Re: Libertia peregrinans

At 05:48 AM 12/30/2001, Tim Longville wrote:
>Incidentally, does anyone else have the problem I have with getting L. 
>peregrinans to flower with any seriousness? It grows (and spreads) here 
>with satisfying vigour, but very rarely flowers. Not enough heat?? Which 
>alas is the usual (non-)solution offered for my non-flowering problems. Or 
>might there be a cause I can actually do something about?

Tim -

I have a small patch of L. peregrinans in my garden and it seems to grow as 
you state.  I do notice evidence that it has flowered from time to time, 
but seldom catch it in the 'act' (even though it grows on the path to our 
front door which we pass several times a day year long!).  The flowers are 
certainly nothing like L. grandiflora and I only grow it for the copper 
orange foliage.  My plants grow at the base of a very large and mature 
Tecomaria capensis with melon orange flowers (which make a nice effect 
littering the ground around the Libertia), and shares the poor, dry soil 
with the semi-succulent Oxalis herrerae (from Peru) whose tiny flowers are 
a warm yellow with orange tints, and a South African bulb I can't recall 
the name of that sports Freesia-like flower of creamy white with a soft 
orange picotee edge (guesses anyone?).  I have recently added an Aloe 
(given to me without a name) that has rich green leaves with a copper-brown 
toothed edge.  These seem to like the conditions, the Libertia spreading 
modestly and actually seeming to prefer the sunnier, drier side of this 
narrow exposed bed (south-west sun all afternoon).  I have a drip hose that 
runs through this bed, providing a little water when and if I ever remember 
to turn it on manually during the dry months.  It is a minute planting 
arrangement appropriate to the scale of the small space and difficult 
conditions.

Happy New Year to all!
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara            fax (707) 667-1173         sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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