montbretia - plus a question

John Grimshaw j.grimshaw@virgin.net
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:51:18 PDT
Mary Gutierrez asked about Urginia macrocentra. This is from the grasslands 
of the Drakensberg, South Africa, where the curious, solitary tubular leaves 
stick up amongst the surounding vegetation. It's the sort of oddity to use 
in a plant identification challenge to really narrow the field down.

I haven't seen the flowers but they are the usual starry greeny-white, very 
many on a long spike, not particularly striking. As for cultivation it is a 
summer-growing species: I've seen it with such good hardy plants as 
Agapanthus campanulatus, Diascia vigilis, Eucomis bicolor and Galtonia 
regalis on the slopes of Sentinel Peak. Like these it should do well in a 
sunny well-drained site in the Seattle area; excessive winter wet is the 
most likely potential problem.

John Grimshaw


Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP

Tel. 01242 870567

COLESBOURNE PARK OPEN DAYS 2007
Easter Monday 9 April, Arboretum Weekend 15-16 September
Gates open 1pm, last entry 4 pm
website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Gutierrez" <norwesgard@earthlink.net>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 7:06 PM
Subject: [pbs] montbretia - plus a question
>
> Question: I recently bought a plant called Urginia macrocentra and
> can't find any information on it. The leaves are round and hollow
> like a reed (pointed at the tip) and about two feet tall. The tag
> says it has a white flower in late summer, gets 3 ft. tall and is
> hardy to zone 9(?). The foliage is very dramatic...I'm curious about
> the flower and where I should site this plant. >


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