[pbs] In bloom, but Rhodophiala not
Mary Sue Ittner
msittner at mcn.org
Wed Sep 5 18:00:43 EDT 2007
Hi,
I've given up on getting any Rhodophiala bifida to bloom for me. No luck in
pots, no luck in the ground. And I've been trying for a very long time. One
year there was a freak bloom that gave me hope, but that has been it. The
ones in deep pots produce leaves. The ones in the ground may or may not
exist anymore. We will be going on a trip to Australia in two weeks so am
hoping some of the fall blooming things I'll get to see before we go. My
Nerine sarniensis hybrids are having a good year although the spikes are
unusually long. The flowers are so lovely and shiny! And Gladiolus
carmineus is popping into bloom all over my garden. I have some early
Oxalis in bloom and a Haemanthus grown from seed from Doug Westfall that is
going to bloom. It was supposed to be H. albiflos, but I think it is
probably a hybrid instead. And the Cyclamen are spectacular. It's been an
unusually warm summer for us. People are raving about all the vegetables
that they have been able to harvest so as always it is interesting to watch
for what does better and what does worse as the weather changes. I have a
couple of spikes on Cyrtanthus (one hybrid) and one on C. sanguineus that
mostly got wiped out by the Narcissus bulb fly so I was surprised to
see the start of a spike in the middle of some of the little offsets I
saved when I tossed the bigger ones eaten by the grubs. So I guess there
are some compensations for those of us not easily able to grow Lycoris and
Rhodophiala. Still no Crocus yet however, but I can hope. One pleasure a
couple of weeks ago was a bloom from a Scadoxus membraneus. Patty Colville
and I shared a few seeds from Henry Pauw in South Africa in 2001 that I had
labeled something else. I don't know how Patty did with hers, but I ended
up with one plant that has since increased. Last year it bloomed for the
first time and the flower bloomed in the leaves. I took a picture of it
with me to South Africa hoping to confirm its identity and Cameron McMaster
said it looked deformed. His wife on the other hand said something kinder
like sometimes young plants bloom better in subsequent years and that has
been true this year. I thought it absolutely charming this year. The
foliage once again hugs the ground whereas the plants I grew from Doug's
seed of the same species have foliage that is taller. The blooms of the
plant from Henry's seed were short again, but tall enough to be seen and a
very pleasing combination with the leaves.
Mary Sue
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