Erythronium in warmer climates?

Cody H via pbs pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net
Mon, 13 Sep 2021 10:01:08 PDT
There are some erythronium species native to some fairly warm areas. I
don’t know if there are any in warm zone 9 areas, but certainly they occur
in cool zone 9 (Northern California coast) and are well represented in
Mediterranean zone 8 (western Oregon and Washington as well as NorCal).

There are several low elevation northern Californian/southern Oregon
species from fairly dry climates, like E. citrinum, E. howellii, E.
helenae, low elevation E. californicum, maybe even some low elevation
populations of E. hendersonii, etc. that seem like they would be worth a
try. I’ve seen E. citrinum, for instance, growing in more or less full sun
alongside sedums and Calochortus tolmiei and Triteleia spp. next to things
like manzanitas in dry rocky cliffs and hillsides in the Illinois River
valley near Selma, OR, where the summer high temps exceed 100F most years.
It usually blooms there in April, and goes dormant shortly thereafter as
the temps warm up. That region has a Mediterranean climate, and the winters
there are chilly but not extremely cold. I would think good drainage would
be more of a requirement than low temps.

There are also species from cooler/moister zone 8 climates, like E.
oregonum and E. revolutum, which could be worth a try as long as you can
keep them cool and moist during the growth phase and prevent them from
baking in the summer. Where I’ve found these growing in the wild they are
usually in lightly shaded areas often near streams (often under deciduous
shrubs or trees). They go dormant in the late spring, but they prefer
moister soil than the drier growing species, even when they are dormant.

There are also a variety of garden hybrids, many of which are more vigorous
and resilient than the individual species. E. ‘Pagoda’ has done well for me
in the garden in most situations I’ve tried. In a warm Mediterranean
climate, I’d try it in the ground in a cool shady spot with good irrigation
during its early spring growing season.

I have not had much luck growing species from cold winter / wet summer
climates here (in the Seattle area—a cool Mediterranean climate). They
don’t like the winter wet, or the dry summers, and they seem to want a
warmer/more humid spring growing season than I can offer. None of the ones
I’ve tried (E. americanum, a few forms of E. dens-canis, E. albidum, E.
sibiricum, probably some others), have survived.

I had a little luck with some higher elevation forms of E. californicum,
but they did not really thrive. They seemed to want a combination of cool
temperatures and bright sun during their growth period, which I could not
really figure out how to provide. I gave them to some friends in a maritime
rain shadow zone on the Olympic peninsula, where I hope they’ll do better. I
would imagine those and other high elevation western NA species (E.
grandiflorum, E. montanum) would be a challenge in a very warm climate.

On Sun, Sep 12, 2021 at 10:26 PM Vlad Hempel via pbs <
pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
> I hope you all had a great weekend.
> Wondering if this beautiful plant would do well in warmer climate, I mean
> zone 8a and above. Anyone has grown it successfully? I am asking for a dear
> friend who would love to grow, he lives in an area with typical
> Mediterranean patterns.
> Please share anything that can help, I haven't tried personally growing
> this beauty yet, but considering it for next spring (finally, after so many
> years).
> Thank you and have a lovely week,
>
> Vlad Hempel
> +4915777291232https://http://www.linkedin.com/in/vhempel/
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