[pbs] June bulb news
Jane McGary
janemcgary at earthlink.net
Thu Jun 19 14:54:13 EDT 2008
I just returned (not without weather-related hassles, of course) from the
NARGS annual meeting in Ottawa, Canada, which was well organized by the
regional Ottawa Valley Chapter. The only bulb seen on the field trips was
Lilium philadelphicum, flowering mostly as scattered individuals in a
recently burned area. The plants had unusually short stems, which one local
expert thought had resulted from the especially hard winter preceding this
spring. We were also taken to view lovely populations of Cypripedium reginae.
The NARGS Book Service manager reported that she had an overstock of the
book "Bulbs of North America," and I volunteered to try to sell off some of
these at a remainder price. I'll announce their availability when she has
shipped them to me with the exact price to be asked. If you don't have this
book yet, it contains extensive chapters on the major North American genera
(e.g., Calochortus, Fritillaria) and on the smaller genera of each climatic
region, with both habitat and cultivation information. The publisher and I
think it failed to sell as well as hoped because all the photos are in one
section rather than associated on the page with the text. Lots of pretty
color photos is to selling books as lots of pretty color flowers is to
selling plants.
When I checked the bulb frame on my return, I found Calochortus kennedyi in
flower, grown from Ron Ratko's seed collection. This brilliant orange
mariposa (a yellow form also exists) is native to the mountains of the
desert Southwest. Mine took 5 years from germination to flowering, which is
a little longer than average for the genus. C. amabilis is very pretty just
now, but a rabbit climbed into the frame and nipped all but one of the
stems from C. invenustus, which is an unusual color near blue.
Even more unusual in color is Ixia viridiflora, which has managed a tall
stem of its glowing turquoise blooms despite a very cold winter (I suppose
it isn't an Ixia any more -- has it fallen to the advance of the Freesia
hordes?).
In the garden, the main bulb interest is currently provided by the taller
Ornithogalum species, the Brodiaea alliance (including Dichelostemma,
Triteleia, and Bloomeria), and Allium (mostly American species). The
hummingbirds, now raising their young, find plenty to eat from the
Dichelostemma and Kniphofia species in particular; earlier they were busy
pollinating Fritillaria recurva, darting into the frames while I worked
there. I was surprised to see them feeding from Menziesia flowers, which
are small and dull in color. Color isn't necessary to attract them: one of
their favorites is Aesculus californica, a white-flowered "horse chestnut."
I saw (i.e., heard and then saw) the first bulb fly of the season just
yesterday, but this year I have the Sternbergias grouped under Reemay
(nonwoven row cover fabric) and hope to foil these devilish insects. I wish
they'd stick with the hundreds of garden daffodils instead of seeking
gourmet fare for their young.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA
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