Pacific BX 192 - Oxalis results

James Waddick jwaddick@kc.rr.com
Fri, 08 May 2009 09:44:22 PDT
Dear Friends,

	On 11/22/08 the BX offered three species of Oxalis from 
Alberto Castillo.
	There was a discussions right after that about how to treat 
these winter growers and when they'd grow and bloom.

	I planted mine immediately on arrival.  It was suggested they 
should be up in a month or two. On March 12 I reported:

	O. gracilis has been up for around a month - Early Dec 
planting to Early February (2 months)
	O. purpurea took another 2 weeks (2 1/2 months)
	O. comressa is just showing the first sign of life at just 
over 3 months.

	At this stage The earliest corms of O. gracilis are fully 
expanded and in good growth, while O. purpurea are still looking "in 
development".


	Now Early in May ( almost 5 months after planting), all three 
have begun to flower and I can report again.

	O gracilis was the first to flower, but flowers are a bright 
pink, not the tangerine/ orange shown on the wiki. Alberto does not 
indicate that this is a color variant so I wonder about the ID. The 
foliage is reminiscent of O. versicolor
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

	O. purpurea 'Garent' has lovely dark foliage and large rich 
pink flowers. Typical shamrock foliage in purple.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

	Both of these have quite similar looking flowers, but 
'Garnet' is a good size larger than  O. gracilis

	Today is the first flower on O. compressa, double form and 
the flowers are exactly as Alberto describes. A VERY 
un-oxalis-looking flower. Each flower stem can have up to 10 buds and 
there are multiple stems per plant. Looks like a real winner. 
	http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…

	And more recently Mary Sue supplied some Oxalis magnifica to 
the BX just a month ago. These started growing immediately and the 
first bloom is open today. Mary Sue was unsure of ID, but a web 
search suggests she is correct about ID. Honestly the flowers are not 
much (plain pink, "oxalis' flowers, but hard to judge from just one 
flower), but the foliage is very nice. Each leaf is large , with 
multiple segments and very exotic looking. So far, it looks great and 
flowers are a bonus.

	Anyone else have any report yet	?

		Thanks to Dell, Alberto and Mary Sue.


Alberto's description:

18. Oxalis gracilis (W). This is a shortish form, compact, and extremely
floriferous, we have it in flower for four months or more in winter. Full
sun and gritty soil.

19. Oxalis purpurea 'Garnet' (W). This is the deepest purplish form of this
species, spectacular. Full sun and gritty soil. Recently mentioned in the
PBS forum as one of the most striking of all.

20. Oxalis compressa, double form (W). Apparently this form is unknown in
the States. Flowers are very double, yellow with faint terracotta back to
the petals, on tall stems. The foliage is compact, ground hugging and
attractive. Some forms have a black center that makes them very striking.
Most plants produce plain green leaves as the character of black center is
recessive, but of course, from offsets they prove true to the variety. Both
forms are here, in mix.

Mary Sue's description:

11. Oxalis sp. L 96/42 is summer growing Oxalis originally from Uli and
collected in Oxaca, Mexico. Suggested species were  Oxalis magnifica or O.
nelsonii, but I have no confirmation of these identities. This species is
dormant for me in winter and blooms for a long time in summer with large
pink flowers.
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…



			Best and thanks Alberto and Dell		Jim W.

-- 
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph.    816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
	Summer 100F +


More information about the pbs mailing list