Iain. I see that you've got a 'flypaper" mind... much like mine. All kinds of stuff sticks to it. Not always pretty or desirable. I quite agree with you about researching the original provenances of plants. But in any case: Do not kill middle Asian steppe plants with "kindness", as in too much nitrogenous fertilizer and putting them in a nice "bed" where they will surely suffocate from the nice conditions equivalent to a goosedown comforter and a diet of "sugar and spice and everything nice" Cheers, Adam in Glenview, where the daffodils are just opening now and a Corydalis pumila (?) has been open for about 10 days. . ----- Original Message ----- From: <info@auchgourishbotanicgarden.org> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Friday, April 17, 2009 3:29 PM Subject: [pbs] Tulips > Linda Kumin, Mark and Adam have both given you excellent tips and advice. > > I would add that it seems pretty self evident now that one of the biggest > mistakes growers of all geophyte bulbs, indeed virtually all plants, make > or have made (moi included) is to fail to research their native > habitats---soils, rainfall patterns and ambient temps both max & minimum. > > However here's a wee tip from a hairy Highlander in Scotland, so far touch > wood, we do not suffer from attacks by virus, botrytis, nematodes, etc. > unless found on bulbs whose first stop over is at the small quarantine > unit. Wherever possible there is simply no alternative to disease control > from virus initially than to grow from seed, an opportunity of course not > available to all of us all of the time, virus is not known to be > transmittable from/through seed. I do not ever use the now limited range > of chemical controls, except from weed clearance from the garden's path > system where Roundup is now the only practical legal option following the > removal of others here in Europe. > > You could try to use the 'Hot Water Treatment' system on newly arrived > bulbs before you plant them, this is very effective at destroying over > wintering nematodes, fusarium and other nasties. One other method is to > use a highly dilute domestic bleach in warm water for around a few minutes > and then rinsing them in clean warm water again for a few minutes, very > rarely can fungal, virus or parasites such as nematodes manage to survive > that treatment which for lilies is really good but for jacketed bulbs like > tulipa more care needs to be taken to ensure total control. > > One of the best controls and protections from disease and other 'problems' > is to plant on appropriate sites with appropriate soils, Lilium which I do > most work with should almost always be planted on free draining ground, > preferably on a slope too if possible, certainly not on or in clay as > that's a fast track for losses. All our bulbous plants, whether Lilium, > Iris, Tulipa, etc, etc grow on and in pure sands and gravels derived from > acid granite rock, everybody has different approaches but so far so good. > > Some of the Tulipa species which you mention are infected by a disease > called Tulip Breaking Virus which gives them the pretty patterns and > colours however this virus is catastrophic for most Lilium and easily > transferred between these genera by sap sucking Aphids such as green fly > which are most troublesome when there is high humidity and poor air > circulation. One control in a sense of limiting infestations, and length > of, are cold winters however I would imagine in areas of e.g. coastal > California it must be very frustrating on account of sea fogs and warm air > during the summers because very often once the plants have ended flowering > folk tend not to look out for Aphid colonisation however they will keep on > transferring virus right on into Autumn as long as there is green foliage > of any sort to suck. > > Miss Kumin you say you are new to gardening, so is everyone, there are no > experts in gardening, perhaps a few deluded fools who think or fancy that > they are, but we all make mistakes, usually often and always year in year > out, welcome to the club, happy gardening but try not to mix Lilium with > non species Tulipa. The 'greigii' type tulips are most often than not > hybrids of one sort or the other based to varying degrees on the true > species Tulipa greigii, the others using that name are a bit like Heinz 57 > varieties. The other lilies you mention by name, except Tulipa tarda per > se which is a true botanical species, if sold true to name, sometimes a > big 'IF' all the others mentioned are either clones or hybrids grown under > intensive systems majored on by the Dutch growers and they are now so > reliant on chemicals due to over intensive agriculture even their ground > water is contaminated with soluble nitrates from various forms of farming > including intensive pig rearing. Best of lu > ck with your organic systems which are infinitely superior if you can make > it work, admittedly it isn't easy and makes very often for extra work but > far more satisfying if not exactly financially rewarding in commerical > terms under the present regimes governments around the world permit. > > Incidentally did you know that your name Kumin, as more often spelt in the > old countries as 'Cummin' or here in Scotland Cumming, and variations > thereof, is derived from the Cumin plant, a herb often used in cookery, > but was used as a so called Plant Badge by that family to distinguish > themselves during battle. More titbits of useless information. > > Iain > > -- > I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. > We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. > SPAMfighter has removed 66277 of my spam emails to date. > Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len/ > > The Professional version does not have this message > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/