Worsleya - Eucharis

Jtlehmann@aol.com Jtlehmann@aol.com
Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:36:59 PST
I guess I'm also a card carrying member of the old folks club.  Park  Seed 
used to send out a special catalog every so often, and a few times I  
purchased Worsleya bulbs.  Yes, bulbs.  They were sold as "Blue  Amaryllis."  
Unfortunately, I treated them like...amaryllis.  They  didn't survive long.  
 
I also remember another mail order company that sold "Amorphophallus  
rivieri" in different "bulb" sizes.  They had, as what seemed at the time,  some 
awesome black and white photocopied photos in their price list type of  
catalog.  I don't remember the company name, and sure wish I held onto all  
those all catalogs and price lists.
 
Back to the Eucharis comments a week or so back...I donated some bulbs  
earlier this fall.  Mine flower for me every year, but never more than one  
stalk (every few years, maybe two stalks) and never more than a few flowers per 
 stalk.  They were pot bound in an 8" pot.  They were in that pot for  
about 12 years. Part sun to dappled shade outside in the summer, heavy on the  
water as they were irrigated by my sprinkler system, some generic 
water-soluble  fertilizer when they were lucky, and in my garage for the winter.  In 
the  garage they were under fluorescent lights (cheap shop lights and  bulbs) 
just to keep them alive.  However, my garage is heated,  and does not fall 
below 40F even during very cold winters.  (That is my  "cold frame.")  They 
were watered in the garage only when very dry and the  leaf edges began to 
turn yellow or brown.  By spring they had only one or  two leaves left per 
bulb.  The flowering must have been brought on by  the stress and dryness 
during the winter, and the more sun than shade during the  summer.  I hope this 
helps those who now own my old bulbs.  I will  (kind of) miss the plant!
 
--Jerry Lehmann


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