Bellevalia--TOW
Jane McGary (Mon, 05 Apr 2004 10:08:21 PDT)

In response to Mary Sue's request, I have posted photos on the wiki of
several species of Bellevalia. See the new entries at
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…

B. dubia and B. forniculata were already there. I added another photo of B.
forniculata which I think gets a little closer to its remarkable color than
the one that was previously posted (apologies to Arnold!). I also added B.
longistyla, not one of the more "beautiful" ones but interesting, and B.
pycnantha in a form grown from wild-collected seed. The Dutch commercial
form of B. pycnantha is different in color and, I think, not so attractive.
However, I don't think it is a Muscari, since it has the typical broader
leaves of Bellevalia. I wonder if the two genera hybridize?

Alberto wrote that these plants need neutral to alkaline soil, but I have
always grown them in mildly acid soil and they do fine.

Seed is available from the Archibalds:
http://www.jjaseeds.com/

And it is often available in the exchanges of the AGS, NARGS, and SRGC.

Bellevalia forniculata is listed in the catalog of Leonid Bondarenko:
http://www.litbulbgarden.com/

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA