LOL, Like you said, location, location, location. Arums in my garden(Seattle) have become a weed, even the selected forms people pay big $$$$ for. They apparently like our wet climate with dry summers. As for Aril and Onco Iris, they look like a wet dishrag going thru winter, and barely survive. It just gets too wet here. My greenhouse and tunnels are overflowing with other goodies to be coddling these spring flash-in- the pan beauties, so will admire the photos you all send in. Happy Spring. Rick ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Waddick" <jwaddick@kc.rr.com> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 7:10 AM Subject: Re: [pbs] Spring Bulb Misc - responses > Jane McG wrote- paraphrased: > ARUM I think many gardeners avoid them because A. italicum is > viewed ... as a trash plant. > >>One weedy species can condemn an entire genus in the minds of >>unadventurous >>gardeners. Ornithogalum and Muscari are good examples (though the latter >>has more than one weedy member). Some gardeners here feel this way about >>Anemone nemorosa, > > >> Aril-bred and oncocyclus iris ....Junos > >>I think (a) they are hard to get and expensive, and (b) as Jim noted they >>require special care, which here would include overhead protection in >>winter and constant spraying to quell the leaf pathogens to which they are >>very susceptible in mild, wet weather. > > > Dear Jane: location, location, location ( to borrow from the > real estate market) > > Here most gardeners are still marvelling at any Arum even A > italicum. Almost no one grows any other, yet some do quite well > here; even those I got from you. No one that I know or can imagine > would consider any Arum a 'trash' plant. > > I totally agree with you that one species can "ruin" ones > view of the whole genus and Muscari and Ornithogalum (as I mentioned > earlier) are excellent examples, but NO Anemone fits that description > here. Few people even know let alone grow A. nemorosa. Even the most > vigorous cvs stay well contained in small ephemeral patches that seem > like they could never encroach on another, the plant equivalent of > the proverbial "flea"*. I have to physically dig and divide a clump > to re- establish a new planting. Can't imagine it running rampant > ever. > > Although some Arils and Junos ARE expensive, Some good ones > are not at all: As Jim McK suggests, the Regelias I stolonifera and > I hoogiana are cheap and available widely and among the easiest.( As > an aside, membership in the Aril Society allows you to purchase Aril > iris from their annual sale with MANY excellent species and cvs as > low as $3 each. Some amazing plants) Among Junos I bucharica, > magnifica, and graeberiana also qualify as cheap and easy. > Back to location- here they grow in the open garden, do NOT > require overhead protection and I have never seen virus or other leaf > pathogens (disregarding late freeze damage). Here. > I know they are much more difficult to grow in the Pacific > NW, and they are more than challenging there. > > As Jim McK also said, and I fully agree, many American > gardeners are over influenced by the pronouncements of the British > garden publication world and would sooner believe Gertrude Jeykll > than the personal experience of a grower down the block. > The US is far from uniform for growing conditions and many of > my most challenging plants are weedy on either coast. As I continue > to garden I learn to appreciate more fully the unique Mid-Continent > climate here that allows me to grow some plants that are a challenge > on either coast. I guess the lesson is 'Grow locally' > > And I must respond positively to Diane's comment about plant > variations and need to grow lots of stuff. Having studied a variety > of plants in the wild from Asia to South America and much of the US, > it is very obvious to me that many plants in gardens represent a very > small piece of the total variation in the wild. To some extreme > extant I have seen people argue that plant "X" should be considered a > separate species because it is so distinct from plant "Y", yet in the > wild both "X" and "Y" freely mingle interbreed and represent just 2 > points on a wider range of variation. We often have a very limited > gene pool for cultivated plants and we tend to focus on just one > selected form as typical of a variable population. Yet another good > reason to grow more. Get rid of every inch of lawn and grow every > possible wild collected seed you can lay your hands on. > > Sorry to babble so, but I encourage everyone to try a plant > even though "everyone' says you can't grow THAT HERE. > > Location is only one part of the success or failure. There is > also dogged, stubborn enthusiasm. > > Best to all especially Jane, Jim McK, Luc and Diane for their > 2 cents worth. Jim W. > > > *As in "He wouldn't hurt a flea" > -- > Dr. James W. Waddick > 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. > Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 > USA > Ph. 816-746-1949 > Zone 5 Record low -23F > Summer 100F + > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/