June bulb news

patty allen prallen2@peoplepc.com
Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:20:19 PDT
HI JANE,
I DON'T HAVE A COPY OF THAT BOOK AND WOULD LIKE YOU TO PUT MY NAME ON YOUR LIST OF PEOPLE WANTING TO PURCHASE ONE WHEN YOU GET THE REQUIRED INFO.
THANKS,
PATTY ALLEN

-----Original Message-----
>From: Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>
>Sent: Jun 19, 2008 2:54 PM
>To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
>Subject: [pbs] June bulb news
>
>I just returned (not without weather-related hassles, of course) from the 
>NARGS annual meeting in Ottawa, Canada, which was well organized by the 
>regional Ottawa Valley Chapter. The only bulb seen on the field trips was 
>Lilium philadelphicum, flowering mostly as scattered individuals in a 
>recently burned area. The plants had unusually short stems, which one local 
>expert thought had resulted from the especially hard winter preceding this 
>spring. We were also taken to view lovely populations of Cypripedium reginae.
>
>The NARGS Book Service manager reported that she had an overstock of the 
>book "Bulbs of North America," and I volunteered to try to sell off some of 
>these at a remainder price. I'll announce their availability when she has 
>shipped them to me with the exact price to be asked. If you don't have this 
>book yet, it contains extensive chapters on the major North American genera 
>(e.g., Calochortus, Fritillaria) and on the smaller genera of each climatic 
>region, with both habitat and cultivation information. The publisher and I 
>think it failed to sell as well as hoped because all the photos are in one 
>section rather than associated on the page with the text. Lots of pretty 
>color photos is to selling books as lots of pretty color flowers is to 
>selling plants.
>
>When I checked the bulb frame on my return, I found Calochortus kennedyi in 
>flower, grown from Ron Ratko's seed collection. This brilliant orange 
>mariposa (a yellow form also exists) is native to the mountains of the 
>desert Southwest. Mine took 5 years from germination to flowering, which is 
>a little longer than average for the genus. C. amabilis is very pretty just 
>now, but a rabbit climbed into the frame and nipped all but one of the 
>stems from C. invenustus, which is an unusual color near blue.
>
>Even more unusual in color is Ixia viridiflora, which has managed a tall 
>stem of its glowing turquoise blooms despite a very cold winter (I suppose 
>it isn't an Ixia any more -- has it fallen to the advance of the Freesia 
>hordes?).
>
>In the garden, the main bulb interest is currently provided by the taller 
>Ornithogalum species, the Brodiaea alliance (including Dichelostemma, 
>Triteleia, and Bloomeria), and Allium (mostly American species). The 
>hummingbirds, now raising their young, find plenty to eat from the 
>Dichelostemma and Kniphofia species in particular; earlier they were busy 
>pollinating Fritillaria recurva, darting into the frames while I worked 
>there. I was surprised to see them feeding from Menziesia flowers, which 
>are small and dull in color. Color isn't necessary to attract them: one of 
>their favorites is Aesculus californica, a white-flowered "horse chestnut."
>
>I saw (i.e., heard and then saw) the first bulb fly of the season just 
>yesterday, but this year I have the Sternbergias grouped under Reemay 
>(nonwoven row cover fabric) and hope to foil these devilish insects. I wish 
>they'd stick with the hundreds of garden daffodils instead of seeking 
>gourmet fare for their young.
>
>Jane McGary
>Northwestern Oregon, USA
>
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