So, where did I leave off, oh yes.
Daffodils, what a disappointment. The area along the
drive that was naturalized with 800 bulbs bloomed
beautifully the first year. Now I can count on one had
the amount of blooms out there. I know the area is
mostly clay but it really bakes in the he summer which
I thought they liked. I am going to cover the area
with gypsum to try to open the soil to see if that
helps. The ones in the mulch around the base of the
trees are doing great. They are 'White Lion' and
increase and bloom great every year. Why don't the
'King Alfred'?
I do get blooms on the bulbocodium, 'Tete a Tete', and
"Golden Bells" which look like the bulbocodium but I
never really put them under close inspection to tell
if there is a difference.
Tulips, well, I love them so I will never give up on
them. Some are doing better than others. All my tulips
were planted in the fall of '99. I have 2 blooms out
of 50 original bulbs of 'Roccoco'. 500 'President
Kennedy' have maybe 40-50 blooms. 'Princess Irene' I
keep replanting because it is a great color to go with
the Muscari armeniacum (I know they are a weed but so
beautiful. They have even reseeded into the vegetable
garden somehow). 'Golden Artist' is doing quite well.
100 of them out of 100 seem to be flowering or just
about to. 'Cre de Coeur' and 'Carnival de Nice' are
pretty much a 10% bloom. 'Lilac Perfection' has
provided maybe 15 flowering stems out of 50 bulbs. The
rest that I have 'Early Double Mix' and Single Late'
are not great. The early has only provided rebloom on
a nice full petaled yellow dbl. The singles has give a
nice mix but out of the 500 there are maybe 50 blooms
out there and that is being generous. I do love the
red/orange one that is there. It seems to be the most
recurring one. I think I may order more of just that
one for next fall. I also have 'Blushing Beauty' (a
great HUGE tulip that I saw at Keukenhof that grew 3'
tall with 4" tall flowers), 'Apricot Beauty', 'Mt
Tacoma', orphiandea 'Flava', 'Upstar' (never
resurfaced), and 'Salmon Pearl'. They are all pretty
non-existent or low bloom count. Since tulips are my
favorite flower, I will continue to plant them as
annuals and be happy with what I get after that. I
haven't tried any of the species other than the one
mentioned. I might try a few next fall to see what I
get out of them.
Musa basjoo - died, oh well, it was worth a try.
Nectarscordium siculum has come back with a vengeance
but I never really get that many blooms off of them.
My uncle loves them so they will stay. The foliage is
really twisted and floppy but interesting at the same
time. I can do without the fragrance though.
Alliums - curly is doing OK, chives are starting to
put out flower buds, and garlic chives is increasing
with a vengeance. I tried to pull all the seedlings
that I can but they are everywhere.
I ordered senescens "Blue Twister" from High Country
Gardens. They were a little damaged by some cool
weather overnight the first night out. I think they
are mush. They were really small bulbs to begin with.
Cristofii seems to have reseeded and mother bulbs
resprouted but I am unsure if they will bloom or not.
Same with shubertii.
Pardancanda - Eh, ok. They have never really impressed
me to well after the first year. The second year, they
turned all mushy and rotted like so I pulled them all
out but one clump. They reseeded everywhere, I pulled
them too. I did plant the 'Jungle Colors Improved'
from Brent and Becky's. They too were not very
impressive and they are still small.
Bletilla striata - went to seed last year but has yet
to resurface this year. They are in the "Baywindow
Bed" that has nice pink azaleas ('Gloria' I think) and
Tricyrtis maculata. In this area I will be adding
Cypripediums (acaule and regina from Munchkin and
Plant Delights respectively) and Helleborus foetida. I
want to make this a nice little mini woodland area.
The soil is the same as most others, clay with layers
of mulch compost. I will add a heap of oak leaf mold,
sand, and peat.
Colchicum 'Lilac Wonder' is growing even though it did
not flower last year. It only flowered the first year
(00) and not again that I know of.
Alstroemeria 'Sweet Laura' from B & B (Sp '01) has one
growing stem. I have brought several dwarfs from LA to
try and I also ordered a mix from B & B too.
Asclepias 'Ice Ballet' seems to be too large for the
areas it is in and may have to be moved out to the
field. Although, they are nice aphid magnets and seems
to keep them off of all the other plants.
Garlic, I want to try an old wives tale. I was told
that garlic keeps pests such as Jap. beetles and
aphids off of roses when they are planted nearby. Any
thoughts, experiences?
Callas - well, 'Green Goddess' made it through the
winter. I know because I sliced it as I was digging a
whole for some amaryllis. I don't know about the other
clumps of it but they are in the same bed. I also have
hope for 'Flame' which survived last year. It is
planted in the rose bed no too far from the
agapanthus. I ordered from B & B 'Majestic Red',
'Mango', and 'Swartzwalder' to try out also.
New additions that I will plant this week or next:
Dahlia 'Claudette' and 'Gallery Leonardo'
Hippeastrum x Johnsonii and 'Yellow Goddess' (planted
8" deep)
Many new daylilies from Jim Shields and Ensata
Gardens.
Incarvillea delavayi I will put in the rose garden
Many more iris (Jap and Sibs) from Ensata
Hymenocallis caroliniana (not hardy but I will try
anyway)
Rhodophiala bifida from Yucca Do. These are large
bulbs. I planted small ones last year from Plant
Delights but I don't think they were big enough to
make it through the winter.
Sinningia tubiflora and sellovii. The tubiflora are
from LA and the sellovii is from Yucca Do. I will be
trialing more next year once I get a stock of several
to try. Tony at Plant Del is trying more too. I think
he will have more luck than me but, I'll try anyway.
;>))
Trillium grandiflora to go with the Cypripediums
Tritelia 'Queen Fabiola' I tried once before and it
never resurfaced or even bloom that I am aware.
Tradescantia ohioensis - one of our natives with a
little swollen root system. I always like to get
native perennials, even if they do have to come back
from Europe with a new face lift. LOL
I have yet to really go to any of the local nurseries
to see what is waiting to tempt me there. So, this
list may increase by next week.
=====
John Ingram
jjingram@adelphia.net
Floralartistry2000@yahoo.com
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