IAnyone looking for southern heirloom bulbs, I just got a Cornelius Nursery brochure in the mail today and they have a variety from the Southern Bulb company in stock now. I'll be checking them out tomorrow.
Southern Heirloom Bulbs in Houston
And the oxbloods and spider lillies were very poor quality--they've had them sitting out in the heat for a month. If you want their bulbs, you are much better off ordering from them than buying at Cornelius.
They have a website--I know their bulbs are good quality, so I know its because Cornelius didn't take good care of them. They've had them since August.
This message was edited Sep 22, 2006 6:10 PM
Oh, thanks for letting me know about this before I went over there! I can usually find what I'm looking for there, but they are really pricey on their stuff. Which one did you go to? I use the one at Dairy Ashford and I-10 and haven't had a problem with anything bought from there so far.
that's the one--go to the Southern Bulb Companies website--they aren't hard to find and have good quality stuff.
So I just checked their website and all the bulbs for my zone say "Ships early Fall".......Is it too late to plant these?
No, perfect time is Oct thru Thanksgiving Merae--they are shipping now. I've got some things from Southern Bulb Co. and was very pleased. Got stuff I ordered from them earlier blooming right now. That's how good they were.
Houston bulb and plant mart (known far and wide for the best prices anywhere) is held in mid-Oct every year here because mid-Oct to mid-Nov is the best time to plant. I will be getting ALOT of things pre-ordered thru them. I can get you any of that long list of things I mentioned on that other bulb thread (which included summer and fall bloomers that mid-Oct is ALSO the best time to plant) from the near end of Oct through next summer. Then there is that other website I referred you to, that one is not ANYWHERE NEAR DONE as far as the bulbs go either.
Also look into the Ipheon's--'Wisley Blue' variety, Ipheon uniflorum species, and 'Rolf Fielder' variety. They naturalize very good in Texas. Also Sternbergia and then false freesia Anomathea laxa or freesia laxa are excellent spring bloomers, reproduce superbly, and naturalize great. A very underused buld in Texas that last one.
Tulips are great, but there's only a few species-types that will naturalize well in Texas. And trust me, there are several people trying to get them on the markets as fast as they can; but I wouldn't look to see this happen before next summer at the earliest. They aren't the easiest things to propagate; I know, I'm trying too.
There are a lot of narcissus species that naturalize great in Texas too.
Deb, have you found the false freesia anywhere? I have wanted to get a hold of some ever since Htop sang their praises last year.
Debbie, I was just posting to you on the other thread to please help. Thank you so much for offering some ideas. This is all very new to me and I am a bit lost at what to get and don't want to just blow my money away. Tulips are very sentimental to me so I do want those too and man just ordered some beautiful ones. Anyways, looking through the PlantFiles to see pics of what you have mentioned and also referencing that other website you sent me. I really like the ipheons and the lycoris. Have you ever tried the Charlotte Bishop variety?
I just looked up crinum....my jaw dropping..you have got to be kidding me, I didn't think that this could grow here. I thought only lillies grew up north.
Sweezel--yes, dmail me.
Merae--I will post you a link to the ones you asked for on the other site...give me a few minutes. Many crinums are native to the Southeastern states and one spider lily is native to southeast Texas, Hymenocallis galvestonensis, I'm working my tail off on.
Speaking of good,native heirloom bulbs to put in now, or just about a month ago, and are performing beautifully TODAY is this one.
Oxalis drummondi
crocosmia (my spelling leaves much to be desired--is all thru PlantFiles) here's one:
http://www.nzplantpics.com/pics_perennials/crocosmia_x_crocosmiiflora_lucfier_small_07.jpg
OK--that didn't work; here's one of many species in plant files--this is a summer bloomer:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57411/index.html
OK--that didn't work; here's one of many species in plant files--this is a summer bloomer:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57411/index.html
here's another of one of the neomarcia's also a summer bloomer:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2108/index.html