Ixia viridiflora
Juliet Leigh (Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:15:17 PST)
Thank you Mary Sue, Erin, Bill,Mark and Carlo!
I have been overwhelmed by the responses from you all to my initial sortie
into your obviously vibrant,and truely global world!
I have also been enjoying all the other info as well, as this is the third
year that my partner, Lindsay and I have run a small mail order bulb
business as a semi-retirement income;we are both in our early sixties. We
sell about 70 different species/varieties of spring bulbs. While I have been
a compulsive but desultory gardener all my life, it has been an eclectic,
haphazard affair. These last couple of years, as I have enjoyed the fruits
of our annual left-overs I feared I may be getting a little obsessive about
bulbs. It is great to find others enjoy without embarrassment the same
passion as I am working into!
I am storing all your hints and comments and weighing them against our
climate/soil here- the former task a mite difficult as our weather patterns
are definitely changing as anticyclones move further south yearly (or so it
seems) allowing the tails of more summer tropical cyclones to descend on the
long, narrow peninsular of Northland from Dec-April. (Last week one such
cyclone made life very difficult for us as humidity made all our daffs sweat
in the shed. Luckily a succeeding dose of sunshine and brisk wind seems to
have done the remedial trick. ) Basically, I guess this mid-Northland area
could be described as "mediteranean", with cool wet winters
(c1000mm),frost-free, and warm (20-26 daily max) sporadically damp summers
(a further 200mm). Soil won't be as problematic I hope as we are on the east
coast with old sand dunes compacted at a depth of around a meter, overlain
with thin humus, which means efficient drainage where it matters for bulbs
but some water retention also for trees.
Ixia are always popular but, for the afficionado clientelle, we are finding
stunning viridiflora more and more difficult to obtain from growers. I am
understanding why now! At the same time their increasing endangerment must
be being offset to an extent by all your combined efforts. Hopefully I will
in time be able to add my humble contributions to the knowledge bank.
Onward Green Fingers!
Juliet.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mary Sue Ittner" <msittner@mcn.org>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:08 AM
Subject: [pbs] Ixia viridiflora
Dear Juliet,
Welcome to the pbs list. We have a couple of members of our group who live
in the North Island of New Zealand and perhaps they will respond to your
question about Ixia viridiflora. This is the Ixia that everyone wants to
grow because of the amazing turquoise color. I grow it in containers, but
it is hit or miss about blooming and this does not seem to be unusual.
I've
yet to figure out exactly what it needs. And I believe that I am not alone
in having difficulty keeping it going. But you are in luck since I
understand it does well in New Zealand.
Suggestions that have been given on our list in the past that may or may
not help you. I've lost all the Ixia viridiflora I've put in the ground
even though other Ixias grow fine in my climate. I've grown it from seed
as
has Jane McGary and it has bloomed in three or four years from seed. It
does not expand prolifically like a lot of other Ixias I grow and since it
doesn't always bloom and everyone wants it that may be why it is a bit
challenging to obtain. I once included seeds and corms of it for someone
else when I ordered from Gordon Summerfield in South Africa and that
person
wrote a few years later asking me if I was going to order again since his
success was short lived and he wanted to try them again.
A member of another list from Australia accidentally left his dormant pots
of this species when young in a greenhouse where they got watered all
summer when they were dormant and they thrived which made me start giving
mine occasional summer water even though generally the thought is that
winter rainfall Ixias should be kept dry when dormant. He also commented
that they resented disturbance and that a grower who were selling them
lost
about a third of them when he dug them up for sale. In South Africa Rachel
Saunders reported some people growing this species in pure sand with added
fertilizer. Hers planted out in the ground disappeared after about 3
years.
Bill Richardson from our list (Victoria, Australia) who specializes in
growing Ixia has reported great results with this species in the past and
he grows them in the ground! He is actually the only one I've ever heard
that can boast of this. Perhaps he will give us all an update about how to
grow this bulb successfully.
Mary Sue
Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers
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