To answer several people's questions on this topic that showed up in
today's mail:
"Do you get yours [Alstroemeria hookeri] to bloom with the leaves still
present? Even though I thought I was watering enough all the leaves died on
mine before it started blooming."
I had to run out and look. The flowering shoots and some of the
nonflowering ones still have their leaves, but the leaves are looking dull
and near the point where they wither -- i.e., that look that bulbs get that
tells you not to water them any more this season.
"Where does one get seed of these species from Chile? Is it only Watson and
Flores? Jane will you be donating any of yours to the BX?"
In addition to Watson and Flores, the premier source (although as I noted I
got some mixed-up packets from them a few years ago), many species are
offered by Jim and Jenny Archibald ('Bryn Collen', Ffostrasol, Llandysul,
Dyfed SA 44 5SB, Wales, UK; no e-mail). Most of the Archibalds' seed at
present is being grown in their bulb houses so I suspect there is a
possibility of hybridization. The Watsons' seed is all wild-collected. I
will try to send some seed to the BX, but it will not be ripe until late
August, I think.
Jamie mentioned A. psittacina, a. Pulchella, and A. pygmaea. I think that
A. pulchella is an invalid synonym for A. psittacina, and the RHS
Dictionary of Gardening notes that plants labeled A. pulchella in
cultivation are usually either A. psittacina or A. ligtu (there is no
likelihood of confusing the latter two species). A. pygmaea of gardens is
often a misnomer for A. patagonica, but there is a real A. pygmaea, too.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon