1 is the loneliest number - part 3?
James Waddick (Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:14:58 PST)

Dear friends,
Thanks for the on and off line replies. Clearly Ipheion
uniflorum can occasionally produce a scape with more than 1 flower.
Multiple writers report 2 flowers on various cvs.

Having a pot of bulbs blooming in the dining room allows me
to notice things I'd pass right by in the garden. Last fall (07) I
was sent some bulbs of Ipheion 'Jessie' a relatively new cv. said to
have the most intense blue flowers and a sport of I. 'Rolf Fiedler'.
The start of bloom started this thread.

I mentioned in my first note that there was one flower per
stem and one scape per fan. Clearly neither is true.

One of my bulbs - oddly with the smallest growth has a stem
with 3 flowers ( 2 open, the third starting) and multiple bulbs with
a single foliage fan are putting up their second stalks each.

So there goes two of my 'claims', but the multi - flowered
stem intrigues me. Can I mark this bulb and will it continue to be
multi - flowered in following bloom seasons?

I can't really make a claim for the color. Although the
flowers are very rich blue, It has been years since 'Rolf Fiedler'
has bloomed here (not terribly hardy) so my recall could VERY WELL be
off. Even so it does not seen quite as intense as 'RF'. And the
foliage looks more like a typical uniflorum and less like the
slightly off foliage of 'RF' also. I assume that outdoors where the
buds will develop in cooler temps, the color will be even deeper and
richer blue.

If the color holds true and the plant proves as hardy as
typical uniflorum, it will be a welcome addition to the garden. I did
plant a few bulbs out too, but these have not yet emerged from todays
melting ice; a later report.

Many thanks for your comments. Jim W.

--
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 +