Carefree or Undependable
totototo@telus.net (Tue, 06 May 2008 11:17:14 PDT)

On 5 May 08, at 12:32, James Waddick wrote:

Martagons are a success in my ex-swamp/former marsh. By sheer dumb
luck, I planted them in a congenial position, shaded on the south by
a neighbor's hedge (red cedars that are starting to get too big for
comfort), in my usual heavyish, clayish, dampish soil. They flower
and seed with abandon, and self-sown seedlings appear in modest
numbers.

IOW: they don't seem to need a lot of direct sun; they like soil
that's never really bone dry; they can handle lots of water in
winter; they don't want a summer baking.

Also comfortable in this site, the fragrant Trillium albidum and
Sanguinaria canadensis 'Multiplex'. Too comfortable: Anemone nemorosa
'Vestal', which has gotten mixed up with a patch of Ophiopogon
japonicus minor; the entire area is going to have to be lifted and
the soil screened to remove the anemone. Ugh!

The same conditions also suit Narcissus eystettensis, in case anybody
is thinking of springing for a start of this rare but beautiful
antique cultivar -- it was in Parkinson's "Paradisus in Soli
Paradisi." (I hope I've got that name right.)

In the thread on Over Enthuiastic Bulbs, Diane Whitehead mentioned
Hyacinthoides (aka Endymion). I second, third, and in fact millionth
her nomination for Worst Bulbous Pest of All Time (with a nod to
Ornithogalum umbellatum). I was in my previous house 13 years. Every
spring I would sedulously lift all the Hyacinthoides I could find.
When I left, after 13 years of digging, there were as many as ever.

I've been in my present house nearly 20 years, and the same thing has
happened: as many, if not more, than ever.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island