Dear All,
The items listed below have been donated by our members to be shared.
If you are interested in obtaining some of them, please email me PRIVATELY
at <dells@voicenet.com>. Include "BX 173" in the subject line.
Specify the NUMBERS of the items which you would like; do not
specify quantities. It is a good idea to include your snail mail address,
too, in case I don't already have it. Availability is based on a first come,
first served system. When you receive your seeds/bulbs you will find,
included with them, a statement of how much money (usually $2.00/item)
(cash, check, or Pay Pal to <Arnold@NJ.rr.com>; no money orders, please) you
should send the PBS treasurer to defray our costs for packing and
first-class, priority-mail, or international postage.
PLEASE NOTE: NEW POSTAL-RATE SCHEMES NECESSITATE OUR PLACING A SURCHARGE ON
EACH ORDER FROM PBS BX OFFERINGS.
Some of you are members of the online PBS discussion forum but are not
members of the Pacific Bulb Society. THIS BX OFFERING IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO
MEMBERS OF THE PBS. Consider joining the PBS so that you can take advantage
of future offers such as this. Go to our website:
<http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/> ....
If you would like to donate seeds or bulbs/corms to the PBS,(Donors
will receive credit on the BX for the cost of postage for their donations.),
please send CLEAN, clearly labeled material to:
Dell Sherk
6832 Phillips Mill Rd.
New Hope, PA, 18938
USA
I WILL REPLY TO YOU WITHIN 24 HRS OF MY RECEIPT OF YOUR ORDER.
IF YOU DO NOT HEAR FROM ME, TRY AGAIN !!
From Leo Martin:
SEEDS (unless otherwise indicated):
The true bulbs and Pelargonium below were undamaged by a dozen overnight
frosts in Phoenix, AZ, down to the mid 20s F / -4 to -8C.
1. Babiana sinuata (W) - from Silverhill seed; Rod and Rachel don't list
this every year. Narrow upright fans of crisped foliage. 30cm branched
stalks of up to 30 flowers, lavender and pale green, with long narrow
twisted petals resembling taurine Dendrobium orchids. Very fragrant, too.
This is the first year I've had plants overlap blooming, and they won't
self.
---
2. Datura inoxia (all year) Our native Sonoran Desert angel's trumpet, a
short-lived solanaceous perennial growing from a huge underground root. I
love this plant and would not be without it in my garden. It blooms quickly,
readily and profusely in any container bigger than a gallon, or in the
ground. In habitat it grows in sandy soil near streams and at the heads of
canyons, sometimes in shade, other times in blazing sun.
Unlike tomatoes and peppers, Datura must be sown in situ or transplanted
with the entire root ball undisturbed. Uprooted or disturbed seedlings will
surely die. They reseed gently if allowed to form spiny hollow fruits but
are easily recognized and pulled. In common with many of our desert plants,
germination can be erratic. A few week's refrigeration in the packet may
improve this.
It has velvety dark green pointed leaves, and huge (10" / 25cm long, 6" /
15cm wide) white upright angel's trumpet flowers with purplish tinges at the
mouth. Georgia O'Keefe had them on her ranch in New Mexico and painted them
over and over again. If you search on her name you will surely find an image
of one of her paintings of this flower. Buds open in early evening,
releasing a sweet fragrance that drifts, and close with the next day's heat.
They draw sphinx moth away from tomato plants. They bloom throughout
frost-free months, often all year here in Phoenix.
Roots tolerate substantial overnight frosts, which kill the tops. If you
have truly cold winters, treat as an annual. Plants naturally sprawl and are
under a meter in height. They are easily pruned to any size, but if watered
well I have had them grow to over 10 feet / 3m across, opening hundreds of
flowers per night. I recommend cutting to the ground yearly in the fall, or
whenever they grow too big. I use them as nurse plants to protect
newly-planted cacti against the sun.
All parts contain high concentrations of scopolamine, a poison also found in
Brugmansia, its tropical American relative, and similar to atropine, found
in its European nightshade relatives. Carlos Castaneda reported the brujo
Don Juan gave him this plant to induce visions; I would not recommend people
repeat Castaneda's fictional stunts. Somebody dies here in Arizona every few
years trying to get high with this plant.
---
3. Lachenalia unicolor (W) - from Silverhill seed. Many Lachs have names
better than the flowers. Not this one. Electric blue, pink and magenta
flowers prompt a "What's That!" even from non-gardeners. Despite the name
there is subtle but noticeable color variation from plant to plant. No seed
set on the flowers I didn't hand pollinate. Not fragrant.
---
4. Lapeirousia jacquinii (W) - from plants ex Silverhill seed and plants
from a previous BX (listed as Lapeirousia sp.) 30cm long leaf sprawls; 10cm
inflorescence features 4-7 large alternating bracts from which protrude
sequentially small but intense dark purple flowers with a white spot. Not
fragrant. Similar flowers to L. oreogena and probably easier, but not as
many at the same time.
---
5. Moraea sp. violet flowers (W) - from a previous BX. The grasslike plants
have leaves only 2-3mm wide but 1 foot / 30cm long, sprawling below the
flowers. 3" / 7.5cm stalks carry one or two small (3/4" / 2cm) flat violet
flowers without scent. Seed is tan.
---
6. Moraea sp. pale lavender flowers (W) - I don't know where this came from.
It was a single volunteer (now divided into two plants) in a Veltheimea
bracteata seed pot. I haven't had any Moraea flower until this past winter
(including this one) and this plant has been in that pot for several years.
Veltheimea and Moraea seed are very different. This pot has never been near
the preceding pot. It is almost the same vegetatively as the preceding
unknown Moraea, but the flowers are paler and there were many more of them
per plant: 10-12 vs 1-2. This plant ripened seed several weeks after the
preceding one. The seeds are very similar. These are not M. polyanthos,
which is a bigger and very different plant.
---
7. Ornithogalum sp. yellow flowers (W) - from a previous BX. Narrow green
leaves to 20cm long. Very late winter bloomer; sinuous spikes of 8-15 yellow
flowers held 25cm above the soil. Profuse spontaneous seed set (no other Os
were in flower.) I don't know how big this would grow in a bigger pot; mine
are in their seedling container, a 3" wide x 6" tall (7.5cm x 15
cm) foam drinking cup. Bulbs are somewhat below the soil surface. I will
move them to bigger pots over the summer.
---
8. Ornithogalum sp. yellow and green flowers (W) - Also seed from a previous
BX. Much smaller-scale plant than above, offsetting profusely, bulbs at the
soil surface. It broke its foam drinking cup shortly after renewing growth
last fall. Narrow green leaves to 10cm long. Mid-winter bloomer; 15cm
rigidly upright spikes with 3-5 yellow flowers. Also profuse spontaneous
seed set (no other Os were in flower.) Bulbs and seeds.
---
9. Pelargonium incrassatum (W) - from Silverhill seed. Summer-dormant
geophyte with brilliant magenta flowers held in large umbels above the
rosette of lobed leaves. I sowed my seed in January 2007 (late winter) and
one plant bloomed in February 2008. I suspect earlier sowing would lead to
first-season flowers. Plant the seeds upright, sharper end down, in damp,
sandy soil, and push until the seed is just buried. If the fragile
parachutes are still attached, use them as handles, then break off.
From Alessandro Marinello:
10. Seed of Hippeastrum aulicum
11. Seed of Crinum campanulatum
From PBS:
SEED:
12. Brunsvigia bosmaniae
13. Brunsvigia orientalis
14. Haemanthus amarylloides ssp polyanthus
15. Haemanthus barkerae
16. Haemanthus coccineus (Bainskloof)
17. Haemanthus sanguineus
Thank you, Leo and Alessandro !!
Best wishes,
Dell
Dell Sherk, Director, PBS BX