Hey Ken, So you know everyone thinks anything grows here in SD. I’m originally from Ohio, so yes it’s great here sorta. I started getting into Boophone, Brunsvegia etc. recently ( past couple years) I was focused on dry shade bulbs haemanthus, velthemia, clivia, as that what my yard needed in Rolando where I recently sold my home, prior to pandemic. So since then I’ve discovered the larger long term bulbs…which I thought ok, so they are big, grow slowly etc. I’ve searched a lot and your tips/ info is the the first I’ve come across on success with them….soil I figured. Had seen all the info on with most SA bulbs the first season or two keep them cool and growing if possible… The things you talk about, which is ok, now keep them healthy and grow to blooming size and success. No where to be found. Pot size, chicken manure in a separate layer so the bulbs reach down for it. How aggressive the roots spread…no one has shared that anywhere. So much appreciated, here I am thinking wow they just grow slow in 5 years they will be big. That’s absolutely wrong. So this year for the first time, I was down at Walter Anderson’s and I saw B. disticha nice little bulbs but they were $ 15.00 and no picture or sign about culture what they were anything, they sold slowly, if I had none ftom PBS I’d have bought two or three. Then I thought, if they just had a photo of the bloom posted, they’d have sold all 20 or so in one day and at $ 25.00. Emotional purchase, unique..,and right away with your tips out the door wouid go a large pot, soil etc. I applaud them for trying a unique plant that I feel could easily succeed here. If you can find one who has succeeded with them. Sorry for the long note, but really appreciate your insight. I really enjoy the two boophones, but liking it and succeeding with it are two different things. It’s a long term commitment that you want success with. I’ve got some seedling Worsleya Procera that I started last winter. They are a challenge too, getting them enough water but not too much. Friend of mine grows them in Pittsburgh of all places, summers outside and winters under lights. So he sent me some seeds. Have you grown those, or have any interest. PBS is a great source to figure things out, if you can catch the info going by in the feed, or reference it on our site. Great folks and pretty drama free, which is nice , Mike On Wed, Jul 7, 2021 at 9:38 PM Ken via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > Hi Mike, > all of my blooming B.haemanthoides (this year, it only looks like 6 will > bloom) open a Cream-Yellow with slight pinkish tones on the petal > undersides. As the inflorescences mature, they develop an overall Pinkish > tone. My seeds came from Silverhill in 2007, germinating in transit. I > planted immediately in 4" wide X 5" deep pots. I aggressively up-potted > ... to 1-gallon at 1-year, then 2-gallon containers at 3 years, and tried > to keep them growing/in foliage through the first few Summers with light > waterings and keeping them cooler, and only in morning sun from early May > to early September. By the 4th year, the leaves widened and developed their > trademark distichous growth habit ... reason enough to grow them ... but by > the end of the 3rd year, they could not be kept in foliage through the > Summer and went dormant. I did try, successfully, to extend the growing > season by providing H2O beyond our 'normal' rainy season ... starting to > water in September or continuing to water through April if no rain. Leaves > would push by mid September and last til mid-May. First blooms appeared > after 10 years (in 2017) so they are slower than B.disticha. > Ken > On Sunday, July 4, 2021, 05:29:00 PM PDT, Mike via pbs wrote: > > Ken, > > ... I did not realize there is that much variation in the > bloom color or does it change over time? ... did you grow these also in > large pots > until you put in the ground as you had suggested for B. disticha. > > Mike > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>