Hardiness of Themidaceae, was fall planting and storage
Jane McGary (Sat, 10 Nov 2012 10:41:42 PST)

In reply to Peter Taggart's comment on hardiness in the western North
American Themidaceae, the hardiest species are probably Triteleia
hyacinthina and T. grandiflora, which have the most northern ranges.
Some of the others get up to quite high elevations but would be under
snow in winter and thus protected from freezing. T. hyacinthina is a
large, showy white to pale lavender one that self-spows freely in
this area. T. grandiflora (syn. Brodiaea howellii) has been a
difficult subject for me, probably because it doesn't get a dry
enough winter in this area. Others likely to be more cold-hardy are
Brodiaea elegans, a fairly short grower with brilliant violet
flowers; Dichelostemma capitatum (which Peter mentioned, but it
should do better than he found; see Mary Sue;s comments on hardiness
and ranges), an early bloomer of grasslands and rapid increaser; D.
congestum. I also grew Triteleia bridgesii, Brodiaea terrestris,
Bloomeria crocea, and Triteleia peduncularis in my former garden
(they're still there), even though they are not generally regarded as
hardy to the temperatures that occur there, where it gets into the
single digits Fahrenheit about once every ten years, and to about 12
F every four years.

Mary Sue discussed Triteleia crocea. It is very confusing, because
there is also Bloomeria crocea, and they are quite different
entities. The Triteleia has a higher-elevation, more northerly
distribution and is a smaller plant.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

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