Eucomis

Ellen Hornig hornig@oswego.edu
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:27:03 PDT
By far the hardiest one I grew at Seneca Hill was E. comosa 'Peace Candles'
(I didn't name it - the South African breeder did - awful name).  That was
in a zone 5 with excellent snow cover, but I believe it has also done well
for a friend in Ithaca, where the snow cover is less good.  It bulks up
well and blooms reliably.  I've brought a bag of them here to Shrewsbury,
MA ti try - am looking forward to seeing what happens.  The flowers in that
one are a pretty clean white with purple stamens (?).  It was best sited by
the road in full sun and sandy soil (also salty from the road salt, which
never seemed to be a problem).  In lusher conditions it overgrows, and the
long, heavy flowering stems fall over.

In NY I was also working with a group of purple-leaved E. pallidiflora,
which has much nicer (less long and lax) leaves than E. comosa and, in the
best seedlings, good pink or purplish flowers.  I brought these along too,
and hope that eventually something really nice and hardy will come from
them.

I'm also playing with some very beautiful dwarf collections of E.
autumnalis.  Time will tell.

Ellen


-- 
Ellen Hornig
212 Grafton St
Shrewsbury MA 01545
508-925-5147
USDA zone 5B? 6?



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