Dactylorhizas 2012

[mark smyth]

Cally Gardens is in Scotland http://www.callygardens.co.uk/

[Peter Maguire]

you are not the only one who re-pots cypripediums at this time of year

I also re-pot mine now

Thanks Maren, Tony; it's good to know that I'm in illustrious company. 

[Neil]

Maren

Cally Gardens is at Castle Douglas in Scotland

http://www.callygardens.co.uk/

[Maren]

Thank you for the Cally Gardens info. Next time I'm in Scotland, I'll definitely go and visit.

[Claire Cockcroft]

Dactylorhizas in my garden have been poking their noses up for more than a week now.  Some are about 4 inches high already.  This is in spite of temperatures down to -4C and highs some days only to +4C.  Most are D. fuchsii hybrids who have mixed with D. maculata, D. majalis and "D. sp.".

They seem to love hostas -- today I dug out 23 seedlings from around hostas in a very dry area just beyond the eaves of the house.  I wanted to get them moved before the ground was too dry to dig.  There were many more than I expected.

More rain/snow mix is forecast for tonight.

[Torsten Junker]

I've got several different Dactys up now, the biggest being x grandis at ~2 inches tall, but even most of that group are still yet to emerge.

[mark smyth]

I'm going to put a big moan in here

I bought "flowering sized/FS" Dactylorhizas from three nurseries this month. Two UK and on in Europe.

One supplier has Dactylorhizas with lovely large tubers with excellent roots.

The other two are, so far, a disappointment. Their FS plants are very small with tiny noses. I just cant see how these can be FS plants. Time will tell and I will report back

I'll take comparrison photos this weekend showing the plants I bought, how they compare to each other and how they compare to my own flowering sized plants

[Maggi Young]

I think you'd find that each nursery would tell you that FS is FIRST SIZE, not 'flowering size'.

Of course, the obvious conclusion most draw from seeing FS is to think 'flowering size' but I think if you poke around most catalogues and lists, you'll see different.  

 And  that is not just for Dacts and orchids, but other bulbs too.

[Slug Killer]

As far as I'm concerned sizes are as follows - Mature - has already flowered at least once, FS to me is flowering size, FS-1 needs another seasons growth before flowering and FS-2 needs two seasons growth before flowering, etc.

If grown 'In Vitro' some nurseries will go by time/years out of flask which is not very reliable when it comes to flowering as sizes can vary a great deal and it's guesswork.

Mark - I have seen Dacts flower from small tubers but only time will tell and it will be interesting to see the sizes you have bought as what they believed to be flowering size, or what you thought you were buying as flowering size.

[Maggi Young]

Mature - has already flowered at least once, FS to me is flowering size, FS-1 needs another seasons growth before flowering and FS-2 needs two seasons growth before flowering, etc.

Now that is sensible.... but I don't think everybody uses  that?

[mark smyth]

Gulp! I would never have thought FS meant first size. Isnt it good i brought up this subject.

Ive already told one person not to place an order.

[Slug Killer]

Mature - has already flowered at least once, FS to me is flowering size, FS-1 needs another seasons growth before flowering and FS-2 needs two seasons growth before flowering, etc.

Now that is sensible.... but I don't think everybody uses  that?

I have always used it and seen it used were Orchids are concerned but as for other plants I can't tell you.

Not sure what you would expect to get if a plant was labelled as 'first size' as it's pretty meaningless unless you know what first size relates to as I assume there would be a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th size, etc. Would first size be the mature plant or the seedling?

If I bought something as FS I would expect it to be flowering size unless there were some explanatory notes saying otherwise.

Mark - I would email the people you bought the tubers from and ask out of curiosity what they mean by the term FS. Or send me their details and I will e-mail them as they might smell a rat if they know you have already bought from them.

[Maggi Young]

First size as  one year from flowering.

[Slug Killer]

First size as  one year from flowering.

Put me out of my misery Maggi as I've looked at it from different angles and now feel very stupid as I can't see for the life of me any logical explanation why 'FS/first size' would mean 'one year from flowering' . Obviously missing something and now it's bugging me

[Maggi Young]

Sorry! Didn't mean to cause bother    I just have this recollection of reading these terms in the past in various lists and thinking how silly it was. It wasfrom years ago and I remember being greatly irritated when I questioned it and was told the FS was first size, which meant one year from being flowering size.
Seemed utterly ridiculous to me then and it does now. I cannot give any photgraphic proof now. There may be old catalogues with that in somewhere here, but I'm not going to risk paper avalanches by seeking them out.