South American bulbs 2020

[Rimmer de Vries]

Does Eithea blumenavium cross with anything?

[ArnoldT]

This is more the type.

Leucocoryne vittata

[Rob-Rah]

Paramongaia weberbaueri - this bulb's first flowering: I think the flowers will be bigger next year. A very sweet scent of nothing in particular. Just sweet.

[Gail]

Paramongaia weberbaueri - this bulb's first flowering: I think the flowers will be bigger next year. A very sweet scent of nothing in particular. Just sweet.

Wow, oh wow! That is lovely! How long to flowering? Have you grown it from seed?

[Rob-Rah]

No - it was from an offset bulb 2 years ago

[Steve Garvie]

Very nice!

Mine are still dormant having grown through Spring/Summer; they only died back in early December. I’ve never yet flowered this species. I started off with one but now have about six -they seem to put their effort into making new bulbs .....but I’ve yet to see a flower. 

Perhaps I don’t keep them warm enough or maybe I should try switching them to a winter growth regime with dormancy and a baking in the Summer??   

[Rob-Rah]

Do you know if yours is the "winter" or "summer" growing version?

This one dies back in summer and gets its first water in around Dec, and starts into grow in Jan-ish. I understand that it's the "winter" one.

[majallison]

I find Paramongaia is not willing to please; I have a bulb of the summer-growing form which flowered a couple of times for me in the summer but then decided determinedly to come into growth in November, so it's in full growth when light levels are lowest: no flowers for about 3 years now....

[Gail]

Have you come across any picture of Paramongaia in the wild?
I was looking at the photos of wild Ismene amancaes on the Pacific Bulb Society site (https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Ismene) and wondered if Paramongaia is similarly plentiful anywhere??
(And does anyone fancy a plant tour to Lima in June/July one year!)

[majallison]

Very excited that Eucrosia 'Harry Hay's hybrid' (I think the parentage is mirabilis x aurantiaca) is coming into flower... It was a kind gift from a forumist a couple of years ago... it's winter deciduous, but the leaves are very imposing, wider than they are long.

[majallison]

Have you come across any picture of Paramongaia in the wild?
I was looking at the photos of wild Ismene amancaes on the Pacific Bulb Society site (https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Ismene) and wondered if Paramongaia is similarly plentiful anywhere??
(And does anyone fancy a plant tour to Lima in June/July one year!)

I think I came across some research that stated that there were half a dozen or more populations of Paramongaia & that in limited areas it's quite abundant & local people pick the flowers to sell to tourists... will see if I can find the info, I think it might have been in Spanish (one of many languages I do not speak. Or read.)

[Steve Garvie]

Do you know if yours is the "winter" or "summer" growing version?

This one dies back in summer and gets its first water in around Dec, and starts into grow in Jan-ish. I understand that it's the "winter" one.

Mine usually starts into growth in early May and goes dormant in December.

[Gail]

You can access Brian Mathew's 1997 Curtis's Botanical Magazine article on Paramongaia here;
https://www.jstor.org/stable/45065245?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

[Steve Garvie]

Thanks Gail.
I think I’m keeping my plants too cold over their winter dormancy. I will try storing indoors for 12 weeks at >15°C from December to March.

[majallison]

Eucrosia 'Harry Hay's hybrid'... a couple of days later & the stamens have unfurled, it really is remarkable...