NOVEMBER 2024

[Wylie]

Zantedeschia aethiopica 'Green Goddess' is a popular plant here as it can even be found in the fields where the cows leave it alone.

[Too Many Plants!]

Brunsvigia namaquana, far from flowering but really cute.

That is SUPER Cool 😍

[Too Many Plants!]

Seasons of Life. I'm not a fan of the shorter days, colder nights, and days that aren't sunny and somewhat warm...but...some of my SA winter bulbs are starting to wake up. For a plant/garden outside Geek, this brings some excitement to the unstoppable winter marching on us!

So far, I have spied emerging foliage on- Ferraria (has been), Moraea, Gladiolus, Babiana, Romulea, Ixia, Veltheimia, and my Boophone are mostly leafed out.

Of interest...of the genera mentioned above, my inground bulbs are the ones emerging while my potted ones (except for 1 Babiana pot) have yet to show activity.

This Boophone Haemanthoides (pictured) is for the first time splitting (I believe).

@Robin Jangle  ... thoughts on splitting?

[CG100]

The small (maybe 5 inches/12cm diameter) B. haemanthioides that had offset/split that I have handled was perfectly round until the top, where the two growing ponts formed a sort of "spectacles effect".

Quite probably there were two bulbs inside the countless tunics, but it/they were not obvious.

[Carlos]

Amazing Boophone!!

I had to go to do some work 20 min away from a very cool spot I know with nearly 10 different geophytes in 1000 m2 or so, but it has suffered from thexsevere drought. This was my third attempt in 2 years I saw the Crocus again (I'll leave it at Crocus sp.)

9


I feared that the Biarum dispar had not made it, but I spotted more than ever. They seem to have skipped blooming, though. 



And Arisarum vulgare forms a real lawn, among which the Biarum become impossible to detect. Drimia maritima in the foreground.



And a rhizomatous Asteraceae: Scorzonera, maybe S. hispanica. This taproot could maybe be considered a caudex as it doubtlessly stores water and nutrients. Some species are edible, but not much consumed anymore. I took it as I want to confirm what it is.



Finally, most of my Oncocyclus irises are also back, including several seedlings (the most robust one is bismarckiana). Those from cooler climates in the summer tend to die with me.

[Uli]

Hello Carlos,

Thank you for sharing your pictures of this interesting habitat. The crocus is very beautiful. It looks as if this place got good rain. (I hope that you are not affected by the terrible flooding in the Valencia area?)
Is this habitat a now fallow cultivated field? 

[Uli]

A scene from the narrow border along the terrace of our house. It becomes very hot and dry in summer and I still have to adjust my planting in this very visible ,,premium" location. The top of the stone wall you see behind the Veltheimia is the top of an almost 3 m tall wall which gets full sun in summer, now partly shaded by plants growing at its base. But still the soil in this border becomes very warm. Irrigation with such a warm soil kills the roots of many plants, so there is only very very little water applied by hand in the evenings.
This combination of Veltheimia deasii (?) or capensis with Oxalis Pink Giant, Nerine sarniensi (already over) and a self sown Crocus niveus has proved reliable and is a nice combination with succulents and cacti.

[Carlos]

Hi, Uli. I started  visiting that place about six years ago, and the land has never been cultivated, but it seems to gave been so in the past. Strangely no trees or bushes colonize the area. There's a pig farm just next and usually the smell is like hundreds of Biarum were in bloom whenever you visit.

Yes it has rained there but that lies about 50 km to the south and about 15 km inland, so it rains a bit less.

Thanks for asking, I don't know what you saw on TV, but it probably was nothing compared to reality.  The truth of what happened is unbelievable.
Have you ever seen common people talking face to face to a king and queen whit mud on their hands and clothes? A queen crying when she saw what was going on  while the f... president flew in an armoured car?

That happened here.

Have you watched when, 36 or more hours after the flood, a team of French firemen came to one of the villages and the leader asked in shock:

 'Are we the first ones to get here? '
-Yes
'Isn't anyone helping you??'
-No

That happened here. Much more happened here.

 It has been the most disgusting case of the 'political class' abandoning people to their fate that I have seen. At least in a 'developed country'.

I had only read about situations like the one we had here in fiction novels or films. Horror films.

People don't realise (well, some are finally realising) that we have seen the new World Order at work. I don't like many things of them, but now I think that Trump and Musk can fight that dark power back. Europe has probably no salvation. Trump does not give a damn, of course.

Sorry for the off-topic paragraphs, but we are still in shock, rage and frustration.

[Arnold]

Lachenalia pygmaea

[Too Many Plants!]

This combination of Veltheimia deasii (?) or capensis with Oxalis Pink Giant, Nerine sarniensi (already over) and a self sown Crocus niveus has proved reliable and is a nice combination with succulents and cacti.

Love those V. Deasii! They do strike me as V. Deasii, and definitely look different than my Capensis anyway. (Capensis Pics from previous years).

[Too Many Plants!]

More bulbs waking up...

Urginea Maritima... Drimia now?

Very LARGE Bulbs!- 12oz Coconut Soda water for scale...

Flower pic added...of same bulb from August 2021 when the bulb was much smaller and only two headed.

[Carlos]

Hi, as I have said many times, those are Drimia numidica. If you want real Drimia maritima, I still have some seeds on my plants.

Carlos

[Uli]

Love those V. Deasii! They do strike me as V. Deasii, and definitely look different than my Capensis anyway. (Capensis Pics from previous years)

This Veltheimia was purchased as a single bulb from the succulent nursery in Vanrhynsdorp in South Africa in the year 2000. I am not sure if it is Veltheimia deasii but compared to the picture and description at Telos it could well be. I do not know if it is an acknowledged name so I prefer to put a question mark. It does increase by splitting but slowly so. With careful hand pollination it sets very few seeds, the seedlings are very slow to build up, none has got to flowering size so far. It is the first Veltheimia to flower with me.

[CG100]

The latest published review of Veltheimia that I can find is only 5 years old - Manning. That only recognises two species.

Systematics of the genus veltheimia (Hyacinthaceae: Scilloideae)

[Too Many Plants!]

Hi, as I have said many times, those are Drimia numidica. If you want real Drimia maritima, I still have some seeds on my plants.

Carlos

Hi Carlos, I know nothing about this Genus. Sorry for the improper ID, I'm just listing it as I bought it. 

FYI these have been circulated A LOT in the collection trade in California. Once in a blue moon, I'll see a 5 gal one of these in a better nursery for $75 - 100. I know there's an old-timer plant guy that lives in my area, who field grows these on at least an acre and sells them to online bulb retailers, who sell them for a pretty🪙. I've even stumbled across one in a nursery in Arizona. 

BTW...I don't see anything on PBS about the species you say it is- Drimia Numidica? My flowers are white and tall 5' - 6' tall and flower with no foliage, like some of the pics on PBS for Maritima. 

How does Numidica differ from Maritima???

Thanks