PBS Forum

I don't grow South African gladioli, except one that is a pest in my garden, but here are comments on somewhat hardy geophytes and starting winter growth. I usually water the bulb house when daytime temperatures drop below 80 degrees F and the first measurable fall rain arrives. That happened a week or so ago here in western Oregon. I will keep the soil from drying out until May. My plants experience frost even under the solid roof of the bulb house, since the sides are open (protected by wire mesh), down to around 20 F/-6 C. Some plants are growing directly in raised beds and others are in plunged pots, mainly clay pots. I can't grow the really tender South African genera such as Lapeirousia, but in the collection are many Mediterranean and Californian, and a few South American, species referred to as tender in standard gardening books.

I'll try to post a photo of Colchicum feinbruniae, taken today. I got the seed from the Gothenburg Botanic Garden in 2008; this is mentioned in the recent Colchicum monograph as one of the few sites where this species is in cultivation.

Hope it comes with a high-end boat for the times when there's a meter of water surrounding the building.

A catalog that shows up in the mail regularly, called "Whatever Works," advertises spider repellent. It has a website and many things that you suddenly realize you have wished existed. I haven't bought any repellent, but I lately did buy some window-screen repair tape, a mesh on a roll, that I think will be good for the bottom of band pots.

Re. the white-flowered selection identified as Colchicum byzantinum album,  this is now considered to be a clonal selection, and according to the new monograph by Grey-Wilson et al. (p. 459), "might all be referred to 'Innocence'. " The original stock is believed to have been sold to English growers by Van Tubergen.  The authors mention the variable pink tipping; I think coloration of colchicum flowers may be a response to temperature, as it is in many other kinds of flowers. Large colonies of 'Innocence' (received many years ago as C. b. album) are just finishing their flowering here in Oregon.It is one of the most vigorously increasing large colchicums in my garden.

Erin, I grow some of the species you mention in Oregon, but I can't ship them to Canada as I cannot get a phytosanitary certificate. If you should be traveling here sometime, however, please let me know and I can give them to you. Most of them would be dormant this time of year.

I've been familiar with Deno's work ever since he started publishing it, and I would warn that it isn't always the last word on individual genera (which can have variation among their species in this regard). This is especially true of the Ranunculaceae, even within Ranunculus and Anemone. Deno tended to be doctrinaire in his pronouncements. I once heard him tell someone that you can't claim to be "growing" a plant until it is "self-sowing in your garden." He had a large garden in Pennsylvania, USA. Finally, I agree with others' advice on leaving many kinds of bulb seedlings in their original pots for two years, or moving the mass of seedling bulbs together into a large pot. I moisten the mass slightly, put it in the partly filled larger pot, and press it gently to spread out the mass some, then cover it with a few cm of new soil. Some kinds of bulbs, notably Calochortus, Tulipa, and Erythronium, tend to extend deeper rather quickly during their maturation periods.

The process of nominating officers for the PBS executive board is now 
open to submissions from the general membership. Submit nominations to 
committee chairperson Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> by October 
15, 2023. Here are the rules. (1) Both the nominator and the nominee 
must be current (paid through 2023) members of the Pacific Bulb Society. 
(2) The nomination must contain a statement by the nominee that he or 
she is willing to serve in the office for two years, beginning January 
1, 2024. (3) The nominator should include a brief statement explaining 
why the nominee would be a good choice for this particular office.

The offices open are President, Vice President, Secretary, and 
Treasurer. Some incumbents intend to run for another term, but all must 
be voted on by the Board. Duties of each officer are covered in the PBS 
Bylaws, which are now available on our website here: 
https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsforum/index.php?page=Legal .

Thank you all for your cooperation!

I have been asked to form a small committee to nominate several new board members, including a president and vice president, to take over the offices in early 2024. I would like to include people from different parts of the USA and Europe. I would prefer to choose among those who have been PBS members for at least four years and who are active enough in the society's areas of interest to have formed fairly wide acquaintance with other members. Committee members may not nominate themselves, nor may they be current members of the PBS board. Please contact me privately at janemcgary@earthlink.net if you are interested in helping with this.

Peter wrote, " I wonder how my sifted pumice would work? I usually sift out the "sand" stuff and toss it, keeping the other 3 sizes sorted for various seeding or planting."
I don't recommend doing this. I make a point of buying unscreened pumice, although screened product is available as well. I think the fines provide a helpful amount of nutrients. I have better results in seedling pots with the unscreened pumice. Also, the fines, like those in sand, retain moisture, which (despite some opinions) is not a bad thing if you irrigate carefully and routinely. It is possible that young plants grown in a mixed-size medium will transfer better to the open garden; I'm sure we've all had the experience of losing purchased plants grown in a very non-retentive medium. One sometimes should bare-root such plants and repot them for a season in something closer to what they will encounter in the garden.

It is unnatural for night cooling not to occur in an arid region. Is Phoenix (a huge, sprawling city) suffering so much because of the urban heat island effect (too much pavement) and perhaps moisture added to the atmosphere by evaporation from e.g. swimming pools and air conditioners? It has always seemed insane to me that droves of people move to Phoenix. Not that I want them moving to Portland instead ....

I grew Veratrum californicum in a very slug-ridden area for many years and never noticed any damage on the foliage. I moved some to my present garden, where it shows no damage but does not flourish, probably because of the hot sun. Kathleen won't have this problem as she lives right on the coast.

I grow my bulb collection mainly in plunge beds, but they are based directly on the ground, so I do have to bend over to tend them. I think Peter is talking about a kind of deep table with space below it, a setup I saw at the nursery of bulb specialist Walter Blom. Walter's construction had simple covers to limit the amount of rainwater getting to them. I don't recommend using wood if any alternative is possible. Now I have concrete block surrounds. My old bulb frames were surrounded by railroad ties (British, sleepers), which last for some years if in good shape to start with. Now my bulbs are in a kind of greenhouse with a solid roof and open sides. As for drainage, woven commercial nursery groundcloth permits it. I think the plunge (coarse sand, here) should be at least 16 inches/40 cm deep to allow the larger pots to be plunged almost to the rim. If the table design is used, there are strong plastic grids available (here, for tables in commercial greenhouses) that could be topped with woven groundcloth; I use them for shelves holding flats of plants. Hope this helps.

Judy refers to the hardiness zones established by the US Dept. of Agriculture. They were formulated with special reference to perennial fruit crops east of the Rocky Mountains, and later extended to ornamentals. Gardeners west of the plains states (the "Midwest") have long ignored them. When I lived in the foothills of the Cascade range, I was on the borderline between Zone 1 and Zone 8! Sunset Magazine offers a much more detailed map for the West, and I think it has been extended eastward in recent years; it makes sense for us. Because we all garden in microclimates, the best approach is to try whatever we like, and replace it if it fails.

Paul, a good general book is "Growing Bulbs" by Martyn Rix. it contains the basics of every kind of information on how bulbs are structured and grow in different parts of the world, as well as cultivation recommendations. It can often be found used -- try Amazon and Powell's. The first thing to know is the difference between a true bulb and a corm. Tulips (true bulbs) do not naturally act as you describe. Normally the main bulb persists, unless it has been planted too shallowly, in which case it may produce a "dropper" to get deeper into the soil. I have 10-year-old species tulips still flowering without having increased vegetatively; these probably reproduce in nature mainly by seed.