Sounds like Texas got lots of rain, and maybe some snow? Yucky weather, but at least the lakes and reservoirs are filling up again.
Here's Rita's P.pudica opening it's first flower for me. Hope I can keep it warm enough to open the rest of the cluster next week after the cold air passes us this weekend.
Is is SPRING yet?!!! We've got 30 m.p.h. winds and 65 degrees - humid doesn't begin to describe the muggy air!
Got a killer deal on this Alocasia nubela Imperalis today. $10.00 bucks for the pot..
Good for you, Martha!!!
Martha, that looks quilted, great find!
I love it. Hanging out in the bathroom right now. After this cold spell passes this weekend will move it outside...'
but really I can at this point turn the shower on in the bathroom, and it will be happy. Its very cool !!!
it is beautiful! wish I could grow stuff like that outside..
LOL, my bathtub, which sits directly under a skylight, is full of crotons right now. They are enjoying the occasional spritz with the hand shower.
Killer deal Martha!
Yes, we all need two bathrooms. One for us and one for the plants.
Anybody still looking for different colors of Achimenes? I recall we were talking about this in the summer when they were blooming. Just got my favorite bulb catalog in the mail, McLure & Zimmerman, and they are offering 7 different colors. www.mzbulb.com
They also seem to have a selection of some really interesting Aroids - but they're in a 4in. pot. Somehow I can't see growing an 11ft. Borneo Giant from a 4in. start but, I guess they grow pretty fast. Do you aroid lovers grow the biggies from starts that small??
Thanks, but they are too expensive, imho. I have POTS FULL of red Achimines, and my goal was to trade with some folks for colors other than red.
I have an order started with them, they have pale yellow and an orange Gloriosa lily this year, and also Bletilla (ground orchids) and a variegated agapanthus!
So maybe I'll order a mix of colors and trade some after we know what colors they are. I think $5.95 for a dozen or $20 for 48 bulbs is pretty reasonable.
OK, Elaine, you are technically correct about that not being THAT expensive, but when you add the postage, it seems a bit high to me. These corms are the size of a pencil eraser, for goodness sake - they wouldn't cost more than a dollar to mail in a bubble envelope. I'm done ranting now! LOL
I'll rant with you, I have never gotten McClure and Zimmerman to ship to me in time to plant. By the time their bulbs got here it was too hot and they struggled. I had asked for early shipment (it was for agapanthus) and they told me their bulbs were still in cold storage.
Elaine, I've never ordered from that company but for any Alocasia or Colocasia, the bigger the bulb/tuber the bigger the plant will be. If they mail any Aroid bulb/plant the size that Kay stated or even a started plant in a 4 inch pot you will get a fairly small starter plant but you should not have any problems growing them larger in a short period of time where you live.
Several people offer Borneo Giant for trade here on DG:
http://davesgarden.com/community/trading/search.php?search_text=PFPID:143947
I do agree, they ship late - I've learned what I can and can't order from them. I use other sources for things that need a cool start. Plus some of the things I order are for my daughter's garden in Salt Lake, so if they arrive the first week of April that's ok for me. I have that problem with most of the bulb companies, though. Most of them won't ship before mid-March.
Their shipping is reasonable if you have more than just the little bulbs. $6 for any order under $60 (just to encourage you to order more, I know.)
Wish I had room for a Borneo Giant, but the one I've got my eye on is a little smaller C. esculenta 'Nancy's Revenge'. They also have one called C. 'Blue Hawaii' that sounds gorgeous. I was just discussing with DH today that we need to cut out the tall stems of our five big white Birds. Some of them are over 15ft. tall.
This message was edited Jan 12, 2012 10:59 PM
I was just looking at their catalog and I would have a concern about how invasive some of their colocasias are. They would probably be fine in Salt Lake, and maybe even fine in your neck of the woods because you are higher and dryer than I am but I am still battling some Colocasias I removed almost 10 years ago. They love my mucky marshy soil. A neighbor just gave me a tea cup and warned me never to plant it in the ground and to keep the container up and away so the roots don't travel down into the ground. Apparently that one is a nasty too.
I don't have the names in front of me but there are some terrific bulb companies in TX and LA that would ship earlier for those of us that have to plant in February before our soil heats up. It gets so hot here the baby roots just burn up.
In the past I have ordered the achimenes from M & Z and loved them but so did the squirrels, I don't even have one bulb left. I am tempted by those orange and yellow gloriosa tubers however.
Do you have a website for M & Z? Any bulb companies' websites would be great!
Elaine, That's how I started; 4'' pot in August 2010. Last summer around 9'! You can grow them huge in a 35 gallon Nursery pot.
classiccaladiums.com Kay! HUUUUGE TUBERS!!!!!!!!!!
McClure and Zimmerman's website is: www.mzbulb.com
I am going to try and find those southern bulb companies later when I have time to search the web.
Alice, we'd really appreciate that! Thanks!
Here you go:
www.southernbulbs.com TX
www.edenbrothers.com GA
www.brentandbeckys.com VA
www.terraceiafarms,com NC
www.hollandflora.com NC
www.marysgardenpatch.com ?
www.jenksfarmer.com SC
www.marcellescrinums.com TX
I have met the guy from Southern Bulbs but I have never ordered from them. I have ordered from Brent and Becky's with good results and I know Jenks Farmer and his stuff is mostly crinums and very expensive but the quality is tops. I do not know anything about the rest of the companies.
Every fall the Riverbanks Botanical Garden in Columbia, SC has a terrific sale on bulbs for fall planting. I wish they would do the same for spring bulbs.
Thank you!
i agree brent and beckys is a good source. miss you all cya later..
Wake up! No time for hibernating folks! We have a NEW THREAD here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1237644/
