Ixiolirion

AW awilson@avonia.com
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 07:04:19 PDT
Thanks, Jim. Between your comments, those of the reference of the 1934
success to how they were grown in coastal Washington and the most recent
input from Peter Taggart in the UK  it's pretty clear they are not bulbs
that I would want to consider for this warmer area. Now that we have this
input, it would be useful for others for us to show it in the Ixolirion
section of the Wiki.

Andrew 
San Diego  

From: pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]
On Behalf Of James Waddick

Dear Andrew and all,
	Sorry for my slow response to this topic.
	Yes I do grow Ixiolirion tataricum, but not as well as I
theoretically should. I understand that this is a bulb of the Central Asian
Steppe area, not drastically unlike the Central US prairie where I live.

	Years ago I bought dozens of bulbs cheaply form a Dutch source
expecting them to naturalize or at least be an easy subject. 
Most of them bloomed a beautiful medium to deep blue the first spring and
then disappeared.  I won't speculate why, but they did. Now perhaps 10 years
later I do have a small clump on a steep west facing hill side that bakes
seriously in the summer. I have a few Spuria Irises in the same area.

	They bloom reliably in the main spring season, but being rather
short and hidden among taller plants I can easily miss the display. In short
they are nice, but not a knock out by any means.

	I will remind you my continental climate is fairly extreme compared
to Andrew's. Last winter we got down to -12 F had long periods with night
time lows below 0 F and even longer below freezing
(32 F). This summer we have had long periods over 100 F with night temps
down to 80+ F. And an extended drought just recently and finally broken (!!)
by an inch of rain. LAst winter we did have some snow cover, but this is not
typical.

	I'd be happy if I could maintain a nice clump in one clear spot, but
I am lucky they persist at all.

	On the other hand they are not expensive and you might just buy a
couple and try them and improvise their growing conditions.

			Best		Jim W.




--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph.    816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
	Summer 100F +




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