It has been a very mild, and very dry, winter here in northern California, with one sunny day after another. While this may be a pleasure here in this damp, soggy valley, it may be a problem for the rest of the state. We were over to an agility trial last weekend near Sacramento, and the hills of the Coast Range are brown from the dry grasses of last year, looking more like the middle of summer than February. Usually by this time the hills are green and a few early wildflowers are just starting to bloom, so this will be a poor year for flowers. Agriculture in California mostly depends on irrigation, and with the reservoirs still very full from the previous heavy winter, if this is an abnormally dry winter, we can usually get by. We have, though, had long spells of drought. I remember one seven year cycle with the reservoir where I lived (one of the largest in California), reduced to a mere mud puddle.
The mild temperatures and lower humidity have been very beneficial for the bulbs, however. Fungal disease is the most serious problem for a bulb grower, and in these conditions, it is minimal. Oxalis have done wonderfully well this season, and it is a delight to enter the greenhouse and see a lush carpet of color from their lovely blooms. I stroll down the aisles looking carefully in each pot, to see if anything new has popped up. I get some seeding from my Oxalis obtusa species, and I examine the pots carefully to see if a new color has emerged. Then I must extract the one bulb from the pot and pot it up. This is not as easy as it sounds. When I discovered Oxalis obtusa 'Elizabeth' in a pot of differently colored Oxalis, I had to take a small clump out. Then I had a pot of mixed colors, and it took four years to make sure I had a pot of pure 'Elizabeth' before I could offer it. I managed to get one bulb of a lovely new one which I think I will call 'Sundisc'. Here it is above.
Many other lovely species are blooming now. I have several color forms of Veltheimia bracteata, one a beautiful cream flushed lightly with pink. I have seedlings coming along, but I have to be sure they come true from seed before I can offer them.
I am very fond of Cyrtanthus, and a new one (for me) is in bloom now, Cyrtanthus mackenii v. cooperi. Here it is to the right.
There are very few double flowered Oxalis. I have only three in my collection, and would love to have more. Here is Oxalis compressa 'Pom-Pom', with perfectly round yellow pom-poms.
Also in bloom is Canarina canariensis. This is not a bulb, but grows from a knobby tuber, and has lovely flowers like lampshades. It has a rather lax habit, and would probably do well in a hanging basket.
While this may be a dreary time of year for many, this is a blessed time of year in the nursery, with shoots emerging everywhere, and many bulbs in full bloom. Shipping orders has started, but the pressure of the summer shipping season is still far away. I have time to attend the dog trials and work on projects in the garden, activities that must be put on hold in the summer. I still look forward to summer, though, for each season has its rewards, and the lovely long evenings when I can take the dogs to the beach, weed the garden, or train my dogs are evenings I treasure.
