Scilla maderensis question

wpoulsen@pacbell.net wpoulsen@pacbell.net
Fri, 15 Jan 2016 13:37:43 PST
Further information about the hardiness of Scilla madeirensis:

This species is new to me as well, and I ordered 3 bulbs from Longfield Gardens that Arnold mentioned.

They started coming out of dormancy this autumn. However, they began at staggered times, with the earliest having grown about 12 cm in height before the third one started poking a tip out of the ground. These are growing in pots outside in the backyard in Pasadena which is inland Los Angeles basin near the foothills of the mountains that bound the north end of the basin in southern California. It rarely gets below 0° C, but it does get down close to or right at 0° C once or twice in most winters. I base this on my two indicator plants: tomatoes and banana leaves.

So two or three weeks ago it got cold enough one morning to kill about 1/3 of my tomato plants and the most exposed banana leaves got a few frost burns on them. A couple of poinsettia plants got their flowers frosted off, but most did not. What surprised me was that the S. madeirensis that had grown the most got the outer 2/3 of each leaf frosted off. So now I know they can be sensitive to temperatures immediately below freezing. In the future I won’t put them in the most exposed areas of my backyard (where radiation freezing is the most likely to occur), and if I plant them in the ground, it will be in more protected spots.

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a
Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m

> On Jan 15, 2016, at 11:39 AM, arnold140@verizon.net wrote:
> 
> Makiko:
> 
> I live south of Norwoood, which is not far from Boston, MA.
> 
> The Scilla's that Vivian inquired about wouldn't survive the winters here outdoors.
> 
> Many of us picked up the Scilla that Vivivian asked about from a distributor right here in NJ.
> 
> Have a look at:
> 
> https://www.longfield-gardens.com/
> 
> Arnold 
> 
> New Jersey
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 01/15/16, Makiko Goto-Widerman wrote:
> 
> Vivian 
> It is interesting. I have just received a message from Easy Grow Bulb. I like this nursery. They have many varieties for our zone 9-10 at reasonable price. I went to their store last June. Amaryllis flowered this week, but they look different from my order. Actually it is much pretty and cheerful. I sent an image to them to figure the name yesterday. 
> They might have many bulbs from growers in Israel? I remember that I purchased new paperwhite hybridized in Israel a couple years before, 
> 
> Scilla bulbs bloom outdoor in your area? We plan to move to your area next summer. 
> 
> Makiko 
> Southern California
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 

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