What's Blooming in AZ in August

Pamela Slate myixia1@gmail.com
Sat, 30 Aug 2014 17:29:07 PDT
Here is North Scottdale, it's been an interesting month for Amaryllids and
a few others, one not seen in flower here before (as noted). They include:

Amaryllis belladonna (pale pink) - flowers reliably at this time of year.

xHippestrelia, also a reliable bloomer.

Habranthus spp - brachyrandus, magnoi, robustus, tubispathus, 'Amazing
Jumbo.' - all flowering throughout summer months.

Zephyranthes - Hybrids Prairie Sunset, Apricot Queen, Labuffarosea and
species candida, grandiflora, citrina (not a regular bloomer) and help with
this if you can: Z. chlorosolen/drummondii. Given the earlier discussion
about plant names and sources, The Plant List shows both as accepted names.
Scott Ogden addressed the inevitable confusion over these names when they
were lumped into Zephryanthes from Cooperia and my bulbs came as Cooperia
drummondii. This plant is leafless in flower and has a tall peduncle
(scape, tube) measuring a good 12", and produced copious seed (selfs) The
flower is very small. I don't see this form on the wiki.

Haemanthus coccineus - now sending out a flower.

Scadoxus multiflorous ssp. multiflorous - I have two plants, one flowered
and one didn't but did leaf out. They skip flowering seasons here.

Rhodophiala bifida - dark red and deep pink, grown from seed collected in
Louisiana. Flowering for the first time after I moved them from pots to a
raised bed. Another Rhodophiala in the same bed - and I found the record
that says 'Granatiflora' - is a much bigger plant, red-flowered, with a
much taller peduncle and flowers at least third larger than bifida. Not
having seen the plant before, I'm unsure whether it's correctly identified
and I'm now sorry I didn't take measurements. The seed from Alberto (BX
171) was grown by a commercial propagator friend and the tag could easily
have been incorrect. Flowers did not show the wide, blunt tepals as the
flower on the wiki. I'll send the seed to the BX and perhaps in the future
we'll have an answer. And I'll try to have a photo on the Mystery Bulbs
page as soon as possible, even though I'm an inept photographer.

Lycoris radiata - transplanted from a raised bed where it flowered
regularly to the landscape in a moist, shady location, now just beginning
to flower.

Others include:

Oxalis traingularis - always an understory plant for Hippeastrums

Urginea (Drimia) maritima - all bulbs are in the landscape and not all
flower each year. This summer, for example, of the 15 or so bulbs here,
only two small ones flowered in July and the two largest now have 5-foot
floral tubes that are opening.

Ornithogalum osmynellum - it has been outside in pots all summer in
semi-shade and has bloomed continuously all year.

Hymenocallis 'Tropical Giant' - this is the first summer in 15 years this
plant has flowered!! I attribute this to the relatively moderate
temperatures this summer and increased humidity.

In April, I divided a large clump of Nerine bowdenii in raised beds and
planted several into the landscape and they have leafed out and hopefully
will flower.

I don't want to see such a rewarding August end.

Pamela Slate



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