| Hi David
Thanks for your hard work searching out Nivenias. I was amused that you mentioned Pattersonia since I picked up a trio of them at Suncrest in the fall of 08, and just planted them amidst the Carex praegracilis in my new meadow. They are just starting to bloom and they are such a beautiful, deep purple!
I emailed Randy Baldwin at San Marcos Growers to ask about Nivenias. According to him "they were a major pain to grow and keep nice in the container. I am sure we could have marketed them as an interesting container plant if we could have figured how to keep them looking good but after several years of unsuccessfully trying to figure out a protocol to do this, we discontinued production. They are reputed to like well drained acid soils so perhaps typical SoCal conditions are not appropriate for them. We were giving them these conditions here at the nursery, but still it didn't seem to matter and if a plant is so fussy that I can't grow it, I don't think it very good to promote it to our customers."
Sigh....
I guess Nivenia is another plant to chalk up to my zone envy - along with meconopsis. What is it about those amazing blue flowering plants that make them so difficult to grow in Southern California?
Nan
On Apr 16, 2010, at 3:20 PM, david feix wrote: I did a little more research by googling "Nivenia", and found out that Martin Grantham wrote a nice article about the various Nivenia species he has been trialing,(that can be found on the web), and that San Marcos Growers no longer sells/grows Nivenia corymbosa at their nursery. I also discovered that the Australian genus Pattersonia is related to Nivenia, and I can highly recommend P. drummondii as an interesting irid with delightful lavender flowers as something to seek out if you've never grown it. Suncrest Nursery has been growing several Pattersonia species for years, and they are very easy to grow, except that they seem to resent dividing as much as Dierama pulcherrimum does. That SMG has stopped production of N. corymbosa would seem to support my conclusions that it is not the easiest plant to grow under California conditions, or maybe it was just too slow as a nursery crop to be a viable plant for San Marcos Growers. Also, it does prefer moister soil conditions in summer, which doesn't exactly make it a good candidate for a dry garden.
--- On Fri, 4/9/10, david feix <d*@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: david feix <d*@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Source for Nivenias?
To: "medit plants forum" <m*@ucdavis.edu>, T*@plantsoup.com
Date: Friday, April 9, 2010, 7:38 AM
As far as I know, Martin Grantham, who was the grower of the Nivenias exhibited, is probably the best and only source for the majority of the species shown, they aren't in the trade yet, except for Nivenia corymbosa, which is listed in San Marcos Growers current catalog. Martin lives here in nearby Emeryville, and currently works at San Francisco City College. He has been searching out and growing various rarer South African plants, including Nivenia species and Restios, amongst others, and also has/had quite a collection of Magnolia species and their vining relatives as well as various rarer tree ferns. I'd suggest you contact him if you just have to have some.
It might be worth mentioning that southern California poor water quality may be a major issue in getting them to grow for you, and they are mostly very slow growing and perhaps a bit gawky looking when not blooming.
--- On Thu, 4/8/10, Nan Sterman <T*@plantsoup.com> wrote:
From: Nan Sterman <T*@plantsoup.com>
Subject: Source for Nivenias?
To: "medit plants forum" <m*@ucdavis.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 8, 2010, 9:21 PM
At the San Francisco Flower Show last month, I was totally captivated by the Nivenias. These are blue-flowering iris relatives that are out of this world! I'm wondering if anyone knows of a wholesale source for them (or retail for that matter) in California.
Hope you can help!
Nan ***************************************** Nan Sterman Plant Soup, Inc. TM PO Box 231034 Encinitas, CA 92023
Author of Waterwise Plants for the Southwest and California Gardener's Guide vol II, the only book about drought tolerant and Mediterranean climate gardening written specifically for California gardens. Purchase personalized copies today at www.PlantSoup.ComHost of A Growing Passion TV show. View video segments on • starting plants from seed • raised bed gardening • school gardens • planting containers • and more at http://www.plantsoup.com/tv-radio.php
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