South American plants

I can't tell you whether this is correct - and I wont call this a beautiful plant either, Roland, however it is a rather extraordinary one!
You write that you have a nursery, do you export plants? I suppose it is mostly bulbs ;)

Sorry I forgot to introduce myself

I am a commercial bulb-salesman in the little bit less usual varieties

As hobby I run a small nursery
I sell to some international suppliers , as Dix export and Van Tubergen (same owner),
if I have leftovers from unusual bulbs

I don't export neither is the nursery open for public
the bulbs are just for sale at plant-shows

For the rest I prefer to swap seeds or bulbs
so I can increase my knowledge and assortment

Roland

Hello Roland! Nice to meet you ;)
Had been nice to swap with you but I can't think of anything I have that you don't have ;)

Hi Roland, we meet up on the same forums and maillists, glad to see you here :). 

The Gethyum atropurpurem looks right to me. As a fan of Alliaceae, I've had interest in the S. American relatives, but as many (most) are not hardy here, I don't grow any, although did have a brief foray with Tristagma.  I researched and found the following pertinent information:

GETHYUM was originally placed in the Alliaceae (Allium family) but some proposed moving this to Gilliesiaceae  (Gilliesia family)

There are two species: Gethyum atropurpureum & G. cuspidatum

The Plant List does not accept the genus Gethyum, and attributes these plants as Solaria atropurpurea and S. cuspidata, and throwing all of the Alliaceae in Amaryllidaceae.
http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-289038

more links:
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Gethyum
http://www.hillkeep.ca/bulbs%20gethyum.htm

Chileflora mentions also Solaria brevicoalita
but this is maybe a synonym
I will have a look later

Roland

Here is a little info for the family
See: Floral Anatomy and Systematics of Alliaceae with Particular Reference to Gilliesia, a Presumed Insect Mimic with Strongly Zygomorphic Flowers

What I understand is that they are different
two are Gethyum and three are Solaria
but they are different

Roland

I bought ten different Alstroemeria's
at Chileflora
Just the smaller ones
I don't have the space for the larger ones
Just google Chileflora and the name of the Alstroemeria
this is easier , because some are under Perennials
other under the bulb section
sure it's an interesting place for the real plant-lovers

First Alstroemeria umbellata

Pictures taken away
to complicated to show

Roland

Moderator note:  the simple steps of indicating "fair use" when posting copyrighted photos by others, were supplied numerous times (state "fair use", include a link to the source site).  Roland feels this is too complicated and subsequently deleted the photos.  Since many single messages showed someone else's copyrighted photos one at a time without commentary, once the forumist deleted the photos, the empty posts no longer made sense, so all empty messages were deleted accordingly to eliminate confusion for forumists.  sigh :(

To see the Alstroemeria photos that Roland has posted, take a look at the ChileFlora web site:
http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraEnglish/PIC_FAMILIES_SIMPLE_...

Roland - I know a lot of the Alstro. names from seedlists but very nice to see them pictured here. I have grown pallida and the lovely dwarf form of hookeri in the garden, but sadly have lost them now. I do have a few others from Archibald seed but have lost the names. They are great plants and I would like to try them again on sand beds. Do you also grow or know Leontochir?

I ordered the seeds Tim
But I have never seen them

Roland

bulborum wrote:

And the last one
all seeded last week
I don't know how long it takes before they flower
maybe one of you seeded them before
and know the answer

Roland

Alstroemeria hookeri

I have tried Alstroemeria seed from Chileflora a few times and they always have good germination. However, even from seed they grow in winter and is dormant in summer! I have also lost several plants due to slug attack and none has flowered yet. I still have a few pots I hope, and I try to postpone the growing season a few weeks more!

Hoy

How long did it take before they germinated
How old are your plants
and do you grow them outside , glasshouse or in a poly-tunnel
at which temperature in the winter

Lots of questions
but it is the first time I try to grow Alstoemeria
I thought they where all tall plants

now I found small plants
I want try to grow them

Roland

bulborum wrote:

Hoy

How long did it take before they germinated
How old are your plants
and do you grow them outside , glasshouse or in a poly-tunnel
at which temperature in the winter

Lots of questions
but it is the first time I try to grow Alstoemeria
I thought they where all tall plants

now I found small plants
I want try to grow them

Roland

I got the seed in fall and planted them immediately. They germinated during the spring and grew for some months but they took an early fall and went dormant in June. Those I still have are two years old. They try to start growing late fall but I keep them cool in pots as long as possible. I don't want them to grow now as the light level is poor. They're still in pots which I bring into a greenhouse when it gets frosty outside. however this autumn has been mild and slugs have eaten the new growth but I think the roots still are OK.

I intend to grow them outside in a sunny bed next year as I chose the hardier species available. I already have Alstroemeria aurea and it is completely hardy here but tall!

The only one I have in the garden is a A. ligtu hybrid
tall and flowering every year

the flowers are nice
but much to tall for me

Do you know if the plants can handle greenhouse temperatures in pots ?

Roland

Roland, I do not think the like to freeze in the pots but they take a few degrees below 0C during the night. (At least those I have grown)

I can't tell whether they tolerate very high temps in summer - my plants never experience that!

Sounds good
My poly-tunnels are just free of frost
What means that on some places
the temperature drops down to -2 / -3 °C

I will try the species in the soil in a few years
First they have to germinate and to grow :)

Roland

I just got in seeds from Chili

Alstroemeria philippii var. albicans
Alstroemeria werdermannii var. flavicans
Rhodophiala sp. #1006
Rhodophiala laeta
Tropaeolum hookerianum ssp. austropurpureum

Roland

I sowed ome of those last year and they germinated easily. Now the small plants are dormant and I hope they'll sproute again this spring!

bulborum, do you intend to grow all those plants in pots?

I have to do that
In a normal winter here they will freeze

Roland

For the first time in flower here
the miniature Tropaeolum brachyceras

Roland

Congratulations, Roland!

Those can be difficult to grow!

Thanks Rick
they slept Three years
now the plant is 150cm tall (with pot 175 cm)
with hundreds tiny flower-buts
must be fantastic in a month or so

Roland

Some rain-lilies are in bloom 2 -3 days after a 20mm rainfall on Sunday/Monday
Zephyranthes macrosiphon

Zephyranthes "Grandjax" ("Ajax" x Z. grandiflora)

Habranthus tubispathus

Habranthus tubispathus "Salmon Pink form"

Habranthus martinezii

cheers
fermi

Beauties Fermi
I like the Habranthus tubispathus Salmon Pink form
and the Habranthus martinezii

maybe one day we can swap some seeds

Roland

Roland, I understand a preference for small growing plants- particularly for tender species- for me they have to remain indoors all year! (I've been thinking about trying some summer growers that can be lifted for fall and could grow outside, but haven't started any yet.. large garden Gladiolus can be grown that way here, maybe I should try some more interesting ones-- but that is for another thread!) I have not looked at the South American species so much (apart from cacti!)...

Fermi- love the Zephyranthes :)

Same here
I grow all my plants indoor (most small plants)
in the poly-tunnels it can be -3/-4°C
For here now it was so mild
but now last night -9ºC
for Wednesday they give -13ºC
cold for here but our family near the rocky mountains are laughing

I hope they make a mistake

Roland

The news is telling us about unusual cold temperatures in Europe-- many people dying even!
True, for us, -9 is a temperature for night in early fall...lol-- but the effect of temperature is very much dependent on what you are used to, what you are prepared for! Hope your plants will be okay...

If I could have a greenhouse that did not go below -3 or -4C, I would think myself very lucky :) frankly, if I could keep a greenhouse that got no colder than -10 or -20C, there would be a world of things I could grow...lol

I think Poly-tunnels are easy to heat
I use bubble air plastic on the vertical site
summer and winter
during the night I use aluminium-shade cloth
this is reflecting the heat and cold enormous
and of-course a ventilator for ail circulation

today I will buy a new small ventilator for in a tube
plus 10 meter tube 10 cm

this will bring the cold air from the poly-tunnel to the heater (I hope)
to get a better air circulation

Roland

As I told in another thread, have been down to -7C here in my garden although they have threatened us with colder weather :) Seems to be milder next week. The worse with the cold is that it is very dry and evergreens don't like it!

Fermi, I would love to grow some of those outdoors here!

Here are some flowers from Gran Sabana, Venezuela, to brigthen the season! Sorry, no names. If anybody has a clue, please tell me!

Many lovelies, Trond :) I finally visited your thread from that trip- fantastic!

Lori-- I know the zone numbers aren't that helpful, always, but there are so many plants that are just a bit too tender for us outdoors (I don't stress about it-- even z2-3 hardiness includes more plants than I will ever be able to grow!)- there are a lot of cacti and succulents that could be grown in a greenhouse that just took the edge off our coldest days- a balmy zone 5, say, with moisture control (would have been easy this year-only 2-3 weeks below -20C so far) and I imagine a lot of mediterranean bulbs, and south africans as well.. if it were -10C only, even more things :) Light would only be needed for those things growing in mid-winter, and at those temps, I'm thinking of things that would be mostly dormant in mid-winter..

The greenhouse would certainly have to be very well-insulated and heated... when it's -20 C outside here, it's -20 C in our greenhouse too!

Yes, it would need to be well thought out- there are no plans at the moment, just vague fantasies-- sometimes I think of it as an extension of outdoor gardening (eg- some of those cool NZ plants that are probably not hardy here) and sometimes as an extension of indoor gardening- which in some ways is my more serious plant collecting! Certainly I wouldn't think of the traditional flimsy all glazing sort of construction as anything other than a mid-summer space here...lol.. I'd be thinking very well insulated, probably not glazed to the ground, possibly not on the north side, (maybe even lean-to) and probably some kind of heavy shutters or drapes to enclose it entirely on the coldest days.. with the right system, you'd only need modest heating to keep it from deep freeze...
Have you seen any of the type of greenhouse that blows warm daytime air (I know- no value in the coldest weather) into the soil under the greenhouse, and pulls it back out at night? I think I read of someone getting 8 months of vegetable growing with that system in Edmonton.. not bad....

cohan wrote:

Have you seen any of the type of greenhouse that blows warm daytime air (I know- no value in the coldest weather) into the soil under the greenhouse, and pulls it back out at night? I think I read of someone getting 8 months of vegetable growing with that system in Edmonton.. not bad....

No, I haven't - sounds intriguing.  I don't get how air is blown into the soil??  Is there some kind of base on the greenhouse with, I dunno, maybe a baffle system that traps air, or ... ?  It seems that most people with greenhouses around here don't even have thermostatically-controlled fans to control excess heat, let alone systems to deal with extreme cold, so whatever system they are using, it sounds quite advanced!
Having said that, we get 7 months use out of our greenhouse using only small electric heaters, pond heaters, and by covering the insulated ponds with styrofoam sheets at night to hold in some warmth - but it's those other 5 months that are the killers!  ;)  We used to run it for 8 months, but March is pretty unpredictable and it has not seemed to be worth the effort, so April is the usual start.

A friend of mine built his greenhouse down! He actually used a hollow in his garden and built floor and walls of concrete. The roof is glass. To get down into it he has steps in one of the short ends. Soil was filled all up to the roof (outside!). And it easy to cover the roof but that is usually not necessary. He also have some pipes through the wall into the soil. They are perfect for planting. At that dept the soil is always frost free.

Lori wrote:

cohan wrote:

Have you seen any of the type of greenhouse that blows warm daytime air (I know- no value in the coldest weather) into the soil under the greenhouse, and pulls it back out at night? I think I read of someone getting 8 months of vegetable growing with that system in Edmonton.. not bad....

No, I haven't - sounds intriguing.  I don't get how air is blown into the soil??  Is there some kind of base on the greenhouse with, I dunno, maybe a baffle system that traps air, or ... ?  It seems that most people with greenhouses around here don't even have thermostatically-controlled fans to control excess heat, let alone systems to deal with extreme cold, so whatever system they are using, it sounds quite advanced!
Having said that, we get 7 months use out of our greenhouse using only small electric heaters, pond heaters, and by covering the insulated ponds with styrofoam sheets at night to hold in some warmth - but it's those other 5 months that are the killers!   ;)   We used to run it for 8 months, but March is pretty unpredictable and it has not seemed to be worth the effort, so April is the usual start.

I'll dig up a link on those greenhouses-- tomorrow  ;D...
As you say, you can get some months just with the 'greenhouse effect' and minor heat-- that's why I think it wouldn't take that much if you only wanted to bump up the minimums a couple of zones :)

In Holland they build now Neutral Greenhouses
that means they produce the same or more energy as they consume
there are a lot of experiments with different foils on the glass panels
but this is not for hobbyist like us in the moment

from an Alpine greenhouse there is an good example here
See: http://bp1.blogger.com/_2m3wGnWBkAk/SFldTDoOZCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/c3M0roVU_3Y/...
must be at least 1,5 merer deep

Roland

bulborum wrote:

from an Alpine greenhouse there is an good example here
See: http://bp1.blogger.com/_2m3wGnWBkAk/SFldTDoOZCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/c3M0roVU_3Y/...
must be at least 1,5 merer deep

Roland

Roland, a superb example of a "pit greenhouse", it is a dream of mine to build one of these. I have even drawn up plans, and started an excavation some years ago, but like so many of my projects they get started and never finished, just not enough time.

McDonough wrote:

bulborum wrote:

from an Alpine greenhouse there is an good example here
See: http://bp1.blogger.com/_2m3wGnWBkAk/SFldTDoOZCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/c3M0roVU_3Y/...
must be at least 1,5 merer deep

Roland

just not enough time.

Mark

You work much to hard
and make toooooo much money ;D

do as what I did with the bathroom
ask somebody to do the job
My wife happy after 11 years waiting
and I could continue working with my hobby  :)

No , you are wrong
It isn't flower-stamps ;D

Roland

Roland- beautiful greenhouse! True, I think there are a lot of innovations being made now- more so in Europe, but hopefully North American governments will  see the benefit in supporting more of that kind of research instead of only supporting petroleum  :rolleyes: ( I know, living in Alberta I'm supposed to blindly support all oil business...lol)

Here is the link for the greenhouse I mentioned:
http://www.sunnyjohn.com/indexpages/shcs.htm

Do you have an indication from the price per m²

No idea, personally, about cost, I think they may discuss it a bit on the site, its a long time since I read it all the way through; I think the technology is fairly simple though, so costs will be mainly construction- depending how much you do yourself, and regular costs for glazing etc..

Tropaeolum hookerianum starts flowering here
flowers after six months

Roland

bulborum wrote:

Tropaeolum hookerianum starts flowering here
flowers after six months

Roland

Pretty! Is it a climbing sp? Do you mean flowering 6 months from seed?

Yeh

six months from seed
I was surprised too
its climbing and in the moment 60 cm tall
As support I put a small bamboo stick in the pot
leaves are curling around the fine branches
but it looks if the plant grows taller

Roland

Cool :) a genus I don't know much about, apart from knowing it has species I don't know  ;D

Today in flower
Alstroemeria leporina
from seeds I got from Chile

Roland

It's quite sweet, Roland.
How tall does it grow? It looks like a "sprawler".
cheers
fermi

The flower-stem is 25 cm long
but the flower is to heavy
so it grows over the ground
I seeded it last year September

they germinate bad here
from 100 seeds only one plant
the same for most other ones I seeded

Next time I try it with glibberine

Roland

bulborum wrote:

they germinate bad here
from 100 seeds only one plant
the same for most other ones I seeded

Next time I try it with glibberine

Roland

Roland ,(and others),i been given a little gibberellic acid to 'play' around with.
Having not used the stuff before i'm wondering how successful it will be on old Colchicum seed.

Cheers Dave.

Dave

I would do a test if you have enough seeds
one without glibberine
a weak and a stronger solution

Roland

Alstroemeria umbellata

Very nice colour Michael

How tall is this one

Roland

Quote:

How tall is this one

About 25 cm. at the moment.

Did you have problems with germinating
I find Alstroemeria bad germinating
or is there a trick

Roland

Alstroemeria philippii var. philippii
starts flowering

Roland

Quote:

Did you have problems with germinating

Germinated ok outside, but lost a few at the potting on stage.

I have bad experience
seeding total over 800 seeds in 10 varieties
I have just a few plants
maybe you need fresh seeds ?

from the 100 seeds from Alstroemeria umbellata
not a single germinated  :(

Roland

One from 100 seeds from Alstroemeria diluta ssp. chrysantha germinated
but flowered the first year

Roland

Showing some really nice variations in the genus, Michael and Roland.

Not knowing much about the hardy alstroemerias, I find the A. philippii var. philippii particularly fetching with its undulating feathered petal edges and bluish anthers.

My one attempt at growing Alstroemeria umbellata from seed was a failure, too. :(

Quote:

Maybe you need fresh seeds

Roland,if my plant sets any seed your are welcome to some. I have been tickling it with a small paintbrush, fingers crossed.

Can anyone ID this one? its from Cordoba, Argentina.

Martin

ipheion sellowianum
Is yours wild collected ??

Roland

Thank you for your ID. Yes, the seeds had been wild collected a few years ago. Its a lovely little plant.

Martin

Opened up yesterday ---Solaria ,(Syn Gethyum ),atropurpureum--first flowering from seed sown Jan 2008.

Seems okay outside all year round in this climate.

Interestingly from the pics i have seen i would have expected the flowers to have been on longish stems --maybe that may happen in due course .

Not a large bloom however i love the chocolate  :P colour --the smell is another thing  ;D  wet musky dog !......

Cheers Dave.

That's a special plant, Dave! I wouldn't say it leaps to the eye but it has a modest kind of charm! I like it ;)

beautiful Dave

I bought a few bulbs last year
they are dormant now
no idea when they flower
but calculating it must be somewhere in March
or with bad luck the year after

Roland

Very cool, Dave! Never heard of this one...

Zephyranthes primulina

Perfect shape Michael

Roland

;D

Michael wrote:

Zephyranthes primulina

Very sweet colour!

I would say prima!

Hoy wrote:

That's a special plant, Dave! I wouldn't say it leaps to the eye but it has a modest kind of charm! I like it ;)

Same here Trond.

Here's the Solaria, (pic taken today),at full flowering --i 'jumped the gun' on my earlier posting  ;D

bulborum wrote:

beautiful Dave

I bought a few bulbs last year
they are dormant now
no idea when they flower
but calculating it must be somewhere in March
or with bad luck the year after

Roland

Roland --spring flowering i understand and a good multiplier.

cohan wrote:

Very cool, Dave! Never heard of this one...

Thanks Cohan.
Cheers Dave.

Good picture from the plant Dave
it seems they are a little perfumed ;D

Roland

I gave a presentation to our local alpine garden group last night Roland .

Had a box full of display plants, including the Solaria, beside me ,framed tight on the floor of the front passenger seat between the laptop and projector --was only a 10 min ride but i had to wind down a window to try and clear the air   :rolleyes:....
I also took a couple of clothes pegs with me and a note warning their use was recommended if viewing the plant at close quarters........ ;  ;)  ;D

Cheers Dave.

How tall is it now, Dave? and what sort of culture does this need?

It is an amazing plant!

cohan wrote:

How tall is it now, Dave? and what sort of culture does this need?

Hello Cohan

Sorry for the delay in replying ---I've just seen your question.

My plant has a single long leaf with the flowering stem about 25cms in height.
The individual stems holding the flowers are starting to bend meaning the flowers are taking on a beautiful nodding effect .

From an area in Chile that has mild wet winters and is dormant in summer.

Although i grow it in a pot outside uncovered all year round I've been careful on how much summer moisture it receives ....so i 'throw' the pot on its side under the edge of the bush canopy.

Hopefully it will set seed --i've been playing with being a fly --well my brush has  ;) Let me know if you are interested  --although in your condtions i presume it would need to be grown inside ,in a well ventilated area..... ;D

Cheers Dave.

Toole wrote:

cohan wrote:

How tall is it now, Dave? and what sort of culture does this need?

Hello Cohan

Sorry for the delay in replying ---I've just seen your question.

My plant has a single long leaf with the flowering stem about 25cms in height.
The individual stems holding the flowers are starting to bend meaning the flowers are taking on a beautiful nodding effect .

From an area in Chile that has mild wet winters and is dormant in summer.

Although i grow it in a pot outside uncovered all year round I've been careful on how much summer moisture it receives ....so i 'throw' the pot on its side under the edge of the bush canopy.

Hopefully it will set seed --i've been playing with being a fly --well my brush has   ;) Let me know if you are interested  --although in your condtions i presume it would need to be grown inside ,in a well ventilated area..... ;D

Cheers Dave.

Thanks, Dave, definitely it would be indoor culture for me! My biggest drawback is light-- I try to grow some sun-lovers indoors, but those spots are limited...lol  Although, I think I need to set up some lights anyway for the SA wintergrowers I have from seed now...lol

I've noted my diary Cohan.

Cheers Dave.

:)

I was at Kew Gardens a couple of weeks ago and on display in the new bulb house was Gethyum atropurpureum! I was completely taken by surprise as a) I'd never heard of it (having not seen this thread) and b) I was astonished also to see it was in the Alliaceae (so it claimed on the label)  i.e., that there was a totally unknown genus (for me) in the onion family.  I was very excited, almost like I'd discovered a new species.....sadly it doesn't seem to be edible....

I bought a few last year from Cotswold
The first just start growing
Not sure if they will flower
otherwise I can send you seeds

Roland

Many thanks, Roland! Very kind of you - yes, if you can spare a few seed, that would be great!

Stephenb wrote:

I was at Kew Gardens a couple of weeks ago and on display in the new bulb house was Gethyum atropurpureum! I was completely taken by surprise as a) I'd never heard of it (having not seen this thread) and b) I was astonished also to see it was in the Alliaceae (so it claimed on the label)  i.e., that there was a totally unknown genus (for me) in the onion family.  I was very excited, almost like I'd discovered a new species.....sadly it doesn't seem to be edible....

Crumbs, Stephen,  seems you missed a lot of references  to this plant in the SRGC Forum- including these these with  photos :

Gethyum atropurpureum syn. Solaria atropurpurea
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6462.msg185906#msg185906

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=5120.msg153060#msg153060

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=8373.0

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=2955.0

Ian I think that the main problem is time
If you want to see all posts here on this fantastic forum
we probably ,as Maggie probably has to do  :o , sit most of the day for the computer

I overlooked this plant too
Cotswold offered the plant I never seen before
googled it and found out to my surprise that it was a bulb or corm

Learning every day :)

Roland

Thanks for the links Maggi/Ian... I came here first as it was an American species and didn't get as far as searching SRGC... I guess I didn't notice it before as I hadn't realised its affinity to the Alliums...

Rhodophiala bifida seems to have enjoyed the hot dry summer though it seems to be later than usual - whatever "usual" is nowadays!
cheers
fermi

Very nice, fermi! They like it hot and dry in the resting period? I have some seedlings and plan to put them outside later - if I dare!

Mine died last year at -15ºC
maybe to wet in the winter
good I had a few left in the poly-tunnel

R

Not really South American but I am cheating a little , this one is from Mexico 

Zephyranthes Primulina

[quote=Hoy]

Very nice, fermi! They like it hot and dry in the resting period? I have some seedlings and plan to put them outside later - if I dare!

[/quote]

Sorry for the long delay in answering - I've only recently got back onto this Forum.

These rhodophiala are grown in a raised bed in the open in full sun and don't get watered over the summer when they are dormant; they also get a lot of rain in winter and survive light frosts here.

cheers

ferm

Habranthus martinezii

Tropaeolum tricolor grows in a part of the garden where we haven't had to do anything for it - except avoid disturbing it when it's emerging! I've been told that in the wild there's a bit of variation in color! I'd love to try to get some of the different forms if anyone has any seed to spare!

Another Bulb from the South is Leucocoryne; this was grown from NARGS Seedex 2006 as Leucocoryne vittata but it appears to be a hybrid as the striping is not as vivid as it should be; still very nice!

cheers

fermi

Another leucocoryne - close to Leucocoryne purpurea but again probably a hybrid (the petals appear to be too pointy!)

This one opened it's bloom snuggled down in the foliage making me think it was a Tristagma/Nothoscordum! It's actually the gold Zephyranthes flavissima

cheers

fermi

Lovely plants Fermi and David.  Please know that even if I don't respond right away, that I do enjoy ogling these beauties, as I'm sure many forumists do.  Really like the Leucocoryne species (and hybrids).

Here's another South American - actually it turns out to be a hybrid between two Chilean species of Conanthera - C. trimaculata and C. campanulata

cheers

fermi

We grow a couple of the smaller Alstroemeria species in the rock garden but have these hybrid "Peruvian Lilies" in the borders where they appreciate a bit more water during the growing season,

cheers

fermi

Here's one of the dwarf species in the rock garden, Alstroemeria hookeri

This sisyrinchium came from a SRGC Forumist, Santiago, as seed a few years ago - Sisyrinchium palmifolium

cheers

fermi

[quote=Fermi]

Here's another South American - actually it turns out to be a hybrid between two Chilean species of Conanthera - C. trimaculata and C. campanulata

[/quote]

Here's the first conanthera which I grew from Seedex seed many years ago - Conanthera campanulata, one of the parents of the previously shown hybrid,

cheers

fermi

We got this bulb years ago from Murray Cubis of Discovery Bulbs as Habranthus 'Russell Manning'; I think it is a form of Habranthus robustus,

The flower can be as large as an individual Amaryllis belladonna bloom but on a much shorter stem; as you can see from the pic it flowered a few days earlier and there's already a sizeable seed-pod formed!

cheers

fermi

I got this Zephyranthes as a lemon variety but didn't think it much different to the type species Z.candida! However in the right light they do have a pale, pale, pale lemon look to them as seen here a fortnight ago

This morning there were a few more open,

cheers

fermi

Oxalis lobata is the only South American species which I grow

cheers

fermi

Tropaeolum tricolor flowering on the wire fence

cheers

fermi

Tropaeolum tricolor growing over a low euonymus hedge in the garden

Nothoscordum ostenii from NARGS Seedex 2010

cheers

fermi

Leucocoryne ixioides from NARGS Seedex 2009, collected "Foothills, Andes, Chile"

cheers

fermi

This came to us as seed of "Moraea alpina" but looks like it's Herbertia lahue

It's well known for impersonating Alophia drummondii and Herbertia pulchella but I think Moraea is a first!

cheers

fermi

Conanthera trimaculata x Conanthera campanulata growing in the rock garden

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fermi

The parents of the previous plant:

Conanthera trimaculata

Conanthera campanulata

cheers

fermi

Alstroemeria hookeri flowering through a Euphorbia rigida x myrsinites,

cheers

fermi

Beauty fermi
​Love those Chilean Alstroemeria 's

​Roland

Hi Roland,

This is a beauty especially because it persists in our garden without much assistance from us!

We do water the areas where it grows in the summer sometimes,

cheers

fermi

I have them in pots (they don't really like that) but I will try next year in the garden

Roland

Rhodophiala bifida is in flower in 3 different colors 

This pink form is from seed sent by a SRGC Forumist from Argentina flowering for the first time 

This orange-red one was from a commercial source 

This ox-blood red one is from a friend 

cheers 

fermi

A few years ago I managed to get seed set on the orange red form of Rhodophiala bifida (see above) using pollen of the ox-blood red form. The first seedling flowered this week and is halfway between the two in color

There are a few more to flower this year

cheers

fermi

It looks like 11 of the seedlings from this cross will flower this year

cheers

fermi

[quote=Fermi]

Leucocoryne ixioides from NARGS Seedex 2009, collected "Foothills, Andes, Chile"

[/quote]

this year there are 3 types of flower from this bunch of seedlings,

one pure white with narrow petals, the others have pink mid-ribs

cheers

fermi