Dear All,

Gordon Summerfield in his post to me mentioned the lows that one of the
species experienced in Sutherland which gave Jim McKenney hopes that he
could grow Gethyllis.

Recently on our list there was a thread about South African bulbs and
hardiness that made it clear that in cold winter climates some people could
grow South African bulbs and some could not. David Fenwick plants his
really deep which helps in the UK. Ellen Hornig has a protective cover of
snow which keeps the soil temperatures moderated. Others no doubt count on
mulch or tree cover. It appears that most of the bulbs that people are
trying are summer growing bulbs from the Drakensberg. That would make sense
since you would assume that since they would be dormant during the coldest
time of the year they might be more tolerant.

For the longest time IBSA members have talked about the wonderful flora
they see each year in another cold part of South Africa, but this one in
the winter rainfall area. Sutherland which Gordon mentioned is in the area
described in The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs as the Roggeveld Center.
The higher elevations of this area (winter rainfall, but not a lot, up to
250 mm or 10 inches in some areas) get cold and Sutherland is one of them.
I keep hoping someone is going to do a field guide for this area
(Sutherland-Middelpos) as there isn't one now. I read about these plants
and want to see what they look like. It would be interesting to learn how
many of them would survive in colder climates. They probably wouldn't make
it in climates as cold as Jim Waddick and Jim Shields' however. Silverhill
Seed occasionally collects seed there and that would seem to be one way to
go since these species are not widely grown.

Most people grow Gethyllis in pots. Why couldn't they be brought inside to
a cool room if the temperatures got really cold and then moved back outside
when the cold spell passed. I've done that with plants here I cherished and
didn't want to take a chance on. It surely doesn't stay at the extremely
low temperatures all the time. The other factor I don't know about however
is how they would do during summer temperatures. As Jim said you could
shelter them from the rain and daytime hot temperatures are not a problem
it appears. But I seem to recall Rachel saying that it cooled off at night
in Sutherland even in summer. So perhaps the species most adapted to cold
temperatures in winter, wouldn't like hot nighttime summer temperatures. So
it might be the same thing as the Drakensberg plants, but this time it
would be a matter of whether hot night time temperatures would be a problem
during dormancy, not during growth. Until someone tries them however, we
won't really know.

Mary Sue

_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php