Dear Friends,
As I mentioned earlier, Lycoris season has begun here in Kansas City.
I was driving around a day ago and was surprised to see a few L. squamigera in
bloom. This is nearly the ONLY Lycoris you see in my area. My plants have not
put on a sign of a flower stalk yet. Hold that thought.

Since L. sanguineum is the usual first to bloom I really wondered. I
came home and ripped away the veil of weeds around my L. sanguineum bulb spot
and found two stalks with 3 or 4 spent flowers. I had totally missed them.
This is quite early.

Since then, more stalks have appeared. 2 different L. chinensis x
longituba are in bloom today. One with very pale petals and strong yellow
mid-stripe, the other a more uniform primrose yellow; both with the longituba
form.

I often pick up a few more bulbs of L. squamigera when the opportunity
arrives. 2 years ago I got some left over from a local flower club plant sale.
These have started to bloom - 3 plants but even these are early. These early
blooming squamigera are a few feet from a bed of over 100 bulbs none of which
show a hint of a flower stalk yet.

It is long thought that L. squamigera is a natural hybrid, triploid
and sterile. I agree, but might this natural hybrid have occurred multiple
times and places resulting in various very similar clones separated mainly by
bloom season? The early plants mentioned above were growing in a slightly
protected part of the city, but my newly blooming plants are too close to
older non-blooming plants to make me wonder.

I have multiple patches of L. squamigera around my 1 acre garden. They
usually bloom within a few days of each other, but these new ones are clearly
jumping the schedule.

I can't help but wonder. Any thoughts? Jim W.

--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +

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