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Messages - Diane Whitehead

#151
Current Photographs / Re: June 2022
May 31, 2022, 07:00:36 PM
I've never seen a crocus seedhead.  If the bulbs haven't been dug up and eaten by the Eastern grey squirrels that some idiot introduced, then an introduced rabbit has eaten the flowers.
#152
Mystery Bulbs / Re: Unknown flower
May 30, 2022, 04:21:26 PM
Maybe it's upside down and those are roots sticking up.
#153
I haven't tried that one.  The closest I have is Arum nigrum.
#154
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. 
#155
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.
#156
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?
#157
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.
#158
Rimmer, is this the first time it has flowered?  9 years from seed?
#159
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.
#160
Perhaps a sewing machine would be cheaper.
#161
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?
#162
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?
#163
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?
#164
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?
#165
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