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Hi Uli, I suppose bloom from 2017 isn't quick, but I have been growing some Amaryllis belladonna seed since 2010 with no flowers. Also of course full size purchased bulbs.

I looked them up, because I didn't really know

Ephemeral plants survive by passing unfavorable periods as seeds. Their seeds are well-adapted to their habitat and can remain dormant for a long time.


Recalcitrant seeds are seeds that are unable to survive drying and freezing, and therefore cannot be stored for long periods of time. They are also known as desiccation-sensitive seeds.

It is the dream, find expensive plants and grow them for profit. But you'd have to have the knack of growing them.

Like being a professional.

Whatever field of interest you may have as a hobby, if you're good enough it can be a career.

The UK nursery Rare Plants feels like that.

"change in supply due to increase in price is called Expansion of supply"

No good saying it will take you 14 years either.

Quote from: CG100 on September 25, 2024, 02:33:44 PMthere is a pic' of a raised bed with several plants in flower.

Perhaps here (although only one plant):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2NkftDShAM


You can use the search function, top left to find Ken's blooms in 2022 here on the PBS forum, search for worsleya (all lower case).

350 quid a bulb, be interesting to see if high price begets more supply, or if they're just difficult to grow, or is it all fashion. Tulipomania.

On behalf of Judy Glattstein

Attached are two pictures of  F. imperialis. One from April 2006 and the other from April 2024 I have not added any new bulbs. So they've been here for 18 years. I'm happy. Guess they must be happy too.

Judy

Quote from: janemcgary on September 19, 2024, 03:53:35 PMI will paint spots on a F. imperialis bulb this fall, and look at it next summer to check to see if the paint is still in place

Hmm. I've always wondered about the tunics on things like Tulips, do they grow afresh each year. I'd imagine paint could degrade, or the surface of the bulb could be replaced, but it would be an interesting experiment.

There's the Ship of Theseus (modern, a broom that has lasted 25 years and has had six new heads and five new handles). If one injected dye or radioactivity or a piece of metal into the bulb would it remain and if it didn't would that prove anything.

I'd suggest a loop of string through the hole, new hole, new bulb.

YouTube gold would be a crystal clear growing medium where we could observe what goes on.

There are bulbs where replacements are grown every year - crocus, pleione - why no argument, because one can find the old bulbs. (Corms and pseudobulbs).

Quote from: janemcgary on September 19, 2024, 03:53:35 PMsome F. raddeana are more than 30 years old

Well done. Of all my frits not a one remains.

Quote from: Uli on September 19, 2024, 12:41:42 AMI don't remember if the hole goes right through or not.

As I said in the quoted text:

"often bulbs are sold with part of the old stem in place blocking the hole."

Remove the old stem before planting might be equivalent advice to planting sideways, but you'd still be left with the problem of what happens the next year, new bulb, new blocked hole.

Quote from: janemcgary on September 18, 2024, 10:07:55 AMI don't understand this statement, which generalizes an observation of one species (or its section) to a whole genus.

Citation needed. At the time I wrote the above I was under the influence of Mr. http://www.fritillariaicones.com/ and he assured me all frits formed replacement bulbs every year. There is a paper on that site:
http://www.fritillariaicones.com/info/Baranova_Hasson_Hill_2008.pdf
which describes the process.

Now you mention it, I would be more comfortable with "many" Fritillaria bulbs. There'll surely be some for which the general rule does not apply. Wouldn't it be interesting to know which ones.

Quote from: janemcgary on September 18, 2024, 10:07:55 AMI'm tempted to uncover a F. imperialis bulb right now, replace the soil with a removable layer and observe what happens to it through the growing season.

Go for it - science is about experiments challenging theories.



Ian Young states in his bulb log:

"Unlike true bulbs such as Narcissus which just get bigger each year, Fritillaria bulbs are completely replaced annually. As the stem grows this entire bulb will slowly shrink away as its resources are either used up or passed on to the new bulb that will form at the base of the flower stem as the flowers fade."

https://www.srgc.org.uk/bulblog/log2006/190706/log.html#:~:text=Unlike%20true%20bulbs%20such%20as,stem%20as%20the%20flowers%20fade.

Quote from: Judy Glattstein on September 18, 2024, 07:37:07 AMTrue bulbs add internal scales while outermost scales wither. But do not, as far as I know, replace entire storage unit.

I found my photo here:

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/AsianFritillariaThree#persica

"Two things about Fritillaria bulbs which can be difficult to believe are that they have a hole through them, and a new bulb forms each year to replace the old one. Photo 3 shows development in Autumn, with a new bulb forming around the shoot; the green stick has been inserted through the hole in the original bulb. Photos 4 and 5 show flowers in Spring."

Quoting the PBS wiki:

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/AsianFritillariaTwo#imperialis

Some people say bulbs should be planted on their side, because of the large hole in them which may accumulate water. Others retort that the hole goes all the way through the bulb and so drains. Photos 1-4 are of commercially supplied bulbs of 'Garland Star' and show the hole, the bottom of the bulb and water being retained; the coin is around an inch in diameter. At first sight this disproves the idea of a hole all the way through the bulb. However often bulbs are sold with part of the old stem in place blocking the hole. Photo 5 from Laurence Hill shows the hole in a bulb of 'Lutea'. Since Fritillaria bulbs replace themselves every year, their original orientation in the ground will be lost anyway.


It is hard to beleive Frits produce new bulbs every year, I can't find it at the moment, but I planted some bulbs with a stick through the hole, excavating them next year, the stick was outside the current hole.

First time I bought some Imperialis, they had rotted before I got them home. Wonderful flowers.

Quote from: Judy Glattstein on September 17, 2024, 06:31:26 PMI did not plant them sideways.

Thank you - very interesting - you're dead right, and it is not something I have ever seen before. It says online that it seeds around freely, that probably explains why it appeared.

Quote from: Robin Jangle on September 15, 2024, 10:57:05 AMBloody ugly

Quote from: CG100 on September 15, 2024, 11:54:44 AMregarded as somewhat sombre/funerial.

Or as the vendors say "This highly attractive deciduous shrub"

Can you id this for me please - it is a volunteer, quite a few feet high by now. Multi-stemmed.

Nerine bowdenii today... sign of the end of Summer

35 inspirational gardening quotes and famous proverbs

https://www.daviddomoney.com/35-inspirational-gardening-quotes-and-famous-proverbs/

42 Garden Quotes To Inspire You All Year Long

https://www.southernliving.com/garden/garden-quotes


Garden quotes and sayings

https://thefabulousgarden.com/blog/2018/01/11/garden-quotes-and-sayings/



(commercial sites).

(and I didn't know such things existed when I started this thread).

About self setters:

"Let plants volunteer for duty by letting them go to seed"

Hmm.