Flores and Watson old Leucocoryne seed

Diane Whitehead voltaire@islandnet.com
Wed, 24 Dec 2003 16:36:46 PST
>  Pabellonia incrassata grows in very dry, rocky soils quite near the 
>coast, with large Copiapoa cacti and xeric shrubs, and the most 
>robust plants seemed to be down near seasonal drainage gullies on 
>sloping banks. If I were Diane, I would not plant any outdoors on a 
>bet!

Jane,
Many of the small islands around here have native cactus and all but 
two Cyclamen species grow well outside on them, even ones that are 
grown in pots in England.  (I forget which the two are, but persicum, 
libanoticum, cyprium, africanum are fine.)  Is there any chance that 
such an island garden would approximate the area you describe?

I was planning to try only the most likely to succeed, not all the 
species.  I thought maybe purpurea could be the one. I have 600 seeds 
of it, so I figured a few of them could show if they have any 
hardiness genes.  The rest will be protected inside my cold 
greenhouse.

Alberto mentioned Leucocorynes should be frost-free, but is there one 
species that has a possible chance of growing outside?  We do get 
cold winters without warning about every ten years, but having the 
leaves killed off every so often might not kill the bulb.  Alberto 
also mentioned how deep the bulbs grow, so they shouldn't freeze, as 
I can remember the ground freezing only twice in the 60 years I've 
noticed such things. (It was frozen perhaps 15 cm deep.)

-- 
Diane Whitehead  Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil


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