Miscellaneous 'bulbs'

[Darren]

Janis recently pictured Anemone tschernjaewi elsewhere. My own plants are now looking good and represent a real bargain. In 2004 Chris Chadwell listed 'A. biflora' collected in Kashmir. They were only £1 for a bulging packet of seed owing to his doubts about their viability. I split the packet into four as an experiment. I sowed one quarter in september 2004 and then another quarter each subsequent year so the oldest seed had been in the fridge for over four years. Interestingly, though the percentage germination dropped each year I still got good germination from the 2007 sowing. In 2007 the first flower appeared from the earliest sowing and confirmed my suspicions that it was actually A. tschernjaewi. In 2008 I got enough flowers to produce my own seed, which germinated OK. In 2009 I got a bumper seed crop and now have a seed tray full of seedlings. Any seed I get this year I hope to donate to the SRGC exchange and have been pollinating away like mad.

Growing next to it is what came to me as 'Ornithogalum nanum' from a packet of bulbs I picked up at the SRGC Discussion weekend a couple of years ago. It looks terrific in the sunshine.

[mark smyth]

wow that's a lovely Anemone.

[tonyg]

Yes, a beauty Darren.   Not a plant I have seen very often.  I would be happy to exchange some fresh seed with you in due course.  Feel free to bid for something of mine.

[angie]

gorgeous Anemone, you must be pleased with yourself.
Angie

[johnw]

Any seed I get this year I hope to donate to the SRGC exchange and have been pollinating away like mad.

Darren - I'm sending my SRGC 2011 order in tonight. Any idea what number this Anemone will be?   

A stunner.

johnw

[Darren]

Thanks folks - glad you like it as much as I do. Given that the Anemone really wants sowing in autumn with the true bulbs I'd rather distribute at least some of the seed then so i will be in touch.

I'd wanted this species since seeing it in the Phillips & Rix 'Bulbs' book and I want to try to spread material around now to keep it going.

[Lesley Cox]

You're taking an unfair advantage John.

[Darren]

Yay!

My first flowering of the lovely Anemone biflora. I bought tubers from Norman Stevens and from Rannveig Wallis 2 years ago and this is the first to flower. Another has a bud so it looks like I might get some seed here too, though I am delighted with the germination of seed of this species I recently got from Kurt Vickery. Note this one has a couple of extra petals.

Still on a 'bulbous' anemone theme. Several years ago I purchased some tubers under various names (e.g verae, baissunensis, petiolulosa etc). The naming was perhaps a bit dubious to say the least. Most turned out to be very close to my 'authenticated' plants of A. petiolulosa (from Archibald seed). One was red with black stamens and appears to be closest to 'A.bucharica'. This one illustrated is a bit of a mystery. Unlike the others I grow in the biflora group it is quite vigorously clump forming, though the rootstock resembles several typical tubers of this group but clustered together and connected. The flowers are unfortunately quite small. There is a faint red flush on the reverse which makes it resemble the only photograph I can find purporting to be 'A. verae'. I'd be interested in any ID the forumists can suggest!

You can probably gather I'm a bit keen on this group of Anemone....

[Lesley Cox]

They're very beautiful Darren and not the easiest, I believe.

[David Nicholson]

Very nice Darren, could you say more about growing conditions please.

[Armin]

Great stuff Darren!

[Darren]

Anemone 'biflora group' growing conditions ;


They get my standard growing conditions really, though I suppose they get a little more care than most.

Adult tubers are treated pretty much as Kath Dryden describes in 'alpines in pots'. I repot each year in september and dust the tubers with either sulphur or dolomite lime powder. They are then potted into 10cm square plastic pots (the type with side drainage holes as well as bottom ones) in 50:50 JI No2 and grit. The pots are then plunged in sand under glass. They get the usual thorough 'storm' watering in september, then again in october. After this I don't water into the pots again until growth is evident (late January for most of them). But during the winter I do heavily water the plunge occasionally and then the side drainage holes must allow some moisture to get into the base of the pot. Once the shoots grow strongly I water freely into the pots again, and feed with half strength tomato fertiliser occasionally. Later this month they will get the Ian Young potash treatment too.

They are dried off as the leaves start to yellow in late april or may. Then I lift them from the plunge and put the pots under the bench for a totally dry but not over-hot summer rest.

Seed I keep at room temperature if I intend sowing it the same year. As outlined above - it will give some germination up to 4 years at least if refridgerated. It is sown in september on either a sand/peat mix or an inert mix of seramis/perlite/vermiculite. I find that the seedlings are very prone to damping off , especially if I use soil based seed composts. The seeds are barely covered (vermiculite works really well for this) and then kept moist with TAP WATER only until well after the seeds have germinated. The pots are placed under cover but outdoors. Germination is usually evident at around the time the adults pop up in january and then I bring the pots under glass. I try to feed with each watering but err on the dry side as damping off is a danger until the stems firm up a little (around now) when I am more happy to water freely. I am considering putting the pots outside in april when it gets hotter under glass in the hope of keeping the seedlings green a wee bit longer. You only get cotyledons in year one. Once the seedlings die back for summer I keep the pots under cool cover with the aduults but I don't repot for at least another season as the seedling tubers are really tiny. In year two you get the first adult leaves and you may get flowers in year 3, certainly year 4.

[Maggi Young]

Great advice, most helpful, Darren. I added a bit to the subject of your reply to make it more obvious in a search. 

[David Nicholson]

Thanks for taking the time for that Darren, very helpful. One more question though: too tender for the garden, or too precious?

[Darren]

Certainly hardy enough David. Suspect too much water in mid winter and especially in summer would be their downfall though - think Juno Iris whose habitat they often share. A bulb frame might be good though - I will try this when I dare!