more moraea pictures

Mary Sue Ittner msittner@mcn.org
Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:14:35 PDT
Dear Bob,

Thanks for the information about your Moraea pictures. I think Marlene may 
underestimate the interest in Moraea. Quite a few years ago when I was 
doing the Topic of the Week for IBS and asked people what they wanted to 
talk about, Moraea got more votes than any other genus. And the Moraea wiki 
page is one of our more popular wiki pages. Now that we have split it up 
the count is underestimated and it still is right up there. It is the 2nd 
most popular genus page that includes South African bulbs on the wiki. 
Oxalis is the first which amuses me since Oxalis wasn't included in the 
Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs and isn't grown by many of the South 
African bulb enthusiasts. The other two genera that are from South Africa 
that are popular on the wiki are Gladiolus followed by Nerine.

If the Moraea flowers were open longer and not when some people are at work 
and were hardier, more people would share your enthusiasm. Certainly 
discovering the flowers in the wild is a treat as many of them are so 
intricate and lovely. Seeing a flower even if only for a day on  plants 
over a long period of time every now and then is a nice treat. I think with 
delight when I see a bud, "Oh, my Moraea is going to bloom today and I need 
to look for it later."

A couple of them make up for having flowers that only last part of a day to 
a couple of days by blooming for such a long time. Moraea polystachya is 
like that and since it blooms so early when those of us in Mediterranean 
climates are eager for flowers, it is especially nice. And despite all the 
negative things people say about them, the Homeria subgroup continues to be 
a great favorite of mine as it is in bloom for months in my garden and 
always attracts positive comments from visitors and is so easy.

Mary Sue


More information about the pbs mailing list