Bulbs of western American Fritillaria again
totototo@telus.net (Sat, 02 Jun 2007 11:32:36 PDT)

On 1 Jun 07, at 18:28, John T Lonsdale wrote:

I think just about all frits of any provenance, not just western
ones, have this problem with desiccation. Indeed, some frits (e.g. F
camschatense) pretty well demand moist conditions at all times.

Molly Grothaus (formerly of Portland, Oregon) once delivered a talk
on her frit garden at one of the study weekends. Dealing with
summertime desiccation was an issue for her. Thanks to a contractor
husband, she had a large bed made of flue tiles on end, one species
in each tile. As she described it, one end of the array of tiles was
shadier in summer than the other end because of proximity to a small
tree.

Her practice when she lifted and replanted her frits was to move them
to a tile a little closer to the shady end if they looked a bit
withered. I presume that she gradually shuffled them around until
each planting was getting the amount of shade it needed to prevent
withering.

Those of you trying to grow these dryland bulbs out of doors in the
hot, humid east (and I grew up outside Wash DC so I know whereof we
speak) might also want to steal a page from E B Anderson and plant
your summer drought-loving bulbs where the roots of deciduous trees
and shrubs can get at them. The roots will suck all the moisture out
of the soil as the leaves unfurl, helping keep your bulbs nicely dry.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island