Sulphur Queen
Lee Poulsen (Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:45:01 PDT)

Scott Ogden in Garden Bulbs for the South spells it 'Sulphur Queen'. He
also has this to say:
"During the 1960s Cincinnati, Ohio, breeder Len Woelfle created a series
from the same parents as 'Sulphur Queen' [I. narcissiflora x I.
amancaes], the finest of which was a yellow and white bicolor named
'Pax'. He also developed several graceful, greenish gold flowers from
crosses between I. amancaes and I. longipetala. These long-necked plants
(known as the dancing dolls) have never become common in the bulb trade,
but they are grown by a few fanciers of the genus. They seem to thrive
in the South and are entirely hardy."

'Sulphur Queen' is easy to find and for me, grows much like and as
easily as the 'Festalis' type hybrids. I got some seeds of Ismene
amancaes from Charles Hardman a few years ago when his main plant of it
finally flowered after something like 20 years. I now have a couple of
bulbs of it that seem to be growing well, but only one has flowered for
me a only once so far. They grow very differently than the previously
mentioned ones, popping up in late spring and going dormant a few months
later. Other than that it isn't very difficult to grow. I keep them
completely dry during the winter. Also their foliage is much less tough
than the hybrids and breaks or tears very easily. I've read that there
is a concerted effort to repopulate them in their native Peru and they
are planting thousands of seeds every year in nurseries and replanting a
large protected native region far outside of Lima somewhere that is now
a national park or plant refuge. None of my email queries into
availability of seeds or bulbs for purchase has been responded to. The
yellow of I. amancaes is intense and beautiful.

How did these earlier American breeders get a hold of I. amancaes
material and also flower it in order to breed it? And where are all
these other hybrids Ogden and others have mentioned. I've never seen
them for sale or growing anywhere.

--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena, California, USA - USDA Zone 10A