Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Bulbs => Ian Young's Bulb Log - Feedback Forum => Topic started by: Jacek on February 06, 2014, 09:01:54 PM

Title: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Jacek on February 06, 2014, 09:01:54 PM
Ian, this is my first post. Nice to see the result of 11 years of your continuous effort. I've been regularly following the logs on weekly basis since about 4 years while searching the older ones in the meantime.

I've noticed that you have a success with Cyclamen coum in the sand bed only. In my garden it is opposite - only in the area with the VERY thick leaf mulch. This probably reflects climate difference. In my area the main enemy of this plant seems to be the winter frost and instability of snow cover.

I started my cyclamen collection in the garden a few years ago not with seeds but with mature dry tubers cheaply available by internet. Hopefully not wild collected, uniform in colour, very nice. Being aware of potential frost damage I planted them deep (no less than 10 cm) scattered in different possibly suitable locations. They commenced the growth nicely and 2 years ago most were wiped out by a condition that Janis Ruksans calls a "black frost" - in my case: temperatures down to -30 C without snow cover.

The only group that reliably survived is located in an area where I deliberately created a very thick leaf mulch resulting in a layer of at least 15 cm of leaves in different stages of decomposition over an ordinary sandy soil. The tubers were planted below the mulch. They grow nicely through the mulch, do not suffer from moulds or rot and bloom every year. On the top of this initial success - I have more and more seedlings every year - they appear in the same heavily mulched spot as well as in the lawn nearby. This I find a true success - other bulbs that survive such conditions (Crocus tommasinianus, Scilla sibirica or Scilla mischtschenkoana) - do not produce any seedlings. Some bulbs refuse to grow at all - like Amenone blanda. The main downside is that I cannot find the seedpods in the mulch and collect the seeds. I transplant the tiny seedlings from the lawn.

I cannot show you any current picture of my successful coum bed - it would be completely white. They all sleep under a snowy blanket including some open flowers that did not want to wait for spring.
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Ian Y on February 07, 2014, 12:32:17 PM
Welcome to the forum Jacek, it is interesting to learn your conditions and how they effect the plants you are growing. Many people do not realise that even in a small garden there are many environments and sometimes moving a plant 15cms can make the difference to being able to grow it or not. Also we can change the ground conditions by making sand beds, or deep leaf mould beds all of which has big effects on some plants. We have both and it is interesting how many of the bulbs thrive in the sand in our garden -most of the others beds are rich in humus both leaf mould and from the compost heap.

I look forward to seeing pictures of your garden when the white blanket is lifted.

Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Jacek on February 07, 2014, 12:49:50 PM
I've found last year's pictures of this bed.

1. The Cyclamen coum bed in bloom
2. The cyclamen seedlins in the deep mulch
3. Scilla mischtschenkoana sprouting through the leaves with difficulties. Sometimes I have to help.
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Ian Y on February 07, 2014, 12:55:20 PM
They do look nicely established in your leaf litter, perhaps in time we will get seedlings venturing out of the sand.

I suspect your extreme cold  would mean that sand beds will not work for you as they do for us because the cold moves more quickly through the sand than it does through leafy soils.

Sun is shining today so I am off to the garden.......
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: annew on February 07, 2014, 06:09:28 PM
A Daffanatic's delight this week, Ian. My favourite is on the bottom of page 7.  :D
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Maggi Young on February 07, 2014, 06:13:41 PM
This one, Anne?

[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: annew on February 07, 2014, 06:14:12 PM
That's the cutie! :-*
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Leena on February 09, 2014, 02:54:11 PM
I suspect your extreme cold  would mean that sand beds will not work for you as they do for us because the cold moves more quickly through the sand than it does through leafy soils.

I have been thinking about this and Jacek's experience. I have planned to build a sand bed this spring for my pots of Erythronium and Trilium seedlings (which are now in cellar for the winter) and now I'm not so sure if it would be better to make a bed of leaf mold for them??
Here we may also have cold weather without the snow, like this January it was -20 and only about 5 cm snow, but some winters we have very much snow, you never know. Or I could try both.
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Ian Y on February 09, 2014, 07:45:31 PM
Leena,I grow Erythroniums in both sand and leaf mould here in Aberdeen, so I agree you should have both.
I have never lost an Erythronium to frost damage even those that sat exposed in plastic pots have survived our worst winters of the last 25 years or more.
Title: Re: Bulb Log 06-14
Post by: Leena on February 09, 2014, 08:16:45 PM
Thank you Ian. :)
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