Calochortus 2009-2010

[cohan]

i guess we all have something to work around--water, cold, drought-always something
even here, much nearer some of these western sites, i cant say for sure whether my summers will always be as dry as some of these dryland plants are used to, but i should be able to work around it with extra drainage..

[Diane Whitehead]

 Sunset magazine has devised 24 climate zones for the Pacific coast,
and I think Calochortus grow in most of them.  There must be a few
species even for me in my soggy winter conditions.

Mary Gerritsen's book on Calochortus has four pages on growing
conditions for the various species.

Here are the possibilities:

1. summer moisture, winter dormant - from Mexico - don't want frost

2. late autumn, winter and early spring moisture, summer drought

3. cold to cool moist spring, summer dry with very infrequent moisture, possibly some winter moisture

4. cold to cool moist spring, summer dry with very infrequent moisture, cold winter storage

5. cold to cool moist spring, summer dry with very infrequent moisture, desertlike

6. cold to cool moist spring, summer dry with very infrequent moisture, winter moisture

7. cold to cool moist spring, summer dry with very infrequent moisture, desertlike, some winter moisture

8. winter spring and summer moisture, dryer in autumn, cold winter storage may be required for plants from higher elevations   (just one species likes these conditions:  palmeri)

 #2 and 6 are closest to my conditions.

[cohan]

interesting list! good to remember the complexities of an area which from farther away may be assumed more uniform..
i'd be pretty much number 1, with occasional forays into 4, maybe...lol

this makes me think of Pediocactus many of which are from the u.s. north/northwest, often at altitude; soemone (i think it was an article at mesa gardens) said they do much of their growing in the cool moist spring-presumably areas where snow melt is the main moisture, and summers dry..that was rather the case here this year, but not always; on the other hand, my summers are not usually so hot that i think many of these summer resters will feel obliged to do so (i know some are obligate, not all); this is true of mexican/south american cacti, which will grow through the summer (indoors) here...

[Diane Whitehead]

We have Opuntia at sea level.

I don't think you are going to be growing any from 1 - that summer
rainfall should have alerted me - we don't get rain then, but Mexico
does, and that's where those ones are native.  They don't like frost.

#4 species:  ambiguus, apiculatus, bruneaunis, coeruleus, elegans,
eurycarpus, excavatus, gunisonii, howellii, longebarbatus, lyallii, minimus,
nitidus, nudus, nuttallii, subalpinus, umpquaensis, westonii

That's a good number to experiment with.

[cohan]

We have Opuntia at sea level.

I don't think you are going to be growing any from 1 - that summer
rainfall should have alerted me - we don't get rain then, but Mexico
does, and that's where those ones are native.  They don't like frost.

#4 species:  ambiguus, apiculatus, bruneaunis, coeruleus, elegans,
eurycarpus, excavatus, gunisonii, howellii, longebarbatus, lyallii, minimus,
nitidus, nudus, nuttallii, subalpinus, umpquaesis, westonii

That's a good number to experiment with.

i've seen some pictures of Opuntia fragilis growing on islands off vancouver(i forget exactly which or whether they were intracoastal, probably)--great huge mats on rock..

no, no mexicans, except indoors, in which case they have to be very small...lol

several of the #4 species are on the beavercreek list, which is where i would start.. he just mentions growing them in sand, scree, rock chippings, but nothing complicated otherwise..

[fermi de Sousa]

Good luck, Cohan; to me they are all wrth trying!
Finally, Calochortus weedii ssp vestus, syn C. fimbriatus opened a bloom on Christmas Day!


The plant has now dropped the first bloom but has more to open from these buds as they unfurl,


I love the way the inner surface of the petal is so heavily haired,


And the opening flower looks great in the morning light,


cheers
fermi

[cohan]

thanks, fermi--i am looking at several different seed lists (all kinds of things!) and there will be some hard editing to do, so not sure yet what will make the final cut...lol

this is a really nice flower--love the colour and shape..

[Paul T]

Great details to the flower, Fermi.  Definitely rather hirsutus as well as fimbriatus. 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wow !
A truly gorgeous flower Fermi !!

How tall is it plse ?

[Ragged Robin]

Really interesting and lovely shots, Fermi, is there a reason for the plethora of hairs?

[Maggi Young]

Really interesting and lovely shots, Fermi, is there a reason for the plethora of hairs?

Testosterone? 

[Sinchets]

I actually think the beard suits him!!

[Diane Whitehead]

I hope to take advantage of the bulbils some produce.  If I find
a plant I particularly like, instead of going back to California two
months later to collect the seeds, I can just take a bulbil while the
plant is still in flower.

I hope. 

I have only just read about the bulbils, and I have never
noticed any in the few wild calochortus I have seen.

[Paul T]

Calochortus uniflorus produces them Diane.  That is why I am stumped as to why I lost mine a number of years ago.  I really must get it again as I loved the flower on it (very simple, elegant mauve with dark eye).  One year it just disappeared, despite the fact it produced bulbils! 

Good luck with your collecting.  Hopefully with bulbils you can collect from a couple of different clones as well, so that you can then get seed with more genetic variability in your own collection.

[rob krejzl]

One year it just disappeared

Even glyphosate hasn't made mine disappear Paul.