The Bulb Maven

The Morning Walkabout

It has been a very mild, and very dry, winter here in northern California, with one sunny day after another.  While this may be a pleasure here in this damp, soggy valley, it may be a problem for the rest of the state.  We were over to an agility trial last weekend near Sacramento, and the hills of the Coast Range are brown from the dry grasses of last year, looking more like the middle of summer than February.  Usually by this time the hills are green and a few early wildflowers are just starting to bloom, so this will be a poor year for flowers.  Agriculture in California mostly depends on irrigation, and with the reservoirs still very full from the previous heavy winter, if this is an abnormally dry winter, we can usually get by.  We have, though, had long spells of drought.  I remember one seven year cycle with the reservoir where I lived (one of the largest in California), reduced to a mere mud puddle.

The mild temperatures and lower humidity have been very beneficial for the bulbs, however.  Fungal disease is the most serious problem for a bulb grower, and in these conditions, it is minimal.  Oxalis have done wonderfully well this season, and it is a delight to enter the greenhouse and see a lush carpet of color from their lovely blooms.  I stroll down the aisles looking carefully in each pot, to see if anything new has popped up.  I get some seeding from my Oxalis obtusa species, and I examine the pots carefully to see if a new color has emerged.  Then I must extract the one bulb from the pot and pot it up.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  When I discovered Oxalis obtusa 'Elizabeth' in a pot of differently colored Oxalis, I had to take a small clump out.  Then I had a pot of mixed colors, and it took four years to make sure I had a pot of pure 'Elizabeth' before I could offer it.  I managed to get one bulb of a lovely new one which I think I will call 'Sundisc'.  Here it is above.

Many other lovely species are blooming now.  I have several color forms of Veltheimia bracteata, one a beautiful cream flushed lightly with pink.  I have seedlings coming along, but I have to be sure they come true from seed before I can offer them. 

I am very fond of Cyrtanthus, and a new one (for me) is in bloom now, Cyrtanthus mackenii v. cooperi.  Here it is to the right.

 

There are very few double flowered Oxalis.  I have only three in my collection, and would love to have more.  Here is Oxalis compressa 'Pom-Pom', with perfectly round yellow pom-poms.

 

 

 

Also in bloom is Canarina canariensis.  This is not a bulb, but grows from a knobby tuber, and has lovely flowers like lampshades.  It has a rather lax habit, and would probably do well in a hanging basket.

While this may be a dreary time of year for many, this is a blessed time of year in the nursery, with shoots emerging everywhere, and many bulbs in full bloom.  Shipping orders has started, but the pressure of the summer shipping season is still far away.  I have time to attend the dog trials and work on projects in the garden, activities that must be put on hold in the summer.  I still look forward to summer, though, for each season has its rewards, and the lovely long evenings when I can take the dogs to the beach, weed the garden, or train my dogs are evenings I treasure.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Pamianthe peruviana

Pamianthe peruviana, the stunning bulb from Peru, is in bloom.  These incredible bulbs grow as epiphytes on tree branches, and I grow mine like orchids in indirect light.  The flower tube is about 10" (25cm) long, and the flowers are heavily scented.  I used to have many bulbs of Pamainthe peruviana, but suffered a catastrophe that killed most of them and all of my seedlings.  I still have four bulbs, and the most mature is in bloom now.  In the past my mature bulbs have supported a pair of the enormous fragrant flowers, but this year there are four.  Something strange has happened, though.  The anthers have split, but they look dried up and there is no pollen.  This has never happened before, as you can see in the other photograph from a previous year where the pollen is obvious.  The temperatures at night have been colder than usual, and we have recently had rain, so maybe this is because of environmental factors.  Unless I can find someone with a blooming bulb who will send pollen, I doubt there will be seeds from this year.  I have moved it from the greenhouse to my kitchen in the hope that the warmer temperatures will induce the remaining anthers to produce viable pollen, but so far things look grim.  I will post a question on the bulb forum of the Pacific Bulb Society (www.pacificbulbsociety.org) to see if anyone has any ideas about this.  I should mention that PBS is a great resource for information about bulbs.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Oxalis obtusa

Oxalis obtusa is a wonderful species, with the widest range of color imaginable, yellow, all shades of orange from buff to deep copper, white, many shades of pink, but best of all some have color combinations that are very striking.  The petals are usually veined with a deeper color than the background, and there is a central ring that can be a completely different color. Here to the left are O. obtusa 'Elizabeth', and O. obtusa 'Blush'.  I have one species that is distinctly fragrant, the lovely O. obtusa 'Polished Copper' seen here to the right.

All of the Oxalis obtusa color varieties produce an abundance of flowers, and most mutiply readily.  I am gradually producing new color combinations from random seeding.  Yes, I do get seeding on my O. obtusas because I have so many different clones, but seed production is usually rare in the South African Oxalis species.  Here are a few more:

Since I have 40 different O. obtusa colors listed on the web site, it is impossible to post pictures of all of them here, so check out the pictures on the web site:  www.telosrarebulbs.com.

 

 

There is a sub-group within O. obtusa that produce very large flowers.  I have listed two the in past as O. obtusa Large Form (a very dull name!), and I will be listing more.  The flowers are up to two inches across (5cm), and are often marked on the back with red or purple striations.  Here are a few below:

 

Some of these large form O. obtusa have been listed in the past as O. comosa, and an orange flowered one is still marketed under that incorrect name.  O. comosa is quite different, with lavender flowers and tall branched stems.

There are now 125 different Oxalis species listed on the web site, and the Oxalis pages are now current for 2012, so whether you want to order or just enjoy the visual feast, check out the pictures.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Oxalis flava

This is another species that has many different forms and colors.  We don't usually grow bulbs for the beauty of their leaves, but if Oxalis flava didn't bloom, it would be well worth growing just for the leaves.  Most forms have leaves that are like palm fronds, but the width of each leaflet varies a great deal, with some forms having wide leaves, other thin thready leaves, and some that are succulent.  The one pictured above is not identified so far, but obviously belongs to this group.  The leaves are like threads and are succulent.

My absolute favorite, though, is the pink form of Oxalis flava.  Not only are the flowers a lovely shade of pink, the leaves are wide and are glaucous, and as they emerge they are ruffled along the edge.  It is sometimes called O. lupinifolia, since the leaves look like those of a lupin.  As you can see, the flowers emerge before most of the leaves.

A close second to the pink form is the lavender form, also with wide leaflets that are a beautiful grey.  This one is much easier than the pink form and multiplies readily.

The many different yellow forms of Oxalis flava are not to be despised, though.  They are all lovely and have leaves that are usually narrow and succulent.  The variety Oxalis flava v. pectinaria has the narrowest leaves in my collection, with the same brilliant lemon yellow flowers.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Happy New Year!

I will remember 2011 as a good year, full of new joys, and a testament to the adage that patience is a virtue, and that hard work has its rewards.

On the patience front was the blooming of some of my South African bulbs, the seed of which I had sown as long as fourteen years previously.  Fourteen years ago my life was vastly different.  I lived in a very different climate with temperatures that could be consistently above 100F for months at a time, and bulbs were a hobby but also a consuming passion.  My work was in the medical profession, and I shared my life with a partner.  Now I live in the cool coastal climate of northern California and the bulbs are my work, as well as my love.  I live a single life, which I enjoy a great deal, and I have a new passion, the sport of dog agility.  It is almost disorientating to look back, feeling as though the person who optimistically sowed those seeds was a different one than that of the present day.  Many of the changes in my life were not of my choosing, but life goes on, and there are rewards in store for us that we may never anticipate.  The blooming of my Boophone haemanthoides was the pinnacle of excitement on the bulb front, although Behria tenuiflora was a close second (this did not take fourteen years!).

On the more competitive front, my female Wire Fox Terrier, Hannah, won her first championship title in CPE agility in May, then went on to win a second championship in November.  While the first one was exciting, the second one was even more so, since it was at the largest trial we attend, and many of our friends were there to cheer us with our winning run.  Hannah loved it, and pranced and danced around to the applause and cheering.  What a ham! I should mention here, that when I got Hannah she was about ten months old, and was so terrified of the world that I could not even enrol her in a puppy class.  She was afraid of dogs, cars, noises, new situations and people.  It took a lot of both work and patience to bring her around, but she loved agility from the very first day.

Besides the trials, we had a wonderful trip to Oregon, hiking the mountains in the Bend region.  Here is a picture of Smith Rocks north of Bend.

And now we end the year with the Oxalis season well under way.  Here is the lovely Oxalis massoniana to the left and an unidentified Oxalis to the right.  The right handed one is clearly in the Oxalis flava group.

 

Happy New Year, and happy bulb growing in 2012.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Oxalis hirta

There are several forms of this beautiful Oxalis.  I have four that are distinctly different.  All are characterized by tall stems clothed with clusters of hairy leaves, the flowers emerging from the erect stems.  The stems are usually rigid and often branch, reaching a height of up to 12" (30cm) in the species I grow.  The one to the left is the shortest, only about 8' (20cm) in height.  I do not have a subspecies or varietal name for this one, so it is listed on the web site simply as Oxalis hirta.  It is extremely floriferous, the flowers often completely hiding the foliage when it is in bloom.

Oxalis hirta 'Gothenburg' is seen to the right.  It grows about 12" (30cm), and has lovely lilac flowers with a distinct white eye.

I list another Oxalis hirta as O. hirta Lavender Form.  It is tall, and has distinctly lavender flowers and grey leaves. The bulbs are very large, up to 6cm in diameter.  Here it is to the left.

A real beauty is Oxalis hirta v. tubiflora.  I have mentioned this before as O. hirta v. longituba, since it came to me with this name, but I realize now that name is not valid.  It is tall also, and very floriferous.  The pink flowers have a very long tube, as can be seen in the photograph to the right.  The bulbs are huge, 5-7cm in diameter, and increase slowly, so I have not been able to list it so far.  Salter says that as you go north in the Cape Province, the tube of the corolla of O. hirta increases in length, so this must come from the northern regions.

Occasionally I read that Oxalis hirta is a trailing species, and should be grown in a hanging basket, but from the species I grow, all of which have rigid stems, I think this means they are not being grown in bright enough light, which will make them weak stemmed.  All are beautiful plants, with very attractive foliage and form, in addition to their lovely flowers.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Fragrant Oxalis

I sometimes forget to check to see if the flowers of bulbs are fragrant, although some are so obvious one couldn't overlook them.  There are many members of the genus Oxalis that are quite fragrant, but being small and at foot or waist level, you usually need to pick up the pot to realize this.

 I have one Oxalis in my collection labeled Oxalis fragrans, seen here to the left.  This may not be the correct name, but this plant has been in circulation for quite a long time with that moniker.  It is indeed fragrant, and a pot can fill a room with its scent, a strong heavy scent like freesias.  The flowers open in the afternoon, and stay open into the evening, closing around midnight, quite oblivious to whether the sun is shining or not.  This probably indicates a night-flying pollinator. This is a wonderful Oxalis to bring into a room, scenting it in the evening hours.

 Oxalis cathara, a rare species from a restricted area of Namaqualand in South Africa, behaves the same way, and has a strong sweet scent.  Here it is to the right. 

One of the earliest blooming Oxalis is Oxalis commutata.  It can bloom as early as August, and has a sweet scent like baby powder.  It too is from the Cape Province of South Africa, and is seen here below and to the left. 

Oxalis obtusa is my favorite species, with its wonderful range of color and delicate veining of the petals.  When color is used to attract pollinators, scent seems superfluous, but I do have one O. obtusa in my collection that is scented like violets.  Here it is to the right.  In the catalogue it is called Oxalis obtusa Polished Copper. 

Another South African is Oxalis callosa, a beautiful species with purple flowers banded deep crimson in the throat.  It, too, has a sweet fragrance.  Here it is to the left.

Oxalis pocockiae, seen here below and to the right, has white flowers with a fragrance like fresh coconut.  It is also South African.  

South America has hundreds of Oxalis species, although most are not as showy as the South African ones, and many are not bulbous.  One that has been in cultivation for a very long time is Oxalis lobata, with masses of brilliant yellow flowers that are strongly scented like honey.  Here it is to the left. 

There are many others that are scented, and I have picked only the most obvious ones.  The late Michael Vassar thought that about half of the South African species have some scent, but I think he had a better nose than I do.  I will try this season to evaluate all of them for scent, and keep you posted.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Oxalis pardalis

I have had this species in my unidentified group, but the Pacific Bulb Society says it is Oxalis pardalis, so I am taking their word for it.  The leaves emerge a deep burgundy red, and as they age the center of each leaf turns to a lovely sage green.

Another Oxalis blooming now that has been shy to bloom in the past is Oxalis smithiana.  the flowers are large, about 2.5cm across. 

Rain has arrived, so photographing more Oxalis will have to wait until the sun comes out.

 

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Oxalis

Oxalis season is well under way.  The weather this year is cooperating with one sunny day after another, inducing the Oxalis to open their beautiful flowers.  Last year we had continuous rain, not a great season for Oxalis.  Several new species are blooming, and I will post on them as they appear. 

To the left is the pretty little Oxalis attaquana.   The leaves are very distinct, and when I get a better picture, I will post it.  Each leaflet looks like a medieval battle ax.  To the right is Oxalis lichenoides, with the tiniest succulent leaves and large white flowers.

Oxalis inconspicua might sound rather uninteresting, but it is just as lovely as the most colorful species.  Here it is to the left.

Oxalis exerta, another new species for me, is seen to the right.

I believe the species to the left is Oxalis depressa, a species that Salter describes as 'polymorphic', not very helpful when you are trying to pin down the identity of an unknown Oxalis.  I have hesitated in the past to list Oxalis that are not accurately identified, but this is so lovely, I might distribute it next year.

I have many unnamed species of Oxalis, and I will post on some of them, perhaps in the hope that there is an Oxalis expert out there who might know what they are.  Identifying Oxalis is extremely difficult, the only monograph (which is very incomplete) having been published in 1944.  There seems to be some work going on now, so hopefully help is on the way. 

I apologize for the horrible formatting.  Whatever I do the pictures and text rearrange themselves when I publish.

www.telosrarebulbs.com

Hippeastrum aulicum

This beautiful Hippeastrum is from southern Brazil where it grows in forests on fallen trees and rocks.  It is often described as an epiphyte, and I thought it might be difficult to grow because of this, but I have found it remarkably easy.  My other ephiphytic species, like Pamianthe peruviana, I grow in an orchid mix, but Hippeastrum aulicum is grown in my usual mix of perlite, pumice and potting soil (about one third of each), and is not at all fussy or prone to fungal rots.

Since Hippeastrum aulicum blooms now, I have relied on it for Christmas gifts and decoration for Thanksgiving.  There is something very appealing about a Hippeastrum that will bloom in early winter.

There is a fair amount of variation in form, color varying from an almost ruby red to bright orange, and petals (or tepals) that are narrow or broad, sometimes wavy along the edges, and with variable amounts of streaking or netting present.  Some have given rise to cultivar names.  Here is my usual form to the right, and one with broader petals to the left that are strikingly netted.  They are all lovely, and will increase nicely if happy in their home.  I should add that I grow them in cool conditions since my greenhouses are not heated and the winter temperatures are only about 35-50F.  They flourish in these conditions, and I wonder how well they would do in warmer temperatures.

 

www.telosrarebulbs.com