PBS Forum

I agree with the others. There is no general treatment for winter growing seedlings during their first summer. What I do is to group the pots together which need the same treatment. All in shade. Those pots where the seedlings go completely dormant are moved to the dormant group and those which remain at least partly green are kept moist. However, even the fully dormant pots get a small amount of water every four weeks or so. Small bulbs my dry up to death if kept brutally dry for many months, especially in a hot climate. It has also happened to me that seedling bulbs have rotted with too much water during dormancy but this is the exception. I have lost more to drought. All this is a matter of constant learning and close observation.
Uli 

Hello Diane,

If you wait for seed, this may help. Angelo Porcelli describes the seed of Gladiolus italicus as round and not winged (about the size of a black pepper grain) and the other two species have winged seed of different size (gladiolus communis and byzantininus)

I have seen a beautiful deep purple form of gladiolus byzantininus in English gardens but never managed to acquire it. Whatever I bought under this name always turned out to be something different. 

Hello Carlos,

Thank you very much for sharing these pictures. The Iris is spectacular.
For the Albuca, some questions. How tall are the flowering scapes? Do the spikes bend over with the tips pointing downward at the bud stage? Only stretching to an upright position shortly before the flowers open? 
Looking at the color of the individual flower and the size compared to your thumbnail the flowers are far too small for the true Albuca clanwilliamigloria. And are not deep yellow.
Your plant matches more a plant which I grow from Silverhill seed under the name of Albuca fragrans which is flowering now, late for a spring flowering bulb. No fragrance, at least not for my nose. A typical feature is the nodding inflorescence at the bud stage. Clianwilliamigloria does not do that. The inflorescence of fragrans is about 1m tall whereas Albuca clanwilliamigloria will reach at least 150 cm up to 2 m. 
I also have seedlings of the Pérouse ,,clanwilliamigloria" but mine have not flowered yet.
The picture attached shows the true clanwilliamigloria, not a good picture, though. And unfortunately no scale.

Hello @Martin,

Yes, the month of May is very beautiful in Germany. Here in Portugal drought has set in and only irrigated parts of the garden remain green.
Very nice pictures! I like the ,,olympic" Scilla peruviana and Triteleia hendersonii most. 
Uli 

This unusual flower came as a surprise. I had already stopped watering the pots with winter flowering bulbs but suddenly three brown spikes popped up in one of the pots. They soon opened. With late abundant rain the pots got watered again and I observed flies being attracted to the flowers. There is a smell reminding of cow manure but not overwhelmingly bad. I will observe for seed, the flowers are short lived. The two pictures were taken 4 days apart.
Uli 

Cypella aquatilis took several years to settle and grow from an offset and is flowering abundantly for the first time. Thank you, @Martin Bohnet for this beautiful plant!

Uli 

Hello Peter,

If it is cool and you are tired of the rain, the flowers might not open because there is no direct sun. Many South African plants will not open their flowers on dull days.
I really like Albuca but I find them very difficult to identify. There are quite a few in my collection without a name or with a question mark behind their name. I can for sure say that it is not Ornithogalum longibracteatum but otherwise......... I do not know.

Sorry about that 

Uli 

Hello,

Happy to answer your question but it would be helpful if you could send a picture of the whole plant, foliage included if there is any and some kind of scale to be able to judge the size of the plant. And also a picture with open and not closed flowers.
Uli 

Ixia seem to like moisture as long as they are growing. I have experimented to attach the pot of Ixia paniculata to automatic irrigation, it was never better. Next season I will do the same with Ixia viridiflora. Ixia paniculata is VERY floriferous and the flowers are so numerous that the whole effect is very long lasting. The inflorescence is oriented towards the sun. 
Once summer dormancy starts, the pots are kept totally dry.

Hi all,

I have the faintest memory of a previous thread about Albuca clanwilliamae-gloria being self infertile. So imagine my surprise when I looked up in the greenhouse today saw my lone flowering individual had set fruit! We?ll see if the seed are good later this year, but I just had to share. Very exciting!

Best,
Cody Coyotee
Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA


Hello Cody,

This is very interesting! In general the seed set in Albuca is good if there is seed at all.
The only thing I wonder about is: are you sure that your plant is the real clanwilliamigloria? I am asking because there is a different species circulating under the wrong name of Albuca clanwilliamigloria. I have sown seed of the false one and even at the seedling stage they look different but they have not flowered yet.
The other question would be if there were other Albuca in flower at the same time so your seed could be of hybrid origin.

I hope that you don't mind that I put this thread on the forum where you can post pictures.

Bye for now 

Uli 

Dear Members living in the EU,
In a few hours' time the spring EU Seed and bulb exchange will be closing (at 24:00 Central European Time) So you still have a few hours to place an order.
The next exchange will take place in September and will be announced through the same channels. Please do not send any more items to Martin until further notice.
Once you will have received your order from this spring exchange, you will find a payment slip included.



Happy growing and have a great summer!


Uli and Martin

Dear All,

Here are some comments on my donation for the current bulb and seed exchange.

Uli 

Amorphophallus atroviridis:
Rare in cultivation. Beautiful deep green divided foliage with a pink picotee edge. Mottled leaf stalks. The flowers are relatively small and pale yellow, no evil smell, not really interesting. I had no seed set. Flowering tubers do not produce a leaf in the same season, the tubers on offer are not of flowering size. A striking foliage plant. Easy to grow in a warm spot with good light out of direct sunlight. Summer growing with dry winter dormancy, increases fairly well. 

Dioscorea discolor: plant the tuber as soon as possible on arrival and give gentle bottom heat. It will still be slow to sprout but without bottom heat it will take ages. Once started it will grow fast into a vigorous vine with beautiful foliage. Give good light to get good leaf coloration. Fertilize and water well, increases in number and size of the tubers. From Bolivia. Makes a robust house plant on a suitable trellis. Will go dormant fairly late in the year, keep completely dry then, otherwise it will rot. 
Pictures in the WIKI 


Oxalis elegans:
From Ecuador, summer growing and winter dormant. Beautiful colour combination of deep pink flowers, a green centre which is surrounded by a deep purple ring. Attractive foliage as well. Some bulbs were given to me more than 20 years ago by a friendly gardener of Göttingen Botanical Garden. I have given it to as many people as possible. So I could get it back after I lost it. With others of my summer growing Oxalis it succumbed to a fungal rust infection towards the end of summer when the weather turned damp. That was before I moved to Portugal. O. elegans is slow to increase and does not like hot conditions, so I am not sure if I can maintain it in Portugal. Give it full sun but make sure that the pot does not get hot. It seems to be very rare in cultivation.

Oxalis stipularis or decaphylla.
Received very many years ago from a friend who collected it in Mexico but without a name. Summer growing and winter dormant. This one is easy to grow and makes a very attractive pot plant. The foliage is the interesting part, very finely cut into many branching segments. Small pale lilac flowers. Increases easily. Rare in cultivation as well. 
Pictures of both of these oxalis are in the WIKI 

Hello Diane,

Yes, that is my book, too.

Uli 

Hello Åke,

You made me smile when you mention the "damned fly"......
As I had no solution to your question I looked it up in my Arisaema book and came across this interesting section: they state that most species are self sterile and even different clones do not always set seed due to the lack of suitable pollinators, the method in the attachment is working well. They write about Arisaema in the open garden, but I think you grow your flowering plants under glass, do you? I hope that the authors of the book do not mind me posting this and I hope it is readable.

All the best 

Uli 

Hello Piotr,

Yes, I do see some red spotting on adult Hippeastrum bulbs but it does not seem to harm them. All of my Hippeastrum are growing outdoors, most of them in pots but if I have a lot (from seed) I try at least part of them in the open ground. Only the seedlings are kept under glass. My winters in Portugal are frost free and Hippeastrum grow in many gardens. 
Yes, most of my Hippeastrum but not all is raised from seed. 
Narcissus fly and rodents are the biggest enemy.

Your seedlings look very good! I start gently fertilizing at this stage.