Real gardens;
Lee Poulsen (Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:34:51 PST)
Jane McGary wrote:
Regarding Marguerite's wondering about bulbs she could plant in her upland
southern California garden, many of the species she mentions have a growth
cycle not suited to her climate (Habranthus, Ipheion). If I lived there I
would look more at Mediterranean and Turkish species, and species from
western South America rather than Argentina (northern CHile is southern
California in a mirror).
As it turns out (and I'm very intrigued and wonder what the evolutionary
history of some of these Argentine bulbs is), Ipheion actually does very
well here in southern California and will even naturalize if you're not
careful. It's dormant during the summer and in growth during the winter.
I know from Alberto's information that it is hot and rainy during the
summer in Argentina/Uruguay when Ipheion is dormant. But I've learned by
accident that even if there is little to no water during the summer
here, even in pots, Ipheions do quite well and act as if they were
mediterranean climate bulbs. The same is true for some of the other
eastern South American bulbs such as Nothoscordum (including the almost
impossible to eradicate weed N. gracile or inodorum) and Rhodophiala
bifida. There are a few winter growing Habranthus that are also dormant
during the summer and they also do well here. It seems that if they are
dormant during the summer despite not getting any water, they still
survive and in some cases thrive regardless. (Hence my wondering about
their evolutionary history; I wonder if they derive from summer-dry
climates and have evolved to withstand hot wet soils during the summer
while dormant.) Of course, this ability allows them to also be grown in
locations that receive summertime irrigation here.
--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USDA Zone 10a