Drimia [Urginea] maritima

Hi folks -

I could not resist showing off my flowering Sea Onion bulbs - they were
recently dug out of a place they could not stay, and they're happily blooming
away 'sans soil' waiting to be replanted!  I steadied one of them in an empty
pot :
http://gimcw.org/temp/Drimia.maritima_sans_soil.jpg
Many of you know this as Urginea - apparently the botanists have been busy
again and moved it into Drimia.  I've recently put up a page on the web site
for this plant:
http://gimcw.org/plants/Drimia.maritima.cfm
My plants came from a fellow down in San Jose who'd been growing them for 40
years.  They gradually became so numerous that he tired of them and somehow
tracked down our Branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society (he knew then
under the name of 'Mediterranean Onions') and offered them to anyone
interested.  A number of our members descended on him and 'cleaned him out',
much to his delight.
They are offered in the CA trade, and they are quite common in their native
lands (often growing in vacant lots, etc.).  I really enjoy the 'miraculous'
appearance of the flower spike from an otherwise dormant bulb (like Amaryllis
belladonna), and their impressive size (the bulb pictured is as large as a
child's head).

But then my taste run a little towards the weird   ;-)

Seán A. O'Hara
sean(at)gimcw.org
www.hortulusaptus.com
(ask about mediterranean climate gardening forum)
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