Greenhouse Time Again for Amaryllids
J.E. Shields (Mon, 03 Oct 2005 06:49:02 PDT)

Hi all,

One morning last week, there was frost on the roofs when we awoke. Since
autumn is finally coming, it's time to move pots of tender bulbs
inside. We've been working on and off for the past week at this.

Still, a few things are in bloom. The 5-gal. pot of Hymenocallis caribaea
is showing a scape for the first time sine I received it. One of the
varieties of Hymenocallis acutifolia that we grow is now blooming, even
though we did not set the pots into pans of water for the growing
season. The one pot of Hymenocallis puntagordensis is now blooming, as well.

One bulb of Cyrtanthus montanus is in flower. These are not getting as
large as the bulbs of Cyrtanthus [elatus X montanus] get. The mother pot
of Cyrtanthus sanguineus is also putting up a bloom scape. C. obrienii is
starting a scape now as well.

Numerous Nerine are still in bloom, including NN. angulata, appendiculata,
filamentosa, and platypetala. A couple N. filifolia are still blooming,
but most of that species have finished.

The dwarf species that is NOT gibsonii is still blooming, making a
long-running show for its two pots. This one has flowers like a smaller
version of angulata or filifolia, only 1 inch (25 mm) across but with
peduncles that get no more than 5 to 8 inches tall (12 - 20 cm). The dwarf
species that is NOT hessioides is also in flower. It looks like a
gracilis, with small pink star-like flowers 3/4 inch across (ca. 18 mm) but
with scapes not quite so tall, only about 10 inches (25 cm) high.

And finally, only a couple weeks after I dogmatically stated that Nerine
bowdenii never blooms until December here, two bulbs of N. bowdenii 'Koen's
Hardy' are each sending up a flower bud! They just had to make a liar out
of me; not that I'm going to complain much, of course. I hope the other
pots of bowdenii wait until December, as their flowers are very welcome at
that time of winter.

Another very dwarf amaryllid from South Africa, Strumaria tenellum
orientalis, is finishing up blooming. It has very small white flowers,
maybe 1/2 inch across, on relatively long pedicels. This plant has only
one or two fine, thread-like leaves, no more than ca. 4 inches long; they
are almost invisible unless you look very closely. I wonder how it manages
to grow? It sets plenty of seeds, so I have two pots of blooming seedlings
from the two original bulbs I got years ago. They do not seem to make any
offsets, so abundant seed production is just about an evolutionary necessity.

Crinum x-digweedii, C. erubescens ex Peru, and C. americanum are blooming
now, even as we move them into the greenhouses for the winter. Even when
grown in saucers to retain water, they do not usually manage to bloom for
me. This summer was hotter than usual, with very abundant rainfall. Maybe
they liked the heat and humidity!

We are in a brief return to hot, humid summer weather, but it will be
short-lived. There may be general frosts by this time next week.

Happy growing,
Jim Shields
in central Indiana (USA)
40° N latitude, ca. 83° W longitude

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