Deep South Bulbs

Well, when the high yesterday was 86F, I think you can safely say the deep south has slithered into early summer. Thought I would start a thread so the northerners could see into their future and we can see what's happening in Marie's garden. =)

This one's Oxalis brasiliensis. I would think this would do much better in a pot, but I was in a hurry last fall and just put it by the walk to the front door hoping it would survive the deep mulch necessary for weed suppression. I have to admit I'm a closet Oxalis lover...I really love the South African species, but am still on the learning curve with them. I have probably single-handedly killed more of them than any one person on the planet. The South American species seem to do rather well for me.

This one usually lets me know its getting warm outside--as if the increasing electric bills due to the almost constant use of the ac wasn't enough. I just can't wait to see the next one. ;)

This one's Cypella herbertii, which is sprawling across a mini hibiscus to the front and a Sprekelia in the back. It's kinda a wild child.

What's going on in the rest of the south? We could really use some rain here, hasn't rained in at least a month--rather unusual for us in spring. A lot more bulbs would pop out some blooms if it would rain.

Let's see what you have going on!
=)

Viewing your second entry inspired me to pull down the Manual of Bulbs; I don't think I've ever seen that flower before.

Here's the PlantFiles on that one above:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2143/

Its actually hardy through zone 8a--I know people growing it in the ground (not pots--although its extremely easy to grow and bloom in a 2 gallon pot) in zone 8a. It also tolerates a lot more winter moisture than bulb books claim--its in one of my beds that stays moist. I'm often glad my bulbs can't read. ;)


Here's one blooming today that I just love; its a smaller member of the Amaryllidaceae family: Chilidanthus fragrans. This one has a reputation for being tempermental about reblooming--but this is my second year with it in the ground and its blooming. I think it liked the fact that we had a much dryer than normal winter. Its also frost sensitive (it does freeze here at my house every winter) and I kept it covered with oak leaf mulch and buried the bulbs 5" deep. It's in the driest bed I have. Very bright lemon yellow flowers and extremely fragrant--native to southern Peru. I'm trying to get seeds from this little gem this year, if possible. A good quality about it is that it has 2-4, long tubed flowers like the southern heirloom oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida, red or pink) as opposed to the rain lilies (Zephyranthes and Habranthus) which only have 1 flower per scape (with one exception to this rule).



edited to add: Marie, this one has your name all over it! =)

This message was edited Apr 26, 2008 1:24 AM

I planted 10 of the Chilidanthus in a pot a few years ago. That first year they bloomed magnificently; since then, naught for blooms. They're overwintered in the basement and look to be in good shape health-wise but no bloom success since.

Did they split? Last Nov-Dec I dug mine up and noticed that they had split, so I went deeper hoping to discourage that tendency....we shall see how many of them rebloom this year, but at least one of them has so far. Next fall I'm going 7-8" deep and see what effect that has--they are surprising large bulbs, so I know they can handle it. That's why I would really like do this one from seed--to see if that will perhaps answer some questions.


I hope perhaps some other folks will be up prior to noon tomorrow and jump in here with their pics--I know I won't be up before then.

edited to add--its pouring and lightning and thundering outside! Nothing like a good ol' Texas Gulf Coast summer thunderstorm to wake up those bulbs..I am soooo happy.

This message was edited Apr 26, 2008 2:47 AM

I have this little darling. It is a hybrid of the 'Easter Lily' and it does very well in my 'no chill' garden.

nice Dale--we do get freezes in winter here. Usually 3-5 between about mid-Dec to mid- Feb. Rarely 28F usually only around 30F--time duration of them is usually very short. 3-5 hrs max, that helps a lot too.

Dichelostema I cannot remember which one right now. Debbie I love those Cypella herbertii!!

Another Dichelostema

Calchortus

Not sure which oxalis.

dmj1281, you said

"as opposed to the rain lilies (Zephyranthes and Habranthus) which only have 1 flower per scape (with one exception to this rule)."

What is the exception please?

Love that chlidanthus, have to get that sometime.

No idea on this oxalis but I love the dainty light pink blooms!!
dale does your hybrid easter lily come back every year?

This message was edited Apr 26, 2008 10:04 AM

great pics Marie--that first one I love! I wonder how that would do here with 45-50" of rain a year--lol--I've never tried it

That last one is also superb--Calchortus (I'm assuming that's one of the CA natives) of all kinds absolutely hate me. That's another species I'm probably rivaling habitat destruction as the second major killer of. I still keep trying on a few of them...

I do have pretty good luck with some of the CA native Triteleia's--they seem to handle summer water pretty good. One's blooming now and another is finally sending up a bud this year. The battery is dead on the camera and recharging--I'll get you a pic later. Its going down for the season but still looks OK. Its like the first 3 rows of these:
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/TriteleiaSpeciesThree#laxa

The hybrids do even better for me about handling summer water. This one T laxa 'Rudy' is sending up a bud finally:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/133091/

oops, I thought there was a PantFiles pic on it, but guess not. have to wait a few days on that one--lol
T laxa 'Corrina' does real good too for me but is always the last one to bloom. I would think they would be even happier at your house than at mine!

who's making pancakes for breakfast this morning, I'm starving! =)

we cross posted Marie--love both of the Oxalis

Azreno--the only exception I'm aware of is Habranthus biflorus and I can't say much about it because I just obtained about 3 small ones about the size of my pinkie fingernail--it will definite be a couple of years on that one
http://www.bulbsociety.org/GALLERY_OF_THE_WORLDS_BULBS/GRAPHICS/Habranthus/Habranthus_biflorus/H.biflorus.html

Oh, nice :o} Thanks for the reply!

drummond's rain lily

Debbie I really like that Habranthus biflorus .
Lynn I ed to figure out where I planted my drummonds. I love that bloom.

yep az--real nice one there, well done! Rain lilies are real important to me--that was why I was so excited in that earlier post about the rain last night. I was waiting for #3 (our TX native Zephyranthe drummondii) to bloom. First comes Z morrisclintii and second is Z lindleyana and then long time no rain.......lots of them are running late this season.

Hab martinezii always spits out blooms early--but I swear it even responds to the hose. It should be covered after last night and Zeph x 'Ruth Page' has bloomed--it's always one of the first, but its a good rebloomer.

My computer crashed last November and I lost a lot of my pictures...pretty pitiful when you have to cut and paste your own PlantFiles entries and a lot of them were far from my best pics--that will teach me to backup in a more timely manner

Rain? What is that? We have at least 9 more weeks until we see any rain. I forgot that you get so much there. I sure do love the reaction from the plants after our monsoon rains.

Debbie that is awful about your pictures. You have some really good ones in plant files. I need to put all of my pictures on disk soon. I ould be devastated tol oose them.

Oh, it's a terrible pic, I had a hard time getting it so it wasn't blazing white, and then it was fuzzy, oh well! It's a good early bloomer, just got it in the fall and love it. Been giving it the hose ;P

That stinks about your pics! I have been backing up to a server, it's a relief to know I have it but if the house burns, I am grabbing that first!

I know you are our resident rain lily nut and this proves it, I had to look all those up lol Nice ones.

its pitiful Marie--luckily I had some real good ones on IBS Gallery, they were able to send me attachments

I was working late last night--it started thundering, I ran out in the street to see if I was just hearing things at 2:30. Sort of like my flashlight incident when you said your G tristus was blooming. I'm hoping this also prompts a few of my S African glads I've grown from seed and am praying bloom 2nd year for me to pop. They are big and they are healthy...I've got my fingers crossed.

I just keep my display garden stuff and all my seedlings at the house--my main growing site is at a friends house about 45 miles from here. I called him at 2:30 to ask if it was pouring out there too-- he says, 'Debbie, you are so easy to please" lol

I'm waitin' on him to come pick me up to go out there for the day, and I think I might starve to death here....what's cooking for breakfast out that way? Can I come over?!

No breakfast here yet!! I have a friend that is in town from Washington and I am waiting on her to tell me where we are going to eat!! I hope it is soon because ever since you mentioned pancakes I have been starving!!
You called your friend at 2:30am? How funny!! What a good friend too especially one that takes a call at that time!! If I thought it was raining I would be outside too.
Did you see theinterest thread on co-op on seeds for african glads? I think I may try some even if they do not get it going and try my hand at them. They are my favorites!!
I have been know to go out int he middle of the night to check on a plant too. It is part of being a member of the HHA!!

Marie--I've been dealing with Rachel for a number of years now ;)

I usually put in one very large order every other year with her--she and I are both members of PBS, IBS, and 2 other professional organizations

I have a large number of those species fixing to bloom this year, I hope

I cannot wait to see your glads bloom!! I probably would never want to leave either of your places. I really love my bulbs and tubers etc.. They are my favorite plants.

Marie, my lily comes back & it is making big clumps. I am going to dig up one and propagate it in Nov/Dec, when it goes dormant.

Hybird rain lily, from last summer>

Well some of us up north have Freesia laxa in flower! Only a year from seed, but it was in the greenhouse albeit unheated.

Marie, your first one is Dichelostemma ida maia, second most likely Pink Diamond which I have had for a few years and is increasing like mad now, but has only flowered once a few years ago! I keep it in a pot in the garage now, snails liked it too much or some rodent ate it in the greenhouse. I'm not sure how it would do outside in wet, as far as I know they need to be very well drained.

There is two stems on one of the larger plants, one on the other and they are well branched too. I only have two big and two little plants.

I had a rain lily bloom too!! any ideas who this may be?

Well done there Janet! Has the white bloomed for you yet? I like it even better; the scapes are much longer holding the blooms well out from the foliage. Let me see if I have a crappy picture showing that--OK, here's one. I won't even try to excuse my poor photography skills--lol--what I was playing with here is did I like the old grey fence or new fence background or sun or shade. White is hard to photo sometimes. This was also early in the season with them and not that many blooms were open.

Another thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the staggered bloom times on the 4. F laxa ssp azurea (blue) started blooming in Jan. Almost exactly at 3 week intervals next came the red, then 3 weeks later and the 'Joan Evans' and very last (but best, I think) was the white. They will do great in the ground here too--they handle summer or winter moisture well, all 4. But I can't drag them around and pose them for pics--lol

Hey Az, see you aren't alone with that white and photography. =)
Are you at high or low elevation in Mesa, Arizona? I know Dale in Tampa is a flatlander at low elevation near the Gulf (niece in Tampa) like me--hot and humid. Wallaby, I can't remember ever asking you about your elevation there....I was just thinking about what effect elevation might have on how the same bulbs might behave even in the same zone.

Marie--that's Z drummondii. =)

Well I guess mine will bloom now that its finally rained. Does it ever freeze there in the winter? Your G tristis was about a week ahead of mine too.

I only have the red F. laxa Deb, sent the white to you! I got seeds of the blue (not yet sown) with my last silverhill order but not white, they are pretty!

We're very low here, about 80 feet I think above sea level or is that metres.

We freeze out at my place. I live on the out skirts of town near a river and it easily gets into the high 20's.

I also got the white from Silverhill and NARGS that same year--they all look the same. Its definitely my favorite. Blue will kick out a few blooms first season sown for you (not 1 year--before first dormancy). It also seems to prefer cooler temps, sow them now. Its completely down here--the rest are all almost down but seeds still maturing. The red, white, and Joan took a year here too.

How did that Tigridia chiapensis I sent you a couple of years ago do? I just got around to sowing them this Jan (so much for seed having to be fresh--lol) and they are going like gangbusters. I think they might even spit out a bloom or two before going down since they are a really short species.

DMJ, what is NARGS?

Love those Habranthus x floryii Dale--they really make a landscape statement don't they? I love the way the dutch are changing their name every season and calling them things like Cherry cups and Amazing jumbo just to sell the same thing...gotta love the dutch. Mine are gearing up--hopefully the rain got them. I remember seeing that photo before is that today?

That one is tall but there really are some other choice Hab hybrids--little early for them here. Habranthus x floryii is not the most beautiful Habranthus hybrid or species I grow, but it takes the cake for sheer bulb and bloom size. It opens pale pink and ages to white with pale pink tinged petal tips. This is probably the best of any rain lily candidate for landscape uses--its big and bold enough to really make a statement from a distance. Habranthus x floryii is a hardy hybrid of Habranthus robustus and Habranthus brachyandrus. It reproduces quickly to form large clumps and is easy to care for and very popular.

NARGS is the North American Rock Garden Society.

Nice display Dale!

Debbie, I am at about 1100' elev, same temps as Marie but she is out in the wide open where as I'm in the city with block walls and stuff. My drummondii actually bloomed 7-10 days ago, have pods setting now.

Az that's interesting about the elevation--I was thinking ya'll were maybe a bit higher. I'm at 141 feet; I know this because of the federal hurricane flood insurance they look at real close now after Rita and Katrina and I get the lowest rate possible because I'm also out of the 100 yr flood plain from the closest bayou or river (which are all actually really far from me). I'm at least 60 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico too.

I'm curious to see if your's and Marie's bulbs continue this trend of blooming a week earlier than mine. I know Maria's Gladiolus tristus did and my Z drummondii have not bloomed yet but should after the rain. We are also supposed to get another heavy rainfall tonight. I know my Sprekelia's are already pushing buds up but they do respond fast to spring and fall rains. Patterns always fascinate me.....

I'm going to stick with what is actually blooming currently from here on out. All of my others were the actual day of blooming other than those white Freesia laxa's. This is a native Texas bulb--Allium canadense var fraseri which I think holds a lot of actual garden potential. This one is definitely not the very common, weedy, bulbil-spitting, invasive seed-spitting common form of this species which can be seen here:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/35774/

What's nice about it is its delicate, does not form bulbils or spit seeds and when it melts down it disappears all at once. I think it would look good nestled in around short scutellaria's or other pink or blue small flowered spring annuals. My kid used to be into what I loosely call "yard art" when she was younger--now I just use them to mark some bulbs I don't want to accidentally disturb later in the year. They are not at peak yet, but you can see a good close-up shot here:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/149155/

Another, more impressive native TX allium is sending up buds now too--but I'll show you that one when its actually blooming. Both of them should work anywhere in the deep south--wet or dry.

Wow I love both of those alliums. I would like to add them both to my garden. I am only posting what I actually have blooming right now. This is a Tigridia

Another Tigridia

love 'em Marie! =)

I have a white one that's similar to those T pavonia, but its a long way off from blooming yet. I have some other Tigridia species too...they are all (including yours) from South America and Mexico, so they do well for us.

Viva la Tigridia!