Dear Joe,

Welcome to our pbs list. My Lachenalias growing in a raised bed which
you'd expect would give them a little more protection than growing in a
pot all turned to mush one year when it got to 19 F. degrees (-7 C.)and
stayed cold for three days. Some of them I saw again in a couple of
year, but most were permanently gone. It has been my observation that a
lot of people who grow this genus outside (southern California maybe
excepted) give it some protection from the elements (overhead cover for
instance). At least that was what I observed on trips to both New
Zealand and even South Africa. And Don's experience using trees for the
cover in Australia is another example. Bill Dijk had a system in New
Zealand that impressed my husband and I enough that we adopted it. Most
of my Lachenalias are on benches that are open all around but have a
fiber glass cover. We have frost cloth attached to the roof of this bulb
structure and rolled up. On those nights when very cold temperatures are
predicted (a handful of times a year) we undo the ties and unroll all
the frost cloth and the structure is then enclosed in frost cloth. It
probably gives us a few more degrees of protection.

Coastal species of most of the South African winter rainfall species are
more likely to be tender. Plants that grow in the Sutherland region I
would expect to be hardier since that area is much colder. I wish they
had a field guide for that area as when I have talked to people in South
Africa they rave about the delightful bulbs that grow there and it would
be nice for those of us who live in colder climates to know which ones
they are. I know there are some wonderful Romuleas and Daubenya aurea.

I don't know how Rod and Rachel decide what zone to rate plants they
offer in the Silverhill Catalog. They haven't grown all of these plants
and even if they did, they wouldn't have the temperatures in Cape Town
to test them. A forum like this one is useful because people can share
their experiences.

I looked through the Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs in the Lachenalia
section, and looked for which bulbs had RV (Roggeveld Center) next to
them. The Roggeveld is an area bordering on the Karoo that is a winter
rainfall area where winter temperatures at the higher areas are low and
frost and snow usual. Rainfall is 125-250 mm (5-10 inches) a year with
the higher amounts along the escarpment. Choosing bulbs from this area
could mean you'd be choosing the hardiest, but you still might have to
test them to be sure. Some of the soils in this area are doleritic clay
so during the rainy season the soil would probably remain wet.

So here are the species with that label: L. alba, L. ameliae
(widespread, so you might need seed from the colder areas), L. attenuata
(also found in other areas), L. comptonii, L. congesta, L. doleritica,
L. elegans, L. isopetala, L. macgregoriorum (I've never seen seed of
this one), L. marlothii, L. multifolia, L. neilii, L. obscura (also
found in other areas), L. schelpei, L. whitehillensis, L. zebrina. Some
of the members of our group grow many of these I am sure. If any of
these have survived very cold temperatures, please share which and how
cold with the group. Mark Mazer has kindly shared offsets with the BX
from time to time and I was the lucky recipient of L. zebrina which has
the most wonderful leaves. It was good that I had a chance to admire the
leaves since it rotted before it bloomed to my dismay. It is probably
one of those with leaves that need protection from excessive winter
humidity and dew.

On another note I particularly am thrilled that you are enjoying our
archives since more hours than I care to remember went into getting our
old archives from our previous list transferred over to the new list.
That discussion about pronouncing Latin names was especially memorable.
In fact we edited a line out of it when we didn't get permission in
time to include it. I will never feel embarrassed again as I struggle
over a name and always reassure people that it doesn't really matter how
you say it as long as the person on the other end can figure out what
you mean.

Mary Sue

Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers

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