Bulbs for the Holidays--TOW
James Waddick (Mon, 22 Dec 2003 10:52:48 PST)

Dear All;
There's essentially NO holiday bulbs or anything else
blooming outdoors. Our only likely flower on a mild day will be the
ever reliable 'Earth Nails' (For those unfamiliar with this charming
name for Taraxacum!).

Holiday bulbs are primarily potted Hippeastrum and Tazetta daffodils.
'Red Lion' is surely the most common cv, but this year a slew
of 'new' cvs are available in the stores including a few doubles
(from Hadco?) and a few oddities like 'Lemon Lime'. I got a couple
new to me: 'Piquant'(Single, Salmon) and most interesting H. cybister
(hybrid) 'Ruby Meyer'. Anyone have any advice or suggestions about
'Ruby Meyer'? I see on the WWW that it is a hybrid from Fred Meyer.
Does it have any special needs or will it do with typical Hipp.
culture?

Tazettas here are generic 'Paper Whites' with a real cv name
almost unknown except for 'Soleil d'Or'. We do not get the larger
Israeli cvs in most stores. I do not grow these any more because of
their over-powering scent. Just TOO much for me.

Gradually the cool greenhouse will produce a few winter
blooms. An odd season Clivia xcyrtanthiflora has already come and
gone. A tender Scilla lingulata (is this still a real Scilla?) is in
bud and lachenalias are coming up, but not showing buds yet.
Tulbaghia come much later too so this is over-all a slow time of year.

Potted Pointsettias dominate flower shops and grocery stores
everywhere.

Happy Holidays to all Jim W.
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
E-fax 419-781-8594

Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +