The Bulb Maven

Lapeirousia

I used to grow several species in this wonderful South African genus, but only have one in my collection at the present, albeit one of the best.  It is Lapeirousia oreogena, and a real beauty.

 

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Moraea

Coming into bloom now are the lovely Moraeas with their dainty flowers like little irises all in a rainbow of colors. Most Moraeas come from southern Africa, There are almost 200 species, and I wish I had all of them, but space is limited, and some are not easy to grow. There is some confusion with this genus, since in the horticultural trade plants are often sold as 'Moraea' that are actually Dietes. Dietes also come from southern Africa, but are much larger plants and are rhizomatous. while true Moraeas grow from corms. The flowers of Dietes may look similar, but the plants are evergreen, and make excellent landscape plants in mild climates, while the wispy, dainty Moraeas are better in a pot. Above you can see the lovely Moraea loubseri, and endangered species, with violet blue flowers that have a black furry center.

Moraea atropunctata is a short species with large flowers that are dotted with black and marked with salmon. The outer petals are also salmon, making the buds very beautiful.

To the right is the lovely pale blue Moraea calcicola.

Moraea tricolor is a very small species with brilliant flowers. Here it is to the left.

Moraea villosa must be everyone's favorite. It is beautiful, fairly easy to grow, and comes in a range of colors. I have chosen only a few of the colors to show you here below. There are so many more beautiful Moraeas, and pictures of some can be seen on the web site: www.telosrarebulbs.com. Again, I apologise for the formatting. I arrange things carefully, but when I publish it comes out totally different. Very frustrating.

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Cyrtanthus herrei

 
This is an exciting time of year, for many of the members of the Family Amaryllidaceae start blooming in early autumn.  Two years ago I purchased two mature bulbs of Cyrtanthus herrei, a beautiful and very desirable species from the arid northwestern part of the Cape Province of South Africa.  This bulb keeps its handsome grey twisted leaves year round, so even without flowers you have something to admire.  I was watering one morning, then looked across the greenhouse and suddenly noticed two beautiful buds emerging from my bulbs.  They seem to emerge almost overnight, and I was very thrilled that after a year or two my bulbs had settled in and were about to produce flowers.  This is a tall plant, about 24" in height (60cm).  Here is the entire plant to the right, showing the beautiful leaves.  

There is a strong resemblance to Cyrtanthus falcatus, another lovely Cape bulb, but one that is much easier to grow. Unlike C. herrei, the entire scape on C. falcatus bends over double at the top.  Here it is below. You can see the scape more clearly on the bulbs in the background.  Cyrtanthus falcatus is also evergreen.

The entire genus of Cyrtanthus offers many beautiful species that cover a wide range in color and form.  I will post on the genus in the future.

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Summer's End

July, August and September are so busy here at Telos that many other things come to a screeching halt, including blogging.  There have been wonderful happenings during that time, and I always mean to post a brief account, but as soon as I sit at the computer early in the morning, I am opening e-mails, answering inquiries and entering orders, so my good intentions get put aside.  Now, as summer ends, and we are heading into autumn, the pressure is somewhat less, so hopefully I can catch up on some postings.

Many years ago, when I was just starting growing bulbs from seed, I purchased seed of Boophone and Brunsvigia species from South Africa.  I believe it was my first attempt at growing bulbs of the family Amaryllidaceae.  Those seeds are now coming to maturity, and it is so exciting after twelve to fourteen years to go into the greenhouse and see a fat bud emerging.  I think it might be possible to bring them to maturity sooner than fourteen years, but I was growing them in very unsuitable conditions for a couple of years when I had to move twice, so this may have set them back.  They do, however, have the reputation of needing many years to mature, and all need a lot of root room, so growing them in pots that do not accommodate their large roots will hold them back.  I have most in pots that are about 18-14" in diameter, and at least as much deep (45-60cm), plus they get regular fertilization. 

I had posted on Boophone haemanthoides before, and the next one to bloom was Brunsvigia marginata, seen here to the left, with an umbel about 8" (20cm) across, and the most dazzling scarlet flowers.

A few days ago, I noticed a bud emerging from a pot labeled Crossyne flava.  These bulbs are twelve years old, so I was very excited, but it soon appeared that the flower was definitely NOT a Crossyne, but something else.  It could have been mislabeled seed, or perhaps over a twelve year period the labels got mixed up (an ongoing problem, since labels get broken off easily), but I was certainly not disappointed to see that the flower was that of Brunsvigia bosmaniae, an incredibly beautiful Brunsvigia.  Here it is below with its dazzling pink flowers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a stunning photograph, and more information on B. bosmaniae, go to: http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/brunsvig.htm

I am often asked "how can you be so patient to wait twelve years or more for a bulb to bloom?"  My answer has always been that time passes anyway, other things fill that time, and some things are worth waiting for.  These certainly were.

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Boophone haemanthoides

My Boophone haemanthoides (also spelled Boophane) is in bloom.  I have taken about thirty pictures of it as the flower has opened I am so thrilled.  It has taken fourteen years from the sowing of the seed, although I imagine it can be brought to bloom a little sooner, since my bulbs were growing in conditions that were far from ideal for about two years.  The flower is a beautiful cream, with pink on the flat stem and tips of the petals.  It has a slight sweet fragrance.

It might seem an extreme lesson in patience, waiting fourteen years, but the leaves of this lovely Boophone are magnificent in themselves.  Here is the fan of leaves to the right.  To give some perspective, the pot that this bulb is grown in is about 18-20" (50cm) wide, and much deeper, an absolute necessity to accommodate the large root system. 

There are three members of this amazing South African genus: Boophone disticha; Boophone ernestii-ruschii and Boophone haemanthoides (although B. ernestii-ruschii may now be included with B. haemanthoides).  All have very large bulbs which are toxic to cattle, the pollen of the flowers also being somewhat irritating to the eyes, giving it one of it's common names 'Sore Eyes'. 

Boophone disticha, seen to the left, is the most commonly grown, and one I have also been able to grow from seed to blooming size successfully.  It took my bulbs nine years to bloom, but others report success in seven years.  This species grows in both the summer rainfall regions of South Africa and the winter rainfall regions, so it is important to know the origin of your seeds or bulbs, since they will grow at different times of year.  The B. disticha bulbs I grow are from the summer rainfall regions, and produce their leaves in spring, blooming before the leaves appear (April for me).  They are not self- compatible, so you need two blooming plants to produce seeds. Even without flowers, the bulbs are highly ornamental since the bulbs produce a neat fan of wavy grey leaves.

After blooming, the umbel of both species enlarges considerably as the seed ripens.  When the seed is ripe, the whole seed head breaks off, and the wind will tumble it across the landscape, scattering its seeds as it goes.  The seeds are known as 'recalcitrant' seeds, meaning that they will germinate immediately and can't be dried or stored.  They are soft, and like small fresh peas.  Here is the seed head of B. disticha - compare the size to the flower size above.

Boophones have very extensive fleshy roots that need a lot of room.  I grow mine in pots that are about 40-50cm (16-20") in diameter, and about 50cm (20") deep.  They are often grown in a mix that is mostly sand, but since that would make the pots so heavy I would have trouble lifting them, I use a mix that is about 30% organic material (ground bark), 30% horticultural pumice and 30% perlite.  I fertilize regularly during the growing season with a liquid balanced fertilizer, and allow them to go completely dry in the winter.  I have not found them difficult, patience is the most important ingredient for growing them to blooming size, plus giving them enough root room. 

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The Morning Walkabout

Each morning my day begins with a walk around the garden.  As soon as there is enough light, I take a plastic bag and pick slugs and snails, having found this as effective as using snail bait.  I do use some bait, but I get a rather sinister delight in my daily bag.  I know I should feel pleased when I don't find many, but somehow I am more thrilled when I get a good bag full. 

I have few bulbs in the garden, since gophers are a terrible problem here, plus my land floods in winter, so they either get eaten or rot.  I do have some clumps of Dierama, the lovely South African hairbell, though.  They are mostly hybrids bought from nurseries, since I don't sell Dierama at present.  I used to, but they dislike disturbance and have to be sold in pots, and I don't have enough room at the moment.  Here is the lovely white one.

It is hard to tear myself away from the garden this time of year, but I must, since we are starting to harvest the bulbs, Oxalis being the first on the list, followed by some other South Africans, with the California natives being the last.  Harvesting goes on well into July, and it is a very dusty, dirty and messy job.  I have two young helpers, both pretty as spring flowers themselves, and eager workers.

After the daily slugfest I inspect the greenhouses, and was thrilled to find a bud appearing on my fourteen year old Boophone haemanthoides.  I have waited so long for this!!  I am so excited that I couldn't wait to post a picture of it in bloom, and simply had to show you the bud, with my hand to demonstrate the size.  Fourteen years is a long time, and you certainly need patience to be a bulb grower.  Some Brunsvigias take even longer.  I have Crossyne and Brunsvigia bulbs that are almost as old as this and I am still waiting.

Chlorogalum pomeridianum might not be as exciting as Boophone haemanthoides, but I like this bulb very much, and feel it is vastly underappreciated.  It grows in the foothills of the mountains in California, and opens its starry white flowers in the evening, staying open until dawn.  When I lived in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, I would drive home from work at dusk in early summer, and see their beautiful plumes glowing in the half light under the scattered blue oaks.  The landscape at dusk looks like an etching, the golden hills turning to silver with the canopies of the oaks a lacy black, and if there was a moon the six foot tall plumes of Chlorogalum seemed phosphorescent.  The one shown here, C. pomeridianum v. minus, is much shorter at about 24 inches. I have found it difficult to photograph, and have finally got a decent picture, but I will never have a picture like the one in my memory of acres of them glowing in the moonlight.  This is a bulb that is used by Native Americans to make beautiful little brushes, and you can read more of this under Native American Uses of Bulbs.

I am still pollinating the California native bulbs, and it looks good this year for seed.  The later flowering Calochortus are opening their buds now, so here to end this post is a picture of Calochortus gunnisoni.

 

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The Morning Walkabout

 
Our first major storm of the season is on its way, and is welcome, for the ground is so dry I had to use a mattock and breaker bar to dig some large holes for planting shrubs yesterday.  Today, before dawn, there were stars, but soon after the sky clouded up giving a beautiful dawn.  I didn't get a picture, but here is a picture of the hyrid Nerine I have called 'Dawn', in bloom now.

In recent days the dawn sky has been clear, the mornings very brisk, with occasional patches of frost here and there, and the smell of wood smoke in the air.  I love a wood fire.  To me, it is one of the joys and consolations of winter, compensating somewhat for the long dark evenings.  I enjoy all parts of it, stacking my wood, splitting kindling, trundling the wheelbarrow full of logs up to the house, then sitting by the fire, feeling its primal warmth and listening to the sounds of logs shifting in the grate, flames crackling and flaring when I give it more wood.  These last evenings I have been cleaning the seeds I harvested from the bulbs this summer, and a very pleasant (although somewhat messy) occupation it was, sitting by the fire, both dogs stretched out on the rug.  I read in the paper that more and more towns are banning wood stoves, citing air quality as a reason, and most recently saw that Chico was about to pass regulations severely restricting the use of wood stoves, so one day we may all be condemned to sitting in front of gas fired facsimiles of wood stoves, with no sound of burning logs, not smell of wood smoke, and none of the pleasurable chores that go with a wood fire.  I find this intensely depressing, especially since I know for sure that the poor air quality in the region around Chico where I used to live is due to automobiles and trucking, not to lawnmowers (they have also been blamed) or to wood fires.

Many Nerines are in bloom now.  I have posted on Nerines before, and that posting can be found under South African bulbs, since the genus has members that are summer growing, winter growing, or evergreen, so I don't want to repeat myself.  The winter growing species are the ones that bloom now, and some are truly magnificent.  I am slowly propagating the best ones, hoping to be  able to list them before too long.  Here is Nerine 'Rosa' to the left.  To the right is Nerine 'La Pasionara". 

There are many more in bud, like the lovely 'Razzle Dazzle' photographed last year, and seen here to the left, and I am hoping for some new surprises from bulbs that have not bloomed before.  

Shipping continues, but will start to wind down soon, although I can ship some bulbs year round, especially members of the Family Amaryllidaceae, so shipping never stops completely.  This is a very busy time of year, getting ready for seed sowing and repotting, and with my new greenhouse benches, I feel prepared for the tasks ahead and for the winter storms.

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Boophane

There are three members of this amazing South African genus: Boophane disticha; Boophane ernestii-ruschii and Boophane haemanthoides.  All have very large bulbs, which are toxic to cattle, the pollen of the flowers also being somewhat irritating to the eyes, giving it one of it's common names 'Sore Eyes'. 

Boophane disticha, seen here, is the most commonly grown, and the one I have been able to grow from seed to blooming size successfully.  It took my bulbs nine years to bloom, but others report success in seven years.  This species grows in both the summer rainfall regions of South Africa and the winter rainfall regions, so it is important to know the origin of your seeds or bulbs, since they will grow at different times of year.  The bulbs I grow are from the summer rainfall regions, and produce their leaves in spring, blooming before the leaves appear (April for me).  They are not self- compatible, so you need two blooming plants to produce seeds. Even without flowers, the bulbs are highly ornamental since the bulbs produce a neat fan of wavy grey leaves.

I also have Boophane haemanthoides.  My only large bulb is eleven years old, and has not produced a flower yet.  This species comes from the winter rainfall region of the western Cape Province of South Africa and is just now producing its leaves.  Here is a picture of the fan of leaves.

After blooming, the umbel of both species enlarges considerably as the seed ripens.  When the seed is ripe, the whole seed head breaks off, and the wind will tumble it across the landscape, scattering its seeds as it goes.  The seeds are known as 'recalcitrant' seeds, meaning that they will germinate immediately and can't be dried or stored.  They are soft, and like small fresh peas.  Here is the seed head of B. disticha - compare the size to the flower size above.

Boophanes have very extensive fleshy roots that need a lot of room.  I grow mine in pots that are about 40cm (16") in diameter, and about 50cm (20") deep.  They are often grown in a mix that is mostly sand, but since that would make the pots so heavy I would have trouble lifting them, I use a mix that is about 30% organic material (ground bark), 30% horticultural pumice and 30% perlite.  I fertilize regularly during the growing season with a liquid balanced fertilizer, and allow them to go completely dry in the winter.  I have not found them difficult, patience is the most important ingredient for growing them to blooming size, plus giving them enough root room. 

www.telosrarebulbs.com  

The Morning Walkabout

This is the time of year when we are away at dog trials on some weekends, having just returned from Oregon, where we did respectably well.  As soon as we are back, we slip into our routine of an early morning walk around the nursery, usually at sunrise. 

This morning gauzy, low-lying mists enveloped the fields, and as the sun rose they all turned to a brilliant orange hue.  The effect only lasted a few minutes, then the sun rose above the low banks of mist when they changed to opalescent colors before disappearing completely.

Yesterday it was so windy it was hard to work outside, so we all went off to gather seeds about an hour south of here.  There is a steep cliff by the road covered in Calochortus amabilis, and now is the time the seed is ripe.  Here they are to the left, in bloom about six weeks ago. It was a beautiful drive through the redwoods and we found a trail for the dogs to run, chasing each other happily through the poison oak (bath time when we got home).  It takes all my old rock climbing skills to get a few pods of this Calochortus, but I don't have to feel guilty about collecting them, since the seeds would undoubtedly fall on the road below where they would be doomed.

Walking around the nursery a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a little white crowned sparrow dart out from one of my Bomareas.  Usually I trim all the old stems off the Bomareas in about April or May, making room for new growth, but I had left four or five, since seed was still ripening on them.  It happened again the next day, so I investigated, and found the most perfect nest snuggled in the stems.  The eggs soon hatched, but the babies disappeared a couple of days after hatching, probably victims of the raccoons.

In the greenhouse where I grow my tender subtropical bulbs, a few things are blooming.  Bulbs from equatorial regions seem to bloom whenever they feel like it, also going dormant erratically, so my pots of Eucrosias have some dormant bulbs, some with leaves and some in bloom.  Here is Eucrosia aurantiaca, one of the more spectacular bulbs from Ecuador.  Also in bloom is the rather strange Sprekelia formosissima from Mexico, seen here to the right.  There are, I believe, two Sprekelia species, both from Mexico, S. formosissima and S. howardii, a recently described species that I have finally got my hands on, although they haven't bloomed yet.

The powder-puff blossoms of the South African Haemanthus humilis ssp. hirsutus is in bloom, white with pink bracts and very attractive.

I was very thrilled to see emerging buds on my Hymenocallis hawkesii (probably more correctly named as Ismene hawkesii).  I had obtained seedling bulbs some time ago, and now they have matured to bloom size.  This is an extremely rare species from Peru, where it grows at about 6000'. Here it is to the right.  

Work in the nursery continues with seed gathering and unpotting the dormant bulbs.  The native bulbs are the last to go dormant, and can't be harvested until their seed has ripened, so this will continue well into July.  The South African bulbs have mostly been lifted by now, with Oxalis being the first batch to be unpotted, and Oxalis orders already being shipped. 

Summer is upon us, with sunny days preceded by morning fog in our area.  The fields are being mown for hay, the cows all glossy, fat and contented.  The solstice has already passed.  I always feel a touch of sadness at the summer solstice that they days are incrementally shortening, although we will still have daylight beyond 9pm for a while.  I love these long days.  I can work in my garden until dusk or take the dogs to the beach at sunset.  I wish it would last forever. 

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Ixia viridiflora

I usually post on a genus, but since I only grow a couple of Ixias, I could not really say anything very intelligent about the other species. They are from South Africa, and I did grow them at one time when I lived in the interior of California, where they were absolutely wonderful garden plants, producing their tall wands of flowers in a dazzling array of color.  I do see the hybrids in gardens here, and I would strongly recommend that you try some of them, although they need to be kept mostly dry during the summer.  This is an area where the hybridizers have produced varieties that are much showier than most of the species, with tall graceful wands of flowers in almost every shade imaginable.

There is one exception though, where the hybridizers have not been able to improve on nature, and that is one of the Ixias I grow.  It is Ixia viridiflora, one of those rare bulbs that have green flowers, although not grass green, but more of a turquoise hue.  The center is a beautiful purple, contrasting well with the main color of the petals.  It is true that it is a bit fussier than the hybrid Ixias you see in your garden center, but it is well worth cossetting, only needing to be kept dry during it's dormancy, and protected from wind and severe weather in winter.  A one gallon pot suits it well (that would be a pot of about 15cm in diameter, and 20cm deep).  They make lovely and unusual cut flowers.

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