What's blooming Week of 2 November
Mary Sue Ittner (Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:59:10 PDT)

We've continued to have some lovely sunny weather after early rains
and as a result my fall blooming bulbs have been really happy. That
is supposed to change tomorrow however so today I took inventory.
Some of these are new bloomers and some still blooming:
Crocus asumaniae, C. ochroleucus, C. goulimyi, C. niveus, C.
serotinus, C. cartwrightianus
Cyclaman hederifolium, C. cilicum, C. coum, C. intaminatum
Delphinium nudicaule, but most are just coming up
Haemanthus albiflos - just starting
Moraea polystachya - still going
Narcissus cantabricus
Nerine masoniorum, Nerine humilis (in ground), Nerine bowdenii,
Nerine flexuosa x N. undulata

Most years I can't get Nerine bowdenii to bloom. I've tried it from
others who say theirs bloom well. I've grown it from seed.
Occasionally it has bloomed. In the ground it disappears. In pots it
soon gets pot bound. So in June when one pot went dormant early I
decided, that's it and unpotted it and sent the bulbs to the BX. At
the very last moment however I kept out some of the really large
bulbs and potted them up in a 11 inch pot. This is one reason why I'm
having such a hard time downsizing. I give things a last minute
reprieve. Every now and then this summer I'd give that empty pot some
water. Nothing much happened and I hoped the bulbs I sent to the BX
were o.k. In August some healthy looking leaves appeared and three of
them are now blooming. They must be totally confused about when they
are supposed to grow. I've just unpotted another non blooming pot of
Nerine bowdenii. There were more than 50 in an eight inch pot. Most
of them are in the mail to Dell, but I did plant out a couple in the
ground to try once more. At least I got rid of one pot that way.

Oxalis- Last fall was a particularly bad year for my Oxalis. We had a
really cool summer with many foggy days and I didn't have many bloom
and then not for long. This year is a real contrast. Oxalis bowiei
didn't even break dormancy last year. This year it started blooming
in September and is still going strong. Still or newly blooming:
Oxalis luteola (several forms except for the spotted leafed one that
never divides- the birds chose it for a snack and ate all the leaves
and buds), Oxalis purpurea (several forms), Oxalis hirta (several
forms), Oxalis flava (several forms), Oxalis caprina, O. commutata,
(blooming since August) O. bowiei, Oxalis hirta, O. fabaefolia, O.
gracilis, O. massoniana, O. peridicaria, Oxalis zeekoevleyensis, and
inside something that blooms most of the year if I keep it watered,
O. triangularis
Pelargonium echinatum
Polyxena longituba
Romulea halli
Spiranthes odorata

Mary Sue

Mary Sue Ittner
California's North Coast
Wet mild winters with occasional frost
Dry mild summers