Undependable Garden Bulbs
Diane Whitehead (Mon, 05 May 2008 12:38:29 PDT)
Rodger wrote:
surprisingly bad performers:
1. Leucojum vernum. I've planted hundreds - In Janis Ruksans book,
there's
a photo of L. vernum growing wild somewhere in eastern Europe; the
site is a dead flat meadow with nary a tree in sight.
I never had any success with them either. I realized why when I saw
them in flower in the Czech Republic in the kind of situation I would
expect to see the bright yellow spathes of our skunk cabbage.
Riparian deciduous woodland. The valley had pools of water from
melting snow and the adjacent river. The Leucojum didn't require so
much water, though, as I saw clumps of the yellow-marked ones
flowering in a nearby farmyard - the farmers were enthusiastic
gardeners and showed us the stack of photo albums filled with pictures
of their flowers. They must have watered them well.
Diane Whitehead
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8, cool Mediterranean climate
mild rainy winters, mild dry summers