Tecophilaea Cyanocrocus

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:14:38 PDT
Rodger wrote

>Would it be fair, then, to describe tecophilaea as a snowmelt species?
>
>I ask because to my small mind, snowmelt species are quite difficult 
>to grow in
>captivity, but tecophliaea is reasonably easy to grow.

The description of the habitat sounds to me like the moisture it gets 
is from melting snow, but one must consider the elevation where the 
plants are growing and other climatic factors as well as the mere 
fact of melting snow. Some common garden bulbs grow in nature just 
following the snowmelt, such as Crocus sieberi and many tulips. The 
difficult ones, I think, are those from higher elevations where they 
have a very long winter dormancy in stable conditions under snow.

Nonetheless, I don't grow Tecophilaea in the open garden, though I've 
heard it has been done in this area (Portland, Oregon), nor do I keep 
the other plants I mentioned that flower with in in the open. They 
are all under cover, though not frost-free. Even Fritillaria pudica 
is iffy in the open garden here, though very common just over into 
the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains. Rodger might be able to 
grow it better if he's in the rain-shadow part of Vancouver Island?

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA




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