Jane, Calochortus amabilis, a bright lemon yellow flower, are now in bloom in Napa County on the way. They are lovely flower. Their bulbs are set so deep inside the ground, it was not easy to dig up the bulbs to move to the right spot that I like. Fritillaria affines has been in bloom for a while in Napa and Marin County where I live. Beautiful and a perfect flower for Ikebana. I wanted to grow Oncocyclus irises in Southern California, but I missed the chance. Here in Marin, it must be too wet. Makiko *Makiko Goto-Widerman* Makiko Floral Design Garden Club 501 c 3 One Market Spear Tower 36F San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 293-8132 MFDgardenclub@gmail.com *http://www.mfdgardenclub.us/ <http://www.mfdgardenclub.us/>* On Sat, Apr 28, 2018 at 10:33 AM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> wrote: > Calochortus amabilis and several other early species are flowering in my > bulb house now. Beside the several plants of C. amabilis is what appears to > be a self-sown seedling of unusual appearance. While C. amabilis is bright > yellow and usually without purple markings at the base of the tepals, the > seedling is pale yellow with a cloudy lavender zone at the bases. It's also > somewhat hairy. Nearby grow yellow Calochortus monophyllus, which is also > in flower now and has distinct dark markings, and white Calochortus albus > just starting to open. I assumed the new flower was a hybrid of C. amabilis > x monophyllus, given its hairiness, but I don't know why it would be paler > than either parent. Mary Gerritsen, in her excellent book "Calochortus: > Mariposa lilies and their relatives," notes that C. monophyllus has a > natural hybrid with C. albus, even though the two are in different > botanical sections (monophyllus in Eleganti, albus in Pulchelli; amabilis > is in Pulchelli). Thus, it may be C. monophyllus x albus, despite the > plant's proximity to C. amabilis and the close resemblance of the two in > height, leaf and scape (C. albus is very tall). Calochortus seeds are > easily dispersed when one collects the capsules, and the wind blows them > around. > > Has any other grower seen such a Calochortus? Do you know what the parents > are? > > Things like this make me hesitate to send seed of cultivated Calochortus > to exchanges, but few of them are unattractive, or at least curious. > Problems arise when people grow cultivated seed and don't verify at least > the appearance of the resulting seedlings, then pass them on under the seed > parent's name. I'll hope that my new hybrid produces stem bulbils, as many > Calochortus do, so I can propagate it vegetatively. > > The same goes for the "affinis group" of Fritillaria I recently discussed > here, but they do have a rather staggered flowering schedule, so possibly > more dependable. > > Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…