March photos

[Martin Bohnet]

I think I've asked it before - how warm are your pleiones during winter? because mine are barely stirring, even though there were more warm days in the coldhouse than usual.

[David Pilling]

Hi Martin, it is an unheated greenhouse, although I don't let things freeze, I put on an oil lamp on cold nights. The Muscari are in the same greenhouse, give you some idea of the timetable.

These are the pleione my friend gave me, she grew them outside in the middle of England - presumably much colder than here.

At this time of year, on a sunny day it gets warm in the greenhouse.

I would like to give you some pseudo-bulbs, but they're on a diminishing path - dunno, 12 years or more on, I still have quite a few. I really must study how to care for them properly.

[Martin Bohnet]

oh, my own pleiones are fine, thank you - I tend to loose them more to the hot summers these days. So it's the sunlight heatup, which is much less pronounced for me due to the more massive architecture. Pleiones tend to keep an almost mechanical heat sum to calculate their time to start.

[petershaw]

Geissorhiza corrugata from the bulb ex. Thanks!

We've had so much rain and cloud cover that I had to bring them into the garage and put then under one of my shop lights to get the flowers to open. I guess more light is needed early to get the twisted leaves.

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[Carlos]

Three Asphodelus from Eastern Spain

Asphodelus ayardii, Spanish plants were thought to be a subspecies of fistulosus for a long time, until they were compared with Moroccan plants.

Flowers are bigger, the style is longer than the stamens, leaves are wider and not scabrid (with minute teeth) or only along the edges, and roots are straight, up to 4 mm thick.












Fistulosus is smaller, with smaller flowers (here already closed as it was sunset time), has narrower leaves, scabrid both on margins and nerves, and twisting roots up to 2 mm thick.



And ramosus is far taller, with wide leaves with a V section and big flowers. It is being confused with A. aestivus, which is strictly endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. Ramosus has fibrous remnants on the rhizome and pedicels 0.8-1.3
mm in diameter when fruiting (aestivus and serotinus have no fibrous remnants and pedicels 0.5-0.7 mm only).




And finally, plenty of Lapiedra martinezii.




Carlos Jiménez

[Rick R.]

I love it when there are multiple pics of a species, and you can really see what it look like in its entirety.

[Leo]

@Leo, we've had a wiki editors conference and think the photo and information would be a good addition to the wiki. Please add them.

I'll do so.

[Martin Bohnet]

Actually, we don't NEED to have an editor's konference - The idea of a wiki is to be changeable by many people...

Talking about change: today a 20°C wave swapped over Germany - at this very moment followed by a wall of water (almost 20 mm/m² in the last hour or so) and thunder, so I have no idea how much things will have suffered..

First is Fritillaria raddeana

, always first frit of the season. Second is Iris aucheri 'Orlof', obviously one of the easier Junos.

As I said it got warm, so I removed a few layers of protection to find these massive sprouts - no that's not Chicorée, that's Cardiocrinum giganteum

. It always gets me nervous with that early sprouting, but since it does survive the Himalayas...

[David Pilling]

Actually, we don't NEED to have an editor's konference - The idea of a wiki is to be changeable by many people...

An expensive way of reaching a conclusion. Like on wikipedia were teams compete to add and remove the same stuff. We don't have the resources for such messing about. Touch any of my stuff and I will take it badly 

[Carlos]

Hi, I took better photos of fistulosus at an earlier time.

It is quite weedy here, I wonder if it is invasive outside its native range.





Then the Medium-season Narcissus bulbocodium from Uli, one of the plants makes amazing trumpets.





A Tractema ramburi I luckily got as something else. Tractema was splitted off Scilla and the species is usually spelled 'ramburei' or 'ramburii', which is wrong.




Finally, Gladiolus splendens from last EU Bulb Exchange




Carlos

[Jan Jeddeloh]

Martin, my pleiones are also not really up either.  They're in a barely above freezing greenhouse but we've had a cold, damp winter.  I do see some buds however.  When we visited Utrecht Botanic Garden a few years ago I noticed they grow pleiones outside so they must be reasonably hardy.  I put out some seedlings last year but I haven't checked to see if they're still there.  They weren't blooming size yet. 

[Diane Whitehead]

A friend in Victoria B.C. grew lots of pleiones on a steep bank.

[Arnold]

Crocus sieberi tricolor

[Uli]

Hello All,

Some more pictures from my garden, some bulbs flower for the first time.

Arum creticum

, unfortunately the flowers are short lived 

Geissorhiza splendidissima

, first time flowering from Silverhill seed. 

Gladiolus splendens

Flower Colors:	red
Climate:	winter rain climate

, multiplies very quickly. This is a pot grown specimen, I cannot grow it in the open garden as rodents will feast on the corms.....

An excellent golden yellow Freesia Hybrid 

Gladiolus alatus

Flower Colors:	orange, white, yellow
Life form:	corm
Climate:	winter rain climate

from US BX, first time flowering. In companion planting with Oxalis obtusa and a fragrant yellow Lachenalia which was received as seed of L. aloides from Silverhill but which is something different 

Ornithogalum dubium

, wild form. An excellent form from Silverhill Seeds. It is smaller than the ones on steroids which are sold in garden centers but I never managed to keep the commercial ones alive after flowering. The wild form is very easy and reliable and flowers the third year from seed. Quite amazing as one year old seedlings look hair-like.

[Arnold]

One of the last Ferraria's.

Ferraria crispa ssp. nortieri