[pbs] Bulbine
N Sterman
TalkingPoints at PlantSoup.Com
Tue Sep 19 11:09:24 EDT 2006
We grow Bulbine frutescens as a groundcover here in Southern
California. I have two varieties (at least that is how they are
referred to here), one is 1-2' tall with yellow flowers and the
second a dwarf (only about 10" tall) with tangerine orange flowers.
Both colonize by underground stems. I have to whack them back every
so often or those stems get really elongated and woody.
If you want more detailed information, I suggest you visit the
website of San Marcos Growers, www.smgrowers.com and search for bulbine.
Just to give you an idea of how tough these plants are, the yellow
ones I have came from a garden where a month before I visited, the
gardener thinned hers out out and stashed the extras in a paper
grocery bag. When I asked about the ones still in the ground, she
offered me the bag full. It took me another month to plant them and
they never missed a beat....
I also grow Bulbine latifolia (syn. natalensis) in a pot but that
does not seem to spread and I don't know whether it has any
underground storage structures.
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