Tropical bulbs

Lee Poulsen wpoulsen@pacbell.net
Fri, 16 May 2008 17:29:26 PDT
Narad (Richard Eggenberger) wrote:
>  I would be most grateful  
> if I could receive bulbs of other species and hybrids that I can carry  
> to India when I return each year from late October to first March  
> during the best planting season.  We would like to begin a hybridizing  
> program for the species for which I am especially fond as its  
> spiritual significance in the language of the flowers is "Prayer'.  If  
> there are other bulbs that can adapt to this climate, 11 degrees north  
> of the equator, hot and humid, I would be most appreciative of your  
> suggestions. We do grow Crinum (only one or two varieties), Eurycles,  
> Eucharis, Polianthes, and one or two species of Amaryllis that can  
> withstand the intense heat of summer.
>
>   

Have you looked at the amazing Zephyranthes hybrids Fadjar Marta of 
Jakarta Indonesia has produced? I think the climate there is similar to 
yours. Plant Delights Nursery <http://www.plantdelights.com/> carries a 
number of them such as Bali Beauty, Batik, Copper Mine, Fantasy Island, 
Jakarta Jewel, Krakatau, Lydia Luckman, Moulin Rouge, Paul Niemi, South 
Pacific. There is also a website where many of his hybrids are pictured: 
<http://geocities.com/fadjar_z/Fadjar/…>. Yucca Do Nursery 
<http://www.yuccado.com/> also often carried a good selection of the 
species. I think many of the things both of these nurseries (esp. 
everything Yucca Do sells) carry would do just fine in your climate as 
well. Buried Treasures Nursery in Florida 
<http://www.buried-treasure.net/> carries all kinds of tropical bulbs. 
There are some other nurseries as well that I can't think of right now. 
There are a number of Hippeastrum from Brazil that might do well in you 
climate. Check out Mauro Peixoto's website (he sells seeds of many of 
the species on his website) <http://www.brazilplants.com/>. Also Greg 
Pettit who has a nursery on the warm humid east coast of South Africa 
might have a lot of suggestions too.

Other genera to look for might include:
Griffinia
Hymenocallis
Trimezia
Neomarica
Eucrosia
Many of the Ginger genera (Zingiber, Alpinia, Burbidgea, Cautleya, 
Costus, Etlingera, Hedychium, Kaempferia)
Canna
Globba
Curcuma
Heliconia
a few Lilium
Gloriosa

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USDA Zone 10a







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