Narcissus flowering

Rodger Whitlock totototo@pacificcoast.net
Sat, 12 Mar 2005 17:46:30 PST
On 11 Mar 05 at 9:22, Jane McGary wrote:

> Oregon is enjoying or suffering (depending on what you grow) the warmest,
> driest winter-spring in half a century or more. Temperatures have already
> risen into the low 70s F at my place...

> Many, though not all, Narcissus species seem to be blooming on shorter
> stems than usual. Is this caused by the warm, sunny conditions?

Very likely.

Incomplete elongation of the scape is a common reaction to insufficient
winter chilling in bulbs. A couple of examples:

I have Erythronium grandiflorum from a low-altitude site on Vancouver
Island. They flower only sparsely and then they do the scapes are so
short that the flowers look upwards. The original site, though at low
altitude (ca. 1000'), is a steep northward facing slope that has a long
cold period in winter.

The plant has persisted for many years, even increasing slightly, but its 
flowering habits make it nothing more than a curiosity. Hardly a garden 
ornament.


-- 
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island


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