Coastal California blooming
Mary Sue Ittner (Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:09:56 PDT)

Hi,

Except for the exciting progress of the San Diego Brunsvigia and Diana's
news (which doesn't really count since she grows her plants in giant
greenhouses where conditions are not the same as growing outside) most of
the reports of what has been blooming has been from the parts of our group
that get water in summer. We last had good rain where I live in northern
coastal California in February and only a little more than trace in the
couple of months after that and no rain at all I don't think since maybe
April. We water just enough to keep the trees and shrubs alive and the few
summer rainfall bulbs I grow in pots like Haemanthus, Nerine, Cyrtanthus.
Stick your finger in the soil an inch down and it is bone dry. I've tried
Rhodophiala a number of times, but it just disappears in short order in the
ground and I never got any to bloom in pots either. I suspect Lycoris
wouldn't be a go either and forget rain lilies except for Zephyranthes
atamasco and Zephyranthes candida (the one that lives with my Meyer lemon
where it gets regular water). Obviously plants that need a change in
atmospheric pressure with rain aren't going to get that here in summer.

However, that doesn't mean that in this Mediterranean climate we can't have
late summer-fall blooms. I've really enjoyed my Amaryllis belladonna this
year, especially since different plants have bloomed at different times.
Some of the South African Gladiolus that bloom before leaves have been
blooming including my favorite in this category, Gladious carmineus. I'm
seeing good spikes on my Nerine sarniensis hybrids and Nerine humilis
(these are in the greenhouse however). Cyclamen species in pots and in the
ground are blooming as well as new leaves appearing every day. Acis
(Leucojum) species have bloomed, but only in pots as the ones I planted out
in the ground are long gone.

I got my Oxalis repotted early which I have learned means the fall bloomers
do much better and I have nine taxa blooming already and others appearing
every day. One other that is blooming that it looks like can be grown in
dry and wet summers is Scilla scilloides which broke dormancy not so long
ago and is now blooming.

Mary Sue