Undependable Garden Bulbs
Jane McGary (Mon, 05 May 2008 22:04:15 PDT)

Rodger Whitlock, gardening somewhat north of me in the Pacific Northwest,
listed as undependable (i.e., difficult or impossible to establish) some
bulbs I also have trouble with. The big snowflakes (the ones still in the
genus Leucojum and not transferred to Acis) do not flower here though the
plants hang on. I attribute this problem to a fast-draining mineral soil
that I can't keep adequately moist in summer. I can't grow Tricyrtis well
either, and I attribute this to slugs, even though the new "safe" baits
have reduced that problem significantly. I no longer have double Galanthus
nivalis: could the stocks be virus-infected? The single one flourishes.

As for daffodils, they do very well here despite the presence of narcissus
fly, which is a pest in the bulb frames to the extent that I now cover the
sternbergias with Reemay by mid-spring. I've been told that bulb fly is
unlikely to lay eggs on plants in the shade, but even my garden narcissus
in the sun seem largely unaffected. The garden snowdrops are mostly in the
shade and seem not to be attacked. Perhaps the sheer volume of plants
present is some defense. (The insects seem not to have emerged yet this
year, which has been cold late into spring.)

That said, I've also lost certain hybrid daffodils quickly, but I suspect
some of them are not very cold-hardy. Rodger's garden is a bit warmer than
mine in winter, though, because he's closer to the ocean and at a lower
elevation.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA