New wiki photos; Worsleya bloom

Lee Poulsen wpoulsen@pacbell.net
Thu, 16 Sep 2004 11:15:43 PDT
I uploaded several photos to the wiki, including a big surprise for 
me--the first blooming of my Worsleya procera (syn. W. rayneri), aka 
the Blue Amaryllis. The bulb isn't as big as the ones I've seen 
blooming in pictures on the Internet or among the Worsleya email list, 
but it still managed to make two flowers. Interestingly, the lilac-blue 
color on mine was very washed out the first day they opened, but had 
intensified by the next day. Does anyone know of any others blooming in 
recent years in the northern hemisphere? (Other than the source of mine 
in eastern Mexico.) I keep it in an unheated plastic pseudo-greenhouse 
that keeps things very humid here in dry southern California, and it 
seems to like it there.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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One late summer/early autumn surprise bloomer I failed to mention in a 
previous email is of course Rhodophiala bifida, the triploid (?) clone 
from Texas known as Oxblood Lily. This year, mine exploded into bloom. 
It's a clone from some originally growing wild in Texas that Old House 
Gardens offers.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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I also have what looks like a pink flowered version of R. bifida, but 
the it came labelled as R. pratense. Is this a different species, and 
if so, in what ways? It bloomed at the same time and in the same 
fashion (from bare soil) as the regular R. bifida.

(Also at http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…)
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A really gorgeous Lycoris hybrid bloomed for the first time. It was 
given the English name of 'Flaming Dragon', but it has the Japanese 
name 'Satsumahiryu'. [My guess without knowing what the characters are 
is that this comes from the Japanese words Satsuma-fire-dragon, where 
Satsuma is an old province of Japan that now makes up half of the 
Kagoshima prefecture which is the southernmost prefecture of Kyushu 
which is the southernmost of the 4 main islands of Japan. This is the 
same Satsuma as the seedless satsuma mandarin oranges. Maybe this 
indicates that it likes warmer subtropical climates?] The photos don't 
show well the contrasting white throats.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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I got a bulb of Lilium sulphureum that bloomed, although it wasn't as 
yellow as I expected it would be. It was a very large flower compared 
to most of the Lilies that bloom for me. I will see if it comes back 
for me.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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Two different Mexican Hymenocallis bloomed for me. My H. sonorensis had 
a number of scapes this year and my H. eucharidifolia bloomed for the 
first time and both the flowers and the plant are just beautiful.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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As mentioned in a previous email, Calostemma purpureum always surprises 
me when it comes into bloom. It seems to do very well in this climate.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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There are some really gorgeous Cypella (coelestis, hauthalii ssp. 
opalina) and now for me, C. peruviana. Even the buds right before they 
bloom are wonderful. (Which I'll try to get a more in-focus pic of.)

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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For those of you who have warm summers, Curcuma alismatifolia are easy 
to grow and pretty. I believe it is in the Ginger family, and are 
sometimes called Thai or Siamese tulips.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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I need to learn how to use the features of my digital camera better. 
The area I have the most problems with is in getting close-up photos of 
flowers to be in focus. Often I can't tell until after I downloaded the 
photos after the flower has wilted away. Anyway, I uploaded a couple of 
photos of Polianthes ×brundrantii which is a hybrid of P. howardii and 
P. tuberosa (the tuberose). However, I detected no scent at all, which 
is a little disappointing. I don't know why the entire view of the 
flower spike isn't all in focus. However, the close-up of some of the 
blooms was okay.

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…
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That's it.

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10


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