Bulbs in flower at New Year, was Narcissus minor 'Cedric Morris'
Jane McGary (Sun, 04 Jan 2015 13:36:11 PST)

Narcissus 'Cedric Morris' is well grown but not flowering this year
here. I wonder if it's getting too much summer water where I have it?
Snowdrops in the same area seem to be doing well, however.

In full bloom are Narcissus cantabricus and some of its selections
and hybrids. I find I have to grow these under cover; they can
survive in the open but rarely seem strong enough to flower there.
The dry summer conditions of the bulb house are better for them;
indeed, I have to thin them each summer and will send some to the BX
then. The only other flowers in the bulb house (a "Mediterranean"
unheated, roofed, open-sided house) are a couple of Colchicum
species: Colchicum doerfleri and Colchicum triphyllum (syn. Merendera
triphylla). Also blooming is Sternbergia fischeriana, and I don't
know why it does so so early here, when references suggest it should
not do so until perhaps March. I have two collections of S.
fischeriana; one increases and flowers well, and the other does
neither. They are planted side by side in hope of cross-pollination,
a vain hope, it seems.

In the garden a few snowdrops are in bud. Recently I was given a
snowdrop that Norm Kalbfleisch, who lives nearby, found in a
neighbor's garden. It always is in flower by Christmas and is a
robust plant. It keys out to Galanthus nivalis, other varieties of
which flower later in this area. Do our galanthophile correspondents
have other G. nivalis forms that are especially early?

Despite 4 or 5 days of hard freeze, broken last night, a number of
shrubs are flowering in the garden: Mahonia (Berberis) 'Arthur
Menzies', Jasminum nudiflorum, Viburnum 'Dawn', camellias, and
Chimonanthus praecox. I've uncovered the pots sown with seeds -- more
than 500 this year, thanks to the distribution of a large seed bank
to various growers -- and can now enjoy my morning inspection of them
for signs of germination.

During the freeze and the hiatus of the holidays I finished reading
Chris Clennett's new monograph on the genus Erythronium and wrote a
brief review of it for the NARGS website, where it is, or soon will
be, posted. Reading it was quite a chore because of the tiny type
size, but otherwise it's a valuable book for enthusiasts of the genus.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA