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I believe this is my first flowering for these Albuca Namaquensis.

IMG_4051.jpg

These Orange metallic silver flushed Sparaxis Tricolor flowers really change as they progress through their flowering cycle.

Here's a fun first flowering (for me) of some gift bulbs from a very generous SA bulb aficionado...

Babiana ? & ?

IMG_4074.jpg

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 02, 2024, 02:03:48 PMI believe this is my first flowering for these Albuca Namaquensis.

A. namaquensis has threadlike leaves and usually only a rather small number of flowers per pedicel.

Pic's 4072 and 4073 - B. purpureacyanea (spelling very likely wrong), or a hybrid that strongly favours that species.

My wife and I went to Ruch Bancroft Garden, Tilden BG on Sunday and UC Berkeley BG on Monday.
What a show. This post is from the BBG.
I will post a few I could not identify (labels) in the unknown thread.The last Watsonia was really nice but could not find the name

Bulb mass color blue BBG.jpg

Bulb mass color yellow BBG.jpg
Babiana mass color BBG.jpg
Watsonia laccata BBG.jpg
Moraea ochroleuca BBG.jpg
Watsonia BBG.jpg

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 02, 2024, 02:03:48 PMI believe this is my first flowering for these Albuca Namaquensis.

Just showing the flowers, the plants had lovely storms of fine leaves, but the slugs mowed them down.

Robert
in clement San Francisco, where the weird veggie tubers are pretty much out, and the (mostly) aroids are ready to go.

Quote from: petershaw on April 02, 2024, 05:22:33 PMMy wife and I went to Ruch Bancroft Garden, Tilden BG on Sunday and UC Berkeley BG on Monday.
What a show. This post is from the BBG.
I will post a few I could not identify (labels) in the unknown thread.The last Watsonia was really nice but could not find the name

WOW! NO KIDDING. What a show...I would Love to see that in person!!

Quote from: CG100 on April 02, 2024, 02:21:01 PM

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 02, 2024, 02:03:48 PMI believe this is my first flowering for these Albuca Namaquensis.

A. namaquensis has threadlike leaves and usually only a rather small number of flowers per pedicel.

Well...Albuca is not a Genus I have really spent any time trying to familiarize myself with more thoroughly. I bought these as Namaquanensis, they have flat leaves that are tightly curled (I bought them for this unique look), so I guess they're wrong. I quickly browsed the wiki but didn't see anything that fits.

Quote from: CG100 on April 02, 2024, 02:21:01 PMPic's 4072 and 4073 - B. purpureacyanea (spelling very likely wrong), or a hybrid that strongly favours that species.

Thanks CG100. I don't see this species you're mentioning, in the wiki...I see Purpurea but it doesn't look like the two tone flowers I posted.

@Too Many Plants! The red and blue Babiana is B. rubrocyanea.

@petershaw The pic of the last Watsonia is W. aletrioides. This is the pure species - as mentioned in a post many moons ago almost all the pics on the wiki are hybrids. In W. aletrioides the tepals barely flare - as can be seen in your picture. The pictures under W. aletrioides are almost all hybrids with W. laccata

Hi, I am not really on Albuca, but this one is quite attractive. It does not seem to produce the dozens of bulbils seen on other species, does it?  Surely it is not spiralis?

I'd be willing to swap a few seeds. I also have dozens of bulbils of another unidentified species that I posted last year.

Quote from: Robin Jangle on April 02, 2024, 10:22:05 PM@Too Many Plants! The red and blue Babiana is B. rubrocyanea.

Thanks Robin. I have three different groups of B. Rubrocyanea (pic w/reply) from different sources, the flowers I posted previously in this thread are quite different...what say you?

Quote from: Carlos on April 02, 2024, 10:23:49 PMHi, I am not really on Albuca, but this one is quite attractive. It does not seem to produce the dozens of bulbils seen on other species, does it?  Surely it is not spiralis?

I'd be willing to swap a few seeds. I also have dozens of bulbils of another unidentified species that I posted last year.

Hi Carlos, if I get seed I'm happy to mail some to you. I bought these as 20mm+ bulbs. I've had one for a few years, and added 3 more last couple years. I guess I don't know for sure, but haven't seen signs of bulbils yet.

Apologies - B. rubrocyanea was where I was thinking....

So far as I am aware, various sources don't mention much if anything by way of variation in the species, so maybe some hybrid influence???

Most Albuca with spiral leaves that are at all common in cultivation have threadlike leaves but how twisted they are is influenced by cultivation conditions - how much water, how much sun. In fact, you can find comment about pretty much all contorted foliage species of bulbs in general, being similarly affected.

How about Fusifilum, or Trachyandra, or any of the other genera that get amalgamated and split from Albuca regularly?

Pictures 9303 and 9304 would fit with Albuca concordiana. It all of a sudden appeared on the succulent market for one or two seasons. I find it very susceptible to excess water during the winter growing season.
But what are the spheres in different colors next to the Albuca?

Quote from: Uli on April 03, 2024, 01:16:06 AMPictures 9303 and 9304 would fit with Albuca concordiana. It all of a sudden appeared on the succulent market for one or two seasons. I find it very susceptible to excess water during the winter growing season.
But what are the spheres in different colors next to the Albuca?

looks like you may have got it Uli. I think I saw the one pic where the leaves don't look very wide and moved on, but in the other pic the leaves look closer to mine.

And the spheres in my garden can have two purposes...#1 Garden Chachkies (decorations), and second sometimes they are marking a plant that's dormant for parts of the year.

Quote from: Uli on April 03, 2024, 01:16:06 AMPictures 9303 and 9304 would fit with Albuca concordiana. It all of a sudden appeared on the succulent market for one or two seasons. I find it very susceptible to excess water during the winter growing season.
But what are the spheres in different colors next to the Albuca?

you can see the browning of the leaves in my flower pics, I don't recall that before this. We've been getting more rain than normal this year with more frequency, so I'd wonder if the leaf browning is from more rain, or the flowering event (which I haven't had before).

Quote from: CG100 on April 03, 2024, 01:04:42 AMApologies - B. rubrocyanea was where I was thinking....

So far as I am aware, various sources don't mention much if anything by way of variation in the species, so maybe some hybrid influence???

To me, it looks quite different from Rubrocyanea, and Regia (which sometimes I wonder if Regia is what's in cultivation instead of Rubrocyanea). Somewhere along the way, I thought I've seen a Babiana species that matches my pics fairly closely...maybe on SH species seed lists? If what's in cultivation is Regia instead of Rubrocyanea, then I think this could fit the pics in the pbs wiki, but not the pics of "Rubrocyanea" that are all over the web!

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 02, 2024, 11:16:18 PM

Quote from: Carlos on April 02, 2024, 10:23:49 PMHi, I am not really on Albuca, but this one is quite attractive. It does not seem to produce the dozens of bulbils seen on other species, does it?  Surely it is not spiralis?

I'd be willing to swap a few seeds. I also have dozens of bulbils of another unidentified species that I posted last year.

Hi Carlos, if I get seed I'm happy to mail some to you. I bought these as 20mm+ bulbs. I've had one for a few years, and added 3 more last couple years. I guess I don't know for sure, but haven't seen signs of bulbils yet.

Thanks!! 

This Ferraria finally opened up this morning, it had been playing shy for days. Tag long MIA, but I believe it was supposed to be Uncinata. Obviously it's not the blue I was expecting, it is quite a bit smaller, slower growing and less robust than all my other Ferraria! 

I have one bulb in flower, one in bud at the moment, grown as rubrocyanea from Silverhill seed. I'll wait for the second to open so that I can compare before commenting about them.

Iridaceae, Strelitzia42, Goldblatt and Manning, gives detailed descriptions and how to tell rubrocyanea and regia apart. I'll copy this here when I have a moment. Unfortunately, the book has a pic' only of rubrocyanea.

Clivia and SoCal Alligator lizard...

Looks like something made a snack out of your lizard's tail...

Another one of my mystery bulbs first flowering (sort of anyway).

I'm fairly confident this is...

Sparaxis Metelerkampiae.

It does seem shy to fully open in my full sun position. It is a recently planted bulb, so IDK if that is part of the issue. I haven't grown this species before, but all my Sparaxis seem fine with full sun, except I grow Villosa in a spot somewhat protected from late afternoon sun.

A quick stroll through my garden from the other morning. I really enjoy this time of year!

Quote from: Robin Jangle on April 02, 2024, 10:22:05 PM@Too Many Plants! The red and blue Babiana is B. rubrocyanea.

Hi Robin, I previously addressed this to you, but you didn't respond. I looked you up because I was not familiar with who you were, and now that I see you're a local SA that lives near the habitats, and is a long time afficianado, I'm very interested in (and would appreciate) your thoughts on this! I'll attach pics of both for your response.

Pics 3836 & 3833 are what's all over in Cali as B. Rubrocyanea! To me 4072 & 73 are quite different...

Updated pics of the ? Babiana from 4/7

Thank you so much for any insight you can offer

@Too Many Plants! indeed 72 & 73 look more like Babiana regia than B. rubrocyanea. The leaves however are not as narrowly lanceolate as I recall those of regia being. However I have seen other records of regia from other localities that do approach rubrocyanea in width. I am confident however that they are B. regia.

A quick diagnostic test will settle the issue: most simply (no ruler or loupe needed) in regia the stigma is trifid and in rubrocyanea it is flattened and similar to that of a Petunia. To further confirm: in regia the tube is 10-12mm long whereas in rubrocyanea it is 15-20mm long. Also the filaments in regia are 8mm long whereas in rubrocyanea they are 10-13mm long. Also note that the filaments in mature rubrocyanea are curved whereas in regia they remain erect.

In 2000 myself and a friend were botanising a small recently burned patch next to the last known habitat of Protea odorata. We found what looked like B. rubrocyanea but the foliage and stigma were different. Back home I consulted literature and arrived at Babiana stricta var regia - apparently Presumed Extinct. I phoned John Manning and as luck would have it, Peter Goldblatt was at Compton Herbarium as they were working on Babiana! A field trip was arranged and they confirmed it was indeed "stricta var regia" - I recall John saying to Peter "We'll call this one regia". Whilst we were taking photos and preparing herbarium specimens Peter went botanising and Geissorhiza purpurascens - a species he had described from exhibits at the Darling Wildflower Show in 1981 but had never seen in the wild.

Here's another gifted mystery bulb first flowering...

obvious Sparaxis Tricolor

I have many Sparaxis Tricolor that came from a long established SoCal garden. So I believe I have some different color combos than you wouldn't typically see in S. Tricolor. This one is a VERY nice rich red that has what appears in person as a blue haze on top of the red. Really quite stunning in person.

@Too Many Plants! - that is also a hybrid. Obviously tricolor as one parent; the other is pillansii
The tepals are identical to pillansii - they are lanceolate and subacute whereas in tricolor the tepals are broadly lanceolate-ovate. Also the markings are a mish mash of the two species - tricolor has minimal black markings on the yellow cup whereas pillansii has very bold markings

Quote from: Robin Jangle on April 06, 2024, 10:34:16 PM@Too Many Plants! - that is also a hybrid. Obviously tricolor as one parent; the other is pillansii
The tepals are identical to pillansii - they are lanceolate and subacute whereas in tricolor the tepals are broadly lanceolate-ovate. Also the markings are a mish mash of the two species - tricolor has minimal black markings on the yellow cup whereas pillansii has very bold markings

Thank you Robin! I enjoy and appreciate your experience and info about these SA bulbs.

Here's a better pic of my Moraea I previously posted. I believe this is one of the genera that was lumped into Moraea, and to me it doesn't look Moraea. An interesting story to go with...I had a patch of this yellow and peach planted together and had a gopher come through the patch during dormancy. When the next season came around only yellow was left, and it looked like he had not eaten any of the yellow, certainly very little if he did at all. So...my conclusion is the peach must taste good, and yellow must taste bad. 😂

Ah, yes, that time of the year... funny how it's so powerful both in Mediterranean and temperate climate. As it's been a few days since I posted, there's a lot to catch up on:

let's start with Ranunculales - that's Ficaria verna

Height:	0-10 cm (0-3.9 inch)
Flower Colors:	yellow
Flower Season:	early spring to mid spring
Life form:	tuber
Climate:	USDA Zone 5-8

"Copper knob" and a unspecified double form of Anemonoides ranuncoloides mixing. On the Berberidaceae branch of the order, here's Bongardia chrysogonum

(here in front of Iberis).

On the classic end of the Tulipa palette there's Tulipa sylvestris

- quite a distance to blue parrot, which I added especially for you @David Pilling.  Again close to the Tulips are of course Erythronium - I think that's a hybrid....

Speaking about hybrids, here's a direct comparison of Tropaeolum tricolor

and its hybrid with brachyceras...

Last one is a Asarum I grew from seed - I didn't plant it out because I a) don't remember the exact species (looks like a white caudatum, but I'm rather unsure here) and b) I had trouble keeping the slugs off it even when potted.

Quote from: Robin Jangle on April 06, 2024, 10:34:16 PM@Too Many Plants! - that is also a hybrid. Obviously tricolor as one parent; the other is pillansii
The tepals are identical to pillansii - they are lanceolate and subacute whereas in tricolor the tepals are broadly lanceolate-ovate. Also the markings are a mish mash of the two species - tricolor has minimal black markings on the yellow cup whereas pillansii has very bold markings

Robin, you make it sound like most of my S. Tricolor are hybrids. I'm wondering if you've seen the Sparaxis Tricolor bulbs that are available commercially, that come in many mixed colors? I guess I assumed those were colors Tricolor naturally comes in, but now I am wondering if they could be hybrids from the growing farms that produce them commercially. However, I've never seen any other Sparaxis species bulbs commercially available. Is there a certain set of colors that are true S. Tricolor?

Of course my favorite order is Asparagales, and boy do they deliver these days... Muscari are everywhere, but of course in the gardens around it's very rarely Muscari macrocarpum

- the somewhat fluffy double form of debateable descent here in background actually is much more common - one of those easily clonable mass products. But macrocarpum and the sister species M. muscarimi have their intense perfume that really brings you too your knees.

In the pots it's orchid time again - both the first Pleiones and Anacamptis papilionacea

Height:	30-45 cm (1-1.5 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple
Flower Season:	mid spring

put on their show - but a lot more will soon happen in the garden if the heatwave goes on.

The alliums are active, too - Allium paradoxum

var normale always makes me wonder if there's an Allium absurdum var plausibile around...but of course Allium egoroveae is a lot more rare. Also part of the tribe is of course Ipheion uniflorum

, here a lovely bluish form which seems to be better behaved than the pinkish forms...

Last but not least: the Irids - this time in the form of Moraea vegeta

and, as the evening settles in, Hesperantha bachmannii

, another wonderful perfume drifting through the garden.

Quote from: Martin Bohnet on April 07, 2024, 09:58:11 AMLast but not least: the Irids - this time in the form of Moraea vegeta

 

Very nice Martin! Love to see this species...I just got seed from Silver Hill and this is one of the species I got.

1- I got this as Babiana Angustifolia.

2- Albuca Acuminata

3- Babiana ... ?

Freesia laxa

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 07, 2024, 09:24:55 AMHere's a better pic of my Moraea I previously posted. I believe this is one of the genera that was lumped into Moraea, and to me it doesn't look Moraea. An interesting story to go with...I had a patch of this yellow and peach planted together and had a gopher come through the patch during dormancy. When the next season came around only yellow was left, and it looked like he had not eaten any of the yellow, certainly very little if he did at all. So...my conclusion is the peach must taste good, and yellow must taste bad. 😂

It looks like Moraea ochroleuca (or Homeria ochroleuca). Mine is in bloom right now.

Here is Moraea ochroleuca from the Berkeley Botanic Garden that we saw last weekend.
Moraea ochroleuca BBG.jpg

Here's one that popped up around a plant I dug from an old timer collectors garden that had many SA bulbs.

Speculating this could be a Geissorhiza...

Any thoughts out there?

Robin Jangle..?

Taken today,  freesia, bear garlic and @Martin Bohnet if I can't have blue tulips, blue bells.

@Too Many Plants! it looks to be an Ixia. Could you please take some pics of the foliage and of the bracts. I should be able to narrow it down then :) .

Quote from: Robin Jangle on April 09, 2024, 10:30:40 PM@Too Many Plants! it looks to be an Ixia. Could you please take some pics of the foliage and of the bracts. I should be able to narrow it down then :) .

Pics from today...

A few recents:

Ixia dubia better than any of the commercial yellow Ixias, foliage fairly broad.

Hesperantha bachmannii, delicate and perfect.

Bulbine mesembryanthemoides, tiny flowers, but insanely complicated.

Babiana odorata or similar.

Ixia viridiflora, I'm sorry if it shows up as a vivid sea blue (maybe just this monitor)...it is a delicate greenish blue in person.

Coelogyne cristata, OK, not a geophyte, but it hangs out with them and requires chilling to bloom well.

Elsewhere in the garden, Bomarea are blooming variously, and there are still a few Arums pushing up flowers.

Robert
Actual springlike conditions in San Francisco at the moment

This Gladiolus is flowering for the very first time with me, raised from seed. The label says G. carinatus which it is definitely not. About 60cm tall, leaning sideways.
The foliage is not hairy and some of the flowering shoots are branching. No detectable fragrance. Any idea of the ID?

Quote from: Uli on April 11, 2024, 12:57:27 AMThis Gladiolus is flowering for the very first time with me, raised from seed. The label says G. carinatus which it is definitely not. About 60cm tall, leaning sideways.
The foliage is not hairy and some of the flowering shoots are branching. No detectable fragrance. Any idea of the ID?

I have the same thing and thought it was Gladiolus carneus.

Quote from: Robert_Parks on April 10, 2024, 11:10:32 PMA few recents:

Ixia dubia better than any of the commercial yellow Ixias, foliage fairly broad.

Hesperantha bachmannii, delicate and perfect.

Bulbine mesembryanthemoides, tiny flowers, but insanely complicated.

Babiana odorata or similar.

Ixia viridiflora, I'm sorry if it shows up as a vivid sea blue (maybe just this monitor)...it is a delicate greenish blue in person.

Coelogyne cristata, OK, not a geophyte, but it hangs out with them and requires chilling to bloom well.

Elsewhere in the garden, Bomarea are blooming variously, and there are still a few Arums pushing up flowers.

Robert
Actual springlike conditions in San Francisco at the moment

Fantastic Robert! I have B Odorata about to bloom, and I once upon a time had Ixia Viridiflora, but unlike most Ixia I have planted it did not stick around!

My Ferraria ssp. Nortieri just going off! And my B. Angustifolia looking nice with lots of color on it...

Bi, I think  neither is G carneus, I will look it up later

Carlos

Another unknown gift bulb reveal...Watsonia of course, and I'm guessing it's Aletroides?

I thought I had this species already, but what I have is much bigger longer leaved plants. So maybe they're some other species. I know I have Meriana bulbifera as that is unmistakable.

Narcissus obesus

20240411_192557.jpg

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 11, 2024, 08:57:54 AMFantastic Robert! I have B Odorata about to bloom, and I once upon a time had Ixia Viridiflora, but unlike most Ixia I have planted it did not stick around!

Ixias are mostly very happy with me, other than I have to plant them in gopher baskets...and if they aren't in clumps the wind sometime pushes them over. I. viridiflora has strong intermittent seed dormancy, so I still get volunteers from one pot of recycled soil...I guess I could do a lot worse than having more greenish blue flowers 18 months from germination.

Ixia Paniculata flowers have been in bud for weeks, and...finally opened today!

IMG_4433.jpg

Quote from: Wylie on April 11, 2024, 06:16:04 AM

Quote from: Uli on April 11, 2024, 12:57:27 AMThis Gladiolus is flowering for the very first time with me, raised from seed. The label says G. carinatus which it is definitely not. About 60cm tall, leaning sideways.
The foliage is not hairy and some of the flowering shoots are branching. No detectable fragrance. Any idea of the ID?

I have the same thing and thought it was Gladiolus carneus.

Hello @Wylie,
Thank you very much for the ID. I think you are right. Looking at the name carneus I might well have made the mistake myself mixing up carneus and carinatus when writing the label. @Carlos, what do you think it is? I checked with the Saunders field guide and it fits. I did try to identify it with the same guide before but could not decide which species it was. 

It is carneus, sorry

Yesterday I came across this nice stand of the native Iris xiphium. Color is slightly variable, the plants are very elegant and graceful. They grow in acidic sandy soil among Cistus, Myrthus, Lavandula stoechas and other plants. Trees nearby are cork oak and pine trees.

@Robert_Parks please check the filaments - in dubia they are free, maculata is united for a bit (under a third) and what was known as maculata var fuscocitrina is united up to halfway - it is now known as arctotioides. Your plant looks like arctotioides!

@Uli your plant is definitely carneus - the form that was known as G. blandus

@Too Many Plants! I have not forgotten about your Ixia - my prints of all the various updates are all over the place so hopefully this weekend I can get them back and id your plant.

Quote from: Robin Jangle on April 12, 2024, 08:07:01 AM@Robert_Parks please check the filaments - in dubia they are free, maculata is united for a bit (under a third) and what was known as maculata var fuscocitrina is united up to halfway - it is now known as arctotioides. Your plant looks like arctotioides!

Thanks for the advice, it is always a struggle to get cultivated plants properly labeled. Of course, not one of the pictures on my phone helps, so I'll have to take a look when I get home. It happens to be the earliest Ixia this year, but that could be dependent on many factors.

Robert
Brisk (for San Francisco) with a moderate breeze, a last storm is due this evening. 

Quote from: Uli on April 12, 2024, 05:08:04 AMYesterday I came across this nice stand of the native Iris xiphium. Color is slightly variable, the plants are very elegant and graceful. They grow in acidic sandy soil among Cistus, Myrthus, Lavandula stoechas and other plants. Trees nearby are cork oak and pine trees.

Very nice, Uli. Thanks for sharing!

1- I believe this is Freesia Laxa

2- Lachenalia sp. too many plants growing around it right now to view or pull out the tag. Smells wonderful, like sweet honey cinnamon!

3- Ixia one of the cultivation forms (hybrids). I still enjoy it.

Another exciting first flowering for us from the last BX!

Babiana "Jim's choice", and quite spectacular imho.

Again a big Thank You! to those generous PBS peeps that share the bulb Love!!

My Grans' Ornithogalum Arabicum finally blooming after a long flower bud staring.

What is the gray leaved plant in the bottom left corner of Too Many Plants'  Img 4509?

Its a cycad.
It could be Encephalartos horridus  but I am sure the owner will chime in.
 
I saw them at Ruch Bancroft Garden last week,

Quote from: Diane Whitehead on April 14, 2024, 11:32:47 AMWhat is the gray leaved plant in the bottom left corner of Too Many Plants'  Img 4509?

Hi Diane, Peter's correct it is a Cycad. It's an Encephalartos hybrid of Horridus X Arenarius. These are SA Cycads native to the Cape and surrounding habitats. I'm guessing Horridus and Arenarius probably share their habitats with some of the bulbs we collect and enjoy...

Thanks.  It is a good looking plant, and spiky enough to deter the deer in my neighbourhood.  Maybe I should grow one.

I thought it odd that I have never seen it, as I have been to South Africa four times, but I just googled E horridus, and it is native to the Eastern Cape Province where I didn't go.

Quote from: Diane Whitehead on April 14, 2024, 04:55:15 PMThanks.  It is a good looking plant, and spiky enough to deter the deer in my neighbourhood.  Maybe I should grow one.

I thought it odd that I have never seen it, as I have been to South Africa four times, but I just googled E horridus, and it is native to the Eastern Cape Province where I didn't go.

Diane, I feel compelled to tell you, in general cycads are SLOOOW GROWING! IDK how old you are, but I'd recommend you buy a hybrid of Horridus X Arenarius as hybrids generally grow much faster than pure species, and are usually cheaper especially in bigger sizes which is the point I wanted to make here. Buy something (online most likely for you) that's 3" caudex MINIMUM! The bigger the better!! Seedlings can take 10 years in good growing conditions to look like the plant you see in the pictures I posted.

@Diane Whitehead you can actually "quote" someone's pictures even if they are not included in the post directly - all you need is the image ID (you'll get that by hovering over the thumbnail, the number after "attach=" and then use it like this:

[attach id=6188 width=300]Too many's pic[/attach]
Too many's pic


As we had a few more outright hot days here, things progress quickly, like the double Tulip cultivar "Brisbane", opening up yellow-green and getting a peach color over one week. Funny enough, these proved to be far more direct sunlight tolerant than most single tulips which just burned over a few days.

Another sunny souvenir from Bulb'argance is this Moraea ochroleuca

aurantica, while Allium karataviense

Life form:

bulb

subsp. henrikii hails from Janis Ruksans, and Lachenalia suaveolens

originates from Uli in EX07. The wiki-praised carnation scent seems to be only feint for me, but maybe my nose is spoiled from the Muscaris.

Last time I promised outdoor orchids, so here we go with Orchis mascula

Height:	45-60 cm (1.5-2 ft)
Flower Colors:	pink, purple
Flower Season:	late spring to early summer
Life form:	tuber

, followed by Cypripedium Barry Phillips

Height:	30-45 cm (1-1.5 ft)
Flower Colors:	yellow, green
Flower Season:	late spring to early summer
Climate:	USDA Zone 5-8

and Calanthe tricarinata

Height:	20-30 cm (0.7-1 ft)
Flower Colors:	green, brown

- that one was only planted in fall so we'll see how they deal with a full growth cycle, not just the very mild winter.

I tried to follow your instructions, Martin, using your most recent photos but nothing happened.

So then I just clicked on the part under a photo - paperclip DSC6434.jpg -  and two things happened:  a circle popped up and then down into my "downloaded" file, and a copy of the photo opened up in a separate window on my screen.

It might depend on one's computer - mine's a Mac.

More first flowers opening this season!

1- Gladiolus Carneus...

2- Moraea Polyanthos...

@Diane Whitehead - hovering, gets you the attach number... on Chrome when you hover over a link the URL appears in a bar at the bottom of the window. Presumably something similar happens on Safari (Mac). Right click will get you 'copy link address' which lets one paste the same thing as in the URL. Looks like this:

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php?action=dlattach;fs=41293;attach=6248;image

we can get the attach value, 6248 and put it into the message:

[attach id=6248]Martin's orchid[/attach]
Martin's orchid

@Diane Whitehead "hover" is the magic word here - just let your mouse pointer linger on the thumbnail, don't click.

@Too Many Plants! that Moraea polyanthos

somehow looks like the missing link between the Homeria- and Iris style forms. Quite interesting.

I just checked on my other Mac which uses Chrome.  Hovering puts a line of information at the bottom of the screen, just as David wrote.  This does not happen on this Mac where I am using Safari.

Quote from: Martin Bohnet on April 16, 2024, 09:05:58 AM@Too Many Plants! that Moraea polyanthos

somehow looks like the missing link between the Homeria- and Iris style forms. Quite interesting.

Funny you should mention that...I'm trying to cross pollinate my peach Homeria with this Polyanthos both directions to see if I can get any to take.

Tritonia Deusta, or Crocata???
For most of the time I've had these I thought they were T. Deusta because they seemed more orange than Crocata and they don't have those windows that are in most pictures of Crocata. They are missing the dot markings that appear in most pics of Deusta, and the anthers to me clearly look more like Crocata. I'm just not sure...
... any thoughts out there?

@Robin Jangle

A second Leucoryne from Flores and Watson seeds in 2003.   L vittata first flowered in 2019.

It is sweetly scented.

Another Cultivated Ixia (most likely hybrid). 

A few Eucrosia in bloom together in the garage under lights

Left tall E aurantiaca
Center red E eucrosides - Ponas-Zaruma
Right E mirabilis with yellow petals

Lower right little red
Urceolina peruviana/Stenomeson miniatum

Hippeastrum evansii in last pic

As we had good rains this winter the native flora on our land is particularly rich this spring. A lot of Serapias cordigera ssp. cordigera orchids are in flower now.

I went to look for Colchicum last Sunday, I found them in my third attempt after about 4 hours trying. I was looking for C. triphyllum for Dmitri Zubov, it occurs on Mediterranean high elevations and I did find some, but I'm not sure if they are montanum. Photos taken at about 1550 m.
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I came back crossing a badly burned area in 2022, there are few signs of recovery, but I saw a few patches of Iris lutescens.

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I also found Muscari atlanticum again.

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Now at home, the Albuca viscosa ripened three capsules, they are quite insect-looking, like egg cases of a Mantis. Opening like a mini Alien egg...
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Finally, I got some capsules on my Asphodelus acaulis by selfing. The pedicels curve and at first the fruit is hidden between the leaves, then it dries up releasing the whole fruit, so it seems that they roll away from the mother plant. A most amazing dispersal behaviour, unique in Asphodelus and among most geophytes, I think.

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I know my fingers often appear quite dirty, I prefer to touch the ground without gloves.

Well...curious. I just had the IPhone update installed, and now my phone won't upload pictures.

Just powered off and back on, and it's working...

Moraea Ochroleuca ? Just found out from the gifter of the bulbs that these are hybrids of the Homeria complex, with multiple generations of growing together open pollination hybridizing.

Looks a bit different than my yellow flowered version.

Tulipa altaica

Hello Arnold,

Does Tulipa altaica need winter chill or frost to stimulate flowering?

Quote from: Carlos on April 18, 2024, 01:59:22 PMI came back crossing a badly burned area in 2022, there are few signs of recovery, but I saw a few patches of Iris lutescens.

20240414_155827.jpg20240414_155728.jpg

FANTASTIC seeing them in habitat like that! Thanks for sharing, Carlos!!

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 18, 2024, 03:08:52 PMMoraea Ochroleuca ? Just found out from the gifter of the bulbs that these are hybrids of the Homeria complex, with multiple generations of growing together open pollination hybridizing.

Looks a bit different than my yellow flowered version.

Looks completely like what I got from Lauw as M. ochroleuca aurantica  - which could of course also be a hybrid. it does set seeds like mad, though.

as posted before
 

Quote from: Martin Bohnet on April 19, 2024, 04:39:34 PM

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 18, 2024, 03:08:52 PMMoraea Ochroleuca ? Just found out from the gifter of the bulbs that these are hybrids of the Homeria complex, with multiple generations of growing together open pollination hybridizing.

Looks a bit different than my yellow flowered version.

Looks completely like what I got from Lauw as M. ochroleuca aurantica  - which could of course also be a hybrid. it does set seeds like mad, though.

as posted before

I suppose it could be either. I just don't know. But to me they look different than my yellow ones. And if memory serves me when I had the peach ones with my yellow ones (I got them together) they looked the same. They came from an old-timer collector that as far as I know only had the one species of Homeria. I got most of my Sparaxis Tricolor from him, that Robin seems to believe are hybrids with other Sparaxis sp., and they had been flowering in his yard for 15+ years so that's possible.

Quote from: Martin Bohnet on April 19, 2024, 04:39:34 PMLooks completely like what I got from Lauw as M. ochroleuca aurantica  - which could of course also be a hybrid. it does set seeds like mad, though.

Also, I guess IDK for sure what species of Homeria my bulbs are. BTW... what is Lauw?

Lauw de Jager is the owner of the now defunct nursery Bulb'Argence in southern France. He sold a wide range of often unusual bulbs suitable for the Mediterranean Climate. He also wrote a nicely illustrated booklet on Mediterranean Bulbs but in French.
I also got the orange form of Moraea ochroleuca from him but it tends to disappear in my garden. It is planted in the open ground and I suspect mice........ there is just one single specimen flowering at this moment.
The yellow ones have also declined but seem to be less palatable to the critters.

The website of Bulb'Argence is still active 
https://www.bulbargence.com/m_catalogue/

Quote from: Uli on April 20, 2024, 12:49:20 AMLauw de Jager is the owner of the now defunct nursery Bulb'Argence in southern France. He sold a wide range of often unusual bulbs suitable for the Mediterranean Climate. He also wrote a nicely illustrated booklet on Mediterranean Bulbs but in French.

Booklet available in French and English from the PBS archive:

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Archive

Quote from: Uli on April 20, 2024, 12:49:20 AMLauw de Jager is the owner of the now defunct nursery Bulb'Argence in southern France. He sold a wide range of often unusual bulbs suitable for the Mediterranean Climate. He also wrote a nicely illustrated booklet on Mediterranean Bulbs but in French.
I also got the orange form of Moraea ochroleuca from him but it tends to disappear in my garden. It is planted in the open ground and I suspect mice........ there is just one single specimen flowering at this moment.
The yellow ones have also declined but seem to be less palatable to the critters.

Too funny you say that! IDK if you saw the little story I included with my yellow ones some posts back. I had a gopher come through my rather good-sized patch (peach and yellow together that always did great and was increasing each year) during the dormant time of year, when the next flowering came around all the peach were gone, and it looked as though he didn't dine on the yellow at all.

So the gifter of this bulb confirmed this to be/should be Watsonia Coccinea. The leaves are like 12" tall on average, and it is MUCH smaller than the few other Watsonia I have.
When it's sunny on the plant the flowers look more orange, when it's in shade the flowers look more red.

An unknown Gladioli.

Appreciate any info leading to a correct ID.

Addendum:  I now believe it G. carneus

Leaf width at 14 mm
Perianth tube    45mm
leaf 14 mm
anther mauve
pollen cream to purple

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 19, 2024, 03:28:56 PM

Quote from: Carlos on April 18, 2024, 01:59:22 PMI came back crossing a badly burned area in 2022, there are few signs of recovery, but I saw a few patches of Iris lutescens.

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FANTASTIC seeing them in habitat like that! Thanks for sharing, Carlos!!

Thanks, I am used to seeing it but had to stop the car.

Quote from: Carlos on April 21, 2024, 01:53:09 PM

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 19, 2024, 03:28:56 PM

Quote from: Carlos on April 18, 2024, 01:59:22 PMI came back crossing a badly burned area in 2022, there are few signs of recovery, but I saw a few patches of Iris lutescens.

20240414_155827.jpg20240414_155728.jpg

FANTASTIC seeing them in habitat like that! Thanks for sharing, Carlos!!

Thanks, I am used to seeing it but had to stop the car.

BTW... what are the blue leafed plants in the background that look like they could be Yuccas?

This morning I found Neomarica northiana open.

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 21, 2024, 04:08:27 PM

Quote from: Carlos on April 21, 2024, 01:53:09 PM

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on April 19, 2024, 03:28:56 PM

Quote from: Carlos on April 18, 2024, 01:59:22 PMI came back crossing a badly burned area in 2022, there are few signs of recovery, but I saw a few patches of Iris lutescens.

20240414_155827.jpg20240414_155728.jpg

FANTASTIC seeing them in habitat like that! Thanks for sharing, Carlos!!

Thanks, I am used to seeing it but had to stop the car.

BTW... what are the blue leafed plants in the background that look like they could be Yuccas?

Asphodelus cerasiferus. They also survive fires well.

Always the last to  flower.  Scented of clove.

Lachenalia nervosa

Kohleria warczewiczii (sorry about the name...) in flower. The color combination is great. The plant is quite tall and does not produce many rhizomes and has no dormancy. Very easy from cuttings. I replace my plant regularly with new cuttings.

I know I've posted my Ferraria crispa Burm. ssp. nortieri already in this months post, maybe even started in last months post, but had to share it's quite impressive staying power, compared to my many other Ferraria. AND...TONS of fragrant flowers too!

This could be my send off for April...these flowers as with many of my bulbs this season are smaller than typical! Not sure what it is with the weather this season that's causing this?

Gladiolus Cardinalis hybrid.

These are darker striking beautiful Gladiolus flowers.

pic 4829 is from May 2023.

Well...turns out I do have at least one more flowering to share to close out April (4/29). A quick (4/30) add of 3 pics of the second flower opened today, on the Final day to close out April. I was really hoping to post a few flowers open together. Maybe in the coming May days...so long April!

Ixia PolyStachya. From our last BX.

Again I offer a Thank you to those generous folks that share The bulb Love!

Allium moly, the form described as subsp. Glaucescens, to say farewell to April.

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Well I stiill saw some wild bulbs yesterday. Dipcadi serotinum. There were also Iris lutescens, Asphodelus cerasiferus, Squilla undulata, Lapiedra martinezii and possibly Gladiolus dubius, Allium moschatum and some Ophrys, but I saw no traces of them.Happy worker's day.