Don's birthday
Dear Jim, Jerry, and All,
Can't compare ease of growing among Juno species because I grow only one
myself-- Iris magnifica. Went to Uzbekistan in 1980 and dug it up myself,
near the road out of Samarkand to the Young Pioneer Camp. (Wish I had had a
long career of doing just that in the rest of the world. Wish the plants I
got from Chen Yi were ones I had gone there and fetched home myself. Would
surely have Paeonia sterniana by now if I had.) Grow it in a dry sand bed
and in dirt adjacent to it, but somehow accidentally moved a plant to the
base of a Cryptomeria japonica, whose roots are shallow and soaker uppers.
Kind of shady, but it likes it there!
Jim, thank you very much for pointing out that Ungernia shows its
kinship with Lycoris by forming flowers the year before and foliage two
years before. You have an edge over us with Lycoris, and it just might put
you over the top with Ungernia. I think the number of successful growers of
Ungernia on this continent is no greater than the number in this group. It
will be a significant achievement.
Felt such a strong urge today to poke and prod and yes dig to see how my
Lycoris "pink aurea" were doing. Didn't. They have no growth over winter.
On the other hand, my L "anwheiense" (not) has foliage that stays remarkably
green throughout winter, no need to dig to check on it. It's been quite a
few years; it has yet to flower. Not that it isn't going to one of these
years.
Best,
Don