Bulbs from South Africa - 2010

[PeterT]

nice greenhouse Roland  here's one of mine this month. Theres a Morea or two and an Empodium under the snow 

[cohan]

ouch! sorry to see did it collapse/blow in, or are these parts normally kept open for air?

[cohan]

Another one worth looking at

http://lifestyleseeds.co.za/usd/index.php

i have looked at that too, bu thave not checked for updates, may do that later-great time of year to spend time combing over lists of exotic plants  .. spent a couple of hours or more last night going through silverhills again--they really do have a lot of fascinating stuff--had i the (warm sunny) space i would love to grow a lot of the shrubbies etc..
there is a good list of lachenalia there, but no eriospermums at the moment (at least a good sign that they don't keep ancient remnants in the catalogue..lol) and not much for haworthia, another (non-bulbous) interest.. a few nice gasteria and others though--pelargoniums for example...

[cohan]

Well it's going to have to do some warming up to reach that in Derbyshire Mark 

nice greenhouse, roland! peter--here too, every year  it would be very costly to keep a greenhouse even at 0
though with passive solar heating, and a technique where you pump warm daytime air below ground, and pump it back up at night, might be possible.... have to build it though...lol

[Ezeiza]

Cohan, Babianas need deep planting, therfore qualify as large plants (below ground).

[PeterT]

ouch! sorry to see did it collapse/blow in, or are these parts normally kept open for air?

I don't have any heat on, the glass round the sides is only to keep cats away from the sand. I have found a roof alone controls the moisture level which allows me to regulate the growth patterns of the plants and If I get it right   many supposedly tender plants will survive freezing. Much of this green house is oncos so maximum air flow.
......It is a clever idea to store warm air but it would require a lot of storage to provide enough warmth to mitigate a frosty night.
Another idea I read of is a tecnique of temperature control where steel drums of water are put in a green house. During the day the glass traps heat and the water warms up, at night the water acts as a radiator delaying the night frost. When the sun heats the green house the next day the drums of cold water slow down the temperature rise. The overall effect is to moderate the temperature fluctuations

[PeterT]

Cohan, Babianas need deep planting, therfore qualify as large plants (below ground).

My Babianas have pulled themselves 30cms deep, I have potted them in (14inch) -40cm deep long toms. They produce stolons or contractile roots that escape through the bottom of pots which are not deep enough.

[David Nicholson]

I don't have any heat on, the glass round the sides is only to keep cats away from the sand. I have found a roof alone controls the moisture level which allows me to regulate the growth patterns of the plants and If I get it right   many supposedly tender plants will survive freezing. Much of this green house is oncos so maximum air flow.
A clever Idea to store warm air but it would require a lot of storage to provide enough warmth to mitigate a frosty night.
I read of a tecnique of temperature control where steel drums of water are put in a green house. During the day the glass traps heat and the water warms up, at night the water acts as a radiator delaying the night frost. When the sun heats the green house the next day the drums of cold water slow down the temperature rise. The overall effect is to moderate the temperature fluctuations

Peter, I'm very interested in your winter greenhouse regime would you mind contributing please to the new thread here.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6382.0

[PeterT]

Had a look and left some comments David. If Maggie wishes to copy my post that you quoted above to the thread -it is fine by me.

[Ezeiza]

Peter, may I add that in solar heating systems those 200 litre drums are painted matt black to trap even more warmth.

[PeterT]

Thankyou Alberto, that makes good sense, though it was not in the description I came accross.

[cohan]

good notes on the babianas, tks, though i don't find the plants (minus flowers) interesting anyway.. no doubt the same applies to other bulbs though...

as for the greenhouses--the underground storage idea has been used in cold places--if i remember the quote off the top of my head, it has enabled 8 months of vegetable production in edmonton, for example, just a bit colder than here (though a bit warmer in summer) compared to a very limited frost free season usually--we'd be lucky to get june through august! though the right site, techniques (eg covering for a few early or late frosts) and crops, could get you half of may and at least some of sept....
the technique also has the advantage of cooling in summer...
i've only read about it so far, not seen any in person..

[Michael J Campbell]

Daubenya aurea flowering today on the bedroom window.

[David Nicholson]

Lovely Daubenya Michael. You obviously don't get the hassle that I get about pots on window sills

[David Nicholson]

Whilst preparing some stuff to add to our local AGS Group Web Site http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/groups/South-Devon
I just had a check on the Kew Check List for Polyxena longituba and find that the accepted name is now Lachenalia longituba (M van der Mawe) Manning and Goldblatt, Edinburgh J. Bot. 60:565 (2003 pub 2004) and it's in the family Asparagaceae.

Now I'm not a Taxonomist, nor a Botanist but to me Polyxenas, by and large, don't even look like Lachenalias