PBS Forum

Quote from: Bern on December 29, 2024, 04:05:59 PM

Quote from: Robert_Parks on December 28, 2024, 10:06:06 PMWhat I have as camerooniana is very much a winter grower. My hantamensis also.

I'm conceding now that hantamensis is a winter grower.  But I've recently viewed in situ photos online of camerooniana blooming in January in southern Africa (early summer there).  So camerooniana may be "flexible" in its choice of growing season.

Flowers fairly late in the season here, with typical winter rains.

Robert

Quote from: Bern on December 28, 2024, 01:04:20 PMI am trying to put together a list of summer growing Romulea species to try to identify some that I'd like to try to grow.

I was looking at the PBS wiki and and Wikipedia and here's my list so far. Would readers take a look at it to see if you concur, or advise which ones to delete, or suggest others that I have missed? And if you are growing any summer Romulea species, would you please let me know which ones and what your experience is with them?

https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Romulea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulea

R. autumnalis
R. comerooniana
R. congoensis
R. fibrosa
R. fischeri
R. hantamensis (possibly winter grower)
R. macowanii

Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide.  I appreciate it.

What I have as camerooniana is very much a winter grower. My hantamensis also.

Good luck!

Quote from: Carlos on December 26, 2024, 06:10:19 AMI wonder 'how many plants' do you have...

G. equitans is really cool! I spent a little fortune on small portions of about 25 species from Seeds and all, they took three months to arrive and nothing sprouted, so I was quite deceived, specially by the seller. I am about to be equally deceived by Julian Slade in Australia. I mean, I am good at making seeds sprout. And I send good seeds, usually for free or against other seeds.

Seeds and small bulbs from SX are doing quite well, but more uncommon species are hard to come by.

I try not to look at the number of rows in the spreadsheet...and even that only indicates how many accessions I have. And with some, like some of the Gladiolus and Amorphophallus the number of individuals is liable to be vastly higher.

IIRC, G. equitans produced enough divisions that some went to the BX. Oddly small amount of leaf for the inflorescence and corm.

Robert

Quote from: Martin Bohnet on December 17, 2024, 11:22:15 AMAh, bomareas - actually edulis can deal with the German summers which also can be quite hot. As they seed around quite a bit i'm experimenting with some in open ground at a protected spot - and as I'm generating data on freezing depth now (of course the light frosts until now didn't even reach 5 cm into the ground) I may find the right spot and depth for them. I always find it interesting that Anton Hofreiter, a well known German Green Party politician actually did his PhD on Bomareas. I'd love to talk to him about them, maybe he had some ideas what species could deal with our conditions. Too bad his day job circles around weapons for the Ukraine these days...

but of course no Bomarea pictures in December...

Of my Bomareas, only edulis is strongly deciduous. There are a number of others that don't grow during the winter and get ratty looking, but they stay green. There are some higher elevation dryland species that should be strongly deciduous, but might not like warm humid summers. I don't know if there are any mediterranean Bomareas, but several Alstromerias will grow on a mediterranean climate schedule, so maybe some unobtainable Chilean species?

Robert
in sunny cool damp San Francisco with some winter Tropaeolums and a Cyphia shooting up

Quote from: CG100 on December 16, 2024, 11:40:13 PMIf you check the wiki, not all plants have coiled leaves, even in habitat, so genetics is involved.

Well, I'd guess that all the clones available in the trade have coiled leaves, at least from a genetic perspective.

Robert
in cool dreary SF, with dormant summer bulbs everywhere

Quote from: Diane Whitehead on December 16, 2024, 07:56:04 AMThank you, Robin.

I wonder if the leaves would be curly if I grew it here in Canada.

In a partly shaded situation in foggy San Francisco, the leaves were still coiled if not so tightly, so I'd guess yes.

Robert 
in rainy SF
M. pritzeliana went down late, and hasn't emerged yet, which means either it hasn't come up yet, or dormancy didn't get satisfied.

Quote from: Uli on December 15, 2024, 10:42:48 AM

Quote from: Robert_Parks on December 14, 2024, 10:08:21 AMMy evergreen Bomareas don't have an off season for blooming...4 of the 5 big ones are going off right now.

Hello Robert,

Wonderful pictures of your Bomarea...... I wish I could grow them here but several attempts failed, they cannot cope with our hot summers....

So you probably can't grow the cloud forest Passifloras either then. They say that cool night temperatures are ALSO needed.

It is interesting that they seem to grow and flower about the same year-round here, not minding the winter rains and temps to near freezing, while the deciduous species go dormant in mid-fall.

Robert
in damp cool San Francisco, where a big Passiflora X Oaklandia is about to get moved or removed because it is overly vigorous, requiring bimonthly trimming to keep it from blocking the driveway from the arch trellis that is threatening to collapse under the weight.

My evergreen Bomareas don't have an off season for blooming...4 of the 5 big ones are going off right now.

Robert
in cool damp San Francisco

Quote from: Bulbous on November 09, 2024, 09:48:42 AM... I'm not sure if it is even a bulb!

Indeed, most likely, Oxalis hirta, an easy and vigorous plant.

Yes, a true bulb, although Oxalis does indulge in pretty much all the ways of geophyte storage. Mediterranean climate, although mine tend to want to start in September, which is way before the natural rains. Probably eaten by gophers, if you are thinking of planting out.

Robert
in newly rainy San Francisco

Quote from: Martin Bohnet on October 19, 2024, 12:07:04 AMI rarely have guests for dinner, but when I do it's the perfect time for the stinker to open up: Arum pictum

is in flower, and obviously the trap works...on the other hand i'm hopeful that next spring the crown will be passed to someone else: my mother bulb of Amorphophallus konjac

Flower Colors:	black
Flower Season:	mid spring
Special:	edible storage organ
Life form:	tuber

has reached 2.3 kg - that HAS to be enough for flowering size (was 800 g last fall)

Flower bud! Thicker and sort of thumb-like = flower bud, flat with a short spike in the middle = leaf bud.

Amid the "autumn color" in the indoor grow area (almost all the aroids are going down now), a last flower on Typhonium violifolium. "Little Stinker" could be used to describe the pervasive essence of staleness from an inflorescence barely 4cm (1.5") tall. Darling little plant with (by the end of the season) layers of adpressed leaves.

Two aroids today...

Ulearum donburnsii - stays open for a long time, usually no scent, but tonight? Fruity poop.

Typhonium roxburghii - blooms intermittently during the whole active period. Flowers last barely 24 hours. Stale mothballs, if mothballs actually went bad.

Robert
in warm misty, no blinding blasting fog, no blazing heat, sun, argh. Summer bulbs are going dormant very slowly.

Quote from: Too Many Plants! on September 24, 2024, 11:25:53 AMWe have some giant Mediterranean bulb. I don't remember the name at the moment, but seem to recall it's supposedly the largest bulb in the world (I certainly could be wrong). I guess I don't remember it being a Drimia, but the flowers appear to be very similar. Large green leaves with a touch of glaucus bloom on them, leafing at a different time than flowering, and flowers are like 5-6 feet tall (150-180cm).

Probably labeled Urginea maritima...Urginea has been sunk into Drimia at the moment.

It keeps trying in my cold foggy climate, the leaves come up at random times and melt in the fog, then it send up a flower spike that usually melts in the fog. My last one hangs on because removing it would destroy the Rhodendron it is nestled against...the bulb isn't getting bigger, but it also isn't getting smaller.

Robert

Not growing inside, but in my outdoor conditions... It grows and flowers late for me, usually blooming as the fall rains turn into winter wetness...so November into December, then a quick descent into dormancy. Pots left outside all winter do fine, in fact tubers have escaped into the patio pavers. No idea what the triggers are for flowering or dormancy...which could be an issue for growing as a houseplant.

Quote from: CG100 on September 05, 2024, 08:52:31 AMMany of the Hedychium, in fact many of the Zingerbraceae, in cultivation are hardy or borderline hardy, although most also like plenty of water.
Frost-free, I can imagine that many will romp away and probably be evergreen.

Frost free, but with a distinct winter season, Roscoea has a strong dormancy, each species goes down and sprouts at its own time...not particularly linked to water or temperature...maybe there is a day length trigger in there.

Robert
where the weather is flipping between warm dry Indian Summer, and very wet fog (dry soils were wetted an inch/3cm deep this morning)

FYI. here are the recorded sources for my donation:

Name                            Note                      Number
Allium amethystinum            ex PBS-Rimmer deVries
Arum byzantinum                ex Illahe
Arum concinnatum RP1
Arum concinnatum RP2
Arum concinnatum Suspeck        ex  Plant Delights
Arum dioscoridis
Arum dioscoridis ssp. dioscoridiex PBS BX485
Arum dioscoridis v. syriacum RP1
Arum hygrophilum
Babiana framesii RP1            ex PBS BX492-MSIttner
Biarum tenuifolium              ex Bern M
Freesia caryophyllacea RP2      ex Annies
Gladiolus carinatus            ex PBS BX489
Gladiolus carneus              ex Annies
Gladiolus trichonemifolius      ex PBS BX481-RDVries
Gladiolus virescens            ex PBS BX492
Hesperantha bachmannii          ex PBS BX489
Ixia dubia                      ex Telos                                    1
Ixia flexuosa RP1              ex PBS BX481
Ixia flexuosa RP2
Ixia maculata                  ex Barry Rice
Ixia paniculata Short
Ixia polystycha                ex PBS BX478-MSIttner
Ixia polystycha (unknown clone)
Ixia viridiflora RP1            ex Telos
Ixia viridiflora RP2
Leucocoryne purpurea            ex RDVries
Moraea bellendenii              ex PBS BX481-Chinchcliff
Oxalis bifurca                  ex PBS BX470-MSIttner
Oxalis hirta RP1                ex MSIttner
Oxalis hirta RP2
Oxalis nortieri                ex DHannon
Oxalis pardalis MV 7632        ex PBS BX482-MSIttner
Oxalis purpurea
Oxalis purpurea Garnet
Oxalis purpurea Lavender & Whiteex PBS BX470-MSIttner
Oxalis purpurea Rose Pink
Oxalis purpurea Skar            ex PBS BX467-MSIttner
Oxalis purpurea White
Oxalis simplex                  ex Telos
Oxalis simplex?                lost label
Oxalis sp. (aff. flava)
Oxalis sp. RH11 Silvermine      ex PBS BX492-RDVries      shade
Oxalis tenuifolia              ex Barry Rice
Oxalis tomentosum              ex Telos
Oxalis versicolor RP2          ex Barry Rice
Oxalis zeekovleyensis          ex PBS BX474-MSIttner
Pelargonium auritum            ex DHannon
Sparaxis tricolor Red & Yellow
Tritonia crocata
Tritonia pallida ssp. Tayloriae ex PBS BX492-RDVries