Scented Bulbs - Arthropodiums
Mary Sue Ittner (Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:56:23 PDT)

Hi Geoff,

My husband and I have made two trips to Australia in spring to the areas
with Mediterranean climates on plant exploration trips with Rodger Elliott
as the guide. The first was to Western Australia and the second to South
Australia, Kangaroo Island, and Victoria. These areas have rainfall in
winter and mostly dry summers. We saw Arthropodium strictum in bloom on our
second trip. My field guide for the Grampians gives the time of bloom from
September through December. It's been awhile but I think we saw a even
smaller version in bloom too, Arthropodium minus. I see it listed in the
Encyclopedia of Australian Plants as found in all states and the same for
Arthropodium strictum (listed in Volume 3 under Dichopogon). In spite of it
being listed in all states the time of bloom is listed for the same months
as my field guide, September through December. There were a lot of plants
that I thought really wonderful in the Little Desert and Mt. Arapiles Area.
I'm not sure some of the ones I liked would fit our criteria, but there
were great ground orchids, and a number of monocots with lily in the common
name. Arthropodium strictum is found there too and I think that is where we
saw both species. And they were fragrant, unlike my plants.

Arthropodium milleflorum is found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria,
Tasmania and South Australia according to the Encyclopedia of Australian
Plants so it grows in areas with both dry and wet winters. It is listed as
blooming from September to March so perhaps it blooms in spring in the
winter rainfall areas and summer to fall in the summer rainfall areas. Last
year my plants started into growth in October and they are still green now
with a few flowers and green seed pods. Most of my winter rainfall plants
have been dormant for a long time except for the California natives.

I listed when my plants grow on the wiki, but how they grow for me is
probably much the same as they would in the Mediterranean areas of
Australia. These plants bloom very quickly from seed (less than one year to
two years from seed) so it will be interesting to see what cycle yours
chooses to grow in.

When to start seed is always a challenge. It's usually recommended to learn
what the weather pattern is where it is found in nature and in the case of
these species, that wouldn't help you much. Perhaps you'd have to know the
origin of the seed.

Mary Sue