December 2023 photos

[Martin Bohnet]

Ah, December in Germany, the time when you - either silently or openly - curse the "friends of the winter weather" someone at the better weather sites seems to know and care for. Luckily, last night did not turn out as cold as predicted (-8°C), but -5° is bad enough and I don't think Kniphofia northiae

Height:	120-170 cm (3.9-5.6 ft)
Flower Colors:	orange, yellow
Flower Season:	early summer to mid summer
Life form:	rhizome

enjoyed that too much.

In the cold house the rare natural light shone on Strumaria prolifera

, and as much as I like the "The Amaryllidaceae of Southern Africa"-book, it is wrong here. I've started with a single bulb in 2020 and never saw seeds. They DO spread vegetatively.

[Rdevries]

Strumaria prolifera with heads full of seeds, yesterday.

[Rdevries]

Sinningia cardinalis x S. bullata. Blooming for first time with orange flowers from the Bullata side (S. bullata on left in first snap). The second growth of leaves may also have some bullated characteristics of the bullata parent (hope).

I put a few sibs of this sinningia cross in the last US BX before any had bloomed. I wonder if anyone had similar of different results 

[Arnold]

Daubenya zeyheri

[Carlos]

First seedlings!

Squilla hesperia from Tenerife 
(Ex Urginea, Drimia). Many still available.



Urginea fugax, Ibiza



And Oncocyclus soaking. These were cut last night



Carlos

[Arnold]

Lachenalia bulbifera
Ferraria densepunctulata
Gladiolus griseus
Moraea polystachya

[petershaw]

Here's a few happy bulb pots blooming at the end of December in Santa Cruz CA. 
Grown outside but moved into an unheated greenhouse to enjoy the flowers.

Massonia pustulata purpurea (not sure if this is really a named thing but came as such.)
   

Lachenalia ensifolia "pink Form" (not a cultivar, just the name that came with the bulbs.)



Lachenalia pusilla 



Lachenalia calcicola (came with the seeds but wonder if thats really what it is since this is listed as endangered.)
Flower color and foliage superficially look like these http://www.africanplants.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=78&id=4518#image=28990

[Martin Bohnet]

Interesting - one should think we'd have very different climates, yet I have what I got as Massonia pustulata

in flower as well - though I have an example of a strange kind of symbiosis: a slug cutting holes into Massonia leaves for weeds to pass through... Mine seems to have lighter pollen than yours, though...

Out in the garden the weeks of rain have taken their toll, I have Colchicum serpentinum

and Cyclamen coum

ruined by slugs - only a singular Crocus protected by some cacti (which again suffer from the rain) is in flower, and I'm not even sure of the species - possibly a melantherus I planted a few years ago which never had flowered? But my sure ID Crocus melantherus

from Janis Ruksans flowered almost 2 months ago...

Meanwhile the capsules of Cardiocrinum giganteum

have opened up, but the conditions were so shaky this year that I wouldn't want to guarantee fertile seeds here... And while the blue sky looks nice on the picture, it also means cold nights - I had to return everything to the shelter again... could we PLEASE fast forward to spring?

[Too Many Plants!]

Daubenya zeyheri

Very NICE, Arnold!

[Too Many Plants!]

From our recent bulb exchange. Thank you to those generous folks that share the bulb Joy with others!

Lachenalia Viridiflora- planted about a month ago. Already leafed out AND flowering! With an offset TOO.

Happy New Year to all the PBS bulb peeps!

[Uli]

That is a very good form of Lachenalia viridiflora! I recommend hand pollination....

[Too Many Plants!]

Can L. Viridiflora be self pollinated???

[Too Many Plants!]

That is a very good form of Lachenalia viridiflora! I recommend hand pollination....

I could cross it with a few other L. species...but this Viridiflora seems to be well ahead of my other Lachenalia sp.!

[Uli]

I think Lachenalia is self compatible. There is nothing to lose if you try. The thing with hand pollination in Lachenalia is that you have to look for a receptive stigma. The receptive ones stick out of the flower one or two millimeters long. Not every flower will show this. Normally there is a lot of pollen, so that is not the problem.
Personally I do not produce hybrids voluntarily. I know there are some good ones (Aqua Lady is a good viridiflora hybrid which I purchased) but this is another issue. Hybrid seed should be documented as such. I strongly recommend propagating Lachenalia by seed and not by bulbils because of virus contamination.