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  

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