Bulb Log 12

[annew]

Ian, the photos in this bulb log are particularly good - the close ups of the frit flowers are so sharp, and what can I say about the pot of Narcissus x susannae - worth a Forrest medal surely!
Also, I wanted you to know that I did good missionary work for the bulb log at our hotel 1800m up in the Atlas Mountains while we were away. The other tourers were forcibly made to look at that weeks log on the laptop after dinner! One was actually a SRGC member WHO HAD NEVER BEEN ON THE FORUM!!!!

[Lesley Cox]

One was actually a SRGC member WHO HAD NEVER BEEN ON THE FORUM!!!!

Unbelievable!!!

[mark smyth]

I meet many people who know about the SRGC but dont know about the forum or say "I have nothing to say"

[Maggi Young]

Reading the Forum and not wanting to contribute is one thing... not knowing about its existence is quite another! Some folk may have no internet access , of course, but for anyone who does to be unaware of the WEALTH of info and knowledge in the website and Forum is a great pity.
I frankly shudder to think of the actual volume of  photos that can be found in the Forum , giving details of cultivation and habitat around the world.... if that's not worth knowing about and seeking out, then I really don't know what kind of bubble some folks are living in; it seems some have little curiosity to seek and discover in this medium. 

[angie]

They really don't know what they are missing here, so many nice people, so much knowledge and most of all so much fun.
Ian and Maggi that Frit house looks so exciting at the moment, cant wait to see it again.
Angie

[TheOnionMan]

Reading the Forum and not wanting to contribute is one thing... not knowing about its existence is quite another! Some folk may have no internet access , of course, but for anyone who does to be unaware of the WEALTH of info and knowledge in the website and Forum is a great pity.
I frankly shudder to think of the actual volume of  photos that can be found in the Forum , giving details of cultivation and habitat around the world.... if that's not worth knowing about and seeking out, then I really don't know what kind of bubble some folks are living in; it seems some have little curiosity to seek and discover in this medium. 

Interesting to hear this, in the context of now trying to get NARGS members to start using the NARGS Forum.  At the NARGS Eastern Winter Study Weekend last weekend, I ended up giving a live demo of the NARGS Forum, another member demo'd the NARGS Wiki resources, and we're slowly getting a few more members to come take a look.  For every old friend I ran into that weekend, I would enthusiastically prompt them about using the forum, yet I sensed reticence about even trying, with responses like "I don't have time for that".  Even so, such responses did not dampen my enthusiasm, as in the past 5+ months of cruising the pages of SRGC, I have learned so much, and see such fantastic plants, expressed with such knowledge and experience... a tremendous resource.  And since the forum is basically a giant database, I am now using the search function here more and more (thanks Maggi ).  And just so that you know, I also heartily recommended SRGC in addition to NARGS.

[Maggi Young]

responses like "I don't have time for that".

Oh, yeah, I hear that a lot, too!
Speaking for myself, I'd rather spend some sit-down relax with a coffee time reading the Forum than getting all the awful news from the papers or another tired TV programme.... but I'm sure these "too busy" people never have time to relax in that way..... wonder if they ever manage to read a book? I don't.... I'm too busy! 

[Gerry Webster]

Ian - a very beautiful edition of the Bulb Log. Is the very dark form of E. dens-canis the same as the clone which is available commercially under the name 'Old Aberdeen'?

[mark smyth]

Ian, your Scoliopus are way ahead of mine

[ashley]

Thanks for another great log Ian

Your F. chitralensis looks magnificent, and photographed so well.  Presumably it's self-incompatible.
Does your F. minuta divide?  Mine looks similar & returns to delight me every year but steadfastly refuses to multiply.  Maybe I must take a deep breath and break the bulb in two

Regarding the challenge of capturing the amazing colour of F. armena, last weekend while looking at some Erythronium dens-canis 'Snowflake' in the garden it struck me that nice as the flowers are the leaves are even better.  In the sunlight their brown patches sparkled with crystals of 'old gold'   Impossible (at least for me) to photograph.

[Lesley Cox]

Well I don't have time for the Forum either but has that ever stopped me? The thing is, we have time for what we want to do and none for what we'd rather avoid, so the "no time" excuse is rubbish. Has anyone seen that repellent "Ellen" on TV? an American person with a sad life, who says reading a book is boring. No, I don't watch the programme (no time!) but saw that little gem in a promo before the news.

[TheOnionMan]

Well I don't have time for the Forum either but has that ever stopped me? The thing is, we have time for what we want to do and none for what we'd rather avoid, so the "no time" excuse is rubbish. Has anyone seen that repellent "Ellen" on TV? an American person with a sad life, who says reading a book is boring. No, I don't watch the programme (no time!) but saw that little gem in a promo before the news.

You are speaking no doubt about Ellen DeGeneres, an intelligent, charming, witty personality that I have followed for many years, hardly what I would call repellent... them's fightin words   First and foremost, she is a comedienne, employing a subtle form of sarcasm with canny deft delivery, the point of which can be missed by those who do not watch and listen to her carefully, or who don't "get" this type of humor.  I don't know what the news promo said, but knowing Ellen's style, I would say the comment about reading a book is boring, she's "putting the viewer on". 

Second point, there can literally be situations and schedules whereby one truly does not have the time to do the things one wants to do.  I dearly love spending time researching and learning about plants, spending time on a forum such as this, but I can say with certainty, that prior to my being laid-off, I left for work at 6:30 AM each morning and got home at 8:00 to 8:30 PM each evening (3 hours commuting each day).  I can't tell you how many times I'd read something on other venues like Alpine-L or PBS (Pacific Bulb Society), then jot a few notes with the intent of researching and posting back, but invariably the day, weeks and months would fly by.

So, nuff said, let's get back to bulbs.

To make up for the off-topicness of this post, here is some bulb eye-candy, Juno Iris species and cultivars in May 2008.  In 2009, deer came into the yard and ate all to the ground.  They're just sprouting again now, it remains to be seen if the clumps were weakened by being feasted upon, and whether my apparently poor choice of a groundcover companion plant, Zauschneria garrettii, will also adversely affect them.  More to come.

[Maggi Young]

As someone who has a garden that is pretty well inaccessible to deer, and who has (meantime ) won the rabbit battle, I don't know quite how I would cope with having fine clumps of any plant, let alone such beautiful Iris, chomped off by marauding deer.....not well, I fear.....

[TheOnionMan]

As someone who has a garden that is pretty well inaccessible to deer, and who has (meantime ) won the rabbit battle, I don't know quite how I would cope with having fine clumps of any plant, let alone such beautiful Iris, chomped off by marauding deer.....not well, I fear.....

The deer only come through the garden a few times each season, up through the woods behind my property, munching enroute to some other wooded area.  When the juno iris were munched to the ground, it left the tight sheathing leaf bases totally exposed and catching rain water, rotting the bases... I thought they were all goners, but they are sprouting again now.  More devastating might be the Zauschneria I planted, much too deeply-rooted and aggressive to be an effective commingler; must try and extract the mess after flowering this year, unless of course the deer come again.  Still battling a woodchuck and rabbit, these recently moved into the area the last 2 years after 20 years without such pests.

[Lesley Cox]

Wow!!! That applies to both Mark's posts, above!