Sternbergia 2009

[Hristo]

Flowering in the open garden now;
Sternbergia lutea 'Autumn Gold'
Sternbergia sicula 'Arcadean Sun'
Sternbergia lutea 'Rubbish Dump Rescue'  

[Rodger Whitlock]

Sternbergia lutea 'Rubbish Dump Rescue'

Stop teasing us and give us the gory details!

[Hristo]

LOL, last year we were visiting our favourite limestone slope. there is an adjacent 'parking area' formed by an unofficial quarry.
As with many quarries this is sometimes used as a rubbish dump. This time, when we visited, alot of garden waste had been dumped
including maybe 100 bulbs of Sternbergia lutea and 100 bulbs of Narcissus, Simon posted this in spring.

[udo]

Hi, all friends from Sternbergia.
My Sternbergia clusiana comes mixed with St.lutea from a trader in the Netherlands.
I cultivated in big pots ( 2 litre ), with protection in summer and winter ( rain and snow). The bulbs are very large, over 12 cm exent.

[Gerdk]

Poul,
Thank you for your detailed list.

Gerd

[Anthony Darby]

Hi, all friends from Sternbergia.
My Sternbergia clusiana comes mixed with St.lutea from a trader in the Netherlands.
I cultivated in big pots ( 2 litre ), with protection in summer and winter ( rain and snow). The bulbs are very large, over 12 cm exent.

12cm Crumbs, nearly 5"! Is that diameter?

[pehe]

LOL, last year we were visiting our favourite limestone slope. there is an adjacent 'parking area' formed by an unofficial quarry.
As with many quarries this is sometimes used as a rubbish dump. This time, when we visited, alot of garden waste had been dumped
including maybe 100 bulbs of Sternbergia lutea and 100 bulbs of Narcissus, Simon posted this in spring.

Lucky you! Many of us pay a lot of money for a single Sternbergia bulb.

Poul

[Hristo]

Poul,
Yes a strange business and an odd experience to have 100 free Sternbergia bulbs to find a placement for!!!

[Hans A.]

Wonderful plants everybody! S. clusiana is a real gem!

This time, when we visited, alot of garden waste had been dumped
including maybe 100 bulbs of Sternbergia lutea

Some years ago I also found some nice green Sternbergia luteas on a similar place like that - they looked a bit dry but ok.
The next year the leaves showed virus  - I threw most away but kept some bulbs in a pot for one more year to see how they will look like - the plants flowered normal and the following year the leaves looked healthy and strong and no signs of virus were visible.
It seems good feeded Sternbergia (luteas) do not show virus in opposite to stressed plants (Zhirair mentioned something similar in Crocus).

[pehe]

Hans, do you have photos of virus infected Sternbergia?

Poul

[Gerry Webster]

Hans, do you have photos of virus infected Sternbergia?

Poul

Poul - I have a virus infected Sternbergia (I think). I'll post a photo in the next few days but I suspect it will not be easy to see the infection which is more obvious on the flowers - pale, almost transparent patches - than on the leaves. The plants remain vigorous & floriferous.

I just remembered that I posted a photo last year:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1208.msg55499#msg55499

[Gerry Webster]

On the rocky limestone slopes in the countryside surrounding Veliko Tarnovo Sternbergia colchiciflora is beginning to flower in its tens of thousands! Hard to see from the road when you stop and walk into the dried grass there is a sub 'carpet' of yellow.
Colours range from acid yellow to more washed out pale forms.

Chris - many thanks for showing us the plant in the wild. One thing which caught my attention was the stigma, which appears divided at the tip, a feature I have never seen in other Sternbergia species & which isn't mentioned in the literature I have.

[Hans A.]

Hans, do you have photos of virus infected Sternbergia?

Poul

Sorry Poul - it seems I did not make any picture but I remember the leaves were clearly motteled the first year.

[Anthony Darby]

Here's one of the plants I have as Sternbergia greuteriana.

[udo]

12cm Crumbs, nearly 5"!  Is that diameter?

Anthony, 12 cm is not the diameter, is it the size 12+ or 12/14 from the bulb-catalogue.