cool foliage - Hesperocallis undulata

Leo A. Martin leo@possi.org
Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:42:24 PDT
I've never tried this low-desert Arizona native (couldn't find seed) but
have wondered for some time about sprouting season. Our summer rains are
rarely dependable enough to establish many monocot seedlings, but our
winter rains can result in wet soil for a much longer time.

(The dicot cacti are much more succulent as seedlings than are the monocot
Agave or Yucca; all these sprout and establish with summer rain. An
individual Agave or Yucca produces vast quantities of seed, probably more
than most individual cacti, but here in the lower Sonoran desert there
seem to be fewer individuals of these genera per given area than there are
cacti. So I suspect cactus seedlings are more successful establishing with
summer rain than are the monocots.)

I asked last time Hesperocallis came up in discussion whether any of you
had tried sprouting it as a winter grower but nobody replied.

This time, however, Tim Harvey mentioned he sprouted them last fall.
Again, has anybody else tried this? If not, I would suggest it. Same goes
for our desert Calochortus and Dichelostemma capitatum.

Leo Martin
Phoenix Arizona USA


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