Speaking of borderline plants, Rhodohypoxis baurii seems to have settled into my garden extremely well, multiplying and blooming like crazy. Not of interest to Pacific coasters, I know, as my original stock came from a Californian who said it was a weed in his garden; but I was a little surprised to see how easily it took to conditions here. It grows in a raised garden in clayey loam - neither wet in summer nor dry in winter. Nearby are Cyrtanthus breviflorus, Tritonia disticha (both a quite dwarf and a quite large form), and Hypoxis hemerocallidea, all hardy so far. Three cultivars of Agapanthus campanulatus overwintered with ease (too much ease?) And (non-bulb warning) it appears that Xysmalobium undulatum, a statuesque South African milkweed, also made it through. Now to see whether Erythrina zeyheri (very large rootstock, not technically a geophyte) comes back. Ellen Ellen Hornig Seneca Hill Perennials 3712 County Route 57 Oswego NY 13126 USA Zone 5, annual snowfall around 3m/10ft (14 ft in 2006-2007) http://www.senecahillperennials.com/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim McKenney" <jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com> To: "'Pacific Bulb Society'" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 11:24 AM Subject: [pbs] Return of some borderline plants > Whenever a purportedly tender plant survives the winter outside, it's a > bit > like finding money blowing down the street. > > While weeding the garden this morning I had a nice surprise: three > borderline hardy plants have reappeared and are growing well. One, Begonia > sutherlandii, is known to be reliable in some parts of the greater > Washington, D.C. area. In my garden there have been several failures, but > I > think I've finally found a good place for it. It's now in its third year > there. > > Another is the gesneriad Sinningia leucotricha, This I've had for > decades; > it survived here as a houseplant because it is winter dormant, and it was > that characteristic which prompted me to try it outside. The emerging > sprout at this point looks like a huge, silvery, hairy four leaf clover. I > have this planted in the rain shadow of the roof overhang, and the foliage > remains in good condition well into the summer. > > Also emerging in strength is a plant received as Scilla natalensis. This > has > not bloomed yet, and I'm hoping it really does turn out to be Merwilla > plumbea - to use the new name. Looking at the pictures on the wiki, I > decided that the flowering scapes must be about three feet high. Does that > sound right? > > I ate breakfast and read the paper out on the deck this morning: the roses > on the pergola are coming into bloom and now and then I was enveloped in a > cloud of rose fragrance. I thought for a moment about the poor souls > struggling to get to some holiday destination in a car engulfed in > congested > traffic. I'm staying put and have no regrets whatsoever. Please pass me > another slice of the lemon cake and say, didn't I just hear a veery? > > > Jim McKenney > jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com > Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where the first water lily > buds are above water. > My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ > > Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS > Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ > > Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/ > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >