The Bulb Maven

Can you ........

..... teach an old dog new tricks?  Well, here is Hannah with her new trick.  OK, she isn't an old dog, she will be five next month, and theoretically in her prime.  Those are cookies balanced on her paws, and she has learned that if she waits until I say 'get it' she gets both of them.  Willie, however, just eats them.  "Wait" he says.  "Phooey".

But here is a genuine old 'dog' with a new trick -- ME!  One of the advantages of living almost next door to the Fairgrounds, is that after the fair is over there are literally mountains of poopy straw and wood chips that they need to get rid of.  I like the wood chips from the stables occupied by the race horses best.  The straw blows around a bit in this windy environment, but the chips stay put and look very nice.  I can get as much as I want free, delivered to my house, and since the soil here is very dense and lacking in organic material, it is like solid gold to me.  I had eight big dump truck loads delivered, intending to use it on my field that is being converted to a wild garden. 

Well, that was a LOT of stuff, so Mark and I decided to rent a Bobcat, needed anyway to repair my driveway, and spread it all in one day.  That looked like so much fun, that I insisted that I wanted to do it, so he graciously showed me how to run the machine, and off I went.  It was GREAT!  Here is the area I am working on to put in a wild garden and create a wind break. 

 

I think at my advanced age I am learning the fascination men have for big machines.  What's next?  Guns??  The two young twenty-something men that help Mark were a bit astonished at the idea of me running the Bobcat, but, honestly, there was nothing to it.  Easier than driving a car.  I was a bit slow, so around mid-afternoon I handed it over to Mark, who finished the job.

Work on the greenhouses continues.  We have almost finished one, and will start on the next one when another pallet of greenhouse bench tops arrive.  The shipping of orders continues.  There is usually a flurry of orders this time of year, when people start thinking about planting bulbs, although the shipping season will start to wind down soon.  Seed sowing and propagating bulbs will start in earnest as soon as the greenhouse benches are finished.  This is actually the busiest time of year for me, since shipping bulbs, sowing seeds and the repotting of bulbs starts to overlap.  I like the change in pace, though, and I am excited about my new greenhouse benches.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Greenhouse work

The seasons march on, and this time of year I am thinking constantly of what lies ahead:  seed sowing the Mediterranean species; reorganizing the greenhouses; repotting most of the bulbs and getting ready for winter in general.  Autumn is the busiest season as far as bulb care is concerned, since the Mediterranean climate bulbs must all be repotted before they start to grow around the end of October to the middle of November.  A few can wait a bit longer, and during the same time period seed must be sown of most species.  Some bulbs multiply, but others, like Calochortus, must be sown every fall, and it is a very big job. 

In preparation for the tasks ahead, I am completely reorganizing my Mediterreanean greenhouse and having benches made.  In the past I have had all the pots on the floor.  This was largely due to the expense involved of buying or making benches, but now I am happy to say that I am able to invest the needed money.  This is helped by a new product, a plastic bench top that is light weight, easy to clean and relatively inexpensive.  Before now greenhouse benches were made of metal, so they were very heavy, very expensive and would degrade over time.  The new bench tops are UV stable, and should last a long time.  Here above I am in the process of moving every single pot twice, fist off the floor and out of the way as each bench is brought in, then organizing them alphabetically on the benches (and still smiling!).  I won't trust anyone else to move them, since they must be kept striclty organized or I simply can't find things.  Even so, as I put Calochortus plummerae in place, I will inevitably stumble across a couple of pots of C. bruneaunis that I overlooked, necessitating moving them all again.  Arrrgh!

Mark and Shawn, seen here, have also put a new ventilation system in, and now the greenhouses are vented automatically, keeping the temperature well below 85F even on warm sunny days.  Both the new benches and the new ventilation system are intended to make my work easier and more efficient, and, hopefully, to reduce losses.  The problem I have had with the pots on the floor is inadequate drainage, with the bottom layer of potting medium not drying out completely in the bulbs' summer dormancy.  Summer dormant bulbs need to be kept completely dry during their dormancy, so any excess moisture can encourage rotting.  I am expecting that elevating the pots off the ground will improve things considerably with better drainage, better air circulation and easier access.

www.telosrarebulbs.com  

After the Fair

The Fair has ended.  On Sunday, the last day, the ferris wheel was all lit up at 10pm when I looked out of my bedroom window.  The following morning at 6am it was gone.  The crews must work all night dismantling the rides, and packing them up to go on to their next assignment.  The field opposite my house, filled with cars and trucks over the weekend, is completely empty, the grass trampled, and bits of paper drifting here and there.

The most striking thing is the almost palpable quiet.  The sense of peace that has descended is complete, and has a feeling of expansion to it, as though the bustle and noise of the Fair overwhelmed the senses, and now that it is gone, one can again see the views, hear the surf and allow the mind to wander wherever it wants.

Now that we are edging towards September, there is a slight chill in the air in the morning.  Asters and Sedum are in bloom in the garden, reminding me to plant more next year.  The birds' nests are empty, and there are flocks of birds gathering, ready to make their migrations, their family life behind them.  Each season has its flavor, and autumn, to me, has a rosy golden glow, even though in this cool foggy part of the world we don't have much in the way of fall colors.  When I was a child in England I loved the autumn best of all, even better than summer.  I think I liked the changes, from leafy green, through all the tints of autumn to the bareness of winter, and I loved the crispness of the mornings.  It was also the start of fox hunting season, a passion of my blood-thirsty youth, and one of those strange contradictions that humans are comfortable with, for I was also a passionate animal lover.

I still have that feeling of excitement in autumn, as though it is a beginning, not an ending.  Maybe that's why I became a bulb grower, for this is the start of so many things - the blooming of the members of the Family Amaryllidaceae, the start of seed sowing, the stirring of the bulbs into growth.  There is no visible sign yet on most of the dormant bulbs, but the dropping temperatures at night are nudging them awake, and soon they will produce shoots, and, with the autumn rains, they will burst into growth.  We are promised an El Nino winter, something to be dreaded in this very wet, soggy valley, so preparations are being taken to protect the bulbs.  We have been through it before.  Here is a picture of the Ferndale Valley taken by my friend, Susan, about three or four winters ago.  Telos Rare Bulbs is out there somewhere in the watery waste. 

We survived.

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. 

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Planting for Wildlife

Gardening magazines are encouraging us to plant our flower gardens to attract wildlife, the natural habitats of most wildlife having become much reduced or degraded.  It's true that most gardening magazines are produced by people in New York City or somewhere similar, where wildlife means rats or questionable humans, and when I moved to my present home I, too, felt a need to encourage 'wildlife', with dancing images in my head of butterflies, bluebirds and sweet little roly-poly hedgehogs.  OK, we don't have hedgehogs in the USA, but then some of the articles I read are in English magazines.

I must say I have been successful, although not with the hedgehogs.  My garden abounds in wildlife --deer chomping my trees, shrubs and anything else they want, gophers eating the roots of the same trees, shrubs and anything else (I can't even plant bulbs in my own garden), 'possums eating everything, mice ditto, raccoons -- well, the raccoons are a story in themselves.

I live most of the time in my barn.  A very nice barn, all fixed up, but it came with its own residents who feel they have squatters rights, since they were here first.  My barn cat Annie takes care of the mice, or they take care of her, since she eats them.  The 'possums are a problem off an on, but recently I came downstairs one morning to find the work area a total wreck, things scattered all over the place, bins knocked over, cat food everywhere.  A zippered bag had had the contents removed.  The bag was mostly closed, but there was a gap about three inches wide, and everything inside the bag had been taken out, camping spoons and forks, some small containers of dog food, dog toys, etc.  A raccoon!!  With their human-like little hands they can get into anything.  In addition, the back door to the barn was wide open.  The handle is a lever handle, and the little stinker had figured out how to reach up and pull down on the handle to open the door.

Well, this was too much!  At one time I was charmed by raccoons, feeling that they were like wildlife dressed up for Halloween with their bandit-like appearance, but then I learned that they truly are the bandits of the backyard.  They will steal anything, attack and can kill your pets, destroy your pond and eat your fish, and break into your barn.  I once had a much loved pet chicken called Rosa, and finding her decapitated one morning completely finished off any sentimental feeling I had for raccoons. A fox would have had the decency to eat her for dinner, but a raccoon will kill chickens just for fun.  It was war.

It turned out that there were two raccoons, and they were nesting under my house (I haven't had the nerve to see what damage they have done under there).  The first one was not too difficult to trap, although it was so big I could hardly life the trap myself, so my neighbor Wayne came over and we transported it to the river about a couple of miles off.  The second one was more of a challenge, but after a week of trying several things I finally tricked it into entering the trap, and it, too, was transported to Botany Bay.  I must say I felt a pang of compassion, for when I approached the trap it huddled in one corner and covered its eyes with its little hand.  Such a human gesture.

So, having attracted all this wildlife, I am now busy getting rid of it.  Hmmm.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

February

After a long spell of really beautiful (and much too warm) weather, winter has returned, with one storm front after another marching across the Pacific Ocean, and bringing cold, wet and windy weather.  In the greenhouses yesterday a hail storm erupted, and the noise was so intense that when I tried to call the dogs I couldn't even hear my own voice.  The wind is bitterly cold, making work outside virtually impossible, but in the spell of sunny weather I was able to start clearing out a big flower bed in my front garden, removing shrubs that were not particularly attractive and perennials that were becoming invasive.  I have little time to spend on the garden, so anything that spreads or seeds itself about is now permanently banned.  The wind makes it impossible to grow large or lanky things, either, so out they went too.  Now the bed is completely replanted with clumping perennials, some bulbs and small compact shrubs, and I am looking forward to seeing how it will fill in.  It has been great fun, and I am reassured that I can still do heavy digging and shrub removal.

During the sunny spell the Oxalis were breathtaking, literally a carpet of color in my Mediterranean climate greenhouse.  Oxalis obtusa is at its peak with beautiful veined flowers in a wide range of lovely colors, all shades imaginable of orange, many different pinks and yellows and various combinations.  I am choosing new ones to list on the web site, racking my brain to think up names, since I have completely run out of color descriptions.  The one above is Oxalis obtusa 'Strawberry Cream'.  It is interesting that the color intensity of Oxalis obtusa varies from year to year.    I have not figured out why, whether it is temperature, sunshine or nutrients.  This year the colors are particularly intense.  Here is O. o. 'Buttercream' to the left and O. o. 'Lemon Cream to the right.

This is the time of year when bulb work is far less.  Seed sowing continues, but is almost done.  The winter-growing species need watering and fertilizing regularly, and this year I am fertilizing them with a liquid fertilizer at every watering, diluting it to half strength.  I have had difficulty keeping to a schedule of fertilization, sometimes forgetting to write down what I did, so this is easier to keep track of.  I also treat the seedlings for damping off fungus, very prevalent in this cold damp environment, and I keep fans on the pots of seedlings to keep the air circulating.  I am repotting some of the South American species, plus twin scaling some rare bulbs that I need more of and that are slow to reproduce.

It is the time, also, when I start revising the web site.  I am getting very frequent "can I order now?" inquiries, since the site still has 2008 on it, and I don't want to change it until I have it largely done.  Customers can order now, but with the proviso that there might be changes that will affect their order.  I usually have the web site finished by the end of March or beginning of April.  I have great difficulty sitting still for any length of time, so I have to do my computer work in chunks of a couple of hours at the most, then get up and do something else. 

I am looking forward to spring, which comes early in California.  The storms are welcome, for the entire state is in the middle of a drought that started about two years ago, with reservoirs badly depleted.  I am thinking forward to the dog trials and my yearly trip to Table Mountain in the Sierra Nevada foothills to see the wildflowers, and hoping to squeeze in a trip to the high country in the middle of summer.  So much to look forward to!

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Second Spring

Just a month or so ago, this greenhouse had nothing green in it at all.  Michelle and I have worked hard repotting virtually everything in this large greenhouse, and as each section was completed, we watered those pots.  With the falling temperatures, especially at night, plus the watering, the bulbs are putting on an amazing spurt of growth.

The greenhouse we are working in has bulbs from Mediterranean climates like Chile, the Mediterranean, the western Cape province of South Africa and the west coast of America.  These regions have summers that are dry with no significant rainfall, then in winter the rainy season commences with winters that are fairly mild and cool.  The bulbs from such regions grow in the winter, starting into growth in autumn and flowering anywhere from autumn to late spring, then going dormant for the summer when the rains cease.  For some people, this comes as a surprise, since we are so tuned in to summer gardening, but, after all, our daffodils and crocus behave this way, coming as they do from the Mediterranean region.

For those of us lucky enough to live in such a blessed climate we have two "springs" when things burst into bloom, one after the winter ends and another in autumn.  And autumn, at Telos, is also the time of seed sowing, since the seeds of bulbs from Mediterranean regions germinate with the autumn rains.

Lachenalias have made an incredible growth spurt, and the stunningly beautiful L. viridiflora is already in bloom, seen here to the left.    L. rubida is always in bloom before Christmas, seen here to the right.

Lachenalias are members of the Hyacinth family, but have a much wider range of color.  Many are scented.  They are from the western Cape  Province of South Africa, and make wonderful container plants for a cool greenhouse.  They can be grown outside in regions that receive no water in summer and have little frost.

There are many more Oxalis in bloom.  Here is the lovely O. tenuifolia to the right, an exciting new acquisition for me.  O. luteola, in its many forms, is also in bloom.  The foliage can be very varied, with some varieties with glaucous leaves, some with red backed leaves, and some with green leaves splashed with red, all with large yellow flowers.  Here is a sampling of O. luteola below.  I have many others, all a little different.     

A beautiful form of O. purpurea can be seen below.  I have lost the data on this one, so I don't know where it came from, but it has the largest flower of any oxalis in my collection, being about 5cm across. 

This is only the beginning for Oxalis, and the display will peak in about February, with each week bringing a new delight.

Seasonal Affective Disorder -- what's that?  How could anyone feel sad in winter with so much to look forward to.  A small greenhouse or sunny porch can be home to a wonderful collection of South African bulbs guaranteed to chase the winter blues away.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Season's End

The shipping season is virtually over.  I can still ship some bulbs, but the winter-growing species that are in storage are sprouting and need to be planted.  In addition, most of the bulbs in pots need to be repotted before they are too far along in growth.  I leave my bulbs in their pots for two to three years, then the potting mix needs to be replaced, becoming deficient in nutrients and with salt buildup from fertilizer.  Disease organisms can also build up in old soil, and the soil becomes compacted from watering and breakdown.  The old potting mix I keep, if it doesn't look like it has any major problems, and I apply it to my flowerbeds.

Michelle and I have finished potting my Oxalis collection, a total of 541 pots, shown above.  I am delighted, and looking forward to the incredible display that will unfold over the winter.  This morning we cleaned seed that had been collected over the summer, putting the seed in small coin envelopes labeled with their botanical names.  We also sowed many California natives, by putting the seed in plastic bags in damp vermiculite.  The bags are placed in the refrigerator, and sown in pots as they germinate.  This is absolutely necessary for any species that come from high altitude, since they need a lengthy winter chilling before they will germinate.  I also handle a lot of the low elevation species this way, though, since it saves time.  I can bag up dozens of species in a very short time, place them in the refrigerator, and take out the bags when I see any sign of germination, and this spreads the seed sowing out over the winter.  You have to know what you are up to though, since some species, such as most of the South African ones, need a diurnal swing in temperature to germinate, so putting them in the refrigerator would not work.  It is a surprise to some people to find out that many seeds need cold temperatures to sprout, gardeners being more familiar with sowing the seeds of annuals and tomatoes, but all the winter-growing species, including Narcissus, Crocus, all the California natives and any from similar climates, must be sown in the autumn and exposed to cool temperatures.  I sow the great majority of seed at this time, since Telos grows so many bulbs from Mediterranean climates such as South Africa, California, Chile and the Mediterranean region, climates characterized by cool rainy winters and dry summers.

As one season ends, another begins, and this is the most exciting season of all at Telos Rare Bulbs.  Over the winter there will be a succession of bloom, and while winter rages outside, the greenhouses will be ablaze with color.  Right now there are just a few 'teasers', hinting at what lies ahead.  The Nerines are almost finished, but there are still plenty in bloom.  To the left is a beautiful hybrid I called 'Fiesta'.

The species Gladioli from the Cape Province of South Africa are starting into growth, with shoots visible in most of the pots.  One or two bloom in the fall.  Pretty little Gladiolus carmineus has already made an appearance, with its cheerful pink flowers appearing before the leaves emerge.  Here it is to the right. 

  Gladiolus stefaniae, seen here to the left, is a beauty, and just opened this morning.  In its native South Africa, it grows on steep cliffs in the spray of waterfalls, where it remains constantly moist in winter.  I should mention that the species Gladioli from the Cape Province of South Africa are nothing like the stiff gaudy hybrid Gladioli of commerce.  They are generally small and dainty in appearance, and are often sweetly scented.  There are other Gladioli that grow in summer, coming from other regions of Africa, and these formed the genetic basis of most the commercial Gladioli.  They are much larger, and more suitable for the garden.  I will post on Gladiolus later in the season.

A few Lachenalias are also starting to bloom, as well as Oxalis, mentioned in the previous post.  By Christmas there will be so much to see, Oxalis, Gladiolus, Lachenalias, more Crocus, some Narcissus, Tropaeolum, Romulea, and many more.  The display will peak in late winter when the California natives will be in full swing.  Who says winter is dull?

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Oxalis

Mention the word 'Oxalis' to most gardeners, and they cringe, thinking only 'ineradicable weed'.  Well, yes, there are weedy members of this genus, but since there are thought to be about 800 plus species, it isn't surprising that one or two have made themselves at home in our gardens.  There are actually two that are problems as weeds, one is O. pes caprae, a South African native that is bulbous and has yellow flowers.  The other is also yellow, and is not bulbous.  It is O. corniculata, and is the one most people are familiar with, since it is found worldwide.  O. pes-caprae is not particularly hardy, so is mostly a problem in California.

My Oxalis collection is my pride and joy, and I am willing to be misunderstood by angry gardeners. The species I grow are not that easy in cultivation, and most would not survive even the mild temperatures of northern California, since they need a warm, dry dormancy to thrive, and in this foggy climate they need to be protected in greenhouses.  They are wonderful 'collector' plants, being small and infinitely variable.  I have about 300 plus taxa (this includes color variations of the same species) which I grow in five inch square pots, seen above last February. 

I had started repotting the entire collection about a month ago, concentrating on those that were already starting to grow.  Oxalis gracilis, seen here to the right, was sending up shoots. It is a fabulous plant, the flowers held on eight to ten inch stems that look like polished mahogany.  The bulbs are also most unusual for an oxalis, looking like a lily bulb without a tunic and with loose scales.  These were the first to be repotted, along with some species of O. hirta.   

 Here is O. hirta v. longituba, seen to the left.

There are several other forms of O. hirta, and I am sure I don't have all of them.  The one I call just O. hirta is seen here to the right, and is much shorter than O. hirta v. longituba, which grows about ten inches tall.

I have another tall one, which I call O. hirta Lavender Form, seen here to the left, and to the right is O. hirta 'Gothenburg' .  

O. hirta and all its varieties, have leaves that are somewhat velvety, and are nothing like the shamrock or clover-like leaves that most people are familiar with.  In fact, there are Oxalis with leaf forms that are single, ferny, like little threads, succulent, very large or extremely tiny.  There are also leaves that are purple, yellowish, tan or splashed with other colors.

I am also extremely happy to say that I have an assistant for the repotting.  My oxalis collection is so important to me that I have never trusted anyone else to repot them.  It isn't easy work.  The tiny bulbs need to be picked out of the gritty mix carefully, and all the pots need relabeling with the Latin names and other important data, such as the source of the bulbs with the collection numbers.  The daughter of a friend is now helping me, and Michelle is a pleasure to work with, and is doing a wonderful job.  She is taking time out of her own busy life, since she has her own business, making natural skin care products.  It is called Eden's Kiss, and can be seen at:  www.edenskiss.com.  Here she is, working away.  

The Oxalis season has just begun, and will continue throughout the winter.  They are a sure cure for the winter blues, with their beautiful flowers and intricate leaves. 

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Autumn

It is officially autumn now, and the trees are starting to show their fall tints, although in this mild coastal region we get very little compared to the splendor of the eastern forests.  I lived in Washington, D.C for four years, while in medical school, and autumn there is a magnificent affair.  At that time my love was rock-climbing, and I would go to West Virginia to climb, or to upstate New York, where the land seemed to radiate color during the autumn season.  Here it is muted, but still, the passing of the seasons has always seemed significant to me, and I welcome the change.  The swallows are still here, but massing in great flocks, swirling around the barn, getting ready for their departure south.  In their place will come the geese from the north, and all during winter the air will be filled with their cries.  This is a very soggy valley in winter, perfect for the hundreds of thousands of geese and swans that visit us.

This morning the dawn was clear, without the fog blanket that often envelopes everything in early morning.  The sky was rosy to the east, and the thin sickle of the waning moon floated above.  In the morning the stars seem to glow, quite unlike the sparkle of the evening stars (I am sure there is a scientific explanation for this), and it was a special treat this morning to see them unclouded by fog.

Although I don't grow the usual autumn blooming bulbs, like Colchicum, I have the Nerines, mentioned before, to look forward to, as well as the occasional Lycoris, some autumn blooming Crocus, Bessera, and many others.  Here is the lovely Crocus kotschyanus. 

The Bomareas are now at their peak, having to make their growth during the summer with the flower buds forming on the end of the shoots.  On the Pacific Bulb Society forum it is very interesting to hear reports from all over the country of fall-blooming bulbs, Lycoris in the midwest and southern states, Colchicum, autumn Crocus, etc.  Above is the orange Bessera elegans that I had not been able to post before, finding I hadn't kept a photograph of it.  This is the color that is most commonly available in commerce.  Below is Bomarea patacoensis (to the right), and to the left is a Bomarea that I have called B. sp. MG0478. 

A few Crinums are blooming, although by now I am starting to dry them off in preparation for winter.  The one pictured at the left of the first paragraph is Crinum moorei.

Bulb shipping is still going on at a brisk pace.  It seems I get a big rush of orders at this time, although I have been shipping since June.  All of a sudden people start to think 'bulbs', since this is when you would normally be thinking of daffodils and tulips, and they come in from the Netherlands, arriving in the fall for planting.  By the end of October it will be too late to order many bulbs from Telos, since they will start sprouting in storage in response to the cool nights.  I have tried storing them with a little heat to delay them sprouting, but felt it dried them out too much, and decided to just let nature dictate when it is too late to ship.  When shipping is almost over, then the big seed sowing takes place, all the native bulbs and South African bulbs needing to be sown around the time it starts raining here -- October.  The change of pace and change of focus is welcome, giving my work life a rhythm that is synchronous with Nature's cycles.  It is a good feeling.

www.telosrarebulbs.com