This again brings up the important consideration of variation and geography within species (and genera). For many years I have grown a gathering of N. bulbocodium, not sure which subspecies, that was made near Mertola in southern Portugal. Prompted by Jane's comments I looked up climate information on this place and it is similar to where I live-- Los Angeles, except their dry season is much shorter. This seems to account for its success under a rather austere regime of total summer dryness in 6" pots. The soil never becomes *absolutely* dry but it does not get watered and is powdery by summer's end. Unfortunately I don't have notes on its local ecology but I think the subspecies that grow in wetter places, or at higher altitudes, would have perished here long ago. Dylan Hannon On 7 November 2013 10:45, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> wrote: > An important thing to know about Narcissus bulbocodium is that it has > a number of different populations, some of which are distinguished as > subspecies or varieties. According to John Blanchard's useful book > "Narcissus: A Guide to Wild Daffodils," these different populations > grow in distinctly different habitats. The type, for instance > "grow[s] in short turf, often very wet, at lower levels, but high on > the Serra da Estrela they are in very gritty acid, almost grassless > soil." Var. nivalis is a plant of alpine meadows where it would > experience frost and snowmelt. Var. conspicuus of western Europe > "prefer[s] a damp acid soil." Var. pallidus is from the Atlas > Mountains and (I find) tolerates more summer drying. Var. graellsii > from Spain "always seems to grow on level turf on acid soil, often > dryish but sometimes quite wet." N. obesus, or subsp. obesus, is said > to be more lime-tolerant, but I have found it one of the best for > growing outside in the Pacific Northwest; mine are a clone originally > sent to the PNW from England in the 1960s. > > I don't know what 'Golden Bells' may be, but I suppose it's from the > western European types like var. conspicuus. It is more likely than > the others to produce more than one flower per stem, and it has erect > foliage. It persisted in a warm, dry but irrigated spot in my former > garden for many years. I did not put it with the bulb collection > because I was afraid of introducing virus into my seed-grown narcissi. > > It is interesting to grow a wide range of these subspecies, > varieties, or populations because you get a long period of bloom: > nivalis and praecox come first, then pallidus, and later obesus and > finally graellsii. Narcissus are very easy to grow from seed and > these little ones can flower the third year. Most of mine came from > the Archibalds' seed lists and many of those were collections by Blanchard. > > I think most of them can stand plenty of water during their growing > season as long as the soil is well drained. > > Jane McGary > Portland, Oregon, USA > > > > > At 06:00 PM 11/6/2013, you wrote: > >Peter is correct in his assessment of Narcissus bulbocodium culture. I > >raise N. bulbocodium outside in pots, AND in the ground, but out of > direct > >heavy rain, which, for Seattle gardeners, is the key to may Mediterranean > >plants and bulbs. These bulbs are being raised in USDA zone 8b, so > >considerably milder than zone 5-6. The soil is quite well drained. It > >just may not be the best species for your climate unless you have a cool > >greenhouse > >Rick K > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ > -- *"Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all"*. -- G.K. Chesterton