About 14 months ago I went on a business trip to Los
Angeles. Outside the office was a clump of beautiful pale
yellow irids in bloom. When I say clump, I mean an area
about 12 ft. x 5 ft. It was huge. I really have no idea
whatsoever about how to identify all the different South
African irids... but if I had to guess it was some kind of
Dietes, like Dietes bicolor.
I pocketed a seed pod, and promptly forgot all about it.
I attended a funeral about 4 weeks ago and wore that suit
again for the first time since that trip. Lo and behold I
found that seed pod wrapped carefully in my silk hanky. I
stared at it for a while trying to figure out where the
heck it had come from, and then I remembered, Los
Angeles. :-)
About a week after the funeral I cracked open the seed pod
and carefully took out 5 seeds. I planted them in a small
pot, and set the rest aside for safe keeping. That was
probably 3 weeks ago. Yesterday I noticed 3 of them had
germinated. Today a 4th one germinated too.
So this is my first time to grow a Dietes... or whatever.
I'm surprised the seeds were SO viable after all this
time. I'd love to keep them alive if I can. Does anyone
grow this plant indoors? What kind of growing media &
watering regimen do you follow? Sunlight? etc.
I haven't decided what to do with the rest of the seeds
yet.....
