Re. Bulbs and succulents

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Hi Max, Hi Nan,

Thanks for your input. The question for me is How dry is dry?

  

I have a berm of lavender, rosemary and toyon interplanted with Aloe striata, Hesperaloe parviflora, and various bulbs: Narcissus tazetta, Tulipa clusiana, Muscari neglectum, Tritelia 'Queen Fabiola', and Amaryllis belladonna.  It's in full southern sun,and it receives about 1/2" of irrigation once a week (with 4 start times in succession).

That's not wet, but it's a lot more than "no summer water".  

The lavender is happy, rosemary and toyon grow slower than I'd like, narcissus and amaryllis do well, tulipa do adequately, muscari and tritelia look like they want more water (or maybe less sun).  I was thinking of trying some Nerine sarniensis on that site as well, or maybe some Lycoris sanguinea.  Nerines are naturalized on Guernsey, and Lycoris is from Japan: do these really need summer drought?

As for Watsonias or Gladiolus, I've had good luck with them in moderately irrigated perennial beds.  My best luck with Tritelias has been in places of regular moderate irrigation as well.

But some bulbs really do like to go dry in summer:  I have some Crocus goulimyi in a swath of Dymondia that I water by hand once in a while, and they seem very happy.  Others with more irrigation are less enthusiastic.

I figured summer dry bulbs might work with succulents in pots, but the succulents will still need water in the summer: you all have more experience than I do, so do you think that water would kill the bulbs?

-Ben Wiswall

Simi Valley

Sunset Zone 19