PBS Forum

Hi @Uli , Interesting to read that PBS List post from 2005. Someone had told me mine were most likely a hybrid with Brunsvigia. My bulbs do grow with 2/3 above-ground and are more round in shape than the A. belladonna bulbs. I'm pretty sure mine are self-fertile, as they set seed w/o any other similar ones nearby. In the rare case the ordinary pink ones are still in bloom, I cut those to prevent cross-pollenation (in the years I pay attention.) 

The petals are not very "ruffled" but are not completely straight either. So maybe this is more like 'Harbord'. And 'Hathor' was infertile. Mine are quite fertile. I also have an all-white A. belladonna with the shape and size of ordinary pink A. belladonna and those are completely infertile, and bloom latest. Also in a follow-up list post Hathor is described as having a "deep apricot centre". Mine have more of a "lemon" center. 

I searched the PBS List Archive for Hathor and found a photo with the same coloring as mine but hers had only 3 flowers on one stem whereas mine have zillions. And her petals are more ruffled. 

The last post was by the late Bill The Bulb Baron, who likely could have identified my bulb. He mentions 'Hathor' needs "hot dry spring-summer followed by heavy late summer rain." That happened this year and I did get the best bloom ever. He mentioned leaves. My bulbs have leaves the same color as ordinary A. belladonna, but wider and thicker. There is no sign of a glaucous color but the thickness does attest to the Brunsvigia heritage. I've never seen disease spots in their leaves. Also I notice these need less sun than ordinary A. belladonna. 

As I originally wrote, mine came to me without a label, part of a huge scale bulb rescue. 

Well mine are in the mail on their way to Lisa  who will be offering these recalcitrant seeds so some PBS members will get to grow them, whatever its parentage.  

Hi Ron, My most recent Silverhill order was back in 2013. It went smoothly, although not speedy. And I also ordered from Gordon Summerfield, which also went well. I had an active APHIS Small Lots permit back then. 

I looked just now at the Silverhill website, which is more sophisticated than it was 10 years ago. They have seed import info for the USA. It still requires a Small Lot Seed Permit from the USDA and they provide a link for that. That process is not too complex once you've done it before. There are some gotchas to look out for, such as the method of post from the inspection station to your home. Luckily, PBS members have experience to share. 
Small Lots LINK

I might be interested in participating in a group order. But unfortunately at this time I cannot volunteer to coordinate that. And I'm not 100% sure it is an ok thing to do. There might be something in the permit saying you cannot forward the seed on. And there is a limit to the number of packets (or, used to be.) 

Even if I do not order, just browsing their catalog is fun. At 25 per page there are 26 pages and that is just seed of bulb plants. Do not select the show-all. It swamps their website. If I can find a pdf version of the catalog that is probably less of a load on their web server. 

the stalks are thicker but about the same length and the individual flowers wider and longer than ordinary Amaryllis belladonna. The groups of flowers is the thing so much bigger because it is radially symmetrical, not all flopping to one side like the ordinary pink ones, nor the ordinary white variety. I do not have a photo with a grid or ruler. Normally these do not overlap in bloom time with the pink ones but in 2020 they did so here is a photo with both, for comparison. 

Every August this white intergeneric hybrid of Amaryllis blooms. I do not know its parentage. I got the bulb as part of a huge pile of Amaryllis, mostly the ordinary pink, that was dug out to build a parking lot back in the 1990's. It has multiplied and it blooms true from seed, although quite a few years later. I have sent in some recalcitrant seed collected today and the past week. For me, here, every seed sprouts whether planted or not. I just set them on top of sand and neglect them. Some seeds sunburn pink but whether white or pink all seeds bloom white. Occasionally blooms are double, not nested double, more like conjoined twins. Since it blooms in August, I put the photos in this topic. 

A whole lot of shaking has been going on here. 

While repotting, I discovered if I gently-but-firmly bump the side of a pot a few times the larger and lighter pumice "floats" to the top while the dense coarse sand settles. While a uniform mix is best for drainage, having the pumice on top eases watering. And I have an unverified hunch the shade fraction and higher albedo cool the soil. 

Shaking screens sideways sorts differently than vertical shaking or random agitation. And the sequence matters. If possible, remove the dust first, not last, or you get that fine dust all over the sieves. If you put the collected pods or stems of pods into a paper bag for drying, try to reach out the pods, not just dump out the whole bag along with dust. 

The shaking David recalls from his tilted folded paper method of seed cleaning is a much more subtle tapping. The type of paper also has significant effect: slick printer paper versus rough-surface paper towels. Paper towels are good for trapping fine dust. The used towels can then be used to dust off the chaff blown all over the room by winnowing attempts. 

Seed cleaning requires curious experimentation and patience, much like growing bulbs from seed. 

The shaking for seed cleaning I would describe as an arcane skill or craft. I'm curious how others clean their seeds. The skill which eludes me most is finding the time and patience for the task.

There is a wiki page on how to clean seeds where David demonstrates: CleaningSeeds

And viola', the species link gadget works great. 

... and here are the bulbs on their USPS journey to Bridget. I know she does not need them til the 21st. Bridget: open the Boophone plastic container asap and let them breathe. I should have punched holes. 

Boophone notes:
Grown from seed from Ken Blackford sown fall 2020. These are the summer-dormant leaf ones but their roots are not dormant. DO NOT cut off the roots. There are only seven deemed viable enough to make the trek to the BX and their new homes. And one of those is borderline. 
wiki link: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Boophone#haemanthoides

Dichelostemma notes: 
The name is now Dipterostemon capitatus
wiki link: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Dipterostemon
Variety of sizes from first-year seedling to blooming size but none of the maximum size bulbs are in this donation. Those grow deeper than I dug. The two kinds grow adjacent so have likely mixed a lot of pollen but I still separate by where I dig them. Sorry I wrote the old name, miss-spelled, on the bags. I'm reminded by my own wiki photo that I did get some from Jim Duggan even earlier than those from Telos. 

Freesia laxa subsp. azurea aka 'cruenta' notes:
We call them "blue" but they are a pale lavendar with darker purple splotches. I am careful not to allow any cross-pollenation with the orange or white. These do come true to color and are easy to grow from their abundant seed if you sow it fresh. 
wiki link: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/freesia#laxa

Moraea polyanthos notes:
The corms are super lightweight, not dense like other genera. Do not be thinking these are empty just because they are not dense. Variety of sizes from maximum to 1-yr-olds. Open pollinated with lots of other Moraea but I have not seen evidence of mixing. There is abundant evidence of self-sowing so if you live in my climate, you will have a little lawn of seedlings all around the parents.  
wiki link: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/MoraeaSpeciesSeven#polyanthos

Scilla vincentii notes:
I received these from two sources, a BX years ago and more recently iLahee. Variety of sizes including blooming-size but not the maximum size. Again, those grow deeper than I dug. Another name change. At least one of the two sets I got did come with the "mauritanica" word and my notes do have "spelling?" so I believe these are actually Hyacinthoides mauritanica ssp. vincentina
or, received as such. But mine are definitely NOT dwarf. 
wiki link: https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Hyacinthoides#mauritanica
So I guess we have to call these Hyacinthoides something. I may seek Mystery Bulb advice on the forum before the BX starts so you can more properly list these. I have abundant photos, as these are beautiful in bloom. 
They are definitely NOT ordinary "bluebells". I have those too.

After a several-year hiatus, I finally got around to cleaning some seed and packaging some bulbs for the exchanges. Not a lot of material, but I feel like it puts me back in the game.   I know the deadline for seeds to arrive to Jan is not until the 15th but I leave tomorrow. 

Seeds sent today:
Merwilla plumbea (very few) wiki link
Freesia laxa subsp. azurea (too many) wiki link
Tropaeolum hookerianum subsp. austropurpureum wiki link
Ixia rapunculoides wiki link
Orthrosanthus multiflorus 'Morning Flag' wiki link
Habranthus robustus (tentative ID) wiki link

After I already taped up the envelope I found another packet I had meant to send so I tucked it just inside the fold. Jan: be on the lookout  as it may fall out when you open the envelope. 
Lachenalia orchioides ssp. glaucina wiki link

It took awhile to clear a space to work and find my seed-cleaning screens I made back in 2020 but have not used since then. They worked! I also used the tilted, folded paper method David taught me. Each seed has its own character, its own way of cleaning. Some are trivial and some are laborious. But after awhile I got into the rhythm of the process. I wish I'd started sooner. Here are some process pics.

I revisited the wiki page https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/NerineSpeciesOne#bowdenii

Photos and timing of blooms and leaves for my Nerines are at least not contradictory to what the wiki page shows. So for now I will continue to call mine N. bowdenii, even though mine behave differently than others'. I expect climate causes the seasonal difference. Here there is little frost most winters. Most of the rain falls in winter. (Although I do water these in summer when I see leaves emerging.) I would call this coastal Mediterranean. My climate is similar to Berkley, where some of the wiki photos show blooms. So if I knew the dates of those blooms I could compare. 

For example, mine have never bloomed at the same time as Amaryllis belladonna in August, nor my white Amaryllis hybrids in September and October. And with today's photo I mess up the topic thread title. 

The Nerine I received as N. bowdenii do go dormant, or more precisely, have their leaves dry up over the early summer. But now they are leafing out again, in the hottest part of summer. Mine do self-sow but I have not counted how many years from seed to flower. I have some in seed pots, just casually set on top of failed seed pots, which have made baby bulbs. Those baby bulbs do "go dormant" (leaves, not roots) in summer. 

I also have a patch of Nerine which look the same, just bloom earlier in the winter and go dormant sooner in the late spring and have been lushly leafed out now for a few months. Other than timing, they look identical. This Nerine I received mislabeled as a Lycoris, back in the 1990's so I don't have an ID for it. 

My Nerine do not transplant well. Or, I should say, I clearly lack your daughter's skill transplanting. I've never had one succeed dug up.

My Nerine filifolia are blooming abundantly now. Those I get flowers from seed in 3 years. I find the N. filifolia easy to transplant even though mine are evergreen. Their leaves go brown on the ends but keep pushing up green from the base. 

Some day I'd like to grow one of those hybrid Nerines with the nearly-blue dark purple petals. 

Happy news: my Tropaeolum azureum is alive. It has been at least 2 years since I've seen any top growth evident in its special double-insulated pot. I was certain it was gone and went to re-use its pot. When I dumped out its soil, a fluffy mix of half pumice, there was this healthy dormant tuber over 4 cm diameter. That is about four times the size of the original tuber I purchased from Telos in 2020. My notes show it sprouted in November 2020 and I recall its spectacular bloom in 2021 but not in 2022 nor winter 2023. I know these can take a year off but not two years. It was not for lack of water since we got more rain than average last winter. Here is a photo of the tuber sitting on 1/2 inch wire mesh. The tuber is really only 1.5 inches across, just the photo angle makes it look bigger. This is the top side. I'll add a photo of the bottom side too. And even tho it is not an October photo, I'll include a bloom of this Sleeping Beauty. 

Alas, dear @Carlos and PBS friends, although I do often collect, store and label seed from that and other species, I do not ever seem to find the time to CLEAN and mail all that seed. 

I did just now locate the envelope of Wurmbea seed I collected May 2023. I now state my noble intention of actually getting that to Jan for her next SX. Those who know me will not bet good odds of that actually happening. 

Perhaps I should post pics of the years-worth of envelopes, bags, boxes, shelves and nearly every horizontal surface in this house where I have piled seed collected but not cleaned nor mailed. No need to rename this forum topic as 'Seed Hoarders Anonymous' since, technically, those would be photos taken in September.  Here's a photo of just the envelopes that sit in a shoe box near my keyboard. 

The seed-cleaning is not the only the bottleneck. Rodney from SIGNA has kindly offered each year that I could send him un-cleaned collections which he volunteers to clean for their seed exchange. But, alas, getting stuff into the mail seems to be above my current capabilities. Sigh. I might try this year. I know Jan's deadline is Oct 15 and I travel the 11th, so I'll aim to get these in the mail before then. 

I'm interpreting the forum topic 'current photographs' as not just blooms. September here sees few blooms, just a frenzy of procrastinated repotting. With today's drizzle, pots not under cover are now officially going to wait yet another year in their old soil.

Yesterday's work included Wurmbea stricta and Babiana rubrocyanea. The latter grew four years in their two tiny seed pots, 4 seeds each, producing four big corms each with several offsets growing higher on the stems. The big corms wriggled their way down through the tiny drainage slats and into the sand of their mini-plunge baskets. The seeds came from PBS SX 11-312 donated by Dee Foster in 2019. These Babiana seedlings begin to senesce late April but retain some green in their leaves longer, depending on weather. 

My Wurmbea came to me as 2 bulbs donated by Lynn Makela of Florida in 2012 for PBS BX 308 item 26. My accession record tells me that BX was in April and I waited until that fall to pot them. Here these bloom in February and seed ripens late April. These bloomed reliably in that same plastic pot, tucked into a larger flowerpot where they got more water than most of my collection. I re-potted in May 2020, according to my records. Curiously, I actually repotted something before the last day possible. Oh, right, that was lockdown and I was zooming work while, below camera level, I was repotting.   In the bloom pic from February notice the tiny insect, maybe an ant, in the middle flower.

Thank you @Carlos for the Autonöe madeirensis name update for my Scilla madeirensis. 
Thank you @Martin Bohnet for the LOL. No postage-stamp-sized pics today. 

First time repotting in years. Some notes. The Scilla madeirensis grown from PBS seed. This is its second potting-up. I noticed the leaves lasted well into early summer. Now I see the roots are fleshy even in late September. The bulb is purple (sorry about focus). My tag says "harvested 5/15/19 RdeV 2 seeds per pot sown 11/18." I guess that's November 18 of 2019 I sowed the seed. The 4 year old bulb is about 2 inches diameter. I would try to get a better photo but they are all up-potted now already. 

I harvested some Dichelostemma capitata from bulb boxes where they had been crowding out smaller bulbs and were infested with Nothoscordum gracile. The flowering-sized corms I replanted in the front yard where they can spread their long, fat leaves with abandon and not crowd out anything special. I noticed the largest sized corms often have a hole, like an asymmetrical donut. I believe this is where last year's flower stalk was. Originally from Telos, these grow vigorously and put on a show of  tall wavy purple pom poms that attract bees. 

A pot of bulbs I've had for years bloomed for the first time this August. I looked at the wiki and clearly what I've got is not what my label says. Looks like I've got a self-sown invader from accidental seed-scattering. Habranthus robustus would be my first guess. I'll use a photo of the August blooms. Those already set seed. I noticed the 2nd to last one set seed too although it had no siblings to cross-pollenate. 

Blooming now are the first of the Oxalis and the first of the Nerine filifolia.   

Also blooming now are my white Amaryllis hybrids. Those are having their best year ever. I just noticed that this early-blooming Oxalis (I've lost its tag) is also now blooming just as vigorously in the sand box where it sat a few years back, in a corner not seen until I cleaned up that box. The other early-blooming Oxalis just opened yesterday: Oxalis livida. 

I have not verified any of those species names' accuracy nor spelling. I'm sure at least one is out of date. 

I got the notification.