Hi Dave Poole I'd really like to know how to grow nerines adequately. I joined the nerine soc but the newsletter is too far above me. all I want to do is understand what will make my nerines reliably happy. I live in sw france so we have hot summers and cold winters and they are in pots. Also, do you have any advice about how to aquire a few bulbs of different cultivers regards michelle 2010/11/5 Dave Poole <daverpoole@hotmail.com> > > I only have a very few Nerines, but those that are here have put on a good > display again this autumn. The first to flower is always a fine red > sarniensis, which I 've grown outside for the past 4 or 5 years. It is in a > pot and largely ignored for much of the time. I don't worry about the bulbs > getting wet in summer although they often get a good baking since I have the > pot in an exposed position. Even last winter's unusually cold spell failed > to damage the bulbs or leaves and the clump managed 8 spikes this year, the > first opening in late September with the last still open. > > A clump of ordinary bowdenii started flowering during October and are still > holding their own. This is by far the commonest species grown here in the > UK and it is not unusual to see long borders filled with them, forming a > mass of many hundreds of flower heads at this time of year. I'm never quite > sure about the colour, but can't deny they add to the autumn scene. There's > a bruiser of a bowdenii hybrid that I had and now want to plant in this > garden. It is 'Zeal Giant', which is like bowdenii on steroids and an > absolute show-stopper whenever it flowers. Happily, it seems quite hardy > given gravelly soil and planty of sun. > > Currently, N. flexuosa 'alba' is looking very flashy with its pert, tightly > clustered, crystalline white flowers on 30-40 cms stems. I started off with > a single small bulb a few years ago and it is developing into a good clump. > It gets much the same treatment as sarniensis and seems to thrive on > neglect. This Nerine appears to be remarkably hardy here and even though > the bulbs are almost completely exposed, no damage was incurred during a > week of sub-zero temperatures, which nearly froze the pots. > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >