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Re: Bulbine fruticosa

Dear David,

A South African field guide I have on Namaqualand lists a Bulbine
frutescens. The description is: A small succulent shrub with fibrous roots.
The succulent leaves are bright green, about 4-8 mm thick and usually about
15 cm long. The flower stems are about 30 cm long with many  white, yellow
or orange flowers. Although it is hard to tell completely since the picture
is not very large, there doesn't seem to be much else growing there and the
soil looks sandy.

I have seen what I believe are really Bulbines with a Bulbinella tag in Bay
Area nurseries where the problem is just opposite of what Moira suggests.
People in South California find Bulbines to be somewhat weedy, but that
does not appear to be as true in the parts of this state with wet winters.
I was given some from a friend who just yanked a large chunk out of her
garden which you wouldn't do with Bulbinellas and have success. Like Nan I
found they rooted easily even though I couldn't attend to them for a few
days and then was leaving on a trip so just stuck them in soil and hoped
for the best. It should be very easy for David to make many plants to
experiment with.

The one I got was evergreen until the deer ate all of a couple that I had
planted in an unprotected area. One seems to be shooting out again, but I
do not see any signs of the other. In another area of my garden where the
deer did not find them they finally seem to be looking better now that we
have had a little more sunshine. I live in a part of California that
averages 60 inches of rain with a dry period summer into fall and this year
we have had about 85 inches. So I would say that if you have a wet winter
the Bulbines probably will make it if your soil is well drained, but they
won't be blooming all the time like they are for Nan. I got mine about a
year ago and they bloomed for a long time, but then late summer stopped
blooming until recently. We do not have a hot summer here and maybe if they
were in a greenhouse where they would be hotter in summer they would have
bloomed longer. Other than that I can think of no reason why you wouldn't
want to plant them out.

I hope this helps.

Mary Sue
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