Calochortus notes
Jane McGary (Wed, 26 Jun 2013 10:48:43 PDT)
Nhu wrote,
I find that
Calochortus are very difficult to grow in Berkeley. Our winters are
just a bit too cold (-2 to -3C) for them and they get too wet. The
combination of cold and wet causes a lot of fungal disease. Rotting of
the leaves typically slow down the bulb's health and eventually even
the bulbs themselves rot away.
I'm sure he's right that the combination of wet and cold is the
culprit, rather than just cold, since I have long grown many species
in far colder conditions than occur in Berkeley (where I've also
lived). Foliage of these and many other bulbs can recover from a lot
of freezing as long as the leaves aren't wet when they freeze. That
said, though, I now have a lot of Californian and Mediterranean
bulbs, though not Calochortus, growing in the open and experiencing
wet freezing without dying of it. Also Nhu's switching to a pumice
planting mix should be a big help, though it must be expensive in an
area without the pumice quarries we enjoy here in Oregon.
they all eventually dwindled
and rotted away, except for a few very tough ones like C. catalinae
and C. venustus.
I also found that Calochortus venustus is a great grower even far
from its home, and Calochortus catalinae surprised me as well. I
direct sowed a lot of C. venustus seed last year and noticed
considerable germination in a sand and gravel berm, so am curious to
see if they develop over the years. I try to catch all the seed for
exchanges, but inevitably a lot of it falls in the bulb house beds
and seedlings came up like grass this winter. I've just finished
tagging all the Calochortus stems so I can identify the plants when
the seeds are ready; I mark the color forms of C. venustus, but of
course they are crossing and "red" won't necessarily produce all reds.
The latest subspecies of Calochortus clavatus, subsp. clavatus, is
opening its huge, well-marked flowers now. Calochortus howellii is in
full bloom, as is Calochortus obispoensis, and yesterday I saw the
first flower open on Calochortus plummerae. Seed has ripened on the
earliest species already; some of them have pendent capsules and it's
tricky to catch them just before they open, so I leave the envelopes
right by the plants to remind me to look every day. The most
productive so far has been Calochortus monophyllus. Cool weather
seems to be delaying seed ripening on some plants, especially
Fritillaria species.
Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA