Recent Images on the Wiki--Moraea

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Wed, 14 Apr 2004 15:42:54 PDT
Dear All,

Here are some pictures of Moraea flowers that have bloomed in the March and 
April.

In the Moraea group I had blooming Moraea bipartita. This is a really nice 
one that Lauw gave me twice. I've had trouble keeping it going and expect 
there is something about my climate that isn't exactly what it wants. I 
thought I had lost it again when I saw a stalk of blue-violet flowers 
blooming near my deer fence late one day and went over to take a closer 
look and was really happy to see it. I tried taking a picture of the stalk 
of flowers since there were so many, but it didn't turn out as well as 
looking down on the flowers. I'm not sure how it got there, but hope it 
returns.

In the Gynandriris subgroup I added a picture of Moraea setifolia which has 
been blooming really well this year. I used to grow this one in a two inch 
pot and take it with me so I would see it bloom when it opened at 1 p.m. 
How it managed to grow in that little pot is a mystery to me, but I didn't 
know very much about growing bulbs at that point. Early afternoon you look 
at this plant and may catch the sign of flowers to come, but it doesn't 
look very inspiring, and then later you pass it and it is covered with 
intricate small amazing flowers. Three different pots were in bloom one day 
last week, but the picture I added was taken weeks ago. Last year we added 
a close-up of the flower and this year my picture shows it branching with a 
number of blooms.

I was finally able to get a picture of Moraea cedarmontana (also in the 
Gynandriris subgroup.) I've had this one for a number of years, but often 
miss it. It has small white flowers that don't open until very late in the 
day and if you didn't see it was going to bloom that day and then remind 
yourself to go look later, the next day is too late. That happened to me 
when it bloomed the first time, but I was able to stay focused the second 
time and kept moving it to the sun as different areas of my garden got 
shaded and finally about 4 p.m. I got to see it. It is supposed to be 
fragrant, but I couldn't smell anything.

Finally this year my Moraea marlothii finally bloomed. This one is in the 
Homeria subgroup. I had grown it from seed and was trying to grow it in a 
pot until I saw it in the ground at my friend Jana's and realized I needed 
to plant it out. It has a very long and wide single leaf. I have one 
picture of it in the garden and then put something behind it so I could 
focus on the flower too. It is most unusual I think. I know Paul Tyerman 
grows it in Australia.

You can access all these pictures through the Moraea wiki page, but you 
will have to click on the Gynandriris and Homeria pages to see those pictures.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

Mary Sue




Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers


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