This is probably a futile offering, but here in Oswego, NY (45 minutes north of Syracuse) I have a lot of non-hardy summer-rainfall bulbs and corms, mostly South African, but including a bunch of beautiful Cyclamen graecum, all in pots, that are free for the taking. They include assorted haemanthus, brunsvigia, nerines, some eucomis, some gladiolus species, and a few other things. The catch is this: I don't have time to enumerate or discuss them, and I absolutely don't have time to ship them, so if you're interested you pretty much have to come and take a look. By way of explanation: I'm getting ready to move to Shrewsbury, MA, and I can't take them with me. If no-one adopts them, they're toast. If you're interested, and are NOT going to plead special circumstances and ask me to make a list, ship, hold until, whatever, get in touch (PRIVATELY: hornig@earthlink.net. First come, first served. The plants will thank you. Ellen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane McGary" <janemcgary@earthlink.net> To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 11:49 AM Subject: Re: [pbs] The flowering desert > In reply to Andrew's questions -- >>As the >>one who pointed out here the early high rainfall in the Atacama a few >>months >>ago I would love to hear how far north you ventured. Rains in that area >>are >>very rare, possibly inducing the appearance of bulbs not seen for any >>years. >>Did you go as far north as Copiapo, or even as far north as Antofagasta? >>Cacti such as Eulychnias amd Copiapoas and even some bromeliads persist in >>those regions . If you went up there did you find rarely reported bulbs? > > We went as far north as Paposo (just north of Taltal). We had thought > to go to Antofagasta but found lodging in Taltal so didn't have to > drive so far. Paposo is a famous botanical > "hot spot," which I had visited without knowing that at the time, in > the previous moist year, 2002. I was in the area in 2008, not a moist > year, and saw almost no bulbs or annuals in flower in the north, > except a few Rhodophiala bagnoldii in a drip-irrigated olive grove. > We also stayed in Copiapo, and we visited most of the notable parks > and national monuments on our itinerary, as well as drives and walks > described in "Flora nativa de valor ornamental, Zona Norte." I don't > know about "rarely reported" bulbs, because the bulbous plants of the > area are well known and not very numerous in terms of species, but I > think we did see all the amaryllids we could expect in bloom, and a > few of the earlier Alstroemeria species. It was a little early to see > cacti in flower but there were a few just opening, in the genera > Eriosyce, Eulychnia, Echinopsis, Copiapoa, and Cumulopuntia (I think > I may still have a thorn of the last in my calf). Bromeliads seen > were Puya chilensis, P. coerulea, and Deuterocohnia chrysantha. We > were able to photograph a lot of color variation in Rhodophiala > ananuca and R. bagnoldii, and also the less variable R. phycelloides > and R. laeta. Also spectacular and variable were Leucocoryne > coquimbensis, L. purpurea, and Zephyra elegans. Other geophytes seen > included Tropaeolum tricolorum, T. brachyceras, T. azureum (very deep > color forms), Oziroe biflora, Pasithea caerulea, Leucocoryne > appendiculata, Pabellonia incrassata, Trichopetalum plumosum, > Aristolochia chilensis, and Placea amoena. These mingled with a great > number of colorful annuals and flower-covered sclerophyll shrubs, as > well as cacti. > > For members like Andrew who live in southern California, not only > these bulbs but also the annuals would be a terrific garden resource. > One rarely sees, for example, the showy blue Nolana species or the > annual Solanum species grown in gardens, but they're obviously quick > to produce large, floriferous specimens. > > Jane McGary > Portland, Oregon, USA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/