The sun is also getting warmer, and today it was shining. The Clivia House got up to a very nice 84°F this afternoon, while I was back there looking for new flower buds and hand-watering the pots not on the drip system. The added warmth of the sun ought to speed things up.

I'm not a taxonomist but I actually started out ca. 60 years ago to become an entomologist. I eventually studied chemistry instead, to have some hope of being able one day to earn a living in science. I ended up a biochemist, watching the science of Molecular Biology being invented next door. So I'm in no way any sort of professional taxonomist! But I definitely know what a gene is.

I also get the notion that taxonomy is first and foremost trying to reflect the most probable genetic and evolutionary history of the living organisms which it describes.

The criteria for taxonomic levels like species, subspecies, variety, and form are different between zoology/entomology and botany. Animals rarely form fertile interspecific hybrids; plants very often do, since humans easily break down the barriers that in nature prevent species from crossing: calendar barriers, physical barriers, pollinator barriers, geographic barriers. Many perfectly good plant species hybridize and produce fertile offspring because there were other barriers to keep them separate as they evolved in nature.

In addition, the populations we see in nature may be -- indeed, most certainly are -- in the process of evolving. A species is not necessarily a static thing.

I think there are even differences in how botanists view "species" depending on the genus or family they are studying. Certainly, the ideas vary within a plant group between individual taxonomists. "You pays your money and you takes your choice!" I tend to favor splitting, in the hope (as a biochemist) that we can recognize genetic variations within a species with names.

At the species, subspecies, and variety levels, the key criterion is the existence of a recognizable reproducing population. Again, we have to go back to what we can observe in nature, "in the wild" as it is sometimes described. What arises under human aegis is not something that taxonomists are eager to deal with, understandably.

That mess will someday have to be dealt with, of course, as it is likely that in a few centuries nothing will exist on this planet that humans have not messed with. That thought saddens me, but it also appears inevitable in any realistic projection from our current situation.

Also, as far as I can see, there is no consistent functional difference between "subspecies" and "variety." If there is, I would gladly have it explained to me.

The "forma" taxonomic level is appropriate for recognizing individual genetic variants that occur within such reproducing populations. The occasional yellow or white flowered individuals in a population that is largely red or orange flowered, for instance, would be a yellow or a white "form." Those contribute to diversity within a species and seem to me well worth recognizing. We can realistically expect that someday someone will provide a detailed molecular genetic description of the various forms and how they each differ from the typical form. The same distinctions could apply to differences from one individual to another individual in number or length of spines within a population or a species of cactus, too.

For instance, referring the the yellow-flowered type of Clivia miniata as a subspecies is not appropriate. Yellow clivias should be referred to as Clivia miniata, var. citrina, that is as a variety, not a subspecies. In C. miniata, the yellow flowers are do to a simple mutation in one gene, a mutation that exhibits simple Mendelian inheritance.

Finally, as a non-taxonomist I think that taxonomy should be useful and should provide us with the descriptive tools we need to understand and if need be to preserve various species.

Jim

Also up and in bloom are the Reticulata irises. These flowers look like they might have tried to bloom under the snow, and some look a bit burned or frosted.

One single Eranthis is in bloom. They seem to migrate around the garden somewhat, alwyas in the same general area but never on exactly the same spot as last year. I assume these are volunteer seedlings gradually coming to flowering size, while the older plants either don't bloom every year, or gradually disappear. Something similar seems to happen with Galanthus, but in their case, I believe that squirrels dig up the occasional bulb and bury it several feet away. I'm sure the squirrels don't taste those bulbs before burying them, and I suspect that they don't transplant many Galanthus bulbs because as soon as they have actually tasted one, they thereafer leave them quite alone.

An occasional Trillium nivale is up, but then they were up before the blizzard hit us. They are still not in bloom. None of the other Trillium species in the woodland garden are up at all.

Daffodils are up several inches, but none in bloom yet. An occasional crocus is up and in bloom, but very few and very scattered. The Lycoris leaves are up several inches, many of them with yellow tips from being under the snow for a couple of weeks. None of the Lycoris will bloom until later in summer.

In little old Greenhouse #1, there is a bud on the Cyrtanthus falcatus. This makes a large bulb, for a Cyrtanthus. It has to grow on the surface of the ground, or potting medium. To bloom, the dormant bulb must be exposed to quite chilly temperatures, probably getting almost to freezing at times.

Cyrtanthus maakenii cooperi are in bloom -- small yellow tubular flowrs on scapes 4 to 8 inches tall. They are pretty reliable about blooming early each spring.

Some of the other Cyrtanthus may bloom this spring, but C. [elatus X montanus] and C. sanguineus flower mainly in summer. I'm not sure when C. montanus normally flowers; mine have not flowered long enough for me to be sure of their pattern.

The hybrid Hippeastrum continue to put up scapes. Most make only one scape a year, a few make two. I tried some crosses earlier with the cybister-type hybrids, but got no pods. Now I tried crossing 'Hermitage' pollen onto 'Gold Medal'. This one should set seeds.

The winter-growing Haemanthus are starting to yellow off their leaves and go dormant for the summer. It does not take many warm days in the greenhouse for these potted bulbs to head into dormancy. I had blooms on H. coccineus and H. barkerae this past autumn. I hope to see blooms on H. crispus next season.

Haemanthus montanus and H. humilis hirsutus are still dormant from winter. I very much want to see blooms on these two, which I would like to cross with each other. H. montanus flowers are white, while those of H. h. hirsutus may be either pink or white. Some of the bulbs of montanus ought to be large enough to bloom, but may not have been growing in my greenhouse long enough to flower. They came to me directly from South Africa a couple years ago.

Back in Greenhouse #4, some Hippeastrum species are flowering. I grew them from seed from Mauro Peixoto in Brazil. They are labelled "Hippeastrum striatum  but the flowers look more like H. petiolatum to me.

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BREEDERS' VASE TECHNIQUES FOR AMARYLLIS, RAIN LILY, & OTHER AMARYLLIDS

Amaryllis [Hippeastrum] as a cut flower: The cut scape will usually last longer in a vase IFFF you cut the scape (stalk) with a sharp knife. and change the water every day.

What about using Cryselle, Floralife etc.? Well, when you put the stalk in water the plant juices come out of the stalk and turn the water into a growing medium for whatever bacteria, viruses, or molds are hitching a ride on the dust particles in the area sort of like in the culture dishes in a lab. The incubation period takes 3 to 4 days then the contaminations goes back up the hollow scapes and starts to rot them. It is then a race as to whether the scape will rot before the flower finishes. Just like the one recounted by Hamilton Traub in his book THE AMARYLLIS MANUAL concerning the breeding of the first Gracilis type Hippeastrum in Philadelphia back in the late 1940's. How easy it would have been to know that changing the water every day would take the scape and ovary (fruit) to seed maturity without rotting.

So you try aspirin or Vit C or a few drops of bleach in the water to controll the micromonsters assaulting your amaryllis. Instead if you change the water every day, you will keep the water fresh and you don't need those chemicals. Why do I advise changing the water every day if it takes 3 to 4 days to incubate? Well I will forget a three day schedule quicker than I will a one day schedule(maybe some others will too).

O K So how does this help me breed amaryllis in the yard or Fadjar Marta in his wonderful rain lily beds in Indonesia ??? Well, if the scape is fertilized and put in a vase indoor (assuming you are not growing them in pots in a greenhouse), you can maore easily keep an eye on when you change the water. When you have decided to make that just right cross to get something new or make the flower larger, smaller, lighter, darker or take out some of the greenish flush; you don't want a hard rain or high winds to wash the pollen off that afternoon or damage the scape or flower so that it leaks sap and wilts. A whole season or year may be lost if this is your only chance to make this cross.

I am in Florida and get whipping winds in and out of thunderstorms sometimes and In Indonesia Fadjar Marta often gets one rainy day after another. I expect he will exceed me shortly in the use of this technique not only for protecting the breeding he is doing( I am still lusting after that dark red with the yellow center like a rich egg yolk), but also develope it as a regular tool for production of finished varieties he knows he wants to sell.

If you save pollen and have only one bulb of a particular variety or species of hippeastrum you could also use the Consecutive Blooming Technique to give you another chance to make the cross in 4 to 6 weeks.

Does the vase technique work for different kinds of amaryllis ? Yes. Any cross you could bring to seed on the bulb you can do in a vase.

Does it work for rain lilies ? Yes. At least on the zephyranthes and habranthus I tried.

Does it work on Crinum, Sprekelia, Haemanthus and other amaryllids ? I don't know. Try it.