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Messages - Diane Whitehead

#151
I haven't tried that one.  The closest I have is Arum nigrum.
#152
General Discussion / Re: Invasive Bulbs
May 18, 2022, 09:27:05 PM
The best advice, other than "don't plant them", is to remove invasives (or cover them with black plastic) before they flower .  I have continued digging my Spanish bluebells every day, but now they are in full flower - several shades of blue, with flowers of slightly different sizes and heights, plus some pinks. They are so beautiful that today I felt wicked as I consigned them to the garbage bin.

Perhaps I could select a superb form that would be willing to remain single. 
#153
General Discussion / Re: Caolchortus in Victoria
May 16, 2022, 06:24:07 PM
Thanks, Jim.

I have the book and have used it on many trips south.

A preponderance of the seeds I've grown are ones that fit my climate - late fall, winter and early spring rain, and a rainless summer.  I've also occasionally tried a few that don't, like C. kennedyi.

Your suggestion to grow them outside is what I must try.
#154
General Discussion / Re: Calochortus notes
May 16, 2022, 09:35:52 AM
I like calochortus and have taken special trips to photograph them.  The photography was a lot more successful than my attempts to grow them.

In a recent five year period I sowed 58 packets of seeds from various sources.  36 germinated.  All the ones I bought from Alplains did, but some from various society exchanges did not.

However, my pots, kept in an unheated though frost-free greenhouse,  have not shown any leaves in the years from germination.  I've begun dumping them out to look for bulbs and haven't found any yet.

Any suggestions for success?  Give up on seeds, and try to buy bulbs?
#155
Dirty socks may mask the smell of seeds.

Canadians are allowed to import most seeds.  Once when I was coming home with dozens of packets I had bought, and declared,  a sniffer dog in the airport came up and sat beside my suitcase till I had pulled every packet out to show the inspector.
#156
Rimmer, is this the first time it has flowered?  9 years from seed?
#157
General Discussion / Re: Resnova megaphylla
May 11, 2022, 02:23:30 PM
Snowdrops!  Now if I had one of those thousand dollar ones, I could impress everyone with a million dollar clump.
#158
Perhaps a sewing machine would be cheaper.
#159
General Discussion / Re: Resnova megaphylla
May 11, 2022, 11:33:48 AM
I don't grow Resnova, but there are a number of other genera in the same family that I do grow, so I will have fun experimenting with them.

I wonder if other families can also be propagated this way. Shall I chop some tulip or narcissus leaves? Nerine? Clivia?
#160
General Discussion / Re: Resnova megaphylla
May 11, 2022, 07:12:03 AM
How do you make the leaf cuttings?  Will any piece of leaf work?
#161
Current Photographs / Re: May 2022
May 09, 2022, 09:49:22 AM
The muscari is lovely.  It reminds me of the wreaths of flowers that Swedish girls wear, though I can't remember on what special occasion they do so.

Are those unopened buds in the middle that will open later?
#162
General Discussion / Re: Thogs
May 03, 2022, 08:35:35 AM
That is a spectacular form, with its big black eye.  What was your source - seed or bulb?
#163
General Discussion / Re: Invasive Bulbs
May 03, 2022, 08:18:04 AM
I just checked Brent and Becky's website, and this is how they describe the blue hyacinthoides they are selling:

rich deep blue flowers form luscious naturalized woodland meadows and rivers
#164
General Discussion / Invasive Bulbs
May 02, 2022, 07:39:12 AM
Fifty years ago, a generous neighbour gave my little daughter a dozen Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica).  They proliferated so much that I have been digging them out every spring.  I compost the leaves, but the bulbs go in the garbage - buckets of them.  Despite years of effort, there are still thousands.  The bulbs have put themselves under the thick roots of camellias and fruit trees where they can't be reached.

This picture shows how they might get themselves out of reach of my fork.  The young bulbs sprout a thick white root.  Do these contract to draw the bulb down?  Does a new bulb form at the bottom?  Or do they move sideways into new territory?  If I weren't so busy digging, I might experiment, but after being photographed, these went into the garbage can.SpanishBluebells.jpg
#165
Hairy bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta.

Dandelion, but only in the winter.  It is too bitter when it begins flowering in the spring.