Rhodophiala splendens: Finally, sweet success!

David Maxwell opbungalow@gmail.com
Mon, 28 May 2012 20:50:35 PDT
This afternoon I noticed that one of my Rhodophiala spendens...planted
from Chileflora seeds from back in July of '08...had sent up a scape
and there was another on the way!

Ah, sweet success!

And just 2 months shy of the 4 year mark!

Patience isn't exactly my strongest virtue...so what was I thinking!?

Somehow I doubt they'll give the same satisfaction that Joyce's
Habanthus robutus did (in just half the time)...but still, I'm giving
myself gold stars 'n' oak leafs for perseverance...and for not killing
the damn things over the course of their many repottings & migrations
around the yard.

Naturalizing a bulb endemic of Chile to a Northern California (Central
Valley) climate ain't easy.

I tried putting them on the same watering/domancy cycle as my beloved
Amaryllis belladonnas, and while their foliage is going dormant...like
the belladonnas...they're sending up scapes & going into bloom at the
same time as my Habranthus tubispathus, which is fine by me.

Even though Alberto said not to, at the end of the summer they're ALL
(R. splendens, R.advena, R.bagnoldii, R.phycelloides, R.bakerii &
R.montana) goin' in the ground...well, into a bedded mound
actually...where they can fend for themselves.

I feel that I've had my success...so once they're bedded...it's
survival of the fittest...and I'm done with Rhodophiala!

~david (Sacramento, CA)



More information about the pbs mailing list