Ledebouria cooperi

[shelagh]

This 19cm pot of Ledebouria cooperi did not flower last year so I gave it Ian's magic formula and as you can see it is not going to flower this year either.  I know that John Dower has a similar pot which isn't flowering because we discussed it last week.  Does anyone have experience of this and hopefully a solution?

[Martinr]

Perhaps a whispered threat of the compost heap. They say stress often encourages flowering.

[Maggi Young]

In this week's Bulb Log, Ian shows a lovely plant he got from Sweden, under the name Ledebouria cooperi LEG270 ..... the Gothenberg Gang had it under that name....but it doesn't look like a L. cooperi to me

That being said, I'm not able to hazard a guess as to what it may be ..... but I like it!



Shelagh, do you keep your L. cooperi pretty dry over the winter?

[Maggi Young]

When did you feed it last season? It may be you fed it too late in the season .....

[Lesley Cox]

Really surprising Shelagh as it flowers hugely here with no "treatment" as such, at all. I'm sure there are pics somewhere, maybe in a southern hemisphere thread from a while back. It flowers so well for me that I've even got a pile of thrown out bulbs under a gum tree, uncovered and ignored for the last few years and they STILL flower like mad, and increase almost frighteningly.

[shelagh]

It has flowered really well in the past and been on the bench at the end of May it's just the past 2 years it hals sulked.  Yes Maggi it is kept fairly dry in winter and Brian feeds all the bulbs with 1/2 strength tomato feed and then after flowering (if they do) I give them ian's treatment.

[arillady]

Maybe dividing it might make it flower

[Wim de Goede]

This is what I got from the botanical Garden of gotenburg as Ledebouria cooperi, it looks total difference then yours Shelagh.

Wim

[Maggi Young]

That is just like ours, Wim. 
But when I have seen this plant before it has always been like Shelagh's plant.

[Lesley Cox]

We'll have to get this double identity thing sorted before they start appearing on the seedlists. Of course Shelagh's (and mine) used to be Scilla adlamii. Those taxi gnomists again!!!

[Maggi Young]

This is what I got from the botanical Garden of gotenburg as Ledebouria cooperi, it looks total difference then yours Shelagh.

Wim

 Wim, we had a message from Gerben Tjeerdsma, who tells us the correct name for the plant we have is Ledebouria ovatifolia. 

[Lvandelft]

Shelagh, I keep my (shallow) pans since many years in summer outside from May till Oct.- Nov. when first frosts start.
Then I bring them inside and keep them dry till firsts sprouts are starting.
Some years I give them some low nitrogen fertilizer after flowering , but some years just forget it. They flower every year, so I think they are not needing much.
I divide the pots every 4 or 5 years when flowering is getting less.
I confess that I rather neglect this plant most years, but maybe that is what it likes 

This is what I got from the botanical Garden of gotenburg as Ledebouria cooperi, it looks total difference then yours Shelagh.

Wim

Wim, I showed Ledebouria cooperi  in Lisse this spring, but possibly you were not there on that day and missed it.

[shelagh]

Thanks Luit, that's what ours look like when they do flower.  Personally I like plant that thrives on neglect.

Must admit though the other Ledebouria looks very interesting, I haven't seen that before. 

Thanks for all your comments I shall be taking a look inside the pot when the foliage dies down and snaffling out all the little ones and making 2 pots.

[Afloden]

Maggi,
 
 I disagree that your plant is ovatifolia. Venters key says this for ovalifolia and ovatifolia - commonly confused (but what species isn't in Ledebouria;
"...ovary 3-lobed......11. Adaxial leaf surface smooth; leaves without threads when torn; margin smooth; bulb ovoid, bulblets absent; Western and Eastern Cape . . . . . . .25. L. ovalifolia.......
... Bulb scales attenuate, without threads when torn; adaxial leaf surface smooth; rachis smooth; ovary shoulders rounded; Eastern and Western Cape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25. L. ovalifolia"

and "31. Bulb scales truncate; live bulb scales loosely arranged; leaves glossy, abaxial surface monochromatic, base canaliculated . . . . .26. L. ovatifolia" after going to ovary 6-lobed and leaves without threads when torn.....

 I find this genus to be notoriously difficult, but the plant in your picture does not match what is described so briefly in Venters  revision -- SYNOPSIS OF THE GENUS LEDEBOURIA ROTH (HYACINTHACEAE) IN SOUTH AFRICA
S. Venter, Herbertia 62, 2008. Sadly only some are illustrated, and then only in line drawings.

 I have a large collection of these that needs a good bit of dissecting scope time to discern how many species I have in my collection. Some are ex type locality material so I trust the ID's, and others, like hypoxidioides, are easy to key due to there unique morphology, but so many go to luteola, revoluta, and concolor...... I'd be more than happy to trade seed. I can forward my permit on if your willing. Floribunda and numerous others are ripening now.


Shelagh, I have the same problem... In the past 4 years I've had about a half dozen flower stalks on my L. cooperii pots. I've tried dry and wet, fertilizer, etc. Maybe I should plant some out.

 All the best,

 Aaron

[Maggi Young]

Aaron, this is what Gerben wrote us : " Looking at the forum I saw that the name of the LEG Ledebouria is not updated. According to Elsa's Flora it should be
Ledebouria ovatifolia. It flowers at the moment in Sweden too, after a very hard winter."


Our bulb is making an offset, so we hope it will prove fruitful in that way but I don't think the flowers are going to mature properly to set seed..... it's not looking promising at the moment. All the drying winds we're having are playing havoc with plants in the garden let alone wee pots.  

 If Wim de Goede's plants fare better perhaps he might get seed?