Re: NEW MEMBER
bill brobisky wrote:
>
> Hi everybody,
>
> I'm Bill Brobisky, a member now for about 10 days, having heard of the group
> from Sean O'hara. I live in Walnut Creek, CA, USDA zone 9b,min temp
> 25F/-4C, though known to reach 17F or so once every 10 years. Though I'm
> only 15 miles from the shores of San Francisco Bay, summers are very hot and
> dry. 100+F for a week at a time is normal, with summer moisture a rarity
> (rain in July the last 2 years notwithstanding).
>
> Having fried my share of alpines over the years, I happened on bulbs (good
> mediterranean plants) and developed a passion for them. Just about
> everything is in pots (about 6000 of them, and if I'd had the time to
> transplant all the seedlings last fall, there'd be 2000 more).
>
> Around a third of these are Cyclamen, my number 1 favorite. Other only
> slightly less favored are medit. aroids (Arum, Biarum, Arisarum,
> Dracunculus, Helicodiceros, alas no Eminiums or Ambrosinia), Arisaema (well,
> gotta have a vice), Iris (including non-meds), Crocus, Colchicum and
> Fritillaria. I'm also intersted in the medit./central Asian species of
> Paeonia and wish they were easier to come by.
> Propagation is my passion and I've grown almost everything I have from seed
> - they just don't feel like they're really mine otherwise. That includes
> the peonies, but not some of the more unusual Arisaemas.
>
> If anyone has experience growing Pancratiums other than maritimum(foetidum,
> canariensis and illyricum) or Eremostachys, I'd like some pointers. Mine
> just sit there year after year in an ongoing near death experience.
>
> I'd also like to hear from anyone with a special interest in Cyclamen or
> aroids.
>
Nice to meet you, Bill.
Even with my much more kindly climate (summer temperatures usually peak
at about 76 degrees) the alpines I would love to grow are mostly not
really happy. I do manage some of the less fussy European kinds but the
native New Zealanders (Aciphyllas, Celmiseas and so on)scorn my mild wet
winters and pine away, obviously missing their nice dry blanket of snow.
So I too have largely turned to bulbs, though not on anything like your
scale. However I do have quite a representative collection of Cyclamen
species and have had over the years considerable success with the
hoop-petticoat daffodlils, though I lose a lot to the Narcissus fly, a
pest I have never been able to rid myself since it came into my garden
years ago with (I think) a parcel of bargain bulbs. "Bargains" rarely
prove cheap in the long run, I fear..
Thw majority of my bulbs are in the ground, including most Cyclamen coum
varieties and masses of C hederifolium, which have naturalized and come
up all over the place. I also have C graecum out in a scree bed where it
can get its preferred summer baking. The rest of the rarer and more
interesting Cyclamen inhabit two large bowls under a grape arbour. This
arbour is actually topped with clear plastic roofing, which means the
bowls depend on watering, which I think is a plus for controlling their
environment. Even with watering control I managed to lose my first
C.rohlfsianum from too much summer moisture, so now I have one in its
own separate pot.It flowered successfully last season, and held its very
distinctive and decorative leaves for several months.
I also have tried a lot of Lachenalias (in pots) over the years with
varying success. I think my growing technique must be at fault, though I
have tried to faithfully follow the directions in the Stelllenbosch
handbook on the genus. The commoner ones do well and multiply, but some
of the rarer ones just seem to fade away.
I have had a similar variable success with Fritillarias, which I grow in
the ground. FF pontica, pyrenaica, acmopetala and assyriaca have done
particularly well for me, but every form of meleagris I have ever tried
has faded away after a couple of seasons.
I don't raise much of my stock myself, but have had success with
assyriaca and gracilis from seed. only losing the latter because I
unwisely tried to change its position.
Most of the American fritallaries don't seem to like my garden. Though I
had a lovely clump of F roderikii for may years in a scree bed. until
the area sadly got overgrown. (sorry, F.roderikii has been renamed, but
I don't have its new name handy).
I am not really an aroid person, though I do have a couple of clumps of
Arisaema sikokianum, which I find really attractive and also a carefully
isolate clump of Arum maculatum which I grow mainly for its remarkable
sealingwax red fruits. (I am however, careful to remove these when they
begin to fall to prevent the plant taking over..)
And talking of taking over, Zantadeschia aethiopica would be hard to
beat in this climate for spreading. It is one of the commonest survivors
here in old neglected gardens and often naturalizes along creeks. If I
had a creek myself, I might be tempted to encourage it, as I remember
how lovely it looked in the wild in Africa in similar situations along
mountain streams.
Sorry, can't help with Pancratum etc, but nice to find another Med. bulb
addict. I haven't the time or the strength these days (I am 73) to build
up anything like your collection, but I love to read and hear about
interesting bulbs. The Mediterranean area is certainly great for growing
a wide variety of bulbs, including, of course many South African
species, especially those coming from Cape province with its typically
Mediterranean climate. Quite a few of these will carry on the flowering
season into the hotter months.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
