[pbs] Sternbergia
John T Lonsdale
john at johnlonsdale.net
Sat Dec 16 21:48:35 EST 2006
Thanks Jim,
The glaucous twisted leaves you describe are exactly like those of my S.
fischeriana (from several sources), and they are always emerging at the time
the flowers emerge. There is another Sternbergia that Helmut Kerndorff told
me about but which I never seen in leaf or flower, S. schubertii, does
anyone know anything about this?
Thanks,
John
John T Lonsdale PhD
407 Edgewood Drive,
Exton, Pennsylvania 19341, USA
Home: 610 594 9232
Cell: 484 678 9856
Fax: 801 327 1266
Visit "Edgewood" - The Lonsdale Garden at <http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/>
http://www.edgewoodgardens.net
USDA Zone 6b
_____
From: Jim McKenney [mailto:jimmckenney at jimmckenney.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 8:57 PM
To: john at johnlonsdale.net; 'Pacific Bulb Society'
Subject: RE: [pbs] Sternbergia
John Lonsdale asked: "Does anyone on the east coast grow bone fide S.
clusiana in the garden - if
so when does it flower and does it flower before the leaves appear?"
Although I no longer grow it, I did grow Sternbergia clusiana about
twenty-five years ago when the bulbs were easily available form local garden
centers mixed with the bulbs of Sternbergia lutea. The bulbs are easily
distinguished. I found it difficult to keep because of bulb fly predation.
The flowers came in the autumn, long before the foliage which came in
mid-winter. As you mention, the leaves are distinctly green, not glaucous,
and the ones I had did not have the wavy, twisted form seen in Jane's
mystery Sternbergia. The flowers of my plants looked like the ones shown in
the stereo pair images on the wiki - they are not at all like Sternbergia
lutea.
Stermbergia clusiana is the only Sternbergia I have ever known to set seed
in my garden. My plants fruited yearly until they disappeared.
I have photos from that time.
Jim McKenney
jimmckenney at jimmckenney.com
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7
My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com
Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS
Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org
Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org
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