Bulb log 2018

[Ian Y]

Rivers of gold and silver flowing in Aberdeen!
Well done, Ian!
Your cobblestone bed looks like it is working at keeping the bulbs safe from varmints
cheers
fermi

So far so good Fermi it is certainly deterring them from digging and eating the corms. I also see from clusters of small leaves that after the mice chewed away the new corm leaving the old corm below new growths must have formed on the old corm.

[Ian Y]

Winter refuses to release the  Bulb Log but in the shelter of the bulb house I can enjoy the Narcissus flowers.



http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Mar211521629526BULB_LOG_1218.pdf

[pehe]

Ian, thank you for making the Weekly bulb log. It is a real pleasure reading them!
The blue striped "Crocus biflorus" in bulb log 11 looks very similar to Crocus abantensis Azkabans Escapee from Janis Ruksans.

Poul

[Carolyn]

My thanks too, Ian. I have just managed to germinate Tropaeolum azureum for the first time. I was not sure what to do with it next, so read all your bulblog entries and made some notes. It stands a better chance of surviving now. The seed came from the seedex and was sown in January at 20C, germinating after about 6 or 7 weeks. So far, 2 out of 6 seeds have germinated, which, after reading the bulblog, seems to be quite a good result. I was surprised to read that you leave the seeds outside in the cold. I would have expected this to be a warm germinator. Like you, I have often (well, always) had nothing germinate at all. it would be interesting to hear how other people have got on with these seeds.
Thanks again for all your useful experience.

[John85]

Thanks to Ian we don't even have to go outside to the mailbox to have up to date garden news.
The mice here must be better diggers as cobbles don't deter them to dig and eat the corms.
Therefore I plant them in 'boxes' made of 6mm mesh.But the stems are often cut by the wind at the level of the wire mainly for small bulbs that can not be planted too deep.
Does anyone have a better idea?
Ian,your galanthus trough is a bit damaged.Was that done by the frost?
How long do they last usually before needing some repair.(min temp. -8°C)

[Ian Y]

Ian, thank you for making the Weekly bulb log. It is a real pleasure reading them!
The blue striped "Crocus biflorus" in bulb log 11 looks very similar to Crocus abantensis Azkabans Escapee from Janis Ruksans.

Poul

Good spot Poul, there are similarities and I had not considered that as a possibility - I will check the corms when they go dormant.
thanks Ian

[Ian Y]

My thanks too, Ian. I have just managed to germinate Tropaeolum azureum for the first time. I was not sure what to do with it next, so read all your bulblog entries and made some notes. It stands a better chance of surviving now. The seed came from the seedex and was sown in January at 20C, germinating after about 6 or 7 weeks. So far, 2 out of 6 seeds have germinated, which, after reading the bulblog, seems to be quite a good result. I was surprised to read that you leave the seeds outside in the cold. I would have expected this to be a warm germinator. Like you, I have often (well, always) had nothing germinate at all. it would be interesting to hear how other people have got on with these seeds.
Thanks again for all your useful experience.

Well done on germinating Tropaeolum azureum.
Over the years we have had a lot of problems getting seed to germinate now I just scatter it in the sand beds where it seeds around happily over twenty seedlings are growing in the latest sand bed I converted last summer.

Best advice for young seedlings is feed every time you water and keep them growing for a long as possible which may mean keeping them cool in summer! If they get too hot or dry they will immediately go dormant.

[Ian Y]

Thanks to Ian we don't even have to go outside to the mailbox to have up to date garden news.
The mice here must be better diggers as cobbles don't deter them to dig and eat the corms.
Therefore I plant them in 'boxes' made of 6mm mesh.But the stems are often cut by the wind at the level of the wire mainly for small bulbs that can not be planted too deep.
Does anyone have a better idea?
Ian,your galanthus trough is a bit damaged.Was that done by the frost?
How long do they last usually before needing some repair.(min temp. -8°C)

John I might have been foolhardy saying that the cobbles have been successful but for over a year now we have not lost any corms plus I like the look of of the bulbs growing through the cobbles.

That trough must be 20 years old now and the degradation of the top edge is a combination of weather and birds - I generally retouch the paint on the top edge about every five years . I have had a new trough prepared for two years now but just never got around to doing the job of emptying it in the summer - this year I hope.

[Carolyn]

Well done on germinating Tropaeolum azureum.
Over the years we have had a lot of problems getting seed to germinate now I just scatter it in the sand beds where it seeds around happily over twenty seedlings are growing in the latest sand bed I converted last summer.

Best advice for young seedlings is feed every time you water and keep them growing for a long as possible which may mean keeping them cool in summer! If they get too hot or dry they will immediately go dormant.

Thanks, Ian,  I will try to keep them cool and well fed.

[Ian Y]

Erythronium and Crocus are the main flowers appearing in Bulb Log 1318.


http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Mar281522236136BULB_LOG_1318.pdf

[Maggi Young]

Ian is away today - speaking about Erythroniums to the SRGC Stirling Group, in advance of his appearances at Inverewe for the Erythronium Festival next week,  so it's up to me to give you this week's Bulb Log  link....

"Despite the repeating return of winter weather Rhododendrons and Corydalis join in with the other spring flowers bringing more colour to the Bulb Log."

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Apr031522779861BULB_LOG_1418.pdf

[Leena]

This is surely the best time in your garden, flowering rhododendrons, hellebores, snowdrops, corydalis, hepatica and erythronium starting now. You have a really nice Helleborus, peach coloured (picture just before that first also very nice blueish Hepatica).

[Maggi Young]

Ian is away again -  at Inverewe for the Erythronium Festival - so I'm  on Bulb Log  loading duty!



Bulb Log 1518
 corydalis carpets and  spring  flowers

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Apr111523442939BULB_LOG_1518.pdf

[Ian Y]

The colours of Corydalis welcomed me home plus some of my impressions from my trip  to Inverewe Gardens.


http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Apr181524046866BULB_LOG_1618.pdf

[David Nicholson]

..............................A couple of weeks ago I bought a 2 Ltr pot of L. vernum from a local Garden Centre (a surprising purchase opportunity?) and these have also been planted in the garden and are showing about 2" noses.

And there was I praising my local independent garden centre. It turned out to be Leucojum aestivum and not vernum. Of well, such is life!!