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Re: Chasmanthes (pros and cons)

At 06:01 PM 4/19/98 -0700, Michael Barclay wrote:
>	In Berkeley where I've gardened for 28 years I thank Flora daily
>for having escaped
>	"chasmanthe" and "Oxalis pes-caprae" in my garden.  I don't believe
>either is easily
>	erradicated so GARDENER BEWARE LEST YOU LEAP BEFORE YOU'RE SURE
>YOUR NOT
>	PLANTING A WEED YOU WILL REGRET THE REST OF YOUR GARDENING LIFE!
>	Michael D. Barclay, Wizard  opga@wenet.net  Kensington, CA Zones 16-17.

While I have extolled the virtues of Chasmanthes in the past, I feel
that Michael has a good point - they can become weedy and invasive,
especially if their seed pods are not 'harvested' before the seed is
ripe.  They have no place in the tidy gardens full of wonderful
treasures easily overwhelmed by 'thugs'.  I do find them very useful
thought for clients who do not spend much time inthe garden and
would like things to be green, growing, and flowering without any
care other than clean up.  It is easy to help these gardeners to
understand when they need to do something to these plants - they start
to look untidy and awful in the next month or so, as their tall stems
fall over and the foliage begins to yellow.  Cutting them off at the
base neatens up the garden and attention is directed elsewhere for
effects.

Chasmanthe aethiopica is the lower growing species, with the hooked,
red & yellow or green flowers almost devoid of the lower 5 petals.
Chamanthe floribinda (sometimes wrongly know under the above name)
is taller and has flowers a little more like Crocosmia.  The main
distinction in the time of bloom - now for Chasmanthe, later for
more Crocosmia species (though C. crocosmiiflora, the Montbretia
might be in flower almost anytime during the year in our area).  I
have heard the Chasmanthe floribunda genes are present in the hybrid
Crocosmia 'Lucifer', which supposedly also contains various other
genes from a variety of closely related genera and species.  The
vigor and size of this cultivar would certainly uphold this claim,
being almost twice as tall as many Crocosmias.  I've always felt
that a good breeding program starting with Chasmanthe might yeild
some interesting and useful forms, presumably vigorous but selected
for sterility or non-invasiveness.  Does anyone know of other
cultivars or hybrids with these species?

I grow all three of the common Chasmanthe, C. aethiopica, C.
floribunda and C. f. 'Ducketii', which is a wonderful soft yellow
instead of the orange red.  They are all best in FULL SUN, POOR
SOIL, and DRY, DRY, DRY, where they will be more compact, fuller
flowering and less 'floppy'.  I am colonizing these bulbs in a
public planting which used to be a railway siding- they are one
of the species which can thrive even there and provide color and
greenery where there would normally be only weeds and dumped
garbage.  All plants have their uses.

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
 Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
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