Dierama book
Kenneth Hixson (Tue, 02 Dec 2003 22:04:06 PST)

Jerry:
Only book I know about is Dierama; The Hairbells of Africa
by O.M. Hilliard and B.L Burtt. If there is another, please enlighten me.
I prefer pictures, rather than paintings, so this book leaves me a little
unsatisfied.

I've seen various cultural recommendations, including (many times)

"Try it at the edge of your pond or stream, where it can arch gracefully
over the water."

"growing in the wild in standing water in marshes (we grow them in ordinary
pots in soilless mixes)"

"give sun and well-drained soil (but can be wet while in growth)."

"Provide a sharply draining soil for the Dieramas but they appreciate water
during the growing season"

Some of the pictures I've seen show them growing in small streams.
Here in western Oregon, they get summer water in some places in the garden,
no water at all in other areas, and do fine. Mine are "Dierama hybrids",
so that
might not be (probably isn't) true of all species. The corms pull
themselves down
relatively deeply--about shovel depth, or 8 inches deep. That may almost
be the
level of the winter water table here, and they certainly do not get sharp
or even
good drainage.

When I first started gardening, an old nurseryman named Donald Stryker of
Langlois, Oregon, told me that Dierama couldn't be moved/transplanted. So,
for
years, I didn't move mine-if they were in an awkward spot, they were left.
This past summer I had a pot of seedlings which was far too thick, so I
dumped the
pot out and bare-rooted the seedlings, then repotted them. So far all
thirty-one
have survived about six months. They are relatively slow to flower from
seed, and
carrying them in pots through the winter where it freezes is a gamble.

My question is, how/when is the best time to move Dierama. I have
clumps which should be divided--and the lavenders separated from the pale
pinks,
etc. As they are evergreen, determining when they are dormant is a bit of a
puzzle-I assume after flowering or ripening seed, which is the middle of
summer,
a rainless period here unless irrigated.

Ken, western Oregon