>Jamie Vande Cologne Germany Zone 8 > >I've seen the bulb displays by Avon Bulbs at Chelsea and they are truly >amazing! One sees blossoms together that one would never have in the >garden, the seasons are simply wrong. But is this what this TOW is about? >Forcing bulbs to produce flowers out of season and changing around the cycle >are two different things, or am I being to critical? (of course, both >should be discussed, I'm just being difficult!) I do think there are >different mechanisms at play. > >For those who were members in the Spring, do you remember the Lachenalia I >mentioned buying, being purported as Spring bulbs. Well, the reality was >different, they went dormant almost as soon as they hit the soil. Now, I >have leaves appearing and we'll see if I get blossom or not. They did not >turn around . > >We are currently enjoying our Cyclamen persicum cv extravaganza in Germany. >They are everywhere in the stores, just like every year, but getting better >and better. The leaf forms and colours are truly wonderful and, I've been >told, they are managing to get fragrance into them! And they cost ’Ǩ2,00 to >’Ǩ5,00, sometimes less! How do they do it? > >Otherwise, I've never managed to turn around any bulb, other than >Hippeastrum, which is confused in my climate anyway! Jamie seems to have had my experience in never turning seasons on any bulb. All of the amaryllis A. belladonna, Hippeastrum and a Crinum) from South Africa and the Nerines from Australia seem to have adapted to both climates where I cultivate plants. No flowering, but leafing out, the first year but sporadic flowering the second. Nerines are coming on now; the amaryllids finished blooming in September, but some of the Hippeastrum start quite early, say in May. I'm not sure what the 'normal' bloom time is in the regions of origin for the bulbs I received. Roy Davis, California; Sacramento Valley, very hot dry summers , mild spring and fall; irrigation required (usually) from April through October. also on the Russian River, about 90 miles north of San Francisco, and 7 miles inland from the Pacific (warm summers, cooling fogs in the late afternoons and early mornings)