October 2023 photos

[gastil]

Happy news: my Tropaeolum azureum is alive. It has been at least 2 years since I've seen any top growth evident in its special double-insulated pot. I was certain it was gone and went to re-use its pot. When I dumped out its soil, a fluffy mix of half pumice, there was this healthy dormant tuber over 4 cm diameter. That is about four times the size of the original tuber I purchased from Telos in 2020. My notes show it sprouted in November 2020 and I recall its spectacular bloom in 2021 but not in 2022 nor winter 2023. I know these can take a year off but not two years. It was not for lack of water since we got more rain than average last winter. Here is a photo of the tuber sitting on 1/2 inch wire mesh. The tuber is really only 1.5 inches across, just the photo angle makes it look bigger. This is the top side. I'll add a photo of the bottom side too. And even tho it is not an October photo, I'll include a bloom of this Sleeping Beauty. 

[Uli]

They are notorious for that kind of behavior. But not only Tropaeolum. I have a healthy and firm bulb of Albuca clanwilliamigloria which has not sprouting in two seasons either. 
Many desert bulbs behave like this as well.
 
Uli 

[David Pilling]

Ooh me too, me too. I grew some Tropaeolum from seed, they flowered nicely and produced the most beautiful bulbs I've ever seen, but they never grew again from the bulbs.

[Carlos]

Hi, I got these Sternbergia lutea in a BX two years ago. I wonder if this clone always has eight tepals...




Carlos

[Carlos]

 Colchicum lusitanum, 'forma' gibraltaricum



Carlos

[Carlos]

I finally got a flower on a Zephyranthes longistyla given by Uli



And Colchicum filifolium from Mallorca




Carlos

[Wylie]

The first of the Nerine bulbs I have from Exbury is opening. It is 'Kalahari Dusk'. I have about 20 flower spikes on various cultivars, but this is the first to open.

[Arnold]

Cyclamen hederafolium Wonderful scent

[Wylie]

This came up really fast and opened today. Of course it is Paramongaia weberbaueri.

[Diane Whitehead]

Did you grow the Paramongaia from seed, and how long did it take to flower?

[Wylie]

I bought the bulb on eBay.co.uk before Brexit happened. It was very small - about the size of a large garbanzo bean. It took 3 years for the first flower. Last year I tried the microwaved pollen method to get a seed, but it failed.

[Carlos]

Hi, I found one bulb in Germany last year. It never really woke up, and two smaller plants I got just grew for a couple of months before going dormant. It seems very picky with temperatures, which maximum and minimum do you grow yours in?

Carlos

[Wylie]

It started growing last month as the temperatures started to drop, around 23°C. The flower spike comes up really fast, then the foliage will start to go dormant in January. It doesn't really get below 10°C or above 27° in the summer in the Azores. After it goes dormant, I take the pot inside so the pot doesn't bake in the sun and everything dries out for the summer. The first couple of years there were no flowers, but it finally bloomed.

[Carlos]

Ok, thanks. I dind't check where you live, a fantastic place!! 

Carlos

[Arnold]

Crocus speciosus

A very reliable performer.  Been here for 25 years growing in a mixed boarder under a Korean Quince tree.