PBS Forum

Sometimes we give people plants because those people are our friends, and sometimes we accept plants for the same reason. I am still friends with one of our favorite correspondents after a morning spent mostly in chopping out the spreading Buddleia he gave me, but it was an awful task after a couple of years neglecting the "shrubbery" because of knee problems and surgery. Nearby are three shy-flowering Crinum pressed on me by a friend who had no room for them ("You have such a big garden..."); I keep hoping they'll freeze to death but no luck so far. The same is true of a nearby spreader, Iris confusa (from a dear friend with a warmer garden), which has astounded me by surviving two severe cold spells. Shall I look around and choose some appropriate plants to bring to our NARGS picnic and plant exchange this Saturday? Watch out, here comes Paeonia daurica. I'm not mean enough, though, to pot up a violet, or to send a Hyacinthoides to the BX.

I just got back from visiting friends in Andorra who need to buy bulbs for their garden. Can anyone recommend good companies, probably in the Netherlands, who sell "common garden" varieties and can ship to Andorra or Spain? They can pick up parcels just across the border in Spain, since Andorra is not in the EU, and it seems their Andorran-licensed car is never troubled at the crossing.

Below species epithet you have subspecies (ssp. or more properly subsp.), which is a published taxonomic name, and forma (f.) which is sometimes published (and then usually in Latin) or just a description of some type of natural variant, e.g. f. alba for the white flowered form of something that's normally pink; or just white form. A cultivar name is that of an actual clone, and is written in single quotes: Erythronium 'Citronella'. A recognized but non-clonal group grown from seed is called a strain or group, and strictly speaking is distinguished by a capital letter alone: Eccremocarpus scaber Tresco Strain (or Group). If gardeners habitually use a plant name that is not published or otherwise recognized, you can put it in double quotes: Erythronium multiscapideum "Cliftonii". The last example shows a name that was thought to identify a subspecies but is not accepted by taxonomists; still, growers use it to denote plants from a certain population with unusually large flowers. When one has to identify something whose taxonomic status is confused, one can write, e.g., Narcissus received as loiseleurii, and blame the person who sent it to you. You don't need to know all this except for publishing, and then you hope for a good editor.

This may help you find it: https://search.worldcat.org/title/557752520 .

This is from Worldcat, the most complete and useful source of information on millions of books, journals, and so on that have ever been printed. If there is a copy in a library near your location, it will tell you where; sometimes items I searched were only in, say, Switzerland, as I was working on Oxford UP's online bibliographical reference.

I have read that Narcissus calcicola differs from N. rupicola in having several flowers per stem, while N. rupicola has only one, like the plants in Carlos's photo. The ones I have grown for many years (a John Blanchard seed collection in the 1990s) as N. calcicola usually have three flowers per stem. Comments?

Remember the seasonal reversal. In Chile the best months for collecting seed are December through February, so alpine seed of the current year is not yet available, and lowland seed has only recently ripened.

Can I check in here? Degrees in Classics and Linguistics. Difference 1: loanwords tend to be stressed on the penultimate (next to last) syllable by American English speakers, and on the antepenultimate (third from last) by British English speakers. Difference  2: Most English speakers without other fluent languages pronounce vowels differently from speakers of other European languages. Difference 3: sequences of "c" + vowel are treated variously by speakers of various languages. Difference 4: American English has a tendency to preserve the pronunciation of a loanword from the source language, while British tends to "naturalize" loanwords more readily (compare Am. vs. Br. "garage," and we won't even talk about what the Br. do to "taco" or "Nicaragua") Botanical names are loanwords. You can say "no one knows how a Classical Lat. or Cl. Greek word was pronounced," but the truth is that there were different varieties of Lat., and the known dialects of Cl. Gk. were nearly different languages. Historical linguistics can get us close to a good approximation, but taxonomic names were not made up in the Classical era. They originated at a time when these languages were mainly written and also used as auxiliary languages by clerics and scholars. World Englishes (a real term) are constantly changing. "Nothing is real, everything is permitted," -- as long as your interlocutor can understand you. Or see the word written on your phone.

Re. the recalcitrant (properly used) seed of some irises, some success has been reported by soaking the seeds in frequently renewed water. One technique devised was to put the seeds in a bag made from nylon hose and suspend it in the toilet tank (cistern) for a couple of weeks, where the water changes with every flush. The aim is to rinse away germination inhibitors.

I applied my actual area of expertise (language, not horticulture) to this discussion and I think I've figured out the disconnect between David Pilling's view and mine. It lies in the understanding of the word "renewed." It seems reasonable that a bulb might diminish somewhat as its stored nutrients contribute to the growth of annual roots, leaves, and stems, and that those roots, etc., would accumulate and transfer nutrients to the bulb as the plant prepares for dormancy: it is "renewed." It would not, however, necessarily be replaced by an entirely "new" bulb, as the scale-like appearance of the structures surrounding the stem shoot in the wiki photo may have suggested. This makes my proposed experiment easier: I 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. Finally, I don't think there is any necessity to remove an old stem from a bulb, which could expose bulb tissue to invasion by fungi, etc. My frits of the Imperiales section remain in the soil for several years, and some F. raddeana are more than 30 years old.

I will arrange a way to observe the progress of bulbs of F. imperialis and of F. crassifolia, which are in two different sections. I will measure their diameter periodically. However, I can't see how this "annual" characteristic could apply to Section Liliorrhiza, which forms rice-grain offsets that are definitely not annually renewed; they remain loosely attached on the parent bulb year to year until disturbed. I'm familiar with the website Fritillariae Icones, which offers photos of plants in flower, removed from the soil so the bulb and roots are exposed. Also, I will ask someone who knows a lot more than I do,.

I don't understand this statement, which generalizes an observation of one species (or its section) to a whole genus. I have grown many species of Fritillaria for almost 40 years now, and I lift and replant or repot the bulbs in late summer -- not on their sides. I grow them from seed. The bulb  grows from a tiny first-year seedling to its eventual mature size over several years. Small frit bulbs will indeed reorient themselves during growth; you can sow the rice grains freely. Different sections of the genus have bulbs of different forms, some more solid-looking, others with "rice grain" offsets loosely attached to the parent bulb, and some, like the Imperiales section, with two big scales. I'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. One method of propagating this type of fritillaria is to cut the bulb in half horizontally, replant it in a sterile medium, and wait until it produces offsets around the cut. (I think most commercial ones are now tissue-cultured.) Perhaps the structures described as "a new bulb forming around the shoot" are the precursors of stem leaves, bracts, or other structures that may develop and remain underground.

Could members please post the names and websites of seed sources that they have found interesting and reliable? Most of the lists I used to depend on are no longer available, some because the sellers have retired, others because they will no longer ship to the USA. The great seed offerings on the new EU BX/SX are breaking my heart! I don't grow bulbs that need to be kept frost-free, so I rarely find anything I can order in the US exchanges, despite dutifully donating.

I got around to the scheduled repotting of one-fourth of the collection in my bulb house, and discovered significant losses. In mid-January 2024 we experienced a 5-day period with temperatures around 20-24 degrees F. December 2023 had been historically warm here, and many plants were growing and flowering earlier than usual, in the garden as well. Several broadleaved evergreens that had not been damaged in comparable temperatures in previous years defoliated completely, but almost all have recovered. Notable among the bulb-house losses were species from the eastern Mediterranean, mostly grown from Oron Peri's seed collections; certain Crocus species (some had produced flowers, but the corms were obviously frozen); and some Californian species. Some of the lost species had grown well here for more than 10 years; of course, they weren't likely to be immortal anyway, but I'll miss them. A few treasures (e.g. Anemone biflora) were clearly in decline already.
 I had not covered the plunge beds of potted specimens, because I didn't believe it would get quite so cold, and a bad knee made getting around the raised beds hazardous. I did bring in the more delicate seedlings, which are OK. I got a new knee at the beginning of June and am working it, mixing potting soil and climbing in, around, and out of the raised beds. Next winter, I'll have covers ready if it looks like this is going to happen again, since the bulb house has only a solid roof and is exposed to ambient temperatures.

"South American bulbs" is not a monolithic category. South America has a vast range of climates, and bulbous plants grow in many of them. There are bulbs from rain forests, from high mountains, and from coastal deserts. You need to research what areas have climatic patterns close to those you can approximate in your garden. For Los Angeles, you would want to look at coastal Peru and northern to central Chile, and the dry eastern foothills of the Andes in Argentina. You could expand beyond that if you can create small irrigated habitats. The PBS wiki will give you information on species origins. Be aware that plants from high elevations can be very difficult to maintain in the lowlands, as they may be unable to tolerate high temperatures and may require a long dormant period under snow cover. The PBS has published and sells a book, "The genus Hippeastrum in Bolivia," which offers eye-opening descriptions of the varied habitats of this genus in that mainly high-elevation country.

As Mark wrote, milled sphagnum is not peat. It's processed from living sphagnum harvested from nature. Excessive harvesting could damage fragile bogs. I don't know whether that happens. Sphagnum moss can be transplanted into carefully managed bog gardens, but probably the water has to be very pure.
The American view on using peat is different from the British and European, thanks to the existence of Canada (and Alaska) just north of here, with its vast peatlands.
I don't use peat in bulb potting soil because it would be difficult to rehydrate after the summer dry period my bulbs undergo. For the second year now I'm using a purchased "garden topsoil" as the minor organic component; it worked well last year. It was hard to find a product without bark in it, but I did eventually. I do use a little peat in seed-sowing mix.