Funky Amaryllis Bulbs?

One with hemorrhoids, Janet. LOL

Marie, I got some from UC Berkeley Botanical sales and also I found a guy who grows some.
They are so cool.

Brunsvigia gregaria

Very cool. I found some one who sells mature bulbs but at 100.00 a pop it will be on my wish list for a while. Which crinums do you grow.?

Hopefully none soon. LOL

I was is in a crinum stage several years ago. I do not see them around here at all. A few at UC Berkeley Botanical. So ever intrigued with what is not common, I bought a lot from eBay, supposedly odd colored ones for $$$. Plus I bought a lot of the Amarcrinums that HD had one year, me always being an amaryllis lover was just so intrigued.

I would say all of them bloomed a plain pink and all looked alike, another rip off on eBay. I had them in 2 beds and they took over. HUGE clumps! And they do look messy a lot of the time. A few months ago Tom dug them out of my front bed. It took several tries. Those things go deep. And even though he felt he had them out, in 3 weeks they were back growing and growing fast. I had bulbs that must have weighed over 10 pounds. Just huge. A friend took them and I am afraid to go look at her yard. I am so hoping she does not get mad at me when they take over her place.

In fact this same friend so wants my naked ladies. She has a small but darling yard so I am going over to see what she is doing with all of these. She has several of my brugs growing for about 5 years and they are now trees. She lives in Pacifica and gets no frosts. She also wants a couple of my latest fancy brugs. She must be going for a mini me jungle garden. LOL.

Speaking of a jungle garden, WOW did you all get hit by the deluge of rain this afternoon. It was coming so fast I had a flood in my courtyard. It was scary! Fast and furious. I wonder if this means we are getting out of the drought now.

The downfall in my courtyard.

Kell, what's that gorgeous blue on the right side of your (very cool) photo?
Weather-guesser on KGO has been saying we're headed into an El Nino....

I so need to get Tom to put up the hoophouse then. Shoot. He says he can't because I have the back full of pots but I have no where to move them out of the way.

Oh Janet, that is a danger to all who grow it. The pot it is in is actually on the other side of the courtyard out of view. It so travels and roots all along the way. It is a mad man plant. That morning glory, Ipomoea indica.

It will cover your house if you look away for too long. I live in fear it escape under the fence to my neighbors yard and then covers us all.

It is such an easy abundant blue color that it always gets a reprieve after I swear it is soon to be dead after I spend a day following its runners from the pot all thru the courtyard and yanking them up from other pots, from cracks of dirt between the stones etc etc. I am truly mad to be playing with fire.

Kell, wish we were closer too. I loved your pic. you should enter it in photo contest. Looks good enough to win. Love the rain too.
Believe we may be over our drought too. Now people fussing about the rain, but i'm not. But I do love plants & their interesting little
ways of growing.
Charleen

Kell you jungle is beautiful!! I have had the same issue with some of my crinums too. As a matter of fact I have a bout 6-8 bulbs lying in my front yard after we dug them up from a place that was too small for them. I do have some neat ones. What do your naked ladies look like? I ask because I sometimes see that name interchanged on 2 different bulbs.

Those crinums are going to multiply fast if your friend gets no frost at all!!! The things I could grow if it did nto get so cold where I live.

I wish we would get some of your rain here!! Charleen I have been foloowing the news ont he rain in your area. I am sorry for the flooding that has happened out your way but I know the rain was severly needed.

Janet that blue dawn is a yard eater. I gave some to weegy and it is covering her back yard. If you want I will bring you some to the spring swap where ever that may be. I missed getting to meet you at the fall swap.

Oh, no thank you-----I made the mistake of planting the oh-so-beautiful Grandpa Ott, and spending the past 6 years pulling and detangling his great-great grandchildren from the trellis. Thank goodness I only planted him in a small strip bed!!
I'm just always drawn to the blues.....but I've learned to be pretty choosy about which ones I plant and which ones I just admire. I planted some Chinese Forget-me-nots this year and I hope I don't regret it!

What are chinese Forget me nots? I understand I only have the blue dawn because I have a very large fence and a husband who is diligent in chopping it back. I too am still pulling those darn grandpa ott's out after 3 years of trying to get them to grow only to find out they reseed everywhere. I need to go home and pull some more seedlings.

It's this one:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54572/
I found 2 four-inchers from Annie's Annuals & planted them the end of September. I LOVE the color....
I have really good luck with a lot of the borage family, and although they reseed like crazy they're easy to pull out. Hopefully that's also the case with this.
Here's the writeup from Annie's:
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=302&account=none

Pretty! I have good luck with borage too. A little too much as it is coming up all over the place right now. and it makes me itch when I have to touchit. It is one of my daughters favorites though so Ileave it for the most part.

Ok after seeing the write up on Annie's I might need to go and find some seeds of this one.

You forget one thing, girls. Plants don't read. So you really don't know what is going on in those little stems that WE plant. They seem to either like us and stay past their welcome or hate us and Die. Poor things don't know how much we pay for them. They do as their temperment desires.
We are supposed to get getting more rain this Friday. I live south of Atlanta so didn't get al the rain damage they have. i sort of Rural. Love it out here.
Me and the critters. But ,silly us, we still love our plants.
Charleen

My FB is showing roots! I'll take pictures and post soon!

Whoo Hooo!! I was just getting ready to e-mail you and find out where you have been.

This message was edited Oct 20, 2009 12:34 PM

LOL, mule! Reminded me of when I worked at a nursery & people would come in asking for "deerproof plants"----my boss would say "the deer don't read the lists; if they're hungry, they eat it."

That is true, isn't it?? When we were first married, my DH loved Hostas, still does but we could never have them ,we would plant them, the deer would eat them.
The only reason I have one now is I have a dog in where they are planted. But you can't have dogs everywhere. You should see our garden fence. You got to be willing to work to have a garden sometimes. Don't we??

"sometimes"? Maybe "most of the time"...LOL!

Um, I think I was promising some crinum bulbs to Marie.
Glad to hear that your FB is doing weird stuff, now too weegy. : - )
Things have been hectic and right now I seem to run out of energy and fall asleep before I remember to get the camera out. Maybe it's the new meds. LOL!
OT note, the hummers are still around, I have seen them hanging out in the gh. Just haven't gotten any more photos though.
I've been enjoying reading about your experiences up north with the crinums. You all are able to grow plants that I can only dream of. Hostas for instance. Share photos!
WIB!
SW

this is Spritzer, new plant .
Missy & Lucas

rrm, Awwww, too cute! Missy and Lucas aren't going to eat Spritzer? Naw! They look like very well behaved furbabies.
Keep us posted, please!
WIB,
SW

I'll kick their butts, if they do. Don't they look abused?? they are not. I love my babys.
They haven't, I took them over there nd had them to sit. They know how to sit. See Missy is
even smiling. Glad you enjoyed them.
Charleen

SW I have some other crinums that you can grow . Do you want them now or in the spring? I grow hostas and you coul too. Mine do not get huge and lush but if you have a shaded area that gets water there are some varieties that will make it here and if you do pots you can grow them .

You can grow Hostas! I kneel before the good gardener! I have ordered them and planted them in shady areas and made sure they got plenty of water and I got nothing. I'd like to try some other crinums. I think they are a cool plant.
Only thing invasive around here are bermuda grass, foxtails, and tumbleweeds. I've gotten rid of the stickers, but those lousy tumblers keep blowing in. I'll never be able to get rid of all the foxtails.
I prefer planting in pots, but have a lot of ground that I want covered too. It's been a challenge, and until recently I haven't been able to devote much time to gardening.
It's always repaid my efforts.
I'll remember to take a photo or three of the crinums out there and see if any others are ready yet.
WIB!
SW

Here hostas get eaten by snails/slugs before they get out of the ground. I have never succeeded with them. They have so many cool ones now too. I love fancy leaves! SW, I am like that with colored calla lilies. A couple years ago I spent hours planting over a hundred bulbs and not 1 came up. Though the big white callas are weeds in my yard. Oh how I hate them.

SW, I promised the crinums I have left to a friend. I wish I had more now so I could send you some. Maybe when I dig them out there will be some below them that I can send you. These I have not seen bloom. They are in shade and I wonder if that kept them from flowering. They are from eBay too so who knows they may be special. LOL

Missy & Lucas are so cute. Someday I am going to get a dog. I need a best friend. LOL I shouldn't say that. I have a cat that is my heart. She acts like a dog.

Marie, would you post pics of your special crinums? I would love to see them.

Thank you, Kell. I love my furbabies very much. They love to "help Mama garden" they lay in the way.
Sometimes I have to go back and wait til they get out of the way. Lucas likes to play with flower pots, they are a shredded mess. I have a new Blue Hosta. He
keeps his stuff all around it, I'm going to have to build a little fence aroun it. It is a pretty little stub. i thought he had shedded it like the pots, but surprise I think it is going to make it.
He is responsible for keeping the deer out. So now I do have a Hosta. Yeah!!!!
Charleen

SW. I will have some crinums ( I will D-mail you) I will post some pictures When I get home this afternoon.

SW, here is a pic 0f my crinum,
Wish I had a pic of bloom, but next year for sure.
The leaves are really very long and I do not water them. Thay are quite tough.
If I can dig some up, I will gladly send you some, if you wish
Charleen

Wow, those are different than mine. Don't bother digging them up unless you are thinning the patch. It may be that they aren't mature enough to produce seeds yet, especially if they haven't bloomed yet. I think they are way cool, ridesredmule.
They might even make it in my area. : - )
Have to hobble for now. LOL!
WIB,
SW

I have a friend who surrounds her hosta with copper banding to keep the snails/slugs away. It works, but you have to clean the copper off occasionally - and it's not cheap. I've always wondered if the copper scrubbers would work - kind of pulled apart and wrapped around.

KC, don't for sure if it would work. Could easily pour vinegar or even pickle juice on the copper to clean it in place.
WIB!
SW

The copper just needs wiping off - a coating of mud splashed onto it stops the slugs/snails from getting the shock that would normally keep them away from the plant. Wouldn't use vinegar near the plant - that's what I sometimes use to kill weeds!

KC, Really? Is the copper like a hot-wire? I live on a farm, not used to some of these things. Vinegar kills weeds? The things I learn. : - )
Haven't had much problems with snails except in the gh. The tortoises eat them or if I find them, I toss 'em to the chickens.
Got a couple of new photos of the FB to show you.
Here are three of the FB.
You know I missed a great opportunity the other day. I saw the weirdest thing. A couple of the FB, were still attached to their stalks, but had begun to sprout. Without even thinking about it I plucked 'em and set them on the ground where I hope they will grow.

Close up of the middle one from previous photo. The closest one in that photo is attached too close to the ground, I think it rooted normally. Go figure? The middle one is showing it's green and I think it's actually reached the ground and is sending down roots now. It was the one that started the thread. My how it's grown.

This is the one that rooted itself underneath.

Ima, I finally got your joke about being mooned by a leprachaun.
Boy am I slow sometimes.
WIB,
SW

SW, yep, the slug/snail slime reacts with copper and gives them a shock. Vinegar (I use white) is very good for killing weeds - as well as boiling water.

heehee...SW
I read somewhere about mulching with a layer of pennies around hostas---they're less expensive than that copper tape.

Do you spray the vinegar on? I love the Strange little Aliens.
How hong before a green shoot comes out?
Vinegar would be a safer to use around my plants than Roundup.
Charleen

Super-concentrated vinegar is an organic weed killer being used in some of the vineyards in NoCal. It's stronger than what we can buy in the stores, but even regular white vinegar from the grocery store works well, and it's a lot cheaper than Roundup. I use it in cracks, on gravel, etc. Unlike Roundup, It's not toxic to the environment, but it's still a full-on herbicide----it kills everything green that it touches, so if you spray it, make sure it doesn't drift onto plants you don't want to kill. If you cut the bottom out of a 2-liter soda bottle or gallon jug, you can put it over the plants you want to kill that are next to good ones, and spray down the neck to keep it from going astray.