South African Bulbs 2011

[daveyp1970]

What does the foliage smell of, Davey?

Alberto it is fragrant but im not sure what it smells like,last year i thought aniseed but im not sure this year,it has very sticky stems and leaves.David Nicholson gave me these bulbs originally.

[Ezeiza]

The true shawii/pachychlamys smells of liquorice. The others have no fragrant foliage.

[arillady]

The smell of the foliage of Albuca shawii - I have never thought to smell the foliage of bulbs such as Albuca before. I will have to get seed of A. shawii just to smell the foliage.

[daveyp1970]

Pat hold on just a little longer i am posting some stuff to you later on today or first thing in the morning

[arillady]

Thanks Davey. Make sure each packet is labelled with the botanical name please .

[bulborum]

Pat isn't much demanding isn't it Davey

Roland

[arillady]

I wouldn't want Davey to go to the bother and expense of postage to see them seized by quarantine into Australia. Not a good outcome.

[bulborum]

I know Pat

I was just kidding
I still try to find a way
to get one of my cuttings from my grape
for a decent price to Australia
See:  Dad's Grapes

Roland

[t00lie]

I don't mean to be a 'kill joy' Pat ,however suggest you keep a close eye on the Albuca .

I have grown Albuca shawii from seed --sticky leaf /stem ,however have never noticed a scent,so it may not be the same as Daveys.

Seed germinates too much for my liking , so i deadhead every season and i have a suspicion my plant could become a weed in a warmer climate........

Cheers Dave.

[t00lie]

Providing a little colour besides the winter flowering Narcissus and a few early crocus is this little beauty.

Grown in a pot outside all year round, (taken under cover for the photo),it's height reaches 40 cm with leaf blades that have four narrow grooves.

Although there are only small red median streaks in the throat of the lower tepals i wonder whether this could be a form of Gladiolus nigromontanus .

Cheers Dave.

[bulborum]

Very nice one Dave

Do you mean it can handle -8ºC in pots

Roland

[t00lie]

Very nice one Dave

Do you mean it can handle -8ºC in pots

Roland

Thanks Roland .

Not sure --however it has withstood temps down to nearly -4C...

Cheers Dave.

[Ezeiza]

Dave, the smell is strong as you gently touches the foliage, otherwise not.

Albucas are interesting and rather undemanding, but they are not weeds everywhere. Most probably your albuca will behave very politely under different conditions.

[Diane Whitehead]

Last year I walked around the yard sniffing plants to see what shawii
smells like -  it's the same as Alberta spruce - Picea glauca.

I planted it in a raised bed. We had a cold winter: -8 or so,
and even worse, it got cold before plants had hardened off, but Albuca shawii
has done well.  I think I saw some flower buds emerging at ground level
today.  I must check my map to make sure it was the Albuca I was looking
at.

[Paul T]

Dave,

That Gladiolus looks very much like what I had identified a few years back as Gladiolus montanus.  Grows fine for me outside here..... has done for years.

Now off to look back through some of the many pages (and that is just in this topic alone) I've missed here since the last time I visited.