Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Amaryllidaceae => Topic started by: grenadier on February 19, 2019, 08:22:16 PM
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Just purchased my first ever Nerine bulbs and would appreciate some advice. I intend growing in 12 inch terracotta pots and would like to know how many Nerine bulbs to plant per 12 inch pot. I am also confused by conflicting advice regards to planting these bulbs, some say they should be planted below soil levels others say the top half of the bulb should be above soil level, is there a right or wrong way?. I would appreciate advice. :)
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I have 2 pots with Nerine Bowdenii growing undisturbed since probably more than 20 years. The only thing I did some years ago was to put the clumps in larger pots.
The bulbs are even less than half in the soil. The pots are very crowded, but the larger bulbs flower reliably every year, I guess spacing is not important for Nerines. They don't make many offsets, although this process has been speeded up a couple of years ago when my Nerines were in the greenhouse and received just a gentle kiss of frost (probably only -1°C). The leaves were burned by the frost, but the bulbs resprouted and since then make more efforts to propagate themselves through offsets.
These Nerines don't need a lot of direct sun, they actually do better with some protection from the strongest sun. I grow them in the shade of my tomato or bell pepper plants.
The only pest that really is a problem on my Nerines are snails that will graze off all the leaves (as they also eat the leaves of my crinum, sprekelia & hippeastrum) - if you grow these outside try to find a spot where there are only few snails (for me that is the part of the garden where my cats don't come too often so that birds dare to land and eat snails).
In winter I keep them cool & completely dry on the windowsill of an unheated room. My Nerines seem to be exceptions, but with this winter treatment the seeds stay on the stalks until spring without starting to germinate (yet, the stalks dry out completely over winter), so I can always have a spring sowing of Nerines :-)
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Forgot that I also have anther Nerine at home : Nerine krigei. This one has it's bulb completely under the ground, the nose is about 1 cm below the surface. Some years ago the bulb has divided in two, but doesn't seem to produce offsets. But it's a heavy seeder.
This one loves more sun & heat than my Bowdenii's, flowers in early summer and the seeds mature shortly after and must be sown immediately. Germination was excellent for me. I kept the seedlings in their first winter in the same room as my Bowdenii's with some light, but if I remember well they also went dormant later and let their leaves dry out. Due to some 'neglect' the seedlings are however still very small now. Something to put on my to-do list that I need to have look at them this spring.
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=4426.msg311618#msg311618 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=4426.msg311618#msg311618)
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6490.msg313924#msg313924 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6490.msg313924#msg313924)
This Nerine goes dormant quite early and I keep it in the basement during winter (depending on how cold the winter is the temps must be somewhere between 5 & 10 °C there)
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Thank you Francois for your very helpful reply, It was interesting to know that you grow your Nerines in pots very successfully. As this is my first attempt at growing Nerines I will stick with N.Bowdenii to start with and if I am successful with them I will try some of the more difficult ones. Do you know if the depth of the pot is important for growing N,Bowdenii in, I have several clay pots with 30cm diameters some deeper than others so wondered which would be best. I purchased mine advertised as flowering bulbs I don’t know if I will be lucky enough to get flowers this coming season or not. Once again thank you for your help.
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Hello Grenadier,
I never thought of the depth of the pot, as with larger diameter also come deeper pots and I started in rather large pots immediately. And I can't remember where the roots were when I repotted them. The pots they are growing in are something like 23 - 25 cm deep.
Nerine Bowdenii plants have lots of similarity with crinum & hippeastrum (there is even a hybrid between Nerine & Crinum I think), so i think Nerine Bowdenii bulbs will send their roots deep in the soil, so that deep pots are better suited.
Unfortunately, deep pots with a not too big diameter are more & more difficult to find nowadays
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Thanks Francois I have pots of the sort of depth you mentioned so will pot them into those. I thought I had heard somewhere they like a fairly deep pot but you have confirmed that to be right. Many thanks for your help much appreciated. :D
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Grenadier, take a look here http://www.nerineandamaryllidsociety.co.uk/ (http://www.nerineandamaryllidsociety.co.uk/)
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:D Thanks for that info John I did’nt realise that a society exsisted for Nerine, I will apply for membership.
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This is the first flowering of a seedling from the old hybrid 'Ariel'.
It seems to have developed a bit of purple in the petal colour!
cheers
fermi
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Years ago I made a cross between Nerine rosea and Nerine fothergilla "Major" (now lumped into N. sarniensis).
This is the second seedling to flower and combines the attributes of both parents
cheers
fermi
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A couple of nerine hybrids we got from Peter Genat a number of years ago.
The first is unnamed red with a white centre.
The second is 'Afterglow', I'm not sure if it is his own raising
cheers
fermi
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Lovely nerines Fermi 8)
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This is Nerine laticoma in bloom. I got this bulb from Welland Cowley of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 19 years ago. In summer, I have these bulbs outdoors in a lath house -- you can see the shadows from the overhead lath in the photos. In winter, the pots sit inside a greenhouse, under the benches, and mostly quite dry, from October until May. Welland's collection of laticoma had rather wide leaves, but laticoma from other growers often had narrower leaves than this one does. This one has leaves 20 mm (0.8 inch) wide, peduncle (scape) about 55 cm (about 22 inches) long, and flowers with petals spread 53 mm (about 2 inches) across.
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Jim
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Now comes the hybrid Nerine (bowdenii wellsii x krigei), my #1528. After 17 years of growing, I have one mother bulb with a single offset, and finally one very tall scape. The original cross was made in September of 2002. The flower looks sort like a large size of krigei flower. The leaves are not twisted, like krigei leaves, but they are significantly narrower than those of bowdenii, and even narrower that those of krigei. I don't have any Nerine pollen fresh to test its fertility with.
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Jim
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I have two more hybrids of Nerine here, N. (filifolia x bowdenii wellsii) my #1529; and not yet in bloom, N. (filifolia x krigei), my #1352.
All of these bowdenii and filifolia hybrids seem to have channeled (U-shaped x-sections) foliage. The flowers seem very similar, one cross just have slightly larger or smaller flowers.
This is Nerine (filifolia x bowdenii wellsii)
[attach=1]
Jim
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Nerine Sarensis
E.cator
Dingaan
Rygel
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"sarniensis" ?
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Thanks David !
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Nerine bowdonii ssp. wellsii flowers extraordinary well this season
Gerd
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Nerine bowdonii ssp. wellsii flowers extraordinary well this season
Gerd
How often do you re-pot it, Gerd?
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Maggi,
Every 3 to 5 years - this seems to work fine!
Gerd
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Thank you, Gerd - yes, it looks to be very successful!
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I got these bulbs from Will Ashburner a lot of years ago, in 1998, as seeds. Initially we called them Nerine filifolia, but more recently I started calling them Nerine filamentosa. I see that Graham Duncan does not use that name in his recent book, "The Amaryllidaceae of Southern Africa" and these bulbs seem to me to resemble the flower form of Nerine macmasteri, in that the rolled-back petals and sepals extend no more than about half the overall length of the filaments and style. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families at Kew < https://wcsp.science.kew.org/qsearch.do > considers it valid,
Nerine filamentosa W.F.Barker, Fl. Pl. South Africa 15: t. 569 (1935).
and
Nerine macmasteri G.D.Duncan, Amaryllidaceae S. Africa: 548 (2016).
[attach=1] [attach=2] [attach=3]
It is clearly different from Nerine filifolia, which I have and which is just starting to open its first flower buds. Might these bulbs be N. macmasteri?
Jim
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This is another dwarf Nerine species that came to me under a mistaken name. It was labeled Nerine gibsonii, which it sadly is not. I am calling it Nerine angustifolia at the present, and it seems to look closer to that species than to any other.
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My physical measurements for this plant are as follows:
Leaves: 4 to 10 in number; 1 - 2 mm wide; 30 - 40 cm long;
Flowers:
Peduncle ht. 17 - 19 cm;
Pedicels 17 - 20- mm long;
Flowers 3 to 10 per umbel;
Petal width 2 - 4 mm
Diameter 25 - 30 mm (petals tip to tip)
My garden name for this accession, which I got in 2002 from Den Wilson, is "Den's Dwarf."
Jim
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Nerine filifolia
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I've struggled without success with Nerines for quite a few years and then a couple of years ago a friend gave me a few bulbs and I bought a few more on a visit to the local National Collection holder. Some from the garden today in a short period without rain this morning before the heavens opened again. The first picture also shows a healthy clump of dandelions (now removed).
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Nerine bowdenii is blooming, and the first variety to bloom this year is "Koen's Hardy" from a cut flower nursery in the Netherlands. This one is hardy outdoors over winter in Mr. Koen's fields, if he does not want to dig them in early winter after flowering. I tried them outdoors in the field here in central Indiana a couple of winters, and I had about an 80-90% loss each winter. Now I grow them in pots and they spend the winters inside a greenhouse. That's where they are now, and blooming. My #1425.
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Jim
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A seedling in flower this week, "Nerine 1st Seedlings / largest bulbs SPS-X19". Not bad for a first flowering, 11 flowers in an umbel. Perhaps it will improve.
johnw
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Very pretty flower colour, John.
Ian had the pleasure of a visit to the Exbury Nerine collection last week .... see some photos in this Bulb Log :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Oct301572435609BULB_LOG_4419.pdf (http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Oct301572435609BULB_LOG_4419.pdf)
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Going into the 11th week of Nerine flowerings. Today 2 notable ones from seed, the first is Nerine PS-09-14 ['David Lionel' x ('Bagdad' x 'Pantaloon')-25519a], a very strong hot orange with 12 flowers in the umbel at first flowering - a lot of promise in this one. This photo is the closest to its true colour and then really only in the flowers at the very bottom of the shot, seems to be highly reflective.
The second is from the first seed lot Sir Peter Smithers sent me in 1992, it has consistently flowered with 10 flowers per stem. It's a very soft salmon with very good sparkling.
Our first frost tonight will end the magificent autumn colours about. (it appears the dusting of snow - now gone - did not disrupt the dispays on Enkianthus and Acer palmatums!)
john
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A few Nerines in flower today:
Nerine undulata
Nerine flexuosa 'Alba'
Nerine - Grey-Mauve ex Sir Peter Smithers - GM#
and finally Nerine PS-09-07 ['David Lionel' x ('Bagdad' x 'Pantaloon')-25519a] who has been acting up colourwise the past few years.
johnw
10c & rain
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That last one is quite astonishing John :o
Your flexuosa 'Alba' is lovely too.
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I agree with Ashley's comment about that last one - very lovely!
A few of mine;
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Nerine bowdenii 'Lipstick' - one of the new Dutch bowdenii forms and I am very impressed; good sturdy stems and large and very long lasting flowers.
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'Mister John'
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N. sarniensis 'Uganda' my camera is recording this as too pink, it is much more of a deep mauve in real life.
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N. sarniensis 'Smokey Special', again the camera (and lack of sunshine) is not doing this justice.
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Thanks Ashely and Gail, I finally got an offset this year, as you might guess there's a waiting list. Gail - Those are very nice, 'Uganda' is a unique colour and l can only hope 'Lipstick' appears in the garden centres here soon. I think N. bowdenii 'Isabel' is a fine vigorous selection which bulks up quickly. An old photo from 2017. johnw
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Very nice Gail. Are those bowdenii forms fully hardy?
I had sarniensis 'Blue Magic' flower for the first time but in a murky 'bruised' shade which I hope improves in future years.
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I've only got straight bowdenii and 'Alba' planted out as yet, so can't say from experience. I bought the 'Lipstick' from the Nerine and Amaryllid Society; they report that it seems to be the best of the new varieties and anticipate it being a good garden plant.
I bought a sarniensis 'Blue Magic' but it has not flowered for me yet - I await with interest...
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I finally got an offset this year, as you might guess there's a waiting list. . johnw
John, I hope you name your dark purple one before you distribute it.
Diane
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Nerine bowdenii is blooming, and the first variety to bloom this year is "Koen's Hardy" from a cut flower nursery in the Netherlands. This one is hardy outdoors over winter in Mr. Koen's fields, if he does not want to dig them in early winter after flowering. I tried them outdoors in the field here in central Indiana a couple of winters, and I had about an 80-90% loss each winter. Now I grow them in pots and they spend the winters inside a greenhouse. That's where they are now, and blooming. My #1425.
Jim
here is Koen's Hardy" blooming on 25 November (1 month after Jim's plant), 4 hrs to the south of Jim.
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Flowering in the glasshouse Nerine 'Elegance'
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