Bulbs for Texas
Mary Sue Ittner (Tue, 10 Jun 2003 10:46:14 PDT)

Dear Cynthia and Theresa,

It is amazing all that you can grow given your challenging gardening
conditions. I was interested in the web site and seeing all those Texas
geophytes. There were a lot of different genera represented. I was glad to
see them using scientific names when you clicked on the thumbnails since I
wondered what some of them were.

My late parents lived for a number of year in Midland where Shawn Pollard
now lives. It is high desert there, but people do water their gardens. I'm
not sure much would survive with just what nature provides. After getting
Hippeastrum hybrids for Christmas presents a lot of people plant them out
and they come back to bloom every year. I'd think it would be too cold.
Another friend always looked forward to the Mirabilis jalapa which blooms
in the summer and another praised Ornithogalum umbellatum which is
considered a week in some climates.

I think Mark McDonough grows some Texas alliums. Do either of you grow many
of the native bulbs? I think we have a couple of other Texas residents who
are members of this list and I hope you will share what you have tried
planting out that has survived.

Mary Sue