Chasmanthe

At 07:34 PM 2/4/99 GMT, Tim Longville wrote:
>Which seems a good lead-in to another question. Anyone out there grow
>S. African chasmanthe spp? If so what do they think of their hardiness
>levels, cultivation requirements, garden-worthiness? 

Hi Tim - 

Not sure about their hardiness, but it seems that they've been 'hit'
in our area when the temps get down to the 20s(F).  Right now, even
though we've had some pretty cold temps for us (down below freezing
on a number of nights) these plants are growing well and starting to
flower now.  My own are very tall and vigorous already.

>I've got young unflowered  plants of several spp. Those under glass
>are doing fine. Those in the ground are not. They're alive, just, but
>looking as though they wished they weren't. We've had a mild winter
>but one if anything even wetter than usual, so despite my best
>attempts at giving'em the sandiest and grittiest of soils to grow out
>of and the sunniest and driest available spots to grow IN, I guess it
>did not, after all, feel much like home.

They are very dedicated to winter growing and start to sprout in the
fall even before we've had much rain.  They seem to be able to just
'stop' themselves during the dry spells inbetween the rains.  I have a
'clump' that is really just a bunch of bulbs in a plastic bag which
was going to a friend (who never picked them up).  It is sitting on a
paved surface without soil.  The corms rooted and are growing wonderfully
now, right through and out of the plastic with no significant soil to
speak of!!  They are about 18in-2ft tall at the moment (about 1ft or so
shorter then those in the ground.  This 'clump' has get no water from
me and has dried out more than once over the last few months.

>Flowers in books look impressive (C. bicolor, particularly) and I seem
>to remember Scott Ogden in 'Bulbs for Southern Gardens' recommends'em
>but I've also heard or read a couple of folks mutter behind their
>hands something to the effect of, 'Nothing but a big coars crocosmia.'

It is a plant that you hate or like.  As they can become weedy and
invasive, some people detest them strongly (usually those who have had
to remove thousands of corms from a garden!).  But it is great for a
real problem area, with horrible soil and without irrigation.  They are
nice looking now - very vertical, lush, green and starting to flower.
Later, they tend to start to fall over, becoming much wider, getting
in the way, starting to yellow in spring as the rains stop, becoming
very ugly in decline (you just need to cut them down when they start
to get this way and ignore them for the rest of the season).  I think
that as most people still consider spring as the most important time
for their gardens, this decline during that season is inexcusable!!

C. aethiopica is the smaller plant, forming wide colonies due to the
tendancy to produce underground stolons which give rise to bulbs around
the main.  The foliage is about 18in-2ft, and the flower scapes a bit
higher.  They are distinct in that the scape hangs over like a sheperds
'crook' or a cane top - very interesting.  The flowers tend to open on
more-or-less one side.  The upper petal forms the 'hook' shapde to the
flower and the lower five petals are reduced to almost nothing.  The
top parts of the floral tube are deep red, the lower are yellow and/or
green.

C. floribunda is the taller species we have here, occasionally growing
as tall as 7ft!!  A big clump is very impressive, corms mounding up
on top of each other over time.  The floral scape is upright but has a
'lilt' at the tip which move forward and outward from the clump.  The
flowers are borne on either side of the 'zig-zag' main branch and have
relatively thin, flaring petals.  'Chasmanthe' means 'gaping mouth' in
reference to the what the flowers are formed.

For some photos, see:

C. aethiopica (flower closeup):
http://www.thebulbman.com/Bulb%20Photos/Chasmanthe/C.%20floribunda%20duckitt
ii.jpg

C. floribunda:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/7025/chasmanthe.jpg

C. floribunda ducketii (flower closeup):
http://www.thebulbman.com/Bulb%20Photos/Chasmanthe/C.%20floribunda%20duckitt
ii.jpg

The yellow form of C. floribinda, ducketii, is named for the farm on which it
was discovered in South African (the Duckett ranch).  It is now thought by
some botanists not worthy of distinction as a 'form'  It does occur in the
populations of the typical red-orange form.  Studies seem to indicate that
perhaps only one gene in involved in the the color change, the absence of
which allows for a yellow-only flower.  Intermediate forms are not found from
crossing the two, and the red-orange form seems to be very stable as well.
When it does occur, about 30% of yellow can be found among seedlings of
mixed pollination, and yellows seem to breed a good percentage of yellows
but not 100%.

Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@poboxes.com
h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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