Hesperantha vaginata

Leo Martin stnalpsoel@gmail.com
Sat, 14 Mar 2015 23:33:29 PDT
My plant did not return the 2012-13 growing season, nor 13-14. I was sad,
partly because it is such a beautiful flower, and partly because this was
one of the first bulbs I raised from seed in the late 1990s. It was the
sole survivor of its cohort.

I use a fully mineral potting mix, and I have no problems with rot, ever.
So, I have no qualms about reusing mix. In the spring of 2014 I emptied the
Hesperantha container and looked through it for signs of a corm. I saw
none. I reused the soil in a batch of seedling containers.

This season, an identified mature bulb grew in a seedling container. I have
not grown enough bulbs to recognize most genera by their foliage. The
unknown fattened its base, then pushed up a flower spike. By Friday, it was
clear to me what it was, because just the petal tips emerged with their
characteristic blackish brown sheen.

The first flower opened Saturday afternoon. It was my H. vaginata. The
black spots are variable in this species, and individual plants can be
identified from year to year by the black patterning.

The other seedlings never sprouted.

Leo Martin
Zone ?
Phoenix Arizona USA



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