South African Bulbs/Geophytes 2017

[ArnoldT]

Gethyllis linearis.

[johnralphcarpenter]

Well done!

[ArnoldT]

Ralph:

Thanks, it survives on pure neglect. Problem is that it flowers during our hottest period here so the flowers and very short lived.

[Steve Garvie]

Cyrtanthus epiphyticus -As the name suggests this bulb is sometimes found growing on trees. Most habitat pictures I have seen are of plants growing on grassy banks and rocks. It is not difficult to grow in a frost-free greenhouse.

Cyrtanthus huttonii -Grows on seasonally damp cliff ledges and moist rock fissures in the mountains of the Eastern Cape. I struggled to grow this species until I tried wedging it between rock fragments in a large pot with free-draining but moisture-retentive compost. The purple flower bract is typical of this species.

[Karaba]

Cyrtanthus epiphyticus -As the name suggests this bulb is sometimes found growing on trees. Most habitat pictures I have seen are of plants growing on grassy banks and rocks. It is not difficult to grow in a frost-free greenhouse

Nice picture. I don't dare showing mine  It is finishing flowering, sown 3 years ago : it was quick and surprised me. I cross-pollinated two flowers and it seems that I will have seeds. I won't say that it is hardy but it can support frost at least till -5°C as it is winter dormant.


Cyrtanthus huttonii -Grows on seasonally damp cliff ledges and moist rock fissures in the mountains of the Eastern Cape. I struggled to grow this species until I tried wedging it between rock fragments in a large pot with free-draining but moisture-retentive compost. The purple flower bract is typical of this species.
[/quote]
Wow, I love Cyrtanthus 

[ruweiss]

Got this Brunsvigia radulosa in2011 and now it flowers for the first time.
I cultivate it in a pot which is kept cool and dry in the basement during wintertime.

[Steve Garvie]

Nice plant and well-grown Rudi!!!

[ruweiss]

Thank you Steve.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hesperantha humilis now flowering (pic taken indoors this afternoon)
cheers
fermi

[Steve Garvie]

As a wee experiment I kept the two Lachenalia below completely dry over winter then potted them up in late March. Both had bulbs that I thought would be too small to flower. They were planted in a very free-draining mix of seramis (cat litter)/perlite/composted bark (3:2:1), were exposed to full sun outside from early May, received lots of rain and regular liquid feeds. Top growth was compact and almost succulent in nature. Both bulbs increased markedly in size and surprised me by suddenly producing flower spikes which opened up in mid-August.
The first plant is Lachenalia orchioides var. glaucina. The second plant was labelled as Lachenalia pallida but I think it might be Lachenalia pustulata given the pustule-like marks on its single leaf (what do you think?).

I don't know how easy it would be to maintain Lachenalia growing in a summer growth cycle but this seems to be a way to maintain their growth in character when grown at higher northern latitudes.

[Paul Cumbleton]

Interesting experiment Steve, I will be interested to see if you can keep them as summer growers over a number of years. When I as at Wisley I reversed the growing season of rain lilies in a similar manner, in this case turning them into winter growers. The advantage here was that when potted and watered in September  the flowers are produced immediately without the leaves being present. Normally the leaves are dying down as the flowers come making the whole plant look rather messy. Grown as winter growers, the leaves appear after the flowers. Their growth may be a bit lax through the poor winter light but this never seemed to affect their overall performance.

I've just put a few spare South African bulbs for sale on eBay -  a couple of Gethyllis, some Daubenya and the extremely rare Drimia nana. Click http://ebay.eu/1n3uCgm to view them.

Paul

[Paul Cumbleton]

I was given a small bulb of Boophone disticha, back in 2006 and 11 years later it has its first flowers. The wait was worth it; this form (which originated at Robertson in the Western Cape) having flowers of a pleasing soft pink.

Paul

[Steve Garvie]

Very nice Paul and worth the wait.
Is this a winter growing form of disticha?

[Llllamal]

Steve you are correct either way as Lachenalia pustulata is a synonym of Lachenalia pallida.

[Steve Garvie]

Thanks Greg!
I wasn't aware that these two are the same species.