South African bulbose plants 2009

[Michael J Campbell]

Mark they look like Longituba,is there a little purple/pinkisk stripe down the centre of the petals.?

[Paul T]

Mark,

They're P. longituba, as Michael suggests.  They do look quite good en masse, but I always found them somewhat disappointing.  Particularly as I bought them as P. ensifolia and was expecting something somewhat more interesting! 

[Michael J Campbell]

Bulb offer
.I have quite a few Tritonia tangerine to spare, if anyone is interested send me a PM. They go in the bin on Monday morning 12Th October at 9am if no requests before then

All requests for the above have now been dispatched.

 Many Thanks.

[Lesley Cox]

Yes, I agree, Mark's Polyxena is longituba. There seems to be quite a lot of confusion about this genus. My own longituba came oridinally as odorata, which it certainly is (odorous) but perhaps they all are. I imagine someone decided it was odorata because it was smelly as someone will call an iris "lutea" because it's yellow.

[Lesley Cox]

Fermi, unless you'd said otherise, I'd have thought the narrow ixia was a splioxene.

[mark smyth]

Thanks everyone. I will relabel them tomorrow. They badly need to be repotted. They are crammed in a 10cm pot and probably ina mix that is not the best

Fermi your first photo of the Ixia fills me with envious lust. If you hear I'm coming to visit change the label!

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi your first photo of the Ixia fills me with envious lust. If you hear I'm coming to visit change the label!

Mark,
if you want I can send you some corms in the summer and you can try to "turn them 'round"

Fermi, unless you'd said otherise, I'd have thought the narrow ixia was a splioxene.

Lesley,
this pic better demonstrates that it is an ixia!

I was leaning towards thinking that it is a hybrid, but Alberto C has told me that it's most likely another species. These ixias are a bit muddled as I got many of them about 20 years ago (before I started keeping more detailed records) when I used to sow seeds in rows in "communal boxes". When I "rescued" them (from neglect) there was no telling what was what!
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Nice Brunsvigia leaves there too (I think?)

[mark smyth]

Thanks Fermi. Do you know what species it is?

Should I repot my polyxena in to a larger pot? What mix should they be in?

[fermi de Sousa]

Thanks Fermi. Do you know what species it is?

Should I repot my polyxena in to a larger pot? What mix should they be in?

Hi Mark,
The bright yellow one is most likely Ixia maculata, but I don't know what the thin petalled one is.
If the polyxena is in flower now I would wait till they are dormant to re-pot.

Nice Brunsvigia leaves there too (I think?)

Hi Paul,
they're the foliage of the Crossyne flava which I posted in the autumn(?)
cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Fermi,

Ah, I recall them.  That was the 3 different coloured ones wasn't it?

[daveyp1970]

i have just bought some gladiolus cardinalis and was wondering do i keep dry during its dormancy like the rest of my gladiolus or damp because of the location where it is found in the wild.

[mark smyth]

Thanks Fermi

[fermi de Sousa]

Fermi,
Ah, I recall them.  That was the 3 different coloured ones wasn't it?

Yes, Paul,
Here's a reminder!


cheers
fermi

[Paul T]

Davey,

Gladiolus cardinalis is virtually evergreen for me here.  It isn't "quite", but it basically shoots and soon as it dies off.  When I notice the clump is looking really dead and dreadful I usually find that there are new shoots starting to emerge again.

Thanks Fermi.