Bulbs over winter

All 19 1-yr old seedlings of Crinum [bulbispermum X lugardiae] that were
lined out in the field last summer, and mulched heavily over winter (a good
6 inches of cover) survived and are growing. So now they are 2 years
old! More primary hybrids of bulbispermum X other species are waiting to
be lined out this summer.

All of the 4 mature Crinum bulbispermum bulbs planted on the east side of
my free-standing greenhouse survived the winter in good shape. This
planting is on very well protected, sloping ground, but in heavy clay soil;
they were also mulched heavily over winter.

I planted about 35 bulbs of Aad Koen's "hardy clone" of Nerine bowdenii out
in the field last summer. Very few survived the summer out there. I do
see at least two bulbs growing leaves in the field row now, however. Our
hot and wet summer killed most of them, but our cold wet winter did not
finish the rest of them off. Curious!

Also in the field, and well mulched, were seedling corms of Gladiolus
oppositiflorus salmoneus. Many of these have survived the winter under
mulch in the open field and are coming up now.

Many gladiolus planted in a sandy bed nearer the house, well protected by
heavy cedar growth along the northwest but not mulched, apparently did not
survive last winter. These included G. x-gandavensis.

G. oppositiflorus salmoneus and G. dalenii planted in a raised, very well
drained rock garden did not survive the winter.

The Eurasian glads do very well here. G. illyricus is up and ready to
bloom; G. caucasicus is also just about to open. G. italicus borneti is
doing very well. I love G. imbricatus!

I still have hopes that a few other things might still come up, but not yet
visible include Dierama of a half-dozen different sorts and Morea alticola,
galpinii, and huttonii.

Zantedeschia aethiopica 'Green Goddess' strain planted in a wet display bed
have not yet come up, but maybe there is still a chance?

Jane McGary's bulbs by and large survived and bloomed. Muscari bourgaei
and Bellevalia pycnantha came up and bloomed. Her Crocus kotschyanus
bloomed last autumn! I've never had C. kotschyanus bloom before.

I lost most of my seedlings of Iris collettii, 2 out of 3 in the rock
garden and 1 out of 2 in posts in the coldframe. Iris missouriensis
seedlings planted out last summer in several beds mostly did not survive
the summer. Those that did, however, also survived the winter. Two plants
in particular, from two different accessions, are growing vigorously and
increasing already. A few I. versicolor have started to bloom. I.
gracilis Alba has flowered, and setosa and tectorum are starting to show
some color. No blooms yet on any of my Siberians, but a couple of the TB
garden hybrids are starting to flower.

We had another half inch of rain last night. That brings the total to over
5 inches, but I'm losing track of it. 5+ inches of rain in the first 2
weeks of May is a VERY wet May!

Regards,
Jim Shields
in wet central Indiana

*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. +1-317-867-3344
Member of INTERNATIONAL CLIVIA CO-OP and 1-866-449-3344