Jim, Just from my experience of growing the old heirloom Rhodophiala bifida that are so numerous around Central Texas, they do not need extremes of either. I have oxbloods growing in full shade, full sun ,parts of each, dry areas and sunken areas and we don't normally get really cold weather down here in Southeast Texas. This early summer we have experienced hotter weather than we have had in many years. Then we had 4-6 weeks of steady rain and really cooler weather than we normally expect at that time of year, where some of my beds had 4-6" water standing in walkways between the beds, weeks on end. As of this morning, I have 13 beds of oxbloods (from 4' 8' beds to 4' x 32' beds) blooming their heads off. So , I would say that cold winters are not anything the oxbloods need to put on their show. Our Texas bulbs are supposed to be sterile, I have found that is not the case with mine. I had about 230 bulbs set seed last year and the year before. And as was suggested by another post, these have not come from different areas, therefore, different gene pools. They ALL came from the same Central Texas area, whose colonies I'm sure were increased partially, by the same method, seed production. Of course, everyone knows about the spiralling bulblets that twist up and around the mother bulb. I have successfully used my pink oxblood pollen on the Texas reds and vice-versa and now have 2 thriving community pots, of each cross. The pink oxbloods I grow are treated to the same culture as my reds. My particular group of pink oxbloods, not only set seed, but also have the spirally babies coming up from the base of the mother bulb, sometimes as many as 20 to one bulb. Patty -----Original Message----- >From: "J.E. Shields" <jshields@indy.net> >Sent: Sep 7, 2007 8:20 AM >To: robertwerra@pacific.net, Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> >Subject: Re: [pbs] Rhodophyela bifida? > >Hi all, > >Rhodophiala bifida must need fairly extreme conditions to bloom. They >probably need hot summers and cold winters, neither of which Mary Sue has >at her current home. > >I have some R. bifida bulbs from Texas, and they survive outdoors here in >at least one unprotected spot year-round. We got some rain today, so maybe >they will bloom soon. I don't think the R. bifida need dry summers, since >we often have a lot of summer rain (just not this year, >unfortunately). Our summers are hot and our winters are cold. > >We have some Lycoris radiata radiata here too, that survive and sometimes >bloom, but definitely do not thrive outdoors in the ground. The diploid >form of L. radiata does not survive here. > > >At 06:20 PM 9/6/2007 -0700, you wrote: >>To all, My beautiful oxblood Rhodophiala is in full bloom. It has bloomed >>every year for 10 years in a semi neglected pot in hot dry inland No. >>Calif. Interestingly, Mary Sue, a much better gardener, cannot get hers to >>bloom 40 miles west, on the moist Pacific coast. The label is long gone, >>but I think it is R. bifida. Sincerely, Bob Werra > >************************************************* >Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. >P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ >Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA >Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA > > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com/