Ixia viridiflora
Bill Richardson (Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:35:31 PST)

Hi Mary-Sue, Juliet and friends,
once again Marie- Sue has given us a very definitive reply about I.
viridflora and its growing habits, requirements, and not much more needs to
be added.
I do remember posting my I. viridflora garden image, way back in the early
'90's (last century at least!). At the time I recall I had dozens of
viridflora corms and I was really very ambitious and willing to experiment.
I was designing a garden at the site of the Youth project where we had just
built new premises and my idea was to create an African bulb garden, using
the species I had available. The soil was average and we did add some blood
and bone, built it up and dug it over before planting. Nothing else was done
to the bed at all but the resulting blooms were just magnificent and they
bloomed every year without any extra work being done.
I'm not sure if the bulbs are even still there as we passed the building and
gardens on to another organisation when we finished up.
I do know that the large stand of Wachendorfia I had planted right along the
front of the premises (which stopped traffic when their large flower spikes
rose up into the sky with lovely yellow blooms) were pulled out the year we
vacated, so probably everything else has gone too, who knows?, I haven't
been back to check.
I. viridflora is not readily available here as it is usually not a good
garden plant. Usually only opens on sunny days, looks scrappy as it dies
down, doesn't flower for that long and is usually not long-lived in the
ground. It is best grown in pots and needs a really dry dormant period. It
is probably best grown by the specialist collector or plant nut who can
research its needs and grow it properly. My original viridflora seed stock
came from South Africa and I was pleased to get the darkest green (to kill
for!) from the IBSA group in South Africa, years ago.
They flowered extremely well this year (in pots) but they never set seed. I
keep them very dry in the dormant period. They need to be grown in a
well-draining, sandy mix.
All of the Ixia that you can buy here in shops or from nurseries are mixed
hybrids, which are very strong and good reliable garden plants, bred for our
conditions. I have a lovely mix of white/purple/lilac Ixia in my front
garden which flower later than any other here in December/January, well
after every other Ixia is done and they seed profusely.
Juliet, I do hope you continue to grow Ixia, they are,
no doubt, my favourite plants.
For the past five years, I have been growing Lilium, it just shows how silly
we can get as we grow older!
regards,
Bill Richardson
Ixiaking
Gippsland
Victoria, Australia
Summer 12c to 32c at present
http://www.angelfire.com/ri/ixia/
ixia@dcsi.net.au

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Sue Ittner" <msittner@mcn.org>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 3:08 AM
Subject: [pbs] Ixia viridiflora