the cape north into Tanzania. It is mainly found in summer rainfall areas -these populations are usually summmer-growers in cultivation but there are some winter-growers, presumably from the winter rainfall areas.

I enclose some hastily taken images which show my plants in their various stages of growth as of today. The images are of rather poor quality as it is raining here today.

Boophone haemanthoides



Boophone disticha -from the Eastern Cape, just coming into growth.



Boophone disticha -immature bulb from the Eastern Karoo; new growth appeared in early March.



Boophone disticha -potful grown from Silverhill seed; almost evergreen, old foliage starting to die back and new growth commencing.



Boophone disticha -immature bulb of Highveld form; new growth appeared in early March.



Boophone ernestii-ruschii -a recovering bulb which is only a fraction of its original size; winter growing but remains in growth until mid June.



Boophone sp. -an attractive form from Port Elizabeth which is in growth for 9 months from mid-September until mid-June.