Paul, I second your findings of Schizostylis, aka Hesperantha. Everyone who
sees it in bloom wants some for his or her garden. I try to warn them that it
is as hard to eradicate as the old Crocosmia. I pull whenever the ground is
soft, so I can get the runners as well as the parent plants. I still have
jillions to entrance my friends and neighbors when they persist in blooming
each year. This is in USDA Zone 9 in Pebble Beach, California, on
not-too-well-drained partially decomposed granite. They are content with full
sun, partial sun, and full shade. I began with a 1 gallon plant that has
spread over most of a half acre in spite of what I can do to discourage it.
Round-up would probably work, but I am not into that. SO --beware!
Shirley Meneice
Paul Tyerman wrote:
> Howdy All,
>
> I have to chuckle a bit about everyone trying to find the different types
> and varieties of so many things that I grow. Aren't we collectors picky!!!
> <grin>.
>
> Schizostylis however is NOT one of the things I am looking for, in fact I
> am still trying to get rid of the darn thing. S. coccinea, a white form
> and a pink form used to be a part of my garden, until the red in particular
> started to spread like the wind. I started having visions of
> Crocosmias/Montbretias (which grow very well here, thankfully the named
> varieties are a little slower..... but I STILL grow them all in pots) and
> removed them. By time I did there were runners out to over 1 metre from
> the original plant in the red and 40-50cm for the other two. 2 years later
> I am still getting seeds or dormant pieces still appearing in that garden
> and every one is dutifully removed as soon as I see it.
>
> Thankfully none of the Hesperanthas I grow appear to run (or at least the
> couple I have do not) and I just love the Hesperantha falcata with the
> purity of it's white blooms with the fascinating arrangement of stamen at
> an angle. Very striking if you can actually remember to catch it open in
> the evening or the early morning. For ages I kept finding shrivelling
> flowers but I finally managed to catch one open on afternoon and after that
> I saw them regularly. As far as I can tell this one doesn't run at all,
> although it does seed but hasn't appeared anywhere else as yet. I was
> surprised that the Schizostylis had been shifted into Hesperantha given
> their somewhat different structure (to me) and tendency to send out
> underground runners, but there are other genus where the species vary
> considerably in this count.
>
> In a nutshell..... Hesperantha are lovely and Schizostylis are a 4 letter
> word <grin>. I very nearly bought a Hesperantha coccinea at one point as I
> thought it was another species that I didn't have...... thankfully it was
> explained what it was before I found out the hard way <big grin>.
> Obviously out climate here suits it nicely as I have not noticed anyone
> else mentioning how much of a pest it can become. I think that we here get
> the best of numerous worlds as in protected areas we can grow frost tender
> plants outside, yet still grow those things that require some cold to grow
> and flower ideally (Aaaah, my beloved Galanthus, Fritillarias,
> Erythroniums, Crocus etc.....)
>
> Cheers.
>
> Paul Tyerman
> Canberra, Australia. USDA equivalent - Zone 8/9
> mailto:ptyerman@ozemail.com.au
>
> Growing.... Galanthus, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Cyclamen, Crocus,
> Cyrtanthus, Liliums, Hellebores, Aroids, Irises plus just about anything
> else that doesn't move!!!!!
>
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