PBS Forum

Hi All,

There is a great wiki article on growing bulbs but its very general and I found out that my Ferraria like to be deep from someone on this forum.

I know there is not likely a book like Holland Bulb Forcers Guide I used back in the day but any suggestions would be great.

I came across the The Southern African Bulb Group today and browsed through a half dozen news letters. Picked up a few great tips, like Babiana also like to be deep, though the ones in my garden seem to migrate to the surface..

Anyway, I found this great picture of Massonia longipes growing in hydroton. I have years of experience in the substrate world and love the stuff. My home aquaponic system uses this material. Its an ebb and flood system that fills up every 20-30 minutes then drains quickly. 
I planted my two Boophone disticha bulbs in hydroton this winter and they doubled in size. 
(I also overwinter my hybrid Glads in them and they gust finished blooming.

I received some Albuca spirals 'Blue Curls' in one of the recent BX (thank you).

I have not found any listings of this cultivar. Does anyone know anything about it?

Albuca fragrans is one that came to me as seed from a SX (thanks again) but I dont see much information on the net or at all on the Wiki. A synonym maybe?

thanks

Peter

I am trying to get my seedling and donated bulb pots divided and came across some with very fleshy roots.

Boophane, Brunsvigia josephine, Crossyne guttata. My hunch is to pot them up but keep them dry?

Lots of others seem pretty straightforward and will go into paper bags for the summer.

I had three Ferraria species that didn't come up from donated corms. Some pupated (which seems like a lack of chilling or dormancy?) but no vegetative growth. 

F. densepunctulata, F. divaricata and F. uncinata. 

Also Moraea polyanthos failed to sprout but the corms look fine.

Whats the idea planting depth for Ferraria?

I am behind and was hoping to get a number of packets of various species for the BX but may not make it.

I have a lot of pots with lots of young bulbs, most winter growers. They have just recently gone dormant (some are still "growing").

I had hoped to share many of them via the Bulb Ex but I am wondering if this is the right time to divide them? I thought I understood they should be kept undisturbed until mid summer, but I am open to clarification.

Peter

Gladiolus?


Babiana rubrocyanea ?

   
Bright yellow flattened 2-sided inflorescence?

Tilden BG

Calocortus what...?

Berkeley Botanic Garden

No clue


Watsonia ,.......?

I am newish here, so I am trying to wrap my head around the timing of the bulb exchanges and my "bulbs".

Can I assume this current one is for summer growers and the bulbs have been harvested and stored all winter?

Most of my collection are seed grown and I am trying to keep them growing for now to increase the bulb size. When they go dormant later this spring and early summer I will divide them, make a few selections and hope to share the rest.

When I divide my winter growers, should I paper bag them and store them in a cool location for some other exchange date?

I think my question is answered in my post but I am mentally and physically preparing for the huge job of dividing my seed pots.

Peter

I dont mean to be a pain, but with winter coming or already here it seems the thread has evolved into anything but.

Is there someway to move all of the non-heating and energy conservation comments to another thread?

Always looking for new ideas on heating and retaining heat even in my "mild" climate and solar panels.

Peter

I am very excited to have received a few Gethyllis bulbs in the exchange and was reading about growing them in a deep pot with very sandy soil.

Very Sandy? Course I would imagine, add some compost as well? ratios?

G. ciliaris longituba and maybe linearis.

Peter

I've had a thing for these since trying to force them for a nursery almost 40yrs ago.

This clump was at least 10 yrs old and had never done a thing. We were redoing a spot in our landscape a month ago so I dug it up and sat it aside trying to decide with to do with it.

Two weeks later, still bare-root on a bench, there were signs of flower buds.

Currently sitting in a pot without any media, in the greenhouse it's saying, how do I look now!

(Don't mind the mess, the inverted tub covers my solar battery, the bin is sifted pumice and the the buckets are fertilizer concentrates that I dilute as needed.)

I did some searching on the site but didn't find what I was looking for.

Last season I received an envelope "all the rest" full of seed packets.

Being enthusiastic I sowed almost all of them.

Most are dormant and many are winter growers so the season might be starting soon and I want to know if I should transplant some and send others to the bulb exchange.

I recall reading that its best to let them go another year.

Suggestions?

Picked up this little cutie at Peacock Horticultural Nursery in Sebastopol. The pattern is variable but present in both plants. Tubers I think..

I have been looking for a great way to keep my growing collection in a single space to have good sunlight in the winter/early spring and hot but protected summer temperatures.

Have read a few of you have these sorts of beds and having seen the beautiful Alpine beds at the Royal BG Edinburgh and Wisley I think this might be an option.

I have come across some 2x12 fir boards that I can use to make some nice raised beds (waist height for viewing and I don't bend very well anymore). I know they will rot reasonably quickly so I think I will want to add a liner.

I have built several aquaponic systems and ponds so I know how to make them water proof but I am now thinking about drainage.

I'll need lots of holes, and bulkhead fittings are a bit expensive, so I think maybe creating a series of sloped areas like a shower base might direct the water out quickly. Maybe use some of the tile set material under the liner.

Water does not move well from sand to gravel so that is not really a good option, and I have never used sand in a pond so I am not sure how to keep it in the base without it falling or clogging.

I can make it pretty deep so maybe the sand to gravel and perch layer will not be an issue.

Any suggestions or comments?

Peter

Quite tall, 4-6' maybe, clumping, may be a bit of a spreader.

Beautiful foliage for sure.

Fits into the tropical theme of the landscape.

Seed pods if anyone is interested.

Do I understand this correctly, that I should keep them growing all summer? I am guessing the bulbs need to grow to withstand a summer dry period in a pot. 

I think I found this recommendation in one of the old Bulb Garden that were just recently posted. 

I am sure there is no simple answer as different species need different treatments. I had some go tan then brown really quickly while others are still green (growing?)

Peter

Gift from an old friend. Labeled O. longibracteatum but not it for sure.

Leaves are thin grasslike, flower stalks branched with flowers vertical and not really opening up fully.

The Wiki page mentions a section of Albuca with vertically held flowers but I cant find a list of those to try to ID it.

thanks

The thread about Oxalis pes-caprae  reminds me that "we" have a long history of thinking that a cool plant from somewhere else is going to play nice in our garden. I grew O. megalorrhiza 45 years ago in my quest for caudiciforms and gave a few plants to a friend at the local college botany greenhouse, returned 30+ years later and my gift had become a resident in almost every pot.

In California we have seen plants from the southern hemisphere take over large areas of our landscapes, some of the Eucalyptus and Acacias for example. This is not to bash SH plants, as our well loved Liquidambar has turned into a big mistake as a street or landscape tree in CA.

Where am I going with this? I'm pretty new to exotic bulb collecting and want to be sure I don't do this to my landscape. I love Sparaxis, but not like this. (Okay, I love walking past this on my daily walks)



Visiting the UCSC arboretum yesterday I came across a gladiolus that was going to town.. Beautiful but again, I dont want to be weeding too much any longer (late 60's), listed as G. tristis 'Moonlight' but wrong color. I think this plant was a volunteer that liked the label.



I am just hoping that the ones I want are going to be tame. 

Peter

Visiting UCSC Arboretum (Santa Cruz CA. Arboretum known for plants of the 5 Mediterranean climates) yesterday to see the Puya, and came across these bulbs. 

Any ID help?

Both are very short, the purple one might be only3-5" tall.

Had these in the garden for a bit (Santa Cruz CA) and would like to know the name.

Just getting started with these, and just what I hoped for.