A mystery solved, sort of - Sternbergia colchiciflora
Jane McGary (Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:32:48 PST)
Brian wrote about bulbs flowering down in the ground:
Try to flower on "very" short stems if they are kept
too dry over winter, presumably they have not formed a proper root system
and cannot get enough water.
I wonder if something like this is going on with one particular bulb of
Fritillaria eduardii I have. Even though it's planted right with 3 or 4
sibling bulbs, this one always tries to flower a month earlier than the
others and doesn't emerge properly. Maybe it has some genetic error that
lowers its vigor, but it doesn't die because of being coddled in cultivation?
Jane McGary
Northwestern oregon, USA