[pbs] ref Bulbous Genus 'BRODIAEA' in Alliaceae
Jane McGary
janemcgary at earthlink.net
Sun Apr 13 13:28:59 EDT 2008
Dichelostemma capitatum is of garden interest as the earliest of the
Brodiaea alliance to flower (in the open, anyway), and also for its notably
strong violet color, which is enhanced by the deep purple stems. Its
preferred habitat is meadow, very moist in spring and dry in summer; the
soil is generally rocky clay. It multiplies rapidly by both offsets and seed.
Another good, hardy garden plant in this group is Triteleia hyacinthina, a
tall plant with white to pale blue florets in a dense spherical umbel. It
is regarded as invasive (by seed) in some Pacific Northwest gardens, but
has presented no problem in mine.
I grow all the members of the four genera making up the Brodiaea alliance
(the one not mentioned yet is Bloomeria, with two species in California),
but the best ones for the garden are the big, showy ones that can support
themselves unaided (unlike the widely grown Triteleia laxa). Brodiaea
elegans has large flowers of brilliant violet. Triteleia peduncularis, well
situated (i.e., planted quite deep in well-drained soil), can produce an
umbel more than 12 in/30 cm across, as remarkable in its way as the most
unusual Allium species. Triteleia ixioides is available commercially as the
many-flowered pale yellow clone 'Starlight', but I prefer the Robinetts'
darker yellow selection 'High Sierra', which comes true from seed.
I try to send seeds of many Themidaceae to the NARGS exchange each year,
though they're tedious to clean.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA
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