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- What Winter?

What's Blooming in the Greenhouse

In the warm greenhouse (No. 1), there is a pot of bright yellow Cyrtanthus in bloom. These look like Cyrtanthus mackenii cooperi, except they bloom much more freely and the yellow color is more vivid. Stan Tyson gave the pot to me several years ago, and the fading tag seems to say 'Yellow Gloria' if I am reading it correctly.

Cyrtanthus mackenii 'Yellow Gloria' (c) copyright by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Cyrtanthus mackenii 'Yellow Gloria' (?)

John Ingram mentioned in Facebook that he had several colorful types of Cyrtanthus mackenii hybrids from Greg Pettit in South Africa. They were apparently developed as potential cut flowers, a big item in South Africa; but John says they are too short-lived to make useful cut flowers. The one I have makes a very nice pot plant.

Numerous Lachenalia species and hybrids are blooming in the cool greenhouse (No. 2), and the Scadoxus puniceus are starting to send up their blooms. I always look forward to the Scadoxus puniceus blooming, as their inflorescences are large and vividly colored. And nothing else is really in bloom in my greenhouses as this time of year. They are a treat to grow. The Lachenalia tend to get very leggy, but not strictly "etiolated," probably because of the weak winter sun at these latitudes (40°N). I try to keep the temperatures in greenhouse No. 2 at about 45°F in winter, but that does not compensate for the poor sunlight.

In the big greenhouse (No. 4) a couple of Clivia are blooming. One is a nice almost-yellow interspecific, my No. 1686, from seed from James and Connie Abel. This was planted in 2003, and this is not the first time it has bloomed; it just looks much nicer this year!

Clivia interspecific No. 1686 (c) copyright by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Interspecific Clivia Hybrid #1686 from the Abels

To the eye, #1686 looks more intensely yellow, and there is less pink color to it. My camera is under-sensitive to yellow (or overly sensitive to blue perhaps?) in my opinion.

What's Blooming Outdoors

Very little is happening outdoors so far, except that Galanthus elwesii is blooming a few weeks earlier than usual. Galanthus nivalis is in bud, with white color showing, and many of the daffodils (Narcissus cultivars) are coming up. There are no blooms showing color yet on the daffs.

Galanthus elwesii (c) copyright by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Galanthus elwesii #1913

One other Galanthus is in bloom now, G. nivalis atkisii, which looks like elwesii at first glance. The leaves are distinctly nivalis-like in atkisii.

Weather (continued)

I've seen more articles on this peculiarly mild winter weather that attribute it to the combination of La Niña and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). I certainly can't remember a winter as mild as this one has been! I anticipate that there will be swarms of noxious little bugs to deal with once warm weather arrives in earnest. Cold winters kill off lots of the bugs, and this has not been a cold winter. Ergo, many more bugs await us! Be prepared.

I have not noticed any articles directly linking climate change/global warming with this unusual combination of abnormal Arctic Osciallation (AO), La Niña, and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Still, the linkage certainly suggests itself. By the way, the AO has been keeping the cold arctic weather confined in the Far North, which may explain why Alaska has been having unusual problems with heavy snows and sea ice leading to isolation of towns like Nome.

It looks as if many places in the U.S.A. are going to see unusually early bloom on spring flowers this year. This always increases the risks to flowers and trees that they will be caught by a late freeze. So watch for this, since perfectly hardy plants newly emerged from dormancy and in active growth can be very sensitive to a hard freeze.


You have to be a "Friend" to see my stuff in Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ShieldsGardens). If you try to "Friend" me, be sure to drop me a note explaining who you are! If I don't recognize your name, I'll ignore the request. Don't count on my memory, because it does not work all that reliably anymore.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<
shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology

- A Bit More Bloom

What's Blooming in the Greenhouse

The only other Clivia in bloom at the moment is this seedling from Felicity Weeden's 'Foxy Lady', ['Foxy Lady' x L35].

Clivia [Foxy Lady x L35] (c) copyright 2012 by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Clivia ['Foxy Lady' x L35]

Several of the Lachenalia are in bloom in the cool greenhouse, No. 2. I like this particular Lachenalia, because it is not floppy.

Lachenalia Hybrid No. 7 (c) copyright 2012 by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Lachenalia Hybrid No. 7

It is growing in a 5½ inch square pot, so you can estimate the size of the plant.

Outdoors

Most of the Galanthus nivalis are just showing traces of white on buds that are barely half-way up. The exception is Galanthus nivalis atkisii.

Galanthus nivalis atkinsii (c) copyright 2012 by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Galanthus nivalis atkinsii #1061

This came from Jane McGary when she had an annual sale of surplus bulbs from her garden in Oregon.


You have to be a "Friend" to see my stuff in Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ShieldsGardens). If you try to "Friend" me, be sure to drop me a note explaining who you are! If I don't recognize your name, I'll ignore the request. Don't count on my memory, because it does not work all that reliably anymore.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<
shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology

- Hippeastrum Species

Hippeastrum petiolatum

I had a dwarf form of this species, under the name "flammigerum," many years ago. It reached perhaps 12 inches tall. This one has scapes at least twice as tall; and the flowers, at about 3 inches across, are larger than that old accession's. Still this makes a nice show in the greenhouse, the ruffled and twisted petals are attractive, and people seem to like it. It blooms reliably each year about this time.

Hippeastrum petiolatum (c) copyright 2012 by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Hippeastrum petiolatum #1800

I distinguish this from striatum by the ruffled and twisted petals and sepals, the slightly smaller flower size than striatum, and the production of the rather more numerous bulbils by the bulb of petiolatum, compared to striatum.

Hippeastrum papilio

This is a unique species of Hippeastrum, and fairly common in cultivation. I find it hard to produce seeds of this species, and I suspect that most of the plants in cultivation are descended for only a very few wild-collected ancestors. It does cross with other species very readily, and some of those hybrids are fertile themselves. The characteristic compression of the flower makes it instantly recognizable.

Hippeastrum papilio (c) copyright 2012 by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Hippeastrum papilio

Hippeastrum [papilio x mandonii]

Another of the [papilio x mandonii] plants has bloomed; I've given this one the number 1455.H. This cross was made in 2002, and the first plants bloomed in spring 2010. That's eight years to get from seed to first blooms, a long time to wait. Such long lead times are why one needs to have many crosses coming along all the time.

Hippeastrum [papilio x mandonii] #1455.H (c) copyright 2012 by James E. Shields.  All rights reserved.
Hippeastrum [papilio x mandonii] #1455.H

Almost every plant from this cross that has bloomed has produced a flower that was strikingly beautiful. Note the plumbing for the drip irrigation system beside this flower. I was reluctant to try to disentangle the flower and its pot from the drip lines, so the portrait has an unpolished look to it, I'm afraid. You can see more of the plants from this cross in the blog archives at February 15, 2010 and at March 27, 2010.


You have to be a "Friend" to see my stuff in Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ShieldsGardens). If you try to "Friend" me, be sure to drop me a note explaining who you are! If I don't recognize your name, I'll ignore the request. Don't count on my memory, because it does not work all that reliably anymore.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<
shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology

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Last revised on: 23 February 2012
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