[pbs] Bulb Questions from Chris
Christine Council
scamp at earthlink.net
Sun Sep 19 21:40:42 EDT 2004
Dear Mary Sue<
Thank you for your insight. I am doing fairly well as a plant lover, but
just when I think I know what I am doing, something strange happens. My
daughter gave me a gift of a little portable green house, so I am going to
try my luck with that. I also removed some potted plants for the upcoming
Winter
and combined soil that looked as if nothing was growing; now stuff is
popping up
all over the place. Nothing grew in those pots all Summer and not they
like the
dirt etc. Now that I have mixed the soil, I know I shouldn't have. Don't
give
up on me because I have learned a great deal about plants, also my famaily
says
they love to see me working with my plants. Of course I never thought I
would
get excited over a blossom or a root, perhaps I am finally in my element.
Thanks again for your advise, I shall get some more books.
See Ya,
Chris
> [Original Message]
> From: Mary Sue Ittner <msittner at mcn.org>
> To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs at lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: 9/19/2004 10:55:57 AM
> Subject: [pbs] Bulb Questions from Chris
>
> Dear Chris,
>
> I'm sure none of us want to stifle your enthusiasm about growing bulbs,
but
> I think you might find a few books really helpful in answering your
> questions. I think Growing Bulbs: The Complete Practical Guide by Brian
> Mathew is an excellent book and I expect others could suggest other basic
> books as well.
>
> It is impossible to give an answer that would work for all bulbs. Our
group
> talks about plants that are bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, tuberous roots,
corms.
> What they all have in common is an underground storage organ that helps
> them survive difficult times. Some of them may be buried under snow and
not
> appear until spring. Others are sitting out a summer without rain and
will
> sprout when the rains begin. Others may be evergreen and never really
lose
> their leaves. There are so many different variations.
>
> How to treat them depends on what you are growing. There are books that
> will give you information about different plants. It is also helpful to
> find out where they come from and what the conditions are where they
grow.
> Oxalis, one of your favorite bulbs, grows all over the world. We have
> Oxalis growing in our Redwood forests in deep shade where they have
winter
> rainfall and a dry summer except for the moisture that comes from fog
drip.
> There are Oxalis growing in forests in Europe. Many of the really
gorgeous
> ones are native to South Africa where some of them are found in areas
that
> are low in rainfall, hot in summer, but never really cold in winter when
> the rain comes. They sprout with the first rains and go dormant when the
> weather becomes hot and dry. But there are summer rainfall Oxalis too.
> Other species come from Central or South America where they may have year
> round or tropical summer rainfall and grow in summer and are dormant in
> winter. So even with Oxalis you need to know something about the species
> you are growing if you want to be successful with it.
>
> Some bulbs benefit from repotting and others will sulk for years when you
> disturb their roots. It may be fine to leave bulbs in pots while they are
> dormant or to remove them. It just depends. Most can be grown from seed.
> Some will bloom quickly from seed and others will take many years and
even
> then may not bloom if the conditions are not to their liking. Some seed
may
> germinate quickly and other seed will take a long time. Some will grow
> underground the first year and you won't even know that anything is
happening.
>
> Unless you have a greenhouse or a large indoor growing area with lights
as
> a beginner you'll have much better luck growing bulbs that are happy with
> your climate. Many people in our group are able to grow bulbs that you
> wouldn't expect they could by knowing what conditions the bulbs need and
> providing those conditions. Some of us started however with things that
> were very easy to grow before we tried harder things.
>
> If there is a plant you are wondering about tell us what it is and
> hopefully someone in the group who grows it will try to help you.
>
> Mary Sue
>
> _______________________________________________
> pbs mailing list
> pbs at lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/pbs
More information about the pbs
mailing list