Dear All,
The items listed below have been donated by PBS members for
sharing. If you are interested in obtaining some of them, please email me
PRIVATELY at <dells@voicenet.com>. Include "BX 18" in the subject line.
Specify the NUMBERS of the items which you would like; do not specify
quantities. Availability is based on a first come, first served system.
When you receive your seeds/bulbs you will find included with them a
statement of how much money (cash or check) you should send the PBS
treasurer for you order. Each item costs US$2.00 to cover first-class
postage and packing. It is a good idea to include you snail mail address
too, in case I don't already have it.
Some of you are members of the PBS discussion forum but not members of
the Pacific Bulb Society. THIS BX OFFERING IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO MEMBERS OF
THE PBS. Consider joining the PBS so that you can take advantage of future
offers such as this. Or contact me at dells@voicenet.com
If you would like to donate seeds or bulbs/corms to the PBS, please send
clean, clearly labeled material to: Dell Sherk, PO Box 224, Holicong, PA,
18928, USA. Donors will receive credit on the BX for the cost of postage for
their donations.
OFFERINGS:
Pacific BX 18:
(W = Winter-growing; S = Summer-growing)
SEED:
From Mark Wilcox:
1. Belamcanda chinensis ('blackberry lily') 'Hello Yellow' (S), a dwarf
form, growing about 1 foot high, 18 inches when in flower. They're
rhizomotous like Iris germanica, but are a short-lived perennial. Expect 3
to 4 years. They're easy to restart from seed stored in the fridge. They
tend to succumb to some kind of bacteria around the rhizomes here, which I
can stave off with chemicals. It might be boytritus (sp.?); I'm not sure.
2. xPardancanda norrisii (S) gets about 2.5 feet high, around 3 feet in
flower. Looks identical to B. chinensis in foliage, but the flowers will
be of all different colors. To some extent, the shape of the bloom is
variable as well.
From Roy Sachs:
3. Alstroemeria hybrids (S?) (see end of this page for Roy's commentary)
From Charles Hardman:
4. Romulea hartungii (W), blue
5. Romulea atrandra var esterhuyziae (W)
6. Romulea hirta (W), yellow
7. Romulea multisculata (W)
8. Romulea tortuosa subsp depauparata (W), yellow and brown
9. Romulea sp. (W) pale yellow
10 Romulea sp. (W) yellow
11. Romulea sp. (W)
12. Romulea tortuosa var tortuosa (W), yellow
13. Romulea sp. (W)
BULBS:
From Liz Waterman:
14. Ledebouria socialis (evergreen?)
Thank you, Mark, Roy, Charles, and Liz !!
Best wishes,
Dell
--Dell Sherk, Director, Pacific BX
In 1990 I purchased 3000 seed from Fred Meyer, a breeder of
alstroemeria located in coastal southern California, and was able to
obtain 60+ seed bearing plants from Leonard Carrier, another nearby
alstroemeria breeder. I know nothing about the origin of their
plants, nor even the names of the species (they could have
concentrated on hybrids already in the trade) that contributed to
their breeding programs. Both men are deceased and the whereabouts
of their notebooks is not known to me.
From this beginning my goal was to select for vigor in the field,
full sun and partial shade, and unheated, summer-shaded greenhouse in
a relatively hot, dry summer climate (temps in excess of 40 C are
common for long stretches in the Sacramento valley)
About 1500 seedlings from Meyer's seed were planted in the field and
greenhouse; seed from the most vigorous of these plants, about 300,
constitute the largest segment of the plants growing in Davis and
also at more coastal location (along the Russian river, 12 km inland
from the Pacific where average max temp in the summer is 26 C).
None of Leonard Carrier's plants (some with beautiful florets)
survived more than 3 years in a Davis greenhouse (unheated), but seed
were collected for at least 2 years and seedlings of these
collections survived in the field and greenhouse, although none had
the distinctive colors of the parents. They are now mixed with the
Meyer plants.
So the seed bearing populations that I have in Davis and along the
Russian river are some mix of these germ plasms. They are
open-pollinated (self- and cross-fertile; to the extent that I have
done selfing and crossing I can say this).
The largest portion of the seed come from the Russian River plants
because pollenizer (bee/hummingbird) activity is greatest at this
location.
There are some deep purple/magenta and raspberry red colors (as well
as some with less pigmentation that I call "whitish") in a few
seedlings but the majority produce florets in the light pink to dark
lavender range, not nearly as attractive to afficionados as seen in
the Dutch catalogs....but they may have better vigor in the garden.
Paul Tyerman and Mary Wise of the PBS have had success raising
seedlings from this seed source.
Roy