It is edible: https://diegobonetto.com/blog/2015/… On Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 9:56 AM, Lee Poulsen <wpoulsen@pacbell.net> wrote: > This was mentioned a few years ago, but in my suburban southern California > climate, the absolute worst weed plant in my pots, or in the ground, is > Nothoscordum inodorum. I call it the devil plant because nothing seems to > stop it. First it reproduces both by multiple small black seeds that are > produced by multiple waves of flowers that ripen incredibly quickly. It > flowers off and on during almost any season of the year in this area, > whenever it gets water. It also produces hundreds of tiny brown > rice-grain-sized daughter bulblets, any one of which can eventually produce > another mother bulb with hundreds of its own tiny bulblets. These bulblets > are almost impossible to see in soil if one or more gets left behind. It > grows in any kind of soil. And for some reason, it can go dormant in any > season when it doesn’t receive water. So whether it gets into the pot of a > summer dormant bulb or a winter dormant bulb, it just starts growing again > whenever I start watering that pot. Even tried Roundup on it. It kills the > top leaves, but often does nothing to the mother bulb or makes it go > dormant for a year. If it does kill the mother bulb, it doesn’t seem to > affect the daughter bulblets, so they proceed to grow instead. Apparently > in places where it freezes every winter, they are nicely behaved plants. > But for me, all it takes is one seed or one bulblet getting into one of my > pots to start a whole new infestation. The only solution I’ve found that > works is to discard the entire pot of soil into a garbage bin and remove by > hand the desired bulb or plant that was growing in that pot, carefully > removing all soil in and around the desired bulb or roots of the desired > plant, discarding that soil, too, (to make sure not a single tiny bulblet > grain remains hidden or tucked away somewhere. Then replant the desired > bulb or plant in fresh potting medium. In the ground, I take giant > shovelfuls of soil all around and including the infestation location, and I > literally discard all that soil in the trash. Then I watch that location > like a hawk in case any of the rice-grain bulblets somehow escaped during > the discarding process. Can you tell that I intensely dislike this species. > > Shmuel, I think this would be a horrible weed in your climate, too. I’ve > heard that it sometimes shows up in some seed exchanges labelled as some > other species. > > --Lee Poulsen > Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10a > Latitude 34°N, Altitude 1150 ft/350 m > > > On Feb 14, 2018, at 8:37 AM, Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net> > wrote: > > > > As one of probably a few PBS members who add Bellevalia species to our > collections, I encourage Shmuel to send seeds, but mention in a note that > it self-sows readily. I don't have any Bellevalia self-sowing here, though > I have one in the open garden, but species in its relatives Muscari and > Hyacinthoides are pests in this climate, especially the latter (the dreaded > "Spanish bluebell"). Oncostemma (Scilla) peruviana is invasive in > California but never self-sows here in northern Oregon; it's valuable for > cutting. Some people I know here regard Cyclamen hederifolium as a pest, > but it's fine where I have it, in a spot where almost nothing else will > grow. > > > > It's a good idea to grow unfamiliar plants in a pot for a while to > evaluate their behavior. I haven't annoyed myself with bulbs I introduced > (yet), but some rock garden perennials have behaved badly (e.g. Scutellaria > spp., Aethionema spp.). The worst invasives in my bulb house are Oxalis > obtusa and Narcissus cantabricus, N. romieuxii, and their hybrids. > Fortunately the Oxalis is not hardy in the open garden here; that's all we > need, another Oxalis weed. > > > > Jane McGary > > > > Portland, Oregon, USA > > > > > > > > On 2/14/2018 1:01 AM, Shmuel Silinsky wrote: > >> Obviously "invasive" depends on where the plant is from and where it is > >> grown. Some plants self sow or "naturalize" but never become a problem. > Duh. > >> > >> So , inspired by the thread about no-care bulbs to be (hopefully) added > to > >> the wiki, I wonder if a "potentially invasive" section would be good? I > >> know the answer is that everyone is busy and strapped, but the wiki is > open > >> and write to the wiki people. : ) > >> > >> Case in point, Bellevalia flexuosa, is a common native here in Israel > and I > >> call it a weed, but many may want this. Is this a plant that others want > >> and I can send to the BX or SX or is it a horrible scourge that would be > >> unleashed into gardens. Bottom line, do I throw them out or send them > on? > >> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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/…