Lachenalia

Three years old, grown in the basement under lights.

Closer up.
I d like to grow Lechenalia vividflora but haven't found a source; any suggestions?
Thanks.

Very beautiful plant you have there. I have never seen or heard of it before. is it some sort of tropical plant?

here is you alink for the one your looking for , plus alot of other cultivars for that species. The spellign just a bit diffrent than from what you posted.

http://www.bulbmeister.com/flowershop/fso2006/page10.html#LACHENALIA

Hi,
Looks really good for a lachenalia under lights, they tend to stretch unless kept pretty cool and bright. You can get seed of L. viridiflora (the blue green endangered one) and many others from Silverhill Seeds in S. Africa, they send seeds around the world. Lachenalias will bloom in about 2-3 years from seed. L. viridiflora is one of the first to bloom, usually in Dec, and it will multiply well from bulbs and seed. Check out Telos bulbs as well, they sell bulbs of several species.
Ernie

Nice plant Jmorth--is that L aloides? Does it ever go outside or do you keep it underlights constantly?

edited to add--what kind of lights?

This message was edited Dec 31, 2006 10:35 AM

Starlight, bulbs of Lachenalia are orginally from the Cape area of South Africa (common name is Cape Cowslip).
Congminglaoshi, thanks for the potential source.
dmj, this variety is indeed aloides; this year they've been under a bank of fluorescent lights (6); last year, under a metal halide lamp they did well also. They are kept exclusively in the basement. The average winter temp down there hovers around 60 degrees F.
The variety I'd like to find and try (vividflora) have flowers of a turquoise green hue.

I have an order for them (vividflora, aloides, and variegata--seeds) coming in from Silverhill--I suspect they will do well here over the winter if I watch out and pull them out of excessive rains.

Just curious here--since you keep them at a constant year round temp, do they ever go dormant for you? What kind of soil mix do you have them in?

Once again nice pics, thanks for posting them!
Debbie

Beautiful! I've always looked longingly at pics of them. So the key to keeping them happy is the cool temps of your basement?

After the blooming flush, I start to reduce watering and move them more to the light's peripheral. They gradually lose vigor and eventually appear to give up the ghost...They're then set aside until early fall. The temp average in the my basement increases 5 degrees or so during summer. The soil utilized is Miracle Grow with some white sand mixed in. A clay pot of 5.5" inside diameter and 5" depth originally held 5 bulbs; I've not re-potted so can't say for sure if the population has expanded much but I assume it has based on more foliage and flowering spikes. The blooming period, timewise, is fairly long. I try to fertilize every other watering as long as the spikes are in flower. I read somewhere they're not as popular now as once they were due to less availability of cool rooms to grow them in.

Very pretty! My L. aloides aren't blooming yet, they often bloom anywhere between December and March. They are in the greenhouse right now, this house is much warmer than my previous abodes.

I traded for various species of Lachenalia seedling bulbs some years ago and it took L. viridiflora 4 years to bloom. They are pretty but the L. aloides give the most bold show and multiply at a frightening pace :)

Thanks for the info Baa. That's quite a wait for bloom. I'm desirous of vividflora mostly for the novelty of their fascinating color.

The correct name of this bulb is Lachenalia viRIDIflora, not L. viVDflora. That having been said, I suggest that you join the Pacific Bulb Society (http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/). They offer a LOT of different bulbs every year, and have offered L. viRIDIflora in the past. After becoming a member you can also ask if anyone has some they're willing to trade.

In addition to Silverhill Seeds, B&T World Seeds also has seeds available: http://www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com/a1.asp?title=Liliaceae&list=464 You can also check with Diana Chapman of Telos Rare Bulbs (http://www.telosrarebulbs.com/). She doesn't have this particular Lachenalia listed, but might have some available or know where you can get some. Another source for all kinds of South African bulbs is Jim Duggan Flower Nursery (http://www.thebulbman.com/). He has been hit hard by rodents the last few years and is rebuilding his collection, but I think he'll have some bulbs available this year. He only ships June 1-Sept. 15.

Keep in mind that this isn't the right time of year to purchase the bulbs. They should be purchased when dormant, between June and September.

Hope this helps.

Marilyn

Having said that--if it is me you are referring to--I have been a long term member of both PBS and IBS--I simply type fast.

OK pekasky, that makes more sense...VIRIdiflora means green flower.

dmj - not you. Look above and below your post. Glad to hear you're a member of PBS. I'm only a member of PBS now. I used to be a member of IBS too, but couldn't afford the cost of their bulbs and seeds. I'm still a member of their discussion group though. If that cost $$$ for membership I'd pay it since both IBS and PBS are great sources of info. I was suggesting membership to all on this thread who are interested in rare and unusual bulbs.

Marilyn

Marilyn--there's a lot of "on the side" trading going on at IBS these days. Their seed and plant cost is to support the 2 yearly publications of the bulb report and the yearly issue of Herbertia--which makes it worth it in my opinion. But I doubt many folks around here would find Herbertia as riveting a read as we would. ;)

I didn't know about the "on the side" trading. I have seen a few posts, but no more than what I've seen on PBS. I wish they didn't feel they had to sell their bulbs for so much more than PBS does. But then again they have more of the larger bulbs while PBS has the smaller ones, which I like better. I love reading the Herbertia too, but I can't justify the cost of membership just for that. Maybe if I weren't retired I wouldn't worry about it so much. :>)

A lot of the IBS growers are commercial growers--and seed quantities sold are in huge, bulk amounts too. I think that's the main difference myself.

Could be - but most of the IBS members who are growers are also PBS members.

I think most members of one are members of both anyway because we just can't resist joining any organization with the word "bulbs" in it--probably need to start a "bulbs anon" group. And if you look down the NARGS seed donation list--it reads very close to both bulb organizations membership directories too--and a lot of bulb seeds are listed on their exchange. =)

LOL!! I've been thinking about joining NARGS, but need to determine if a lot of their stuff will grow in my area. My two main problems are not enough heat and not enough cold for many bulbs. That's why the SA bulbs work so well here. We have so many microclimates that bulbs that won't work for me grow prolifically just 10 miles away, and vice versa.

They have a very wide variety--stuff for even here. 4500 choices. =)

HMorth,

Here is a link to a company that offers seed for 87 different species of Lachanalia. Go to the link below, click on category, then click on Bulbous Plants, then go to page 7, about half way down. They don't have many photos. All packs of seeds are $3USD, they take cards, and they are a reliable firm. They are a firm in SAfrica (ZA) and they carry most of the species of the Cape and many from other parts of Africa. If you like species of Ixia, Freesia, Watsonia, Sparaxis bulbs or any of the other flowers, tree, shrubs, succulents (Aloe or others) of that region these are the folks you want to buy from.

http://www.silverhillseeds.co.za/ByCategory.asp

Be aware that shipping is very slow......................