Bule miscellany

Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Sat, 05 May 2007 04:34:49 PDT
Things have quieted down in my protected cold frame. Many plants have
already gone yellow and died down for the season: early Fritillaria are
down, most Crocus are down, the Nerine are down, the south African Oxalis
are down, some Colchicum are down, various aroids are down.

But there are still patches if interest. 

Gladiolus dubius is starting to bloom; this shows a surprisingly bright
color, much more nearly red than the plant I have grown for years as G.
byzantinus. 

Dichelostemma capitatum is almost finished blooming - there is a bit of blue
left but most flowers have gone over to the brown paper stage. D.
multiflorum on the other hand has not yet started to bloom. This did not
bloom last year, but this year it has produced a bouquet of well budded
scapes. D. volubile is also in bloom now. Last year this one got tangled up
in some nearby vines; it ended up a mess. This year I provided a stake for
it. 

Narcissus bulbocodium graelsii tall form has provided a real surprise. It
first bloomed a few weeks ago; when the first flower faded, it thought that
was it. But eventually a second scape appeared and flowered. This I
dismissed as an anomaly. Today a third scape is in bloom. Is there another
Narcissus which produces flowers sequentially?

Muscari argaei album is now starting to bloom. So too is Muscari dionysicum.


Bellevalia pycnantha bloomed very handsomely this year; by now it is mostly
over. B. longipes is now fully developed and looking very bizarre. While web
surfing the other day I ran across an image of B. trifoliata: this looks
very interesting and colorful. I have a plant under that label in the bulb
frame, but my plant has not yet bloomed. 

Allium haematochiton is blooming, and the big melanocrymnium Allium are
starting to flower.  

Brodiaea terrestris and Calochortus tolmiei are blooming.

The regiliocyclus Iris 'Thor' is blooming today: and yes, I'm thunderstruck.
This one favors the onco side of the family, with a pattern of dark purple
black veining on white (the falls) or violet (the standards). The falls have
a nice onco-like black signal patch. Iris hoogiana is also blooming. 

And I've saved what for me is the best for last: the Jamestown Lily (aka
Atamasco Lily) is opening a nice big flower as I type, just in time to honor
the 400th anniversary celebrations of Jamestown, Virginia. Or perhaps it is
blooming in honor of the visit of Elizabeth II.

Have I mentioned the tree peonies, the dogwood, the wisteria, the Davidia,
the Aesculus pavia, the azaleas, the early honeysuckles, the columbines and
phlox...

My cup gusheth over. 


Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where a new plant of Ruscus
hypoglossum has joined the collection, and I'll be off in a bit for a
morning of developing warbler neck. 

My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/
 
Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS 
Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ 
 
Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/
 
 
 
 
 
 


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