IBSA Symposium 2003/Visit to South Africa TOW--Breaking Ornithogalum dormancy

Paul Tyerman ptyerman@ozemail.com.au
Thu, 02 Oct 2003 05:02:11 PDT
>
>Anyone care to speculate on any of this? I thought Paul would be pleased to 
>know that he and I are not the only two people who have this problem.
>

Mary Sue,

Yeah but I have bulbs still sitting now after 6 years!!!!!!  No
exaggeration.  Only the orange ones though.... the yellow ones are
basically evergreen and no problem at all.  After my original ones did not
break dormancy I bought 5 more dry bulbs 2 years later.  4 of these still
survive (one I assume rotted) and not a single one has surfaced in the 4
years since I bought them.  I have recently repotted and put 2 in shade, 2
in full sun, trying to find some way to break their permanent dormancy.  I
had thought that the original lot had rotted years ago but I recently
unearthed a single bulb in their planting location that was identical to
the other newer ones I have.  So that means that particular bulb which was
bought in flower has now survived for 6 years without even thinking about
puting up leaves let alone flowers!!

Meanwhile as I mentioned above, the yellow form is evergreen for me,
flowers very well each year (just coming into bud now), sets seed, produces
offsets and is altogether a wonderful plant that I dearly love.  I even
have seedlings of it that have flowered for me...... all the while with the
pot of the orange ones I bought around 4 years ago sitting near them doing
nothing (actually, they sat next to them for 2 years, then I have had them
elsewhere for the next two trying to get them to do something.

I do hope that they work out how we can break their dormancy.  Mary Sue,
you might want to forward this on to them to let them know just how long
mine have now been dormant...... might give them a bit more impetus to sort
out how to fix it <grin> or else they may have their bulbs sitting for
years and not being able to be sold!!

Cheers.

Paul Tyerman
Canberra, Australia.  USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9
mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au

Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Cyclamen, Crocus,
Cyrtanthus, Oxalis, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about
anything else that doesn't move!!!!!


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