Rainlily update

Floral Artistry jjingram@adelphia.net
Sun, 04 Aug 2002 07:58:03 PDT
Well, everyone now has me tempted to soak all my pots in water and see what
happens but I don't think I have enough space or saucers to hold sufficient
water.
My Hab. tub. Var tex. Has been blooming all summer but only one spike here,
one spike there. Nothing as a show really. All I get to see are the seedpods
forming as I usually miss the flowers. I had 3 pods ripe yesterday that I
guided the seeds back into the pot for future generations.
I have a few others that I can report on later that are doing similarly.
They are all growing in the same flat and I wonder how freely these
hybridize. They are self pollinating like tomatoes are they not? Or could I
possibly have hybrid seeds on my hands here that will be growing in the same
pot and perplexing me in future years?
The H. Labuffarosea have been flowering quite nicely since the dry period of
my vacation. Over half of the pots have flowered and there are more flowers
coming every day. Nice big pinks that really stand out. I planted 8 of these
in the ground yesterday for a client. All the roots were on the bottom of
the pot and none on a side anywhere. And even though were flowering, the
soil was nearly completely dry. Since there are 4 flats of these, I don't
think I will be able to try too many of them in the saucers for experiment.
The experiment will be in the open ground as my client waters pretty
regularly. They are really just now greening up this month and coming out of
dormancy. As I said in an earlier posting, they were divided in March (April
maybe) from 1 gal. size and put into 4" pots. It has taken them from then
until maybe 2 weeks ago (beginning right after the 4th of July weekend) to
really start greening up. Do others have this plant start growing late in
the season for them or mine just in a minor shock from being divided?
I have had one flower on my Hab. tub. Var tub. I only found a seed pod one
day. The same with Z. katherinae (I found the broken label buried in the
soil as I was moving bulbs around. Katherinae I found the bulb flowering
when I went to move a bunch of stuff and had no idea what it was as I was
growing next to candida (which still has never taken off for me. I get a few
off sets but that is about it. It has never flowered for me.
All those in the Havenhurst garden never get a dry rest period and that may
be why. But, they are never really "wet" either. I flood the garden once or
twice a week and let them do what ever. The crocosmias would appreciate more
water but they hold on and flower (not too spectaculous though). The crinums
and tomatoes especially want more water but, oh well.

My Z. carinata (which someone posted as being a syn. for grandiflora???) is
putting out a second spike for the month. Not bad for one bulb that I just
got the end of June. The other flower was distorted but this one looks
normal and I will post pictures of this one instead on the images list when
it opens.

There is one restaurant nearby my storage unit that I sometimes eat at when
there that has a large clump of candida growing next to the valet stand.
Once when I was there (and I unfortunately did not make note of the time of
year) it was in full bloom. The whole clump (about 1 1/2' wide) must have
had well over 40 blooms on it. There were also many buds as well as passed
blooms. I have seen this one sold at local markets and wholesalers
occasionally. Was never really interested in buying it though but it's
around. I had a client who did buy it and kept it in a tacky cache pot
without drainage holes. It was very often growing under water or else very
wet. I would dump the water out every other month or so. In the 2+ years I
worked for him (almost monthly) I never saw a bloom on the pot. Maybe that
is the reason why I never had a desire to get any.

John Ingram
jjingram@adelphia.net
http://www.floralartistry.org/




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