PBS Forum

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!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

AMERICAN SEED STORE! But other people are hawking them on eBay, and Amazon too... I was pretty confident when I saw the seeds, they weren't correct. I'm going to do a chargeback for fraud with my CC company!

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.

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

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.

Another Cultivated Ixia (most likely hybrid). 

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

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.

More first flowers opening this season!

1- Gladiolus Carneus...

2- Moraea Polyanthos...

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.

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...