Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Specific Families and Genera => Amaryllidaceae => Topic started by: pehe on August 13, 2012, 07:19:47 AM

Title: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on August 13, 2012, 07:19:47 AM
It is hardly autumn, but the first Sternbergias are flowering now.

1. As an experiment I planted some spare bulbs of Sternbergia sicula early form directly in the ground in my green house in July. Here is the result.

2. Sternbergia sicula early form in a through. They have not been watered yet. In the open garden leaves of the same form are just visible.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on August 13, 2012, 09:50:41 AM
Extraordinary Poul. No sign of anything here, even under glass.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on August 13, 2012, 10:57:44 AM
Gerry, we had a hot and dry period in the end of May / start of June followed by a cold and rainy July. Maybe that is the explanation of the early flowering. Another reason is that this particular clone is very early, much earlier than sicula Dodona Gold and sicula graeca.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on August 27, 2012, 07:23:30 AM
My Sternbergia sicula through has been watered a week ago and leaf growth is clearly stimulated. It has been placed outside for the last week, but yesterday I brought it under glass as the weather was terrible with more than 50 mm rain in a few hours!

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Maggi Young on August 27, 2012, 10:48:04 AM
 A superb show, Pehe!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: brianw on August 27, 2012, 01:36:51 PM
S. angustifolia started this week in the Thames valley. Tight against a south facing wall; nothing showing just 15 cms away.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pontus on August 27, 2012, 08:40:15 PM
thats fabulous. I have always loved sternbergias.

they are quite late here this year, nothing showing above ground yet, despite some late summer thunderstorms. Even my early form from the south of france which usually flowers in mid august..is just about showing a few leaves now..

Pontus
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on August 28, 2012, 09:24:16 AM
Thank you Maggi and Pontus!

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on August 29, 2012, 01:38:29 PM
A very impressive trough, Poul !  :o

Out here, Sternbergia lutea ssp lutea has started flowering.

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: bulborum on August 29, 2012, 04:29:37 PM
I am impressed Luc
early and more , a rich flowering clone
is it a special selection ??

Roland
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on August 29, 2012, 04:37:53 PM
Not that I know, Roland - they were grown from seed by a friend of mine a number of years ago.
I got three bulbs 2 years ago - now 9 bulbs already - a good grower in any case !
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: bulborum on August 29, 2012, 05:53:11 PM
By the time you have one to swap
I am interested

Roland
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on August 29, 2012, 06:06:59 PM
Out here, Sternbergia lutea ssp lutea has started flowering.

Luc - I'm impressed that you get such good flowering in the open garden. Are they in a really hot spot? 
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Luc Gilgemyn on August 29, 2012, 07:39:32 PM
They are in a mesh basket as used in ponds Gerry.
Lifted in Spring after the leaves have wilted and kept dry until just 3 weeks ago when I planted them back... so I'm afraid I'm giving nature a hand...  ;D... but it works !
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on August 29, 2012, 08:12:02 PM
Thanks Luc, very sensible.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on August 30, 2012, 07:06:58 AM
They are in a mesh basket as used in ponds Gerry.
Lifted in Spring after the leaves have wilted and kept dry until just 3 weeks ago when I planted them back... so I'm afraid I'm giving nature a hand...  ;D... but it works !

Very nice sight, Luc!
I especially like the very short leaves. In my experience that is only possible when they are kept dry for a long time exactly as you do. You often see naked lutea flowers in the hot mediterranean countries. But when you not live there it's allowed giving nature a hand  ;D

In my garden Sternbergia lutea is only showing leaves, flower will come later. But my early form of S. sicula has just started flowering in the open garden (along with Colchicum montanum). Both stay there all year round without any winter protection.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Brian Ellis on August 30, 2012, 09:34:09 AM
They are in a mesh basket as used in ponds Gerry.
Lifted in Spring after the leaves have wilted and kept dry until just 3 weeks ago when I planted them back... so I'm afraid I'm giving nature a hand...  ;D... but it works !
What an excellent idea Luc, more use for pond baskets, I'm glad I have a few left to use for this next year!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on September 04, 2012, 06:06:50 PM
Hello,

my earliest and in my climate most free-flowering type of Sternbergia sicula. The plants originates from Corfu, near the monastery on the top of Pantokrator, the highest peak on the island.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 05, 2012, 06:10:02 AM
Wow! What a sight.
They are certainly free-flowering. Are they placed against a wall or a similar warm place?
The ones I got from you years ago are growing very well and flowers reliable every year, but not as much as yours. I grow mine in pots under glass. There is no sign of them yet. Based on your good result I think it is worth trying them in the open garden.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on September 05, 2012, 07:18:04 AM
Hello Poul,

meanwhile they grow on several places in the garden and they do well everywhere. Under glass the show no sign of growth (first water last weekend) but they grow and increase better in the open garden. Any place sunny place with good drainage suits them. And I feed them well....

Your selections are also under glass and still not above ground!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 05, 2012, 04:22:41 PM
Very impressive Herbert.

To my eyes your plants seem to confirm the recent claim by Gage & Wilkin that there is no real difference between S. sicula & S. lutea The leaves of your plants look like those of S.sicula as traditionally recognised (central stripe) whereas the flower shape looks close to that of supposedly  'typical' S. lutea.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on September 05, 2012, 06:15:56 PM
Gerry, 

I agree at least partly with you.

But on a trip to Pelopennes in Autumn I found the types growing separately, not mixed. In higher places always sicula types, which seemed to be more abundant, at least when we were there.
sicula is said to haver pointed petal tips and this is what the Corfu plants has. In my opinion Dodona Gold is of the same type!

Flowering period is no sign of difference here - it depends on the clone.
Also the amount of leave growth at flowering time is variable - I think, the more water they get in summer, the longer are the leaves at flowering time.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 05, 2012, 06:42:43 PM
Here is the first paper by Gage & Wikins for anyone who is interested. The second paper (on phylogenetics)  is too large to post but I can email it.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Melvyn Jope on September 05, 2012, 07:16:30 PM
As someone that still considers Sternbergia grueteriana from Crete to be distinct from S.lutea and S.sicula I think the source of the plant material used in the study is of particular importance ie was it material of known wild provenance? The material available in the UK and often exhibited at AGS shows as S.grueteriana is, I think, really S.sicula.
None of my Sternbergia sp in pots or in the garden are showing signs of flowering yet.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 08, 2012, 06:19:25 PM
Sternbergia sicula 'Arcadian Sun'         

From a 1966 collection at 300m in the Peloponnese by Herbert & Molly Crook (C 529).

After the miserable summer it looks as though plants in a frame bed will not flower. Those in pots seem much better.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 09, 2012, 09:40:14 AM
Gerry, this pot looks great!
As I saw your pot of Arcadian Sun, I went out to check mine for flowers. There was a single flower, but it looked suspicious, as if it has start to wither before the flower was fully developed. I was sure that something was wrong, so I lifted it. One bulb was totally rotten, and the flowering one was half eaten by a Narcissus flue grub >:(. I cleaned up the damaged bulb as an offset was forming and planted them all in a fresh compost, hoping for a good growing season, so they could recover well.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 09, 2012, 10:24:45 AM
Poul - I'm sorry to hear this. A few years ago I too lost some Sternbergias to Narcissus fly. I hadn't realised they were susceptible to attack but I guess any member of the Amaryllidaceae  is vulnerable.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on September 09, 2012, 03:43:13 PM
Hello,

my Sternbergia sicula "Pantokrator" a week later with more leaves
My collection of luteas, between a street and a south facing wall
two collected types of Sternbergia from Crete, both not sicula - the big one close to lutea but bigger than usual!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tim Ingram on September 10, 2012, 08:54:47 AM
Reading this thread with great interest because we have never had Sternbergia sicula flower well outside on a raised bed until this year, and the summer has not been especially hot and dry. Maybe it is also to do with how long the plants have been established or how deep the bulbs have gone? We did have a very long warm and dry spring. I hope we might get this flowering more regularly from now on. (By the way it grows alongside Asphodelus acaulis which also tends to be very leafy when flowering, and maybe I should grow both in something like deep sand?).
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 10, 2012, 10:24:48 AM
Reading this thread with great interest because we have never had Sternbergia sicula flower well outside on a raised bed until this year, and the summer has not been especially hot and dry. Maybe it is also to do with how long the plants have been established or how deep the bulbs have gone? ............
Tim - I don't think the length of time plants have been established or depth of planting are major factors here. I have 4 clones of S.sicula: from the Peloponnese, Corfu, Apulia & Dodona (not 'Dodona Gold') They are grown in a S-facing frame bed (i.e., under glass) & the Dodona plant has been in there 17 years, the others about 5 years. Under these conditionas none  flower freely or regularly. All are much better in pots.  My own experience suggests that a really hot & dry summer is a requirement for regular flowering - even in a hot summer the frame bed remains slightly moist at the level of the bulbs as I have recently discovered.  Previous entries in this thread suggest that clones differ considerably in how free flowering they are under the conditions in (relatively) northern gardens.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 10, 2012, 11:51:01 AM
Some flowers from my green house. Not mass flowering, but the single flowers are beautiful too.

1,2,3 Sternbergia lutea X sicula Dodona Gold
4 Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tim Ingram on September 10, 2012, 03:07:56 PM
Thanks Gerry - my experience is very limited with many bulbs, but sternbergias are so glorious in flower it does sound as though growing them in pots is the best option.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 12, 2012, 04:10:20 PM
Sternbergia colchiciflora has started flowering.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: hadacekf on September 13, 2012, 01:26:10 PM
Sternbergia lutea and St. sicula flowers in beds with leaves.
This year, these species bloom in the meadow almost with no leaves.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 17, 2012, 10:08:28 AM
Franz, they are very lovely, especially when the leaves are as short as that. How has the summer/autumn weather been by you this year?

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 17, 2012, 10:11:58 AM
In my garden Sternbergia lutea and Sternbergia sicula 'Dodona Gold' are flowering now, but with much longer leaves.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: hadacekf on September 17, 2012, 08:01:33 PM
Poul,
We had a dry, hot summer (36 ° C) and a dry autumn.
What has surprised me, were the short leaves in the meadow.
The conditions were the same for both locations.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Angelo Porcelli on September 23, 2012, 08:54:10 AM
Hello friends,

just a bit of time I don't pop in here  :)
As I see some of you are growing Sternbergia sicula (lutea) ex Bisceglie or Apulia, I would tell something about its origin.
This is a selection I made from populations around my town (Bisceglie) years ago, choosing the biggest plants in size of the flowers, especially with wide tepals overlapping. There are also some individual with more 'starry' flowers, yet very large and as a rule all these plants have large bulbs wich are less inclined to split, growing round and big as a narcisuss bulb.
From some selected plants I collected seeds and sent to Rare Plants in UK, which raised them from these seeds and named Bisceglie. Indeed I am not convinced it warrants a name, because it's not a vegetative propagation. I just think of them as a good strain with flowers bigger than average. Here a series of photos of my plants and a comparison with bulbs of normal plants.

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 23, 2012, 05:11:59 PM
Hello friends,

just a bit of time I don't pop in here  :)
As I see some of you are growing Sternbergia sicula (lutea) ex Bisceglie or Apulia, I would tell something about its origin.
This is a selection I made from populations around my town (Bisceglie) years ago, choosing the biggest plants in size of the flowers, especially with wide tepals overlapping. There are also some individual with more 'starry' flowers, yet very large and as a rule all these plants have large bulbs wich are less inclined to split, growing round and big as a narcisuss bulb.
From some selected plants I collected seeds and sent to Rare Plants in UK, which raised them from these seeds and named Bisceglie. Indeed I am not convinced it warrants a name, because it's not a vegetative propagation. I just think of them as a good strain with flowers bigger than average. Here a series of photos of my plants and a comparison with bulbs of normal plants.

Angelo, thank you for showing your Sternbergias and telling the story. It is nice to hear the history of my Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie! I bought mine from RarePlants last year, and they are flowering for the first time this year. The size of the bulbs are much smaller than the hughes ones you showed, I think mine need a few more years and a lot of feeding to get that size! I suppose that each of these hughes bulbs gives many flowers?

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on September 24, 2012, 11:23:38 AM
New flowers today.

Sternbergia sicula ex. Corfu top of Pantocrator
Sternbergia lutea (right) and lutea x sicula Dodona Gold (left). The last one is a hybrid of my own. It is flowering for the first time this year. It seems to be very floriferous, so I think it is worth trying it in the open garden.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on September 24, 2012, 09:56:38 PM
New flowers today.
Sternbergia sicula ex. Corfu top of Pantocrator
Sternbergia lutea (right) and lutea x sicula Dodona Gold (left). The last one is a hybrid of my own. It is flowering for the first time this year. It seems to be very floriferous, so I think it is worth trying it in the open garden.
Poul

I like the one from Corfu Poul , very good form indeed !

Here the first lutea wil open his flowers this week .....(if the rain and storm of today leave the country again) It is the only Sternbergia that want to flower outside this year .... Under glas I see some first activity ........Everything is very slow this year .
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on September 28, 2012, 04:19:45 PM
Sometimes I get seed om my Sternbergias the natural way

End of flowering season with leaves  very much advanced
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Maren on September 28, 2012, 11:17:27 PM
Seen by Ian Butterfield's garage door, facing south, on good Chiltern gritty soil. Just beginning to go over but with more buds to come. It was raining and the flowers did not open up as much as when the sun shines.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: tonyg on September 29, 2012, 09:42:17 AM
Reading this thread with great interest because we have never had Sternbergia sicula flower well outside on a raised bed until this year, and the summer has not been especially hot and dry. Maybe it is also to do with how long the plants have been established or how deep the bulbs have gone? We did have a very long warm and dry spring. I hope we might get this flowering more regularly from now on. (By the way it grows alongside Asphodelus acaulis which also tends to be very leafy when flowering, and maybe I should grow both in something like deep sand?).
They should do well for you Tim.  I note Gerry's comments about heat but they may only need a short burst of extreme heat to flower well.  Mine are sporadic flowerers but are in a very neglected and overgrown patch of garden - no sign of them this year  :'(
However they have flowered well after similar cool wet summers, just as Cyclamen graecum has astonished me by flowering (several plants) outside for only the second time in 20 years this autumn.  We did have about a week of extreme heat at the end of July.  Was that enough to trigger flowering?
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: David Nicholson on September 29, 2012, 09:53:42 AM
........... and after four years of trying, without a single flower, I consigned mine to the compost bin at re-potting time. :(
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 29, 2012, 10:38:55 AM
........... and after four years of trying, without a single flower, I consigned mine to the compost bin at re-potting time. :(
David - I find this difficult to understand. In your part of the world they should not be a problem, at least under glass. Which species were you growing? In spite of what is sometimes said, I have found S. lutea (garden centre) more reliable than S. sicula - the latter varies according to clone. Having said that, one of my clones (from a John Marr coll.) which used to flower regularly no longer does so. Puzzling.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 29, 2012, 06:29:14 PM
Sternbergia sp.

S.sicula or S.lutea subsp.sicula or S.lutea. Take your pick

A gift from a kind forumist. This fine form from Corfu seems more willing to flower in my frame bed than some others.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: David Nicholson on September 29, 2012, 06:49:45 PM
David - I find this difficult to understand. In your part of the world they should not be a problem, at least under glass. Which species were you growing? In spite of what is sometimes said, I have found S. lutea (garden centre) more reliable than S. sicula - the latter varies according to clone. Having said that, one of my clones (from a John Marr coll.) which used to flower regularly no longer does so. Puzzling.

Gerry, I've had sicula under glass (sent to me by Anthony Darby in 2009) that never flowered and eventually wasted away and lutea in the garden in a number of plantings some of which rotted away whilst others made just a few squinny leaves. I think my Summers are just to wet for them.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: ashley on September 30, 2012, 10:09:51 AM
Very nice Gerry 8)
Like David, my experience has been disappointing and I am reluctantly inclined to write sternbergias off as 'too hard' under the cool, damp, overcast conditions that dominate our oceanic climate.  However at a talk here in Cork last week Paul Cutler, Head Gardener at Altamont Gardens (of snowdrop fame), showed sternbergias flowering abundantly in gravel at the base of a wall.  I understood this to be in his garden, presumably near Altamont SW of Dublin, therefore inland but not too different from my own conditions.  Yet again it shows how success with these plants depends on careful siting. 
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 30, 2012, 11:51:23 AM
My garden is about 2km from the sea & I think of it as being hot & dry. Although Sternbergias will survive & grow in the open garden they will not flower. So, all mine are under glass & even so the results are erratic - different clones vary in their willingness to flower, especially in a frame bed; results in pots are somewhat more consistent. Every year I'm surprised that Poul seems to get such good results in the open garden.

I can't make any kind of intelligent comment on Tony's suggestion that "they may only need a short burst of extreme heat to flower well" since I keep those I grow in pots as hot as possible for as long as possible & this seems to work (mostly). I suppose some degree of prolonged heat may kill the bulbs but, if so, I have yet to discover it.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 30, 2012, 12:03:28 PM
Sternbergia enthusists may be interested in these herbarium specimens from the Berlin Botanic Garden.
Specimens of S. greuteriana from Karpathos can be found here. They show no signs of stolons & the shape of the tepals seems somewhat variable, from acute to obtuse.

http://ww2.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/ (http://ww2.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/)

Enter the site & then enter the species name

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: tonyg on September 30, 2012, 01:20:49 PM
I can't make any kind of intelligent comment on Tony's suggestion that "they may only need a short burst of extreme heat to flower well" since I keep those I grow in pots as hot as possible for as long as possible & this seems to work (mostly). I suppose some degree of prolonged heat may kill the bulbs but, if so, I have yet to discover it.
I should have added that my sternbergias, several forms incl the JRMarr form, have in the past flowered well after cool wet summers here, but we usually get a burst of heat, as this year, even in a 'cool wet summer'.  Just an observation and a question as to what triggers flowering.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on September 30, 2012, 08:56:47 PM
Sternbergia greuteriana

Or: S.lutea subsp. greuteriana or S.lutea. Take your pick.

A recent gift from Melvyn; a CITES approved  collection from Crete (Omalos). This form is tiny (c. 4cm tall) much smaller than a plant, probably from Karpathos (c.7-8cm tall), which I posted in Sept. 09 & which is not doing well this year:

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=2940.105 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=2940.105)

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 01, 2012, 11:28:05 AM
My garden is about 2km from the sea & I think of it as being hot & dry. Although Sternbergias will survive & grow in the open garden they will not flower. So, all mine are under glass & even so the results are erratic - different clones vary in their willingness to flower, especially in a frame bed; results in pots are somewhat more consistent. Every year I'm surprised that Poul seems to get such good results in the open garden.

I can't make any kind of intelligent comment on Tony's suggestion that "they may only need a short burst of extreme heat to flower well" since I keep those I grow in pots as hot as possible for as long as possible & this seems to work (mostly). I suppose some degree of prolonged heat may kill the bulbs but, if so, I have yet to discover it.

In hope that I can share my success with Sternbergia in the open garden with other forum members, is here a description of the climate and my Sternbergia site:

The climate in Denmark is coastal temperate.
Rain: 722mm/year (187mm June-august)
Average temperature: June-august 15.6 C, dec-feb 0.7 C
Max/min temperature: august 30 C/feb -18 C

My garden is 5 km from the sea. I grow most of my Sternbergias in front of a wall facing south-west, see the following photos.
The sites very close to the wall is most successful:
Lutea1: Many flowers every year. Flowerbuds are just visible now. Increases well.
Sicula Dodona Gold1: Many flowers every year. Flowering almost over now. Increases well.
Greuteriana: Many flowers every year. Flowering starts now. Increases well.
As an experiment I have planted Sternbergia candida this summer here, hoping for the best!
(Here I also grow Narcissus romieuxii, which flowers reliably in December if not to cold).
 About 0.5 m from the wall:
Lutea2 (same clone as  lutea1): Occasional flowers and much later than 1. Leaves have just poken through the ground and are not visible at the photo. Slow increasing.
Sicula Dodona Gold2: 1-3 flowers, about 2 weeks later than 1. 2 buds visible now. Very slow increase.

The soil is sandy loam with good drainage.
Feeding: Potassium sulphate once in oct/nov, tomato fertiliser 1-2 times during growth period.

I hope this can help others to success with this wonderful species.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 01, 2012, 11:35:28 AM
Sternbergia enthusists may be interested in these herbarium specimens from the Berlin Botanic Garden.
Specimens of S. greuteriana from Karpathos can be found here. They show no signs of stolons & the shape of the tepals seems somewhat variable, from acute to obtuse.

http://ww2.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/ (http://ww2.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/)

Enter the site & then enter the species name

Interesting site, Gerry! The Sternbergia greuteriana in my previous post is from Karphathos.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 01, 2012, 12:17:09 PM
Poul - the details of your garden are very interesting. I see that your average summer temperature is quite low - lower than here - though you have a high in August. Maybe Tony is right & a short burst of heat is all that is required.  Perhaps your sandy soil helps? Does it get very dry? My soil is quite heavy & though I have added lots of grit it doesn't really dry out in summer.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 01, 2012, 02:44:42 PM
some sternbergias in flower today

general view
Stenbergia lutea Greece Kosmos
Sternbergia lutea Turkey Milas
Sternbergia sicula Selia Gorge Crete from Alan Edwards
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Melvyn Jope on October 01, 2012, 05:13:27 PM
Nice plants Tony.

Sternbergia lutea from seed collected Kythera April 1997.
S. greuteriana from Omalos, one bulb having two flowers on one scape.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 01, 2012, 10:30:10 PM
Thanks Poul ! Very interesting !
Very beautiful Gery ,Tony and Melvyn ! Much better then here with me .Under glas no flowers yet .In the rockgarden was lutea flowering today.
The flowers are 7 cm wide .
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 02, 2012, 07:39:34 AM
Poul - the details of your garden are very interesting. I see that your average summer temperature is quite low - lower than here - though you have a high in August. Maybe Tony is right & a short burst of heat is all that is required.  Perhaps your sandy soil helps? Does it get very dry? My soil is quite heavy & though I have added lots of grit it doesn't really dry out in summer.

Yes certainly my sandy soil is an advantage. It never gets too wet in the winter and dries out in the summer. During a 'normal' summer we have one or maybe two periods with low rain and then the soil gets very dry. But choosing the right clone is very important too. I have once tried a 'garden center' lutea close to the wall. In average it flowered every third year. Now I grow it under glass and it flowers reliable every year.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 02, 2012, 08:03:25 AM
Tony, what a nice Sternbergia corner you have in your glass house!
Gerry and Melvyn, a very interesting greuteriana. I like these tiny flowers.
Kris, nice to see lutea flowering in your garden!

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pontus on October 07, 2012, 07:55:07 PM
A bit of sun and warmth was all my sternbergias needed to finally get going here! :)

My best clump of sternbergia lutea ssp angustifolia has 38 flowers as I write. This clump has been in the same spot for almost 5 years in full sun and slightly clayish poor soil in full sun. The bulbs must be extremely crowded, but the ground is so hard and they are growing in between ground tiles which makes these bulbs hard to dig up. However, they dont seem to mind being crowded, and flower much more profusely than the bulbs I devided in june, dry stored over summer and then replanted...

also attatched is a slow growing but very nice form from greece with large flattened flowers and strange looking bulbs that are almost like a fattened small pear in shape. I wish this form cold make a nice clump like my angustifolias!

and finally, one of my favourites also just opened, the fabulous sternbergia clusiana, what a beauty!

Pontus
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 07, 2012, 08:52:27 PM
Pontus - very nice Sternbergias. It would be helpful if you identified the plants in the photos.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pontus on October 07, 2012, 10:07:45 PM
yes, i just noticed that my labels did not transfer when i exported the images to a new file for uploading on the forum, so here are the names :

First 2 images : sternbergia lutea ssp angustifolia
2nd 2 : sternbergia clusiana
next 2 : sternbergia lutea ex greece
last image : sternbergia lutea ssp angustifolia clump
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Maren on October 07, 2012, 10:08:14 PM
Hi,
I've just seen some Sternbergia lutea bulbs for sale at a garden centre. One or two were in flower in the packet.
Surely, these must be last year's bulbs that are being sold at the wrong time? What do you think?
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: mark smyth on October 07, 2012, 10:26:29 PM
Maren they are always in garden centres at this time of year
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Maren on October 08, 2012, 10:12:41 AM
Mark, my point is, if they are normally flowering around this time, should one not expect to buy them when they are dormant in the summer before they start making any growth? I wouldn't expect to buy tulip bulbs in April.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 08, 2012, 11:09:38 AM
Pontus, nice Sternbergias! Great to see clusiana in flower, a species which have not flowered for me yet.

A few more is flowering now:

Sternbergia greuteriana ex Karpathos
Sternbergia sicula Bisceglie
Sterbergia lutea ex Iran

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 08, 2012, 10:38:38 PM
Great show Pontus and Poul!
Green to envy , here not much happens ....
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pontus on October 09, 2012, 08:52:04 PM
thanks Kris and Poul, yes, its nice to have clusiana in flower. Its a shame that its so slow growing and does not really ever form any offsets!

I agree with you Maren, that sternbergias should only be sold from the end of june to perhaps the end of august at the latest, during their proper dormancy period, for planting in late summer and proper flowering at the right time.

But this is always a problem....maybe the dutch suppliers or garden centres do not want to spend extra shipping costs by having sternbergias sent separetely from all other bulbs....but i am always astounded to see autumn crocus and colchicum, as well as sternbergias being sold in october/november in garden centres, as you say, flowering in the bags, and in quite poor shape. Even some mail order companies only start sending out sternbergias in late august/early september, and autumn crocus by mid september, with long shoots, when these should be planted by mid august for best establishment.

i find that even "cold stored" autumn flowering bulbs planted late never do as well at least in their first season with me as autumn bulbs dry stored and planted at the correct time...
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Maren on October 10, 2012, 09:37:35 PM
Thank you, Pontus, I'm glad we are thinking along the same lines. :) :) :)
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Paul T on October 11, 2012, 08:45:40 AM
Maren,

They do the same here..... selling them with flowers already starting.  Same with Nerines, autumn crocus species etc as well.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: hadacekf on October 11, 2012, 08:28:00 PM
Sternbergia sicula  still flowering.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Oron Peri on October 12, 2012, 09:11:15 AM
This is such a rarity, i don't think a photo has ever been seen on the net before.
Sternbergia schubertii HKEP9819
Collected by E. Pasche & H. Kerndorf at Locus classicus back in 1998.
It has a tiny sessile flower smaller even than S. colchiciflora.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Melvyn Jope on October 12, 2012, 09:31:38 AM
Oron many thanks for showing Sterbergia schubertii, I have never seen an image of this interesting plant before.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Paul T on October 12, 2012, 11:49:47 AM
What a little cutie, Oron.  Thanks.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 12, 2012, 05:01:13 PM
Sternbergia greuteriana

Or: S. lutea subsp greuteriana, or  S. lutea

A gift  from Erna Frank & probably from a Manfred Koenen collection on Karpathos. This form is not stoloniferous.

Rather late this year.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on October 13, 2012, 07:23:44 AM
An interesting starry flower, I have not seen something extreme like this in reality! I think, one makes some selections in the field: I personally prefer bulbs with full big flowers, that clump naturally - so the strange starry ones are perhaps underrepresented in our collections!

Here are some very small flowers, originally from east Crete. Petal length about 2 cm!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Hans A. on October 13, 2012, 08:55:04 PM
Sternbergia schubertii HKEP9819
Oron thanks a lot for showing this beauty! It is the first time I see a picture of it.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 15, 2012, 09:44:01 AM
Oron, very nice to see a pic of schubertii. Do you have a pic of the leaves?
I wish you all luck growing it!

Herbert, I like your little cutie!

Some Sternbergias under glass:

Sternbergia greuteriana ex. Crete
Sternbergia greuteriana ex. Karpathos MK.0187
Sternbergia sicula graeca

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerdk on October 15, 2012, 04:59:09 PM
Oron, very nice to see a pic of schubertii. Do you have a pic of the leaves?

Excuse me for intervention - but having leaves on my plants (flowers would be superior)
I take the opportunity to show them.

Gerd
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Hans A. on October 15, 2012, 05:51:31 PM
Wow, did not expect this type of leaves, thought they would be more similar to S. colchiciflora.

Perhaps more for Snowdroplover than Sternbergiagrower: a green tipped S. sicula.   8) ;)
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 15, 2012, 10:23:41 PM
This is such a rarity, i don't think a photo has ever been seen on the net before.
Sternbergia schubertii HKEP9819
Collected by E. Pasche & H. Kerndorf at Locus classicus back in 1998.
It has a tiny sessile flower smaller even than S. colchiciflora.

Oron, many thanks for showing this rare and beautiful Sternbergia ! I had the opportunity to see this once on a picture in Germany and I am quit happy to see it back now on this great forum.... 
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 15, 2012, 10:26:36 PM
Wow, did not expect this type of leaves, thought they would be more similar to S. colchiciflora.
Perhaps more for Snowdroplover than Sternbergiagrower: a green tipped S. sicula.   8) ;)

Never seen that before Hans , it's what's happens with the new cultivars  of Eranthis.... 
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 16, 2012, 03:19:05 PM
First time flowering of Sternbergia clusiana for me. Very greenish coloured flower. I cannot get enough sun to make it open further.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 16, 2012, 04:30:28 PM
Very interesting Tony. How long have you had this? I've been waiting nearly 10 years for a flower.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 16, 2012, 04:33:19 PM
Gerry

two years,it must be my wonderful climate!!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 16, 2012, 06:11:38 PM
Tony - 10 years, it must be my poor cultivation!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 16, 2012, 06:41:16 PM
First time flowering of Sternbergia clusiana for me. Very greenish coloured flower. I cannot get enough sun to make it open further.

 :o :o :o :o :o :o
Wonderful Tony !!!!!  You lucky guy , congratulations !!!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Angelo Porcelli on October 18, 2012, 10:12:05 PM
These are always later than other lutea/sicula forms I grow.
This greuteriana is very fioriferous in spite of the small size of the flowers and from a single bulb is now a nice clump (4-5 years, I don't remember). Also, the clusiana are starting now, I have two different forms, which differ in the colour of the flowers, one is more egg-yellow, the other is more pale with a shade of green, but the also put leaves several weeks apart. The paler forms are from seeds got from Israel, the more yellow was originally from RP but without any locality (Turkey I guess). Anyway, the plants from Israel put leaves just after the flowering, the other form even in February.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Oron Peri on October 20, 2012, 01:07:46 PM
Wonderful plants from everyone,
Angelo, S. clusiana looks very healthy, nothing to do, this species needs to be grown in the ground!

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 21, 2012, 02:25:38 PM
Angelo that greenish clusiana is very similar in colour to mine.If I was to put it in the ground as Oron suggests it would need to be able to swim.

Here is Sternbergia greuteriana I received from Alan Edwards
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 21, 2012, 03:12:51 PM
Tony - interesting  to see Alan's S. greuteriana at last. It looks virtually identical to the one collected by Melvyn, also from Crete
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 21, 2012, 03:36:28 PM
Gerry I have both and yes  it is very similar. The one from Melvyn is struggling this year - no doubt poor cultivation!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Pauli on October 21, 2012, 05:41:26 PM
Hello,

Sternbergia greuteriana is said to have very long anthers. Judging from your photo Tony, there are two species in your pot!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 21, 2012, 06:38:08 PM
Hello,

Sternbergia greuteriana is said to have very long anthers. Judging from your photo Tony, there are two species in your pot!

Herbert

it may just show the futility of trying to describe species from a few specimens.

I doubt I am the recipient of a new species,perhaps natural variation.

In any case a number of people think they are all only variations on lutea!

 I feel a row coming on on the lines of the fritillaria thread.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 21, 2012, 08:05:17 PM
Hello,

Sternbergia greuteriana is said to have very long anthers. Judging from your photo Tony, there are two species in your pot!
Herbert - I have two forms of this supposed species (both posted somewhere above). One has long anthers & the other does not. Plants posted as S. greuteriana on the forum seem extremely variable in all characteristics.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 22, 2012, 11:44:54 AM
Despite off a very cold summer some of my Sternbergias performs well in the open garden. A bit later and with longer leaves than 'normal'

Sternbergia lutea 'Villa Carlotta'
Sternbergia sicula 'Dodona Gold'
Sternbergia greuteriana MK.0187

And a gem under glass: Sternbergia clusiana lutea

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Angelo Porcelli on October 22, 2012, 12:08:28 PM
Although I posted already S. greuteriana, I couldn't resist to show this photo taken yesterday.... over 40 flowers  8)

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on October 22, 2012, 12:51:38 PM
Very impressive Angelo.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Tony Willis on October 22, 2012, 06:13:35 PM
Very nice Angelo and even more so to be able to grow it outside.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 22, 2012, 07:13:04 PM
Angelo, you beat me with several length ;D
Wish I could grow Sternbergia like this!

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Oron Peri on October 22, 2012, 08:09:02 PM
Fantastic clump Angelo, thanks for showing it.

Poul,
 I'm afraid your last two photos are not clusiana, looks like lutea.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Melvyn Jope on October 23, 2012, 08:33:34 PM
A few images of Sternbergia lutea at Areopoli Southern Greece last week.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 23, 2012, 09:03:38 PM
Although I posted already S. greuteriana, I couldn't resist to show this photo taken yesterday.... over 40 flowers  8)

Great Angelo ! Maybe we have to move to the south .... ;D
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: ashley on October 23, 2012, 09:05:54 PM
A few images of Sternbergia lutea at Areopoli Southern Greece last week.

Stunning 8) 
Thanks for sharing them Melvyn.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 23, 2012, 09:08:24 PM
A few images of Sternbergia lutea at Areopoli Southern Greece last week.

Magnificent to see Melvyn ! That's the way I like them ....Would actually depart directly ...
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on October 24, 2012, 05:22:06 AM


Poul,
 I'm afraid your last two photos are not clusiana, looks like lutea.

Yes, you are right   :-[
I was a little suspicious too. At a closer look, now that the leaves are emerging it clearly shows that it is lutea. It is newly acquired bulbs, and I trusted the supplier. It is second time this week that I discover a wrongly named species from  two different suppliers!

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on October 28, 2012, 08:17:41 PM
I get this from a friend as Sternbergia colchiciflora ....but it isn't ...
I was thinking on Sternbergia greuteriana altough I never grow or see a greuteriana with such long flowerstalks ?  ???

Dear friends , any other opinion is welcome. Or a confirmation is also welcome ...
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on November 03, 2012, 07:26:24 PM
I get this from a friend as Sternbergia colchiciflora ....but it isn't ...
I was thinking on Sternbergia greuteriana altough I never grow or see a greuteriana with such long flowerstalks ?  ???

Dear friends , any other opinion is welcome. Or a confirmation is also welcome ...

Somebody with an idea ? 
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Hans A. on November 03, 2012, 07:32:50 PM
Certainly a desirable beauty, Kris! :o  - but no idea which species... ::)
Are the other similar?
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Gerry Webster on November 03, 2012, 08:53:03 PM
Somebody with an idea ?
Kris - S. greuteriana seems to be very variable so your plant may well be that species. Could the elongated scape be due to lack of light?
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on November 03, 2012, 09:03:12 PM
Certainly a desirable beauty, Kris! :o  - but no idea which species... ::)
Are the other similar?

Hello Hans thanks for your reaction  , got 3 bulbs from a friend and two are flowering .Almost the same...
My other greuteriana's does not form such long flowerstalks ...Maybe have to watch it next year ...
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on November 03, 2012, 09:05:46 PM
Kris - S. greuteriana seems to be very variable so your plant may well be that species. Could the elongated scape be due to lack of light?

Hi Gerry ,many thanks for your reaction to .That's what I tought to ... I don't think it's due the lack of light . Al this bulbs are growing in an unshaded glashouse with ful sun whole day long... 
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Ian Y on November 04, 2012, 11:05:56 AM
Kris

I have similar S. greuteriana which some years have longer scapes.
It seems that your flower stalk comes up at an angle typical of what I see in my S. greuteriana.

Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: krisderaeymaeker on November 04, 2012, 12:53:05 PM
Kris
I have similar S. greuteriana which some years have longer scapes.
It seems that your flower stalk comes up at an angle typical of what I see in my S. greuteriana.

Thanks Ian . Then we have already 3 votes for greuteriana . So I change my label into greuteriana in stead of colchiciflora .
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on November 13, 2012, 01:38:43 PM
Sternbergia lutea 'Villa Carlotta' has started flowering in the open garden. The flowering of this clump (placed 1 m from a wall) is delayed about one month compared to a clump of the same clone placed 5 cm from the same wall.
The advantage of this clone is that it doesn't need a hot bake to produce flowers.

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: ian mcenery on November 13, 2012, 11:07:47 PM
Interesting Poul I had given up with those outside after a terrible summer but this old clump outside still produced a few flowers

S lutea Autumn Gold
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Oron Peri on November 16, 2012, 01:28:34 PM
Observing Sternbergia schubertii, it can be clearly seen that the flower and the seed pod are sessil. Also this species is definitely stoloniferus as one can see.
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on November 17, 2012, 03:19:09 PM
Observing Sternbergia schubertii, it can be clearly seen that the flower and the seed pod are sessil. Also this species is definitely stoloniferus as one can see.

Very interesting Oron, I thought that greuteriana was the only stoloniferus Sternbergia.
God luck with the seeds!

Poul
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Angelo Porcelli on December 31, 2012, 09:14:59 AM
last shots for 2012, the first Sternbergia fischeriana 'green leaves' is opening at 27th Dec. I espext a great show of candida and fischeriana 'gray leaves' just the first week of January
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: Maggi Young on December 31, 2012, 11:54:53 AM

 I espext a great show of candida and fischeriana 'gray leaves' just the first week of January
Now that sounds like a really good New Year's gift for you to enjoy!
Title: Re: Sternbergia autumn 2012
Post by: pehe on January 05, 2013, 09:55:04 PM
A nice fischeriana, Angelo!

My first Sternbergia lutea this year is a survivor from 2012.
S. candida has just shown its nose.

Poul
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