Delicate bulbs
- To: s*@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
- Subject: Delicate bulbs
- From: J* S*
- Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 08:30:32 -0500
I've had trouble with mass-market bulbs of things like Cyclamen,
Fritillaria, and Corydalis. The bulbs we get from some of the large
mail-order bulb sources have been dug and out of the ground for several
months before they are finally shipped to us, the final customers. They
are dry and shriveled, more dead than alive. Most won't make it.
Corydalis solida, Fritillaria meleagris, and Cyclamen coum and Cyclamen
hederifolium are the types I've had particular trouble with. I have
ultimately had to rely on handouts from gardening acquaintances who already
had these growing.
The bulbs need to be transplanted shortly after going dormant, and they
need to be shipped and replanted immediately. I think we really have to
grow these ourselves from seed to get plants (unless we have a friend....)
and the seeds can be found on the seed exchange lists of various rock
garden societies. It pays to join the rock garden and alpine plants
societies just to get their seed lists! I recommend the Alpine Garden
Society in the UK and the North American Rock Garden Society in the US and
Canada. I recently joined both.
I have batches of Cyclamen coum grown from seed started about 2 years ago
that are now starting to bloom in the cool greenhouse. I'll plant most of
these outdoors this coming summer. Some 1-yr old C. hederifolium seedlings
are getting started now, and will go outdoors in a year. I'll keep a few
of these cyclamen in pots just to have bloom in the greenhouse in winter.
It is hard to understand why large commercial concerns insist on marketing
Lilium bulbs in spring when they should only be transplanted in autumn; and
why they sell us Fritillaria, Corydalis, and Cyclamen in fall, when these
should be moved in early summer.
Jim
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Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://a1.com/daylily/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. +1-317-896-3925
