What About Mexican (and Probably Mexian) Hymenocallis, First Winter
J.E. Shields (Mon, 15 Nov 2004 16:51:02 PST)

Hi Joe and all,

I'm not sure I can help Joe in his Texas climate. Where the Mexican
Hymenocallis species are concerned, I have a greenhouse, and some
including the new seedlings spend the winter in there, but dry. The older
bulbs, of necessity for space, are stored in a heated building, bone-dry
from October till May. I fear that over the years I have become calloused,
and do not carefully tabulate my loses anymore. If seedlings live, they
live. If they die, there will be space for more next year. Most live. As
we get more species and more clones of species in cultivation, the risk
will decrease in any case.

But Joe, you are right to be concerned: The first winter is the worst test
of the seedlings' ability to survive.

Some Mexican species seem to increase very slowly. H. azteciana comes to
mind, as well as H. woelfleana. In years past, I was not able to get seeds
on H. azteciana (selfed). I had the same problem with a single bulb of
woelfleana. Fortunately for hobbyists but probably sadly for the plants in
habitat, H. eucharidifolia is suddenly abundant in commerce. A couple of
my plants bloomed, a bit too far apart to cross-pollinate easily. So I
selfed them, got some seeds back in July, and those seeds have now
germinated (in the greenhouse). Also interesting where eucharidifolia is
concerned, all my plants of this one are still in full leaf, although bone
dry since mid-September. Only the summer flush of leaves are there, no
newer ones.

Joe, you really need a greenhouse!

Regards,
Jim Shields
in central Indiana

At 06:46 PM 11/15/2004 -0500, Joe wrote:

*************************************************
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