Sternbergia 2010

[udo]

some Sternbergia in flower this weekend:
St.greuteriana, stoloniferae form
          ``        without stolones from S-Crete
    sicula from Olynthos, NE-Greece

[Gail]

The Italian Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie from Paul Christian.

[Gerry Webster]

The Italian Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie from Paul Christian.

Thanks for posting this Gail. I've never seen the Bisceglie form before &, in appearance, it seems to confirm the view that there is no difference between plants grown as  S. sicula & those grown as  S. lutea.

[cycnich]

The Italian Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie from Paul Christian.

Thanks for posting this Gail. I've never seen the Bisceglie form before &, in appearance, it seems to confirm the view that there is no difference between plants grown as  S. sicula & those grown as  S. lutea.

Hi Gerry
            Bit of a minefield here is it not. I am happy that the plants I grow are actually lutea and sicula, I have several forms of each and I can see the difference. However I am not so sure with grueteriania, I have the stoloniferous form which I think is the true thing but others I have look like smaller forms of sicula. I am not convinced that grueteriana grows on crete at all, but I am only a grower not a botanist, much work still to be done I feel.

[Gerry Webster]

The Italian Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie from Paul Christian.

Thanks for posting this Gail. I've never seen the Bisceglie form before &, in appearance, it seems to confirm the view that there is no difference between plants grown as  S. sicula & those grown as  S. lutea.

Hi Gerry
            Bit of a minefield here is it not. I am happy that the plants I grow are actually lutea and sicula, I have several forms of each and I can see the difference. However I am not so sure with grueteriania, I have the stoloniferous form which I think is the true thing but others I have look like smaller forms of sicula. I am not convinced that grueteriana grows on crete at all, but I am only a grower not a botanist, much work still to be done I feel.

Hello Pat. Yes it is a minefield & the plants I grow as S. sicula & S. lutea do seem distinct. However, the latest botanical opinion is that no consistent differences can be observed between the two. As regards S. greuteriana, last year Tony W posted a photo of S. sicula (from a collection by Melvyn if I remember correctly) which looked just like a large version of S. greuteriana. Make of this what you will.  I incline to the view that there is one, very variable, species - S. lutea - in which distinct forms might be recognised as cultivars.

[Hans A.]

About 100l/m2 of rain in the last days make Sternbergias appear, first Sternbergia sicula and a large flowering Sternbergia lutea.

[Gerdk]

Great pics, Hans! It seems the autumnal growing periode started.

Gerd

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Seems like they enjoyed the drink Hans : they look great !

[Gerry Webster]

Wonderful Sternbergias Hans.

[pehe]

Hans,
Your Sterbergias are very floriferous. It is nice to see a flowering lutea allmost without leaves. I wish my garden grown lutea would perform like that. But our wet cold summer do not permit that.

Poul

[Melvyn Jope]

Having just read the recent posts I went out and photographed a couple of mine again. I am not confident that I will add any clarity to the subject but to me the plants that I have photographed look very different.
The first is what I call Sternbergia greuteriana which came from the Omalos in Crete, it always retains the same habit, and having checked last night when snail and slug hunting, this includes the fact that the flowers stay open and flat all night (as commented on by Ian last year). This is the only one of my Sternbergia species with that characteristic.
The second plant is the form that was distributed by Kath Dryden as S.greuteriana and has been seen many times at AGS shows. I do not know where it originates from but to my eyes looks very much more like the plants that I grow as S. sicula.

[Melvyn Jope]

Re my previous post, for easier comparison, this image is of the Omalos S. greuteriana taken at the same angle as the Kath Dryden form.

[hadacekf]

Sternbergia lutea and sicula in the meadow.

[Gerdk]

Sternbergia lutea and sicula in the meadow.

Franz, needless to say but the Sternbergias seem to love your conditions!

I add 2 pics from my new rockgarden here - the bulbs were planted
in autumn 2009, so I can't imagine whether they will perform well during the next years.

There is also a pic of two Sternbergias from the greenhouse - the left one
is Sternbergia sicula from Crete, the right one is a very small sicula/lutea from Karpathos and near to greuteriana (according the measurements of the petals).
I just hurried outside (in the dark) and found the flower of the right plant open - but also some of the luteas. Maybe opening or closing over night depends on the age of the flower?

Gerd

[Miriam]

Great plants from all!
I will try to show you Sternbergia clusiana in nature soon