Dear All, First of all I want to thank Dave for the splendid introduction. He deserves extra praise since this is an especially busy time of the year for him made even more busy by the extra time spent watering because of the weather. And I got the date mixed up he said he would do it and he still came through for us. In addition he agreed that I could use his pictures on the wiki so we could have an Eucomis page which I have made. I only chose some of his pictures so if you want to see all of them it is still better to go to his web site. I added a picture of mine I took in August of 2001 when we saw Eucomis regia blooming in the rocks in Nieuwoudtville and Dave also sent me a picture of a common pollinator sniffing around one of his Eucomis. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… I think Shayne said he was growing Eucomis regia so he should give us a progress report. It isn't as showy as the others but we were very excited when we found it and perhaps some of us from Mediterranean climates would have more success with it. Now for my questions and comments. I started some from seed a number of years ago of something called Eucomis sp. I got it to bloom and put one in the ground where it has done nothing at all although some years I see it. I kept one for a pot which has expanded greatly. It has bloomed again and an offset I gave to a friend who planted it out has bloomed as well. Mostly I'm not having much success. It could be that I am not watering enough or fertilizing enough or giving it a big enough pot or maybe it needs summer warmth? I have quite a few offsets in several pots and wonder about when and how to divide them as they seem all twined together. I'd be willing to give some to the BX this winter if I can figure it out. Last year the pot growing ones never looked completely dormant so I didn't try it then. When it bloomed I quite liked it so would like to figure out what it needs. So for those of us who live in summer dry and summer not hot what should we do? Maybe growing in a pot is a problem, but I am not sure it would get enough water in the ground. Watering a lot in summer just means a more extensive system of redwood roots in my garden. How much fertilizer does it need to bloom well? This Eucomis sp. when it blooms has a pink ovary and is very pretty. Does that automatically make it E. comosa or could it be something else? Also I bought something labeled Eucomis autumnalis pink from the Huntington at the IBS meeting last year. It is blooming now and very attractive and has pink ovaries too. So is that true ever for E. autumnalis or is this one something else? I have uploaded some pictures of it. http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/… How long does Eucomis seed last? I got some seed from Rhoda when we visited South Africa that year and she advised me since it was old seed to sow half of it immediately (fall) and the other half in spring. The ones I sowed in the fall germinated in the spring and the ones I sowed in spring did not so it was good advice. Some I've gotten from a seed exchange I planted in spring have not germinated. Thanks for any help. Mary Sue Mary Sue Ittner California's North Coast Wet mild winters with occasional frost Dry mild summers
