Orange Flowered Bulb Question

Rodger Whitlock totototo@pacificcoast.net
Fri, 19 Mar 2004 16:46:37 PST
On 15 Mar 04 at 17:34, James Waddick wrote:

>  Does anyone know of an orange flowered winter aconite 
> (Eranthis hymelis) or other species? I seem to recall that one
> exists, but again haven't been able to pin it down. Appreciate your
> suggestions.

I have plants grown from seed that came to me as Eranthis hyemalis
'Aurantiaca', from the (English) Hardy Plant Society about 15 years
ago.

If you are an eranthis fancier, it's fun, but don't think for one 
second that you will get a bright orange flower, at least not with 
the strain I have. What you get is a flower that is an orange-tinged 
yellow, something like the beaten yolk of a free-range egg or 
perhaps a chrome yellow. The normal form is a slightly green-tinged 
acid yellow.

It might be that selective breeding could produce a deeper orange. I 
can't be bothered fussing to that degree.

Unfortunately, my "orange" eranthis have been invaded by normal 
seedlings and I am forever forgetting to mark the "orange" ones in 
order to collect seed.

I cannot tell you if the cultivar name 'Aurantiaca' is old and valid, 
a quasi-botanical epithet, or what. 
-- 
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island


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