Dear All,
The items listed below have been donated by PBS members for
sharing. If you are interested in obtaining some of them, please email me
PRIVATELY at <dells@voicenet.com>. Include "BX 31" in the subject line.
Specify the NUMBERS of the items which you would like; do not specify
quantities. Availability is based on a first come, first served system.
When you receive your seeds/bulbs you will find included with them a
statement of how much money (cash or check) you should send the PBS
treasurer for your order. This is a charge to defray
costs for packing and first-class postage. It is a good idea to include your
snail mail address too, in case I don't already have it.
Some of you are members of the PBS discussion forum but not members of
the Pacific Bulb Society. THIS BX OFFERING IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO MEMBERS OF
THE PBS. Consider joining the PBS so that you can take advantage of future
offers such as this. Go to our website: http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/ . Or
contact me at dells@voicenet.com
If you would like to donate seeds or bulbs/corms to the PBS, please send
clean, clearly labeled material to: Dell Sherk, PO Box 224, Holicong, PA,
18928, USA. Donors will receive credit on the BX for the cost of postage for
their donations.
From Mary Sue Ittner:
SEED:
1. Cyrtanthus breviflorus-This one is evergreen for me. There is a picture
on the wiki. It may be the easiest one to grow. It bloomed for months for me
this year putting on quite a show.
2. Delphinium luteum--Yellow, only a few populations in the wild but easy to
grow. Not a geophyte, start seed in the fall and if you pot it up you might
get it to bloom in its first year. Dormant in summer, from California, easy
in a container
3. Delphinium nudicaule--Orange red, native to northern California where it
grows on banks, often in shade and is dormant in summer. Not a geophyte,
but can be grown as one and kept dry in summer. Start in fall
4. Delphinium nudicaule--Dark red, this is a descendant of one I grew from
seed from a single plant in the wild population that was dark red. Some of
the seedlings were the same color. Who knows what you'd get from this
second generation. They could all be like the species or you could get a
dark one.
5. Delphinium patens--Purple. This one is a geophyte (tuberous roots), dark
purple, not tall, long blooming in winter. Coastal mtns. at high
elevations. Start in fall, dormant in summer. This one is a little slower
to bloom from seed, two to three years.
From Robert Parker:
SEED:
6. Cyrtanthus 'White Gem' UCI hybrid ex Harold Koopowitz
7. Spiloxene serrata?
8. Ornithogalum juncifolium
From Hamish Sloan:
SEED:
9. Habranthus magnoi - white flowered trumpet shape, not reflexed petals.
this is my first flowering from these seedlings. Would like info on this if
anyone can say anything.
10. Cooperanthes lancasterae - white flowered, rather like above but
slightly larger. As this is a hybrid, seedlings may vary, of course, but I
would expect by not much. First flowering from these bulbs. I have used
sowing on the surface of very gritty damp compost watered from below with
similar sourced seeds but others may have their own suggestions. For those
of our members who are lumpers, this will be just a hybrid Zephyranthes
rather than a Cooperia/Zephyranthes hybrid as Cooperia usually now in the
Zephyranthes fold. Would like info on this hybrid if anyone can say
anything, particularly what are the parents.
11. Cyrtanthus brachyscyphus - bright orange tubular semi-pendulous
flowers, being slightly curved downwards. Florets appear in succession, with
four or so florets out at one time in a scape with eight to ten florets. I
was delighted with the length of time the flowers held their bright colour.
Bulbs flower while quite small, offsets easily, so that it is possible to
get several flower stems in one pot readily for a long lasting show even
though the individual flowers are only about one inch long by quarter in
diameter. Suggest germination best using the wet paper towel method - lay
on a wet absorbent paper in a closed container, put in a warm place that
can be dark, e.g., airing cupboard, but certainly out of strong light,
check frequently to keep towel damp (almost floating!) and to pot on the
germinated seedlings; leaving the germinated seedlings for a few days seems
to do no harm; pot on in well-drained compost.
From Jim Zimmerman via Joyce Miller:
12. Seed of "Crinum sp x self (SB02L) is an "old stand" planting that was
collected in South Sacramento, California. It strongly resembles Crinum
bulbispermum roseum. The leaves are quite glaucous blue and the plant
seems to resent too much moisture.
The first flower spike this year was observed in February with subsequent
spikes appearing. At the time this seed was collected in early June,
another flower spike was sending up buds through the spathe valves.
The spikes tend to have around 16 flowers. They open light pink, becoming
quite dark pink as they mature. Their shape is the trumpet lily shape,
just like the typical bulbispermum.
13. Small Bulbs of Crinum sp. LOOLS An "old stand" collected from an old
homestead about 65 miles north of Sacramento. The owners said their
ancestors brought them with them when they migrated into the area in the
1890s. I think it more likely that they originated in California, possibly
from the Burbank nurseries which were not very far away.
I have not yet seen the flowers. The owners described them as being
like the white Easter lilies on a tall spike. They guessed the bloom time
to be mid-Summer.
The plants seem to offset well and have very long, wide green
leaves. Could be something interesting! The mature bulbs are very large
-- like good sized of cantaloupe. The neck tends to be quite long.
Thank you, Mary Sue, Robert, Hamish, Jim and Joyce !!
Best Wishes,
Dell
--Dell Sherk, Director, Pacific BX