What is blooming mid-October
Jane McGary (Sat, 19 Oct 2013 13:03:44 PDT)

Portland, Oregon (latitude about 45 degrees N) is experiencing clear,
mild weather this week after two periods of heavy rain starting early
for the region. Many bulbs and all the annual weeds (mostly
Mediterranean imports) are in growth. The inventory here is quite
different from those reported by gardeners in milder areas, such as
Mary Sue and Gastil with fine collections of South African bulbs.

In flower on the rock gardens are Sternbergia greuteriana, S. lutea
and S. sicula being through; Crocus kotschyanus is through, and C.
pulchellus and C. cancellatus starting up, along with various
colchicums that got in by accident. Arum pictum flowered about a
month ago. Cyclamen graecum is near the end of its flowering, and C.
mirabile is starting. In the garden borders and under trees Cyclamen
hederifolium, including C. hederifolium ssp. confusum, covers a lot
of ground, and the surprising survival C. africanum is in bloom too.
Acis autumnalis is scattered here and there. The large colchicums are
almost done, except for 'Alboplenum' (aka 'White Waterlily'),
long-lasting thanks to its double flowers. A few small colchicums,
especially C. boissieri, flower in the lawn and on a little berm
around the bioswale, where Crocus boryi, C. hadriaticus, and C.
asumaniae are also doing well. Two east Asian alliums, species
unknown, are coming into bloom at the front of the borders. Crocus
speciosus is another one for that position.

The fall sections of the bulb house have been going strong for about
a month, beginning with Colchicum and Merendera species, closely
followed by Sternbergia. Sternbergia lutea and the possibly separate
S. sicula are almost done, but a small form of S. lutea (I think
that's what it is) is in full bloom, as are three acquisitions of
Sternbergia greuteriana (the third is offending me, because the seed
came as Sternbergia clusiana, which I would much rather have). One of
my new favorite colchicums is Colchicum pulchellum, whose little
seed-grown corms somehow produce lavish bouquets of about 15 flowers
apiece. Among the fall crocuses are C. tournefortii, C.
cartwrightianus, C. cancellatus in several subspecies, C. serotinus
ditto (including the albino 'El Torcal'), C. hadriaticus and its
beautiful forma lilacinus and handsome cultivar 'Elysian Pearl', C.
goulimyi and its vigorous albino form 'Mani White', C. mathewii with
its violet centers in white or lavender tepals, stout little C.
boryi, and statuesque C. niveus in typical white and pale, two-tone
blue-lavender. Alas, the 20-year-old corm of C. moabiticus seems to
have died, but a few of its seedlings are putting up leaves. I may
also have lost a wild-seed C. banaticus because of excessive
groundwater takeup in its spot at the uphill end of the bed, though
it has popped up in the lawn; thank goodness I gave some to Mark
Akimoff for his nursery a few years ago. Some of the fall oddities
are blooming or have already done so, such as Prospero (formerly
Scilla) autumnalis, obtusifolius, and intermedius; Acis valentinus;
and now the only fall-blooming muscari, Muscari parviflorus, very
well named with its minute dark blue flowers.

I hope to rebuild what was once a good collection of Crocus species
now that I have a vole-free garden, and eventually to work with the
many species of Tulipa that I've started to grow from seed. This
summer I moved to the garden a number of bulbs formerly grown under
cover and will see how they survive when we get one of our colder
winters. The goal is to have something in flower in the open every
day of the year.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA