Frits & Alliums in pots?
Jane McGary (Tue, 13 May 2003 19:58:41 PDT)
Rodger Whitlock wrote,Perhaps it is worthwhile recounting the system that
Molly Grothaus
used to grow her Frit collection in -- was it Lake Oswego, Oregon? --
somewhere in the Portland area.
Molly (Mollie?) grew her frits in upended pottery flue tiles, which
her husband, a building contractor, could buy fairly reasonably in
quantity. Each species went into its own tile. The tiles were
arranged in an elongated block (memory is uncertain here) of which
one end was shaded by a tree in the garden.
I was well acquainted with Molly Grothaus, who died about 4 years ago. The
flue tiles were set on a gentle slope in a stepped arrangement. She did not
have so many frits in them but did have a lot of species tulips. She
covered the square flues with squares of roofing material to keep them dry
in summer. I remember her having more frits in pots than in the ground and
in fact was inspired to explore the genus by seeing a wonderful pot of F.
raddeana that she brought to our NARGS chapter meeting in the late 1980s. I
have many plants here that I owe to Molly's generosity. She was a brilliant
and scholarly gardener.
I tried to get some "seconds" from a manufacturing company producing flue
tiles, but I was told they were not legally allowed to sell them for fear
that someone would install them in a chimney and burn the house down. The
good ones are quite expensive.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA