Hymenocallis occidentalis, was H.max

Jay Yourch jyourch@nc.rr.com
Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:24:01 PST
Hi Aaron,

I've grown H. occidentalis from seed collected in the autumn and what you're
experiencing sounds normal to me.  I thought that the seeds would freeze if I
left them sitting on the soil surface outdoors, so I set them on moist potting
soil in a container I kept in an unheated garage that stays cool, but doesn't
freeze.  The seeds sat there all winter with no activity, thankfully they did
not rot either.  As the garage started warming with the longer days and warmer
outdoor temperatures in March, the seeds began to germinate and by May/June I
was able to set the young bulbs out in the garden.  I have another whole pot of
seeds in the garage from last autumn's collection, so far no activity.

I have not tried hybridizing using H. occidentalis, but perhaps Alani Davis or
Kevin Preuss have and could contribute if they're reading this thread.

Regards,

Jay


Aaron Floden wrote:
So, does anyone have experience germinating the hardy
H.occidentalis? I still have two pots seeds sitting
with no activity at all. They were potted up in
Sept/Oct shortly after falling off the plants. I
assumed that they were immediate germinators
considering that the seeds were so large and fleshy.

 Also does anyone else have experience with hardiness
in this species? I have forms from southern Alabama
and Georgia that winter over just fine here in Kansas.
Several years now in fact with no problems and good
offsetting also. Other forms with known provinence
would be nice.

 Lastly, any experience with crossing H.occidentalis
with other species to increase hardiness with other
traits. Not sure what could be improved upon though,
maybe stoloniferous characters or earlier flowering.


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