Calochortus 2018

[Robert]

Calochortus monophyllus.

The first Calochortus species for this season.

[fermi de Sousa]

Cute, little furry animal!
 
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Cute, little furry animal!
 
cheers
fermi

Fermi,

Yes they are quite small and also one of the easier species to cultivate and flower consistently. Many years ago I forgot about a seed pan full of them and they were accidentally left under irrigation all summer. I discovered them when they were all blooming nicely the next spring. I do not recommend this method of cultivation. 

The species is fairly common in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and they are sometimes seen growing with Calochortus albus. I keep hearing reports that the two species will hybridize with each other, but I have never seen any evidence of this. I may attempt an artificial hybrid, as C. albus should    bloom for us too, this spring.

[Claire Cockcroft]

Calochortus albus v. rubellus

[Diane Whitehead]

I'm in Ukiah, Mendocino County of California, searching for calochortus.

I have been curious about the bulbiferous species mentioned in the book by Mary
Gerritsen and Ron Parsons.  I have never seen even a photo of a bulbil, so started to
search the leaf axils of Calochortus vestae, which is supposed to be strongly bulbiferous.  The leaves
were very narrow, and I couldn't see anything in the axils.

Then I found a sturdy plant that had six flower buds.  A stem plus bud emerged from each
leaf axil.  Hmm.  I put my reading glasses on, and noticed a tiny white bump on a stem
down near the axil.  Could that be it?  The photos are below.

I wonder what happens next.  Does the bump continue to expand?  Does it fall off and
roll away after the flowers have died?  Does the whole lot die down and produce a nice
clump next year?

I'm not going to spend three days driving down in the heat of summer to find out. (It
is forecast to be 34C in two days, and summer would be worse).

Can someone explain it all for me?

Diane

[Claire Cockcroft]

Calochortus albus

[Robert]

I'm in Ukiah, Mendocino County of California, searching for calochortus.

I have been curious about the bulbiferous species mentioned in the book by Mary
Gerritsen and Ron Parsons.  I have never seen even a photo of a bulbil, so started to
search the leaf axils of Calochortus vestae, which is supposed to be strongly bulbiferous.  The leaves
were very narrow, and I couldn't see anything in the axils.

Then I found a sturdy plant that had six flower buds.  A stem plus bud emerged from each
leaf axil.  Hmm.  I put my reading glasses on, and noticed a tiny white bump on a stem
down near the axil.  Could that be it?  The photos are below.

I wonder what happens next.  Does the bump continue to expand?  Does it fall off and
roll away after the flowers have died?  Does the whole lot die down and produce a nice
clump next year?

I'm not going to spend three days driving down in the heat of summer to find out. (It
is forecast to be 34C in two days, and summer would be worse).

Can someone explain it all for me?

Diane

Diane,

Seems like you have things right. 

Maybe this line drawing from jepsons eflora will help out.

http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=16771

[Diane Whitehead]

Thanks Robert.

Line drawings are to be preferred to pretty photographs, though the best, and hardest
to find, are complete drawings of every part of a plant - roots, leaves, flowers, from the
seedling to the seed.

[fermi de Sousa]

Calochortus uniflorus, almost went unnoticed, the Salvia has outgrown its space!
cheers
fermi

[Claire Cockcroft]

I planted Calochortus uniflorus in the garden years ago, where it gets eaten by slugs, dug under by moles, tromped on by dogs, and flopped on by neighboring plants.  Yet every year it manages to put out those charming pink flowers.  It's a survivor!
...Claire

[fermi de Sousa]

Calochortus splendens grown from NARGS 2006 Seedex; first flowered in 2010
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi,

Thanks for posting the Calochortus photographs.

I have a nice batch of Calochortus splendens bulbs I planted out a few weeks ago. They were grown from seed from my own collections. The bulbs looked large enough to bloom when I planted them out, so I am hoping for the best this spring. I have several accession of Calochortus splendens from that year from several sites.

Anyway, the photographs are nice.    Thank you again for sharing them.

If all goes well       , I will have many Calochortus photographs to post this spring from our Sacramento garden. 

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert,
thanks - I look forward to seeing your pics soon!
Here are a couple more in our garden now:
1 & 2) Calochortus suberbus;
3) Calochortus luteus
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Hi Fermi

The Calochortus look great! 

The range of Calochortus superbus and luteus often overlap. The two species will freely hybridize with each other. A tremendous range of hybrids can be seen in the wild.

I am aware of an unusual population of C. suberbus with flushed lavender flowers. They are certainly not hybrids. I have seedlings coming along from this population. I am hoping that they breed true from seed. Unfortunately, the usual white flowering forms grow in the same area. Anyway, it will be fun to see how they turn out.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Rober,
actually that Calochortus luteus came up in a mix of Calochortus luteus x C. superbus which came originally as C. nuttallii!
There are still others yet to flower but I don't seem to get all of the species flowering each year,
cheers
fermi