Frits & Alliums in pots?

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Tue, 13 May 2003 19:58:41 PDT
Rodger Whitlock wrote,Perhaps it is worthwhile recounting the system that 
Molly Grothaus
>used to grow her Frit collection in -- was it Lake Oswego, Oregon? --
>somewhere in the Portland area.
>Molly (Mollie?) grew her frits in upended pottery flue tiles, which
>her husband, a building contractor, could buy fairly reasonably in
>quantity. Each species went into its own tile. The tiles were
>arranged in an elongated block (memory is uncertain here) of which
>one end was shaded by a tree in the garden.


I was well acquainted with Molly Grothaus, who died about 4 years ago. The 
flue tiles were set on a gentle slope in a stepped arrangement. She did not 
have so many frits in them but did have a lot of species tulips. She 
covered the square flues with squares of roofing material to keep them dry 
in summer. I remember her having more frits in pots than in the ground and 
in fact was inspired to explore the genus by seeing a wonderful pot of F. 
raddeana that she brought to our NARGS chapter meeting in the late 1980s. I 
have many plants here that I owe to Molly's generosity. She was a brilliant 
and scholarly gardener.

I tried to get some "seconds" from a manufacturing company producing flue 
tiles, but I was told they were not legally allowed to sell them for fear 
that someone would install them in a chimney and burn the house down. The 
good ones are quite expensive.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA


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