(Fritillaria) Bulbs seeding around
J.E. Shields (Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:32:29 PDT)

Hi Dennis, Jim W., and all,

Remember that many plants are self-sterile. You need to be sure you have
several non-clonal individuals to get seeds. If all your bulbs of a given
species came from one of the Dutch mass-marketers, they are probably all
from one clone. One good way to get seed is to grow from seeds; try the
NARGS seed exchange, etc. Scrounge or beg fresh seeds from your friends, etc.

I have had a few dwarf tulips self-seed in the distant past. You need at
least two different clones of the same species for this to happen. And you
also need rather a lot of luck!

Chionodoxa luciliae and Scilla sibirica self-seed all over the place. A
couple of my Corydalis seem to be self-seeding, like C. solida (probably
'Beth Evans' x 'George P. Baker')

I helped my Fritillaria along by scattering the seeds and scratching a bit
of dirt around or over them.

And finally, you can't be a neatness-freak and expect to see any seedlings
volunteering. Let seed heads stay on the plants till fully ripe and until
after the seeds have scattered. (This comes naturally to me; I'm lazy.)

Jim Shields
in central Indiana

At 09:59 AM 4/15/2005 -0400, you 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