Ferraria--PBS TOW

J.E. Shields jshields@indy.net
Tue, 21 Dec 2004 10:23:29 PST
Hi all,

I have a few Ferraria in my greenhouse.  We take it for granted that as 
winter-growing African bulbs, they would never be able to grow outdoors in 
our climate.

The only one that has bloomed so far is one accession of Ferraria 
crispa.  A picture of this one is on my web site 
at:  http://shieldsgardens.com/GLOVBulbs/…   The 
original bulbs came from the IBS BX, donated by Telos Rare Bulbs in October 
1999.

We have seed-grown bulbs in abundance of the supposedly all-yellow flowered 
form of F. crispa, but they have never bloomed so far.  These seeds came 
from the NARGS seed exchange in 1999.  I repotted them this Fall in hope 
that a few of them might try to flower.  It is still too early in the 
season to expect to see flowers anyway, of course, so there is still that 
hope.....

The F. uncinata we have probably came from Mary Sue in July 1998.  They 
increased slowly but have never flowered.  Maybe I should repot them?  Do 
they like to be crowded or to have plenty of root space?

All the Ferraria we have had tend to produce huge numbers of offsets.  I am 
not at all sure they are worth the greenhouse bench space they occupy.  If 
anyone can suggest how to get them to stop offsetting so much and instead 
to bloom, I might reconsider.

Regards,
Jim Shields
in wintry 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     or      toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA



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