In essence, epigeal and hypogeal are just arcane words for "above ground" and "below ground," respectively. I am only concerned here with their application to plant biology.

My favorite organizer, after my daughter, is Steph. She works here part-time in the summer in the gardens and greenhouses. Steph is a jewel! She likes to clean, so the garden office is usually clean and neat when she is working. Having a few days free over the Christmas break from college (Purdue University), she inventoried Greenhouse 4 for me, sorting all those pots by name and number and writing it all down.

Now Steph is back at Purdue, and I should be putting all that data into a spreadsheet. Maybe next week......, because I'm not sure I really want to know how many pots of Clivia and of Hippeastrum I have back there.

Not Writing My Investigator Annual Report

This is for my Trillium Speciation research project at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The main focus of my project is the relationship between two species, Trillium erectum album and T. simile. I spent a week there in April gathering a little data. (The weather was alternating between pouring rain and plain old snow; nasty for outdoors work.) Now I have to write up my year-end report to keep the National Park Service research permit alive.

I'm not as far behind on this. I actually put the raw data into a spreadsheet last summer, so the arithmetic is already done. But I do need to think about the data, and summarize my thoughts in the report. Maybe tomorrow....

The Glossary of Plant Biology

I have declared it to be out of beta testing status now, and renumbered it to Version 1.0.0, and I will continue to add terms to it as I run across them. I suppose I may never decide that the Glossary is finished; after all, new technical terms are being invented almost daily in science. Actually, the current version number is now 1.0.1, for the moment.

The Scadoxus puniceus are getting ready to bloom. One spike is all the way up, and most of the rest of bloom size have scapes starting to push up out of the bulbs. Before the flowers start to fade, this year's flush of leaves will be up. That means that this is the last possible moment for repotting this species. Seven years ago, the last time some of these were repotted, the larger bulbs were 8 to 11 cm. in circumference. Now, one I measured is 21.5 cm. around; and it is probably slightly under average size. Seven years ago, most were not yet blooming -- several bloomed the first time in February 2005. (Diameter for 11-cm circumference is about 3.5 cm, or 1.40 inches.)

A bloom-size puniceus with all its roots easily fills a 2-gallon (actually 8.3 Liters) container. They might grow even bigger, but I refuse to put any of them into larger pots than the 2-gallon size. If I hand pollinated these things when they are in bloom in February, we'd flood the world with Scadoxus puniceus seeds. Given the minimal conditions, even in the cold Northern Hemisphere, these are formidable greenhouse plants. They bloom when little else is flowering. They are sizeable. They propagate easily but slowly from seed. They seem to ahve taken 7 years from seed to flower for me. You could probably keep the seedlings growing continuously for their first two years of life in a greenhouse or under lights, and that ought to shorten the time to first flowering.

The ideal time to repot any plant that goes through a dormant phase is just as growth is starting up again at the end of dormancy. When the plant is going into its spurt of new growth, it is very resistant to stresses such as unpotting and replanting. That is when the hormones are all primed to push growth. Sometimes the plants seem to barely notice that they were disturbed.

Facebook Threat

Frank, my IT guy, informed me today that there are viruses in Facebook that will override any anti-virus protection software you can get. It's best if you do NOT ever download any pictures, programs, or anything else from Facebook. Be Warned!

On that happy thought, I bid you, one and all,

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim

Here in central Indiana, we have lots of clay soil. I have tried to naturalize Galanthus in the lawn. Mowing is what eventually eliminated them, but I think not the clay soil. When planted in beds -- i.e., anywhere without grass -- they do well. I grow GG. nivalis, elwesii, and a few woronowii. They do just fine, away from grass and lawnmowers.

Note however that many species of Galanthus are simply not hardy in our climate, regardless of the soil. I've stopped experimenting with Galanthus and Cyclamen, since they are difficult to come by, and I got tired of killing them. Still, GG. elwesii and nivalis do really great here.

Lycoris, Cochicum, Sternbergia

So do Lycoris in addition to squamigera: chinensis, caldwellii, longituba, and sprengeri.

Hardy Cochicum like byzantinum, cilicicum, speciosum, and a few others are terrific here, even in the grass (if you don't mow till their leaves yellow off). My neighbors love the pink flowers in our lawn in later summer! They never complain about the "hay field" effect the unmowed patches of lawn give into early July.

Others that may seem unlikely but that do well include Galtonia, Sternbergia, most Eurasian Gladiolus, and a few hardier Crinum in protected spots (but full sun). You can't have too many Sternbergia! They bloom after the Colchicum have finished flowering.

The Lasagna Method

That said, it is not a good idea to just stick everything into plain clay soil. Add gypsum. Add sand. Add lots of composted leaves, or just pile your leaves on top of the beds when you rake them in autumn.

I make beds on top of the clay, starting with a very thick layer of rotted leaves; then put on a 2 to 4 inch layer of some decent topsoil; and finally cover with 2 inches of plain brown sand. Plant in the sand/topsoil layer (they get mixed when you try to plant anything). The roots will go down to the rotted leaves layer all on their own. I call it the "Lasagna Method."

No spading, but a bit of hauling and spreading. Outstanding drainage! But the clay is close enough that the roots can go down into it, if they need to, to find water in dry weather.

I didn't invent the lasagna method; I got the idea from one of these on-line plant groups. Try it; you'll love it.

Can You Grow Bulbs in Clay?

So, can you grow bulbs in clay? In many case the answer is yes, but you really don't have to. Use the "Lasagna Method" instead.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim

I have set the date for the meeting of the Midwest Clivia Group for March 13-14th, 2010. It will again be at my place. We will plan to have a cold buffet lunch at 12 noon on Saturday, followed by visits in the greenhouses.

In hope that we will get the plants to bloom by then, this morning I turned up the thermostats in the Clivia greenhouse from 45 F nights/50 F days to 60 F nights/ 65 F days.

If you are coming, please bring along any plants you want to show us, and anything you want to trade. Let's make it a swap meet as well as looking at flowers and talking with friends.

Sunday is also available for greenhouse visits. Other Clivia Enthusiasts in the area include Rashid Qureshi in St Louis, Missouri (5 hrs west of here by car) and Kevin Akin outside Columbus, Ohio (2 hrs east by car). Both have greenhouses full of clivias.