Bulbs: Summer Bulbs - Pictures and Discussion - Part I, 1 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
Yes Centrefold certainly beats my expectations, I saw a catalogue picture and didn't believe it! Well wonders never cease!

The E. Tropical Dream is supposed to get to about 44", but mine is now around 4'8" with 1/3 or so of flowers open, the top buds are close together so I imagine it would go higher.

Dahlia imperialis has flowered in the dome at Eden, also at Kew Gardens in a hot year I hear, but I haven't seen them personally. My mother grew one many moons ago in Aussie. Like huge bamboos with drooping flowers atop. I am going to give it a good bash, (not the plant), it's next to a south wall but on the edge of north east so gets winds too. I can build a cover for it! Flowering is triggered by shortening daylight or temperature or both, and if we get early frosts then it's a goner. In the write-up for junglegardens catalogue he stated as he was writing on October 14th that his was 14' tall and had flower buds. I know we had a hard frost to -5C on the night of the 16th, my Fatsia japonica flowered in all it's glory first time ever on that day, and was only part open, it mushed. If we happen to have a mild autumn like we did some previous years, it can be reasonable until a week into December.

One of my own grown from offsets off a freebie, there were three original this colour and they are dwindling but mine are bigger than ever. It is a prolific offsetter, I grow them on in a tub for 2 years and they start to flower. This particular red is redder than the others, the sun was shining but it was shaded, and colour spot on. I think it's Monte Negro, this pic loos just like it

http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/image_browse?query='Lilium Monte ...