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Saturday, June 2, 2012, 8:00 PM EDT - Catching Up
Last updated: Saturday, June 2, 2012, 8:00 PM EDT

Time Flies

It's not like May had no flowers blooming. I took a few pictures along the way, which I'll share here. I just never got anything written up while it was in bloom.

Ammocharis nerinoides

This was probably the high point of the month -- the first ever bloom on a pot (two pots, actually) of seedlings of Ammocharis nerinoides. I have, thanks to recent taxonomic revisions, three species of Ammocharis now: coranica, nerinoides, and longifolia (formerly Cybistetes). The first two species are summer growing, or perhaps opportunistic growers. The third is strictly winter-growing, and has been growing exceedingly slow growing for me. My plants of longifolia were seeds planted in 1998.

Ammocharis nerinoides
The flower pot is 22 cm across (ca. 8.6 inches).

The Ammocharis nerinoides seeds were planted in 2009. Only one plant bloomed this year, and it has only two flowers in its umbel. It is clearly a miniature as these things go, at least so far. Dave Lehmiller (Texas) has crossed it with Crinum baumii, I believe (see the IBS Members Forum on Yahoo). At any rate this species is producing some very nice miniature "Crinum" bigeneric hybrids.

Other species in this genus, besides coranica, longifolia, and nerinoides, include angolensis and tinneana (see: IPNI listing). Crinum baumii is sometimes called Ammocharis baumii, but someone has pointed out that it probably belongs in its own genus between Ammocharis and Crinum. I prefer to continue calling it Crinum baumii for now. My own plants of baumii have not yet bloomed for me.

Sprekelia Blooms

My set of Sprekelia howardii, the dwarf species in this genus, bloomed again this year. They have gotten pretty reliable about blooming every year, and all but one pot bloomed this year. One pot bloomed twice! I pollinated the blooms among themselves, and any seeds will go to the Pacific Bulb Society Seed Exchange. (Anyone can join the PBS e-mail list, but you have to be a dues-paying member of the Society to participate in the seed and bulb exchange.)

Sprekelia 'High Priest' is my own hybrid of formosissima, ['Orient Red' x f. williamsii]. Like 'Orient Red' and forma williamsii, 'High Priest' has flowers that are larger than those of the commercial form of S. formosissima.

Sprekelia howardii	Sprekelia 'High Priest'

The howardii is in a square pot 5.5 inches on a side; the 'High Priest' is in a 7 inch diameter pot. I tried cross-pollinating these two varieties, and I seem to have a pod or two on the 'High Priest'. The howardii flower is a slightly lighter red than those of formossissima, while its narrow, grass-like leaves are grey-green compared to the bright glossy green leaves of formosissima.

Hymenocallis liriosme

The first Hymenocallis of the season is in bloom. This liriosme is growing outdoors in the ground, but the species is otherwise not hardy here. This one came from Thad Howard years ago. I'm not at all sure where he got it -- apparently he just was driving down a road, saw it, and thought of me. It is the only "hardy" accession of liriosme I have ever had. It grows only in one spot, outside the south end of one of the greenhouses. All other accessions I've planted outdoors, in that spot or elsewhere, have died the first winter. Only this one, my #1261, survives.

Hymenocallis liriosme #1261 "Hardy 

This and occidentalis are the only two species of Hymenocallis I have been able to get to survive outdoors here. Once in the ground, neither species responds well to being disturbed. I start seeds of both in large pots, and have always lost more than 50% even of occidentalis when trying to transplant from the seedling pot into larger pots or to the outdoor bed.

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Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology

Cyrtanthus montanus

I'm not sure what the proper bloom season is for C. montanus, but mine seem to bloom at various times of the year. This one bloomed two or three weeks ago, but a second is in bloom right now.

Cyrtanthus montanus

Not every pot of this species blooms every year, but with several pots I almost always get at least a couple scapes.

Haemanthus montanus

Four of my pots bloomed at the same time, almost a month ago. There were no other Haemanthus in bloom at that time, and the weather was summer-like, so there were bugs around. Maybe we'll get a few seeds, although even when hand-pollinated, this species does not set much seed for me.

Haemanthus montanus

This one shown here bloomed two weeks later, and is still in bloom. Haemanthus humilis hirsutus is also in bloom just now, so I'm trying (for the "nth" time!) to cross these two species. Wish me luck. It has never worked so far.

The differences in the leaves are marked -- hirsutus has hairy leaves that are almost a broad as they are long. Montanus has long, linear leaves that are 1 to 2 inches wide and perfectly smooth and hairless. The flowers seem to differ very little; but the stigmas of hirsutus elongate out beyond the anthers when they are ready to be pollinated, while the stigmas of montanus seem to remain hidden down in below the anthers. In addition, the stamens of hirsutus elongate to at least double the length of the stamens of montanus at anthesis.

Haemanthus humilis hirsutus

Haemanthus tristis

Bernie Klee in the Facebook Haemanthus group warns that young seedlings of Haemanthus tristus are exquisitely sensitive to excess moisture, even when actively growing. Be warned! If you get any seeds or bulbs of the very rare H. tristis, water them very sparingly or risk losing your treasures.

I have successfully forced seedlings of Haemanthus coccineus and H. barkerae with abundant water and fertilizer to grow continuously for 18 to 30 months without a rest perioid. It appears that this would be a good way to kill seedlings of H. tristis.

Crinum walteri

This minature Crinum, in the trade under the mistaken name "Crinum minimum," is still very rare in cultivation. I think all the current stock came from the late Charles Craib, who had it propagated. I don't know whether it was done by bulb cuttage or by tissue culture, but the bulbs are self-sterile; and no one I know has been able to get seeds from the species. I have also failed in attempts at crossing its stored pollen with or pollinating it with stored pollen from bulbispermum and other species.

Crinum walteri

This one is currently blooming as I write (in the evening) and will be past prime when I photograph it tomorrow morning (see above). It has a single flower with only end of the peduncle above ground. Mine sometimes produces a second flower, perhaps from a second scape (below ground). I've not dared to dig down and investigate so far, for fear of terminally disturbing the bulb.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology

Zantedeschia pentlandii

This calla lily (Araceae, Aroid Family) from South Africa has solid green leaves and a large, rich yellow spathe. It is native to the summer-rainfall region. They do rather well in my cool greenhouse (No. 2) in winter (bone dry, chilly temperatures around 50°F [10°C]) occasionally falling to near freezing for short times. In summer, it is outdoors in full sun on our deck, where it gets watered regularly and occasionally fertilized.

Zantedeschia pentlandii

The photos above were taken almost a week ago, but the plants are still in bloom and still look very nice. I think all my plants of this species may be one clone, since they will not set seeds even when hand-pollinated. They are slowly producing offsets. The original stock came from the late Charles Craib.

Proiphys cunninghamii

This member of the Amaryllidaceae (Amaryllis Family) is native to tropical areas of Australia. It is in bloom right now. It spends the winter mostly dry in my warmer greenhouse (No. 1), where I try to keep the temperature at 55°F [13°C] or above in winter. In summer, it goes outdoors into the lath house where it gets regular overhead irrigation and occasional feeding. So far, this seems to suit it.

Proiphys cunninghamii

Proiphys amboinensis is better known than cunninghamii, and is rather similar to cunnighamii. Amboinensis blooms a couple weeks later than cunninghamii, and the flowers of amboinensis are upward facing while cunninghamii flowers are semi-pendant.

Proiphys amboinensis

Cunninghamii flowers appear to be self-fertile or possibly parthenogenic. My amboinensis have never set any seeds for me.

Ornithogalum ponticum

This hardy member of the Ornithogalum clan is not a rampant weed like its better-known congener, Star of Bethlehem. It is slowly forming a nice clump in the bed where I planted it. Perhaps all my bulbs are a single clone, as it does not appear to set seeds.

Ornithogalum ponticum

These came as just 3 bulbs, from Jane McGary in Oregon back in 2000. The flower stems reach 33 inches tall, and the individual flowers are about 1.25 inches in diameter.

Triteleia x-tubergenii

The genus Triteleia has bounced around from family to family, including recently into Themidaceae. At the moment it seems to be back again in the Alliaceae, the Onion Family, according to IPNI. On the other hand, the Angiosperm Phylogeny web site puts them in Family Asparagaceae, subfamily Brodiaeoideae. The genus is native to Western North America, and is most closely related to Brodiaea and Dichelostemma.

Triteleia x-tubergenii

This hybrid seems perfectly hardy outdoors in a bed here in Indiana. The clump has increased in density, and chipmunks or field mice seem to have spread a few of the bulbs around a bit. It probably came from the old van Tubergen nurseries in the Netherlands, judging from its name.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology

This past week we have had Hymenocallis in bloom! This is the time for "Big Fatty," also known as Hymenocallis imperialis, to bloom. It's also when some of the smaller Mexican species bloom. This week we saw blooms on Hymenocallis guerreroensis, H. durangoensis, and H. glauca. I see buds on H. eucharidifolia as well. While the Mexican dwarf species tend to all look somewhat similar, Hymenocallis imperialis has a very unique look.

Hymenocallis imperialis

As I recall, this species was first collected in some old lady's front yard in Mexico. I'm a little vague on the details, as I wasn't there; but for a long time its name was simply "Big Fatty." If it should be classified in the Mexicana Group, it is probably the largest Hymenocallis in that group by far. Personally, it looks to me more like one of the Tropical group from Central America and northern South America in the lowlands.

Hymenocallis imperialis

The staminal cup is like a wide funnel, and reaches 50 mm or about 2 inches across. The tepals (petals and sepals) are about 11 mm (less than a half inch) wide and about 11 cm (over 4 inches) long. The floral tube (from the ovary to the point where the tepals start to separate) is 105 to 110 mm (about 4 to 4½ inches) long. The height of the inflorescence (i.e., peduncle plus the flowers) is about 60 cm (24 inches).

The glossy, bright green leaves are 65-70 mm wide by about 55 cm long. It is deciduous, losing its leaves in my greenhouse each winter. I haven't tested its hardiness, but I fully expect that it would be killed by a hard frost and certainly if the ground froze around the bulb.

Hymenocallis guerreroensis

A typical member of the group of dwarf species found in Mexico, this one was discovered by the late Dr. Thad Howard in Guerrero. I don't have a very good picture of guerreroensis. It bloomed ahead of the others and I almost missed its bloom entirely.

Hymenocallis guerreroensis

This has the floral tube 95 mm long, and the straight tube is characteristic of this species. The staminal cup is narrow and elongated -- somewhat trumpet shaped -- and the neck of the cup curves. The tepals are quite narrow. It could easily be mistaken for the following species. The height of the inflorescence is about 34 cm (ca. 13 inches). It has somewhat glaucous foliage.

Hymenocallis durangoensis

Another dwarf in the Mexican Alliance, this one was found by Thad Howard in Durango. The specific name may be "durangoensis" or simply "durangensis." I found one version in one index, the other in a different index.

Hymenocallis durangoensis

The floral tube is 60 mm long, about 2½ inches more or less, and slightly curved. The staminal cup is small, compared to imperialis, and the tepals very narrow. The bloom stalk grows about 36 cm. (ca. 14 in.) tall. The leaves are plain green (not glaucous), with a slight twist in the outer third.

Hymenocallis glauca

This was discovered by Herbert, and is a dwarf in the Mexican group. It is a perky looking plant when in bloom, and Thad Howard told me the bulbs got to be as big as grapefruit. Mine have not, perhaps because they grow in pots no bigger than 2-gallon size. The specific name comes from the broad, glaucous leaves. This is one of my favorites.

Hymenocallis glauca

The leaves are broad, but narrow toward the base until they are almost petiolate. And of course they have the matt, grayish blue-green color that gives them their name. The staminal cups open to 40 mm across, and are almost flat. The floral tube is 105-115 mm long (about 4¼-4¾ inches) long. The tepals are 3 to 6 mm (1/8 to ¼ inch) wide and 65-70 mm long (2½-2¾ inches). The inflorescence varies from ca. 30 to 40 cm. (12 to 16 inches) in height.

Hymenocallis glauca is reminiscent of H. eucharidifolia, especially the flowers and leaf shape. However, eucharidifolia has bright green leaves and prefers dappled shade, whereas glauca has glaucous leaves and tolerates full sun quite well.

Good gardening, from here in central Indiana

Jim
<shieldsgardens@gmail.com>

Look up technical terms in the Glossary of Plant Biology