Deep South Bulbs

I have tried for 2 years and this is the first time I have gotten blooms. I want see your white one when it blooms.

It will be awhile Marie--I just found time to plant them about 3 weeks ago....

I'll be happy to just get some seeds this year with them, they will probably bloom in 6 weeks (since I'm predicting all my bloom times too early this year, maybe we better add 2 weeks to that--lol)

I think I'll take a nap and hopefully that predicted thunderstorm for today will wake me up =)

Not Tigridia chiapensis Deb, it was Tigridia vanhouttei and it must have been spring last year, I sowed them on 10th June. I'm not sure how many I got now, but I brought them inside for winter in their pot. I had to have a dig around to see what they were doing, only found 3 so I replanted them nearer the surface. Two others I hadn't found (they go deep) started to grow! I now have 3 growing, I should have left them alone but you kno whow it is! The first two are several inches tall now, one has 3 leaves, I should be able to put them in the greenhouse now as winter seems to have left us, lol, only to come back later.

I took a pic of the three I dug up, two were a good size, not bad considering the cold year we had and late sowing. Here they are on 30th January, gee I did get impatient!

Sorry Janet--for some reason I had it stuck in my brain that it was T chiapensis. That one (T vanhouttei) I got around to sowing on the same day, 1/4/08--I just went out and looked at it and its growing just as well.

Those look really great, well done there! Three nice healthy bulbs like you have is usually good enough to get more seeds on should you decide you want more. I will often "dump and see" (another of my high tech methods--lol) in winter if something is dormant then, as a break from the endless fall to winter sowing too. no wonder my T chiapensis are growing so frighteningly well--must be a family tradition with the small Trig's

Sometimes it scares me when a first year seedling grows that splendidly--lol--so heartbreaking if I loose them 2nd or 3rd year...

In looking at my journal on the source of those seeds, I have down that they were NARGS (we'll keep our fingers crossed that they are what they are supposed to be! Always have to do that with NARGS as a source, but so far I've only found one thing that wasn't what it was supposed to be). The seed source is listed as Tasmania, so I'm leaning towards this guy as the source. All of us belong to all 3 of these organizations and this guy specializes in the Irid family and has some really super entries in there:
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Rob%20Hamilton

=)
Wow, thanks for that update! Got me all excited and revved up over these species!

Today I'm really busy, unusual cool snap so need to work outside before it gets to hot. I'm inside scarfing down a PBJ sandwich because its probably all I'll have time for today.

Parts of the following thesis (LOL) are really cut and pasted from a closed to the general public International Bulb Society forum topic of the week entry I made this morning to stress the point of how easy bulbs really are to do in the garden (a point sometimes lost on them as they argue about DNA counts, etc). The topic of the week was Sprekelia's.

But I also wanted to make this point on this thread about bulbs in the ground. I will often post pics of them in pots--I need to do this for reasons that most gardeners don't. But do know that are all growing in the ground somewhere on the property--I just may not be able to get a "garden" picture that day due to a number of factors.

CUT AND PASTED PARTS OF CONVERSATION:

I’m going to take a little different approach to the Sprekelia TOW this week.

First, a little climatic/gardening conditions background here. I have lived in the unincorporated area west of Houston on the remnants of what was once known as the great Katy prairie for 22 years. I am not located in the “banana belt” of Houston (those of you involved in Hippeastrum societies and other tropical gardening forums will recognize that term). In other words, I am located north of I10. It does freeze here every winter, usually 3-6 times—with temps usually about 29-31F; I have very rarely seen it 26-27F at my house. I am at least 60 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. That means a lot of commonly grown southern shrubs such as Hamelia patens and Clerondendron ugandense freeze to ground level every single winter here, no exceptions; but re-emerge in spring. These plants are often evergreen in the “banana belt” of Houston proper. This area is now classified as zone 9a. We are very hot and humid from May until the end of October. Basically 5 gardening “waves” here; winter, spring, early summer, “deep” summer, and fall. We’ve been sliding into early summer here for about a week or two. That’s basically marked by the end of Louisiana Iris season here (and also in New Orleans), early daylily season, and the tomatoes are 4’ high with prime fruit setting time on those. I’ve talked to several Louisiana Iris hybridizers in Louisiana over the last week—we are always sad to see the season end. I do not breed LA Iris but do have an extensive collection—they are definitely one of my passions. Highs have been around 80-85F with night time temps running about 60-70F for about a couple of weeks. We did get a cool snap with a front yesterday; its 70F out there now, with a predicted high of 76F and a low of 58F tonight. We are really enjoying this because we know it will be of very short duration and we won’t see this again until late October (if we get lucky)!

Many folks are unaware that Sprekelia formosissima does very well as a garden/ground specimen (and actually in zone 8a too) in the south. Contrary to a lot of the literature, it handles high levels of winter moisture and light freezes very well. It usually blooms about the same time or slightly later for me than the hybrid and species Hippeastrums; which, for the most part, I also grow in the ground. I’m always eternally grateful that my bulbs/plants can’t read. One thing we have been lacking this year is our normal spring rainfall—other than a shower early Saturday morning—I haven’t seen any rain in at least a month. That is very unusual and has resulted in my Sprekelia’s running a bit late this year; but they are sending up scapes in response to the last shower. I find them to be rainfall influenced, like Zephyranthes and Habranthus. I have them located in several areas on my property; but most of the groups are located in rich, moisture retentive soil. I never fertilize them other than the occasional foliar feed of an organic 6-11-5 that everything around them also receives. They are quite content alongside a miniature tropical hibiscus, a phlox ‘John Fannick’, Cypella herbertii (which is also blooming now for a couple of weeks), and the Texas native Pavonia lasiopetala. I will get rebloom on those in the fall if conditions are just right—very dry late summer and if the first fall rainfall is very heavy.

I’m aware that my garden will never win any House and Garden awards—I do a lot of very strange things like tuck a tomato on the edge of the LA Iris bed; and my back fence is propped up with 2x4’s in anticipation of the subdivision replacing that soon. But I think it will make my point of just how easy this bulb really is to grow in the ground, year round, with no special fuss. If you want to decrease your bulbs in pots collection, this makes a great candidate for in the ground. I’m always looking to do that, especially as my collection or bulb obsession seems to increase exponentially every year. Mine are also only just sending up scapes; but if you look closely (in the box to the left) you can see them. Our native Allium canadense var fraseri is also blooming now—definitely not the bubil and seed spitting form. Our native Allium texanum is also sending up scapes—but my garden always seems to run behind the TOW by a week or too. Probably because it knows that will aggravate me.
*********
End of the cut and paste part--the following pic is what I'm showing above and was taken this morning.
=)

Cypella herbertii with mini tropical hibiscus--another of my strange combo's. Same bed to the right of the Sprekelia box above.

Edited to add: the name of that mini tropical hibiscus is 'Chad'--first bloom on that one this year, they look better as the season goes on:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/42103/


This message was edited Apr 28, 2008 3:59 PM

Habranthus martinezii, easily one of the most floriferous rain lilies I know of for me from March until June. In all stages here from bud, bloom, seed formation, and shedding its leaves (that's why they look ratty--they loose them and grow more about this time of year).

Thanks for listening to my ramblings today--may seem like I spent a lot of time here but thanks to technology--not long.
=)

Nice pictures Debbie and thanks for sharing that info. There is no rhyme or reason to my gardening and I am ok with it.
I have tomatoes scattered through out , Strawberries planted in the middle of bulbs and shrubs, I have corn growing at the edges of my beds and cantaloupe and cucumbers all over my yard.
I love that last combo!!

We cross posted Love that last picture too!!

I'm with you Marie--I'm lucky if I even have time to stick a salvia somewhere or get the tomatoes in before its too late these days.

That's only one bed, out of several at the house, and not much was blooming in it today. I could just make the same point in multiple places with it. I'll post something later on a day when more is blooming there.

Busy day today....gargoyle and Sprekelia formosissima for a picture.

More pictures of Habranthus martinezii up above in PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/49012/

=)

Nice one. What are you still doing up after how busy you were yesterday!!

I'm always up late Marie--somewhere between 12-3 is normal. What's not good about that is I sleep late, usually until someone wakes me up which happened too late to get a good shot of this, I hope it still looks good tonight. My camera sometimes does not handle whites well at all.

Hymenocallus traubii is native to Florida and winter deciduous and spring-flowering. I was unable to take a decent picture of it to save my life this late morning.

I would say that is a pretty darn good picture.

I go to sleep early and wake early. It is so rare for me to be up past 10 :o)

My camera does not, however, have any problems with the reds.

This is a cut and paste email sent out by a closed to public bulb forum from a guy in Phoenix, Az answering questions on his care for Sprekelia.
Do your Sprekelia stay outside in the weather all year?
Yes. There are about a dozen bulbs in an 8" diameter plastic terra pot on
the east side of my house.
*******
Do they have full sun?
Full sun for half the day, then they are in the shade of my house.

What is the summer temperature where you live?
We're already into the 90s F every day with nights in the 60s. Come late
May it will be above 100 F every day with nights in the 70s. June it will
be over 110 F most days with nights in the 70s-80s. July is in the 100-110
range days and 80s-90s at night. It begins cooling down in late September.
So far we're having typical weather.

How often do you water them in summer?
Several times per week. I try not to let them dry out.

This winter I moved the pot against the house so the roof overhang would
protect against winter rains. I stopped watering in November. I started
about two weeks ago when a few bulbs started making leaves, but no
flowers.
********

Interesting. I may need to join a few more bulb forums.

marie,
have a good day on your b-day
J

Happy Birthday Marie, Hope you have a fun one!