The Bulb Maven

When it Rains ....

We have had very rainy weather the past two weeks and it is pouring with rain right now.  And, along with the rain, the last ten days or so have been another kind of ordeal.  Right after training my dogs, my heart stopped beating for ten seconds.  I had an implanted monitor, so this was caught on the monitor, and my heart started up again on its own (or I wouldn't be typing this), and I was admitted to the hospital for an emergency pacemaker insertion.  I had been having blackouts, and for the past many months I couldn't drive anywhere.  I could work, and the nursery work went along well, actually, since I was at home all the time, no dog shows, no hiking, no seed collecting trips.  During this time one of my terriers, Willie, was diagnosed with Cushing's disease from a pituitary tumor, and within two days of me leaving the hospital, he took a turn for the worse and I had to take him in to be euthanized.

I have, or had, three dogs, but Willie was my favorite in some ways.  He was no good at agility since he had severe arthritis, and all his life he had one health problem after another. So maybe I felt more protective towards him, but he also had the most personality of all of them.  He was funny and the most loving and affectionate dog I have ever had.  Hannah is my dancing partner, my agility dog who has won multiple championships, my little shadow that responds to my every movement and cue.  Arlo is the baby, meek and submissive and adorable, but Willie was just Willie, and that is all he needed to be.

My broken heart will heal.  My cardiologists are the best, and I am told that in five weeks my activity will be unrestricted and I can run a marathon if I want.  I don't want, I just want to work and go hiking and running with my dogs.  The big hole in my heart with the loss of Willie will someday be filled by another puppy, but I will miss him forever.

Seeds

My two helpers will be coming today, and I have work all lined up for them.  This time of year, everything seems to come crowded together, getting late season orders out, replanting some species that have started growing in the bins, repotting trays that need the bulbs moved up to larger containers, and many, many more.  One important job is cleaning all the seeds collected in the nursery over the season.  This was a great year for seed.  I am not quite sure why, but maybe using a better mix that is mostly pumice for the Mediterranean climate bulbs and new fans that circulate air a lot better all played a role.  Weather, of course, is critical also.  I have had some years when I have gathered almost no seed from my Calochortus collection, and since there are no commercial sources for most of these seeds, I must get them myself.  I don't have time to travel to do so, enjoyable as it is, so I am dependent on my own bulbs for seed.

Today my helpers will be cleaning seed and putting the seed in envelopes.  I will sort through them and decide which will be sown and which will be saved for next year.  It is an old adage that you should never sow all your seed.  You never know what the winter will hold, and last winter I lost many trays to damping off even with treating the seedlings and excellent air circulation.  This is not a small job, and after they are packaged and sorted, many will be sown in plastic bags in damp vermiculite then placed in the refrigerator.   As soon as there is any sign of germination, they are taken out and sown in the greenhouses.  This spreads the sowing of seeds all through the winter, for some will promptly germinate, others might take four months.  For people not experienced with California native bulbs, this can be confusing.  It isn't like tomatoes, these bulbs need cool temperatures to germinate, then grow through the winter.  Warm temperatures inhibit germination, so the refrigerator is a safe place with appropriate temperatures to start their germination cycle.  Some seeds from Mediterranean climates, such as South African seeds, need a diurnal swing in temperature of at least 10C, so those seeds are sown directly in trays in the greenhouse.

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