Success with Scilla
steven hart (Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:56:31 PDT)

Hello everyone, Its been a dreadful year in the garden, I went through a
warm wet winter to a hot dry summer, its getting dryer every year, even if
the rain fall keeps up.... So I got very few flowers on anything & almost
no seeds of anything... Even the biggest crinums are struggling with the
dry & many have gone semi dormant to survive ... The hippeastrums decided
to surprise me though & the soaking winter didn't stop them budding & now
there is beautiful hybred pastel pinks, a couple of reds, some cute
miniatures & a lemon in flower so far.. They are a beautiful treasure...

Despite the weather giving me some trials, I started to experiment with
small Silla this year & have successfully grown & flowered a few species
from central Turkey, I don't have their names handy but I purchased them
from Hillview nursery in freezy Tasmania & was told I would have
absolutely no chance of growing them up here, but I have been very
successful so far & I love their very small bunches of gorgeous blue
flowers, they were so cute, even got a few seeds....

I gave them no special attention, just straight into very poor shallow soil
in a very dry rocky garden bed where oodles of leaf mulch drops & I
occasionally water them if I think of it.... Amazing !!!!

Any Aussies who like them, I think it was worth the experiment & I will
update if they survive & flower next season...

--
Steven : )
Esk Queensland Australia
Summer Zone 5 Winter Zone 10