(Fritillaria) Bulbs seeding around

J.E. Shields jshields@indy.net
Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:32:29 PDT
Hi Dennis, Jim W., and all,

Remember that many plants are self-sterile.  You need to be sure you have 
several non-clonal individuals to get seeds.  If all your bulbs of a given 
species came from one of the Dutch mass-marketers, they are probably all 
from one clone.  One good way to get seed is to grow from seeds; try the 
NARGS seed exchange, etc.  Scrounge or beg fresh seeds from your friends, etc.

I have had a few dwarf tulips self-seed in the distant past.  You need at 
least two different clones of the same species for this to happen.  And you 
also need rather a lot of luck!

Chionodoxa luciliae and Scilla sibirica self-seed all over the place.  A 
couple of my  Corydalis seem to be self-seeding, like C. solida (probably 
'Beth Evans' x 'George P. Baker')

I helped my Fritillaria along by scattering the seeds and scratching a bit 
of dirt around or over them.

And finally, you can't be a neatness-freak and expect to see any seedlings 
volunteering.  Let seed heads stay on the plants till fully ripe and until 
after the seeds have scattered.  (This comes naturally to me; I'm lazy.)

Jim Shields
in central Indiana


At 09:59 AM 4/15/2005 -0400, you wrote:
>Absolutely NONE here in Ohio for me....  I try to get seed by hand 
>pollinating and that frequently comes up fruitless.  Self-seeding is a 
>problem I've never encountered with bulbs!
>
>Dennis in Cincy
>
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>pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
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*************************************************
Jim Shields             USDA Zone 5             Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92              WWW:    http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344     or      toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA



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