Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Bulbs => Bulbs General => Topic started by: Hans J on September 01, 2010, 05:58:42 PM
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Hi all ,
after all this bad weather in August have we now again sun ....and I could take today some pics from my flowering Eucomis ( they are all very late in this year )
Eucomis autumnale
Eucomis X ex RB
Eucomis comosa 'Kilimanjaro'
..3 different sizes of Eucomis !
enjoy
Hans 8)
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Yes Hans they have been late this year, still, better late than never :D
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Hans:
How do you overwinter the Eucomis.
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Brian - I have the feeling that many species are not flowering in this year :-\
Arnold - they are in our cellar -my greenhouse is to cold
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Yes Hans, a few of mine will not flower this year. I think they were too late starting into growth. :-\
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I agree with you Brian !
they are to late into growth ...
I had no flowers in this year on my E.pole -evansii :'(
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Interesting none of my potted Eucomis have flowered. Only flowering one is planted out and stays there through winter.
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Here is Eucomis bicolor. Hardy here in Northern New Jersey. From Seneca Hills Perennials, now unfortunately closed
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Looking good, Arnold.
I've read the posts about "lost" nurseries on the PBS pages.... it's a sad story of some really great plant sources closing, isn't it? Sign of the times, I guess. :'(
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Some of the different Eucomis flowering at the moment, the bicolor is self-seeded in the garden, the rest pot grown. So we have
Eucomis bicolor
Eucomis comosa 'Cornwood'
Eucomis vandermewei 'Octopus' I'm told this should be pronounced van-der-mer-va can anyone confirm this please?
Eucomis pallidiflora
Eucomis 'Peace Candles'
Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' although this year the foliage is very pale
Eucomis 'Swazi Pride' - this was bought as 'Swazi Prince' but I think this is the correct name.
Eucomis 'Zeal Bronze' the last flowers just about over. Apologies this is actually pole-evansii
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Brian - :o my compliments !!!
to your question :
I suppose the correct name is E.vandermervei ....named after a person with the name : Van der Merve
Hans
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vandermerwei: for (1) Frederick Ziervogel Van der Merwe (1894-1968), South African medical inspector of schools in the Transvaal and Natal, plant collector particularly interested in Aloe and Scilla, also a collector of sheet music and compiler of a glossary of Afrikaans medical terms, and author of Mediese Woordeboek (1935) with J. Louw and Suid-Afrikaanse Musiekbibliografie (1958) (Euphorbia, Aloe, Eucomis) (Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa) or (2) N.J.S. Van der Merwe (fl. 1929) (Gladiolus, Drosanthemum) (Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names). The taxon Delosperma vandermerwei is a bit of a mystery since according to Aluka specimen records it was collected by both N. Van der Merwe in 1929 and F.Z. Van der Merwe in 1941 so I don't know which one it's named for..
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Thanks for the extra information Arnold, I'm still not entirely sure on the pronunciation. Hans I am pleased that you like them, there are quite a few that haven't flowered though :-[
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Thanks for the extra information Arnold, I'm still not entirely sure on the pronunciation. Hans I am pleased that you like them, there are quite a few that haven't flowered though :-[
there are quite a few that haven't flowered though ..... good grief, I think you already have more flowering than I knew existed!
'Zeal Bronze' looks to have a large flower spike and nice top-knot.... what sort of size is that?
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I think it's standing at about a metre from base of flowerpot to topknot Maggie, I will measure it tomorrow. There are many more
http://www.theafricangarden.com/page44.html
there are quite a number of newer hybrids and some are very nice!
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there are quite a few that haven't flowered though ..... good grief, I think you already have more flowering than I knew existed!
I had to grow something in the Summer to fill up the time I spend on snowdrops Maggi ;D ;D
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Brian - A great looking group of Eucomis.
We grew some seed with this code - HPSMAG95-452 3/96 in March 1996. It was from the Hardy Plant Society but I can't remember if the seed was from the British HPS, the Pennsylvania HPS or the Oregon HPS. In any event we grow four of them in the same pot and keep them separated by bamboo stakes. We have been meaning to assess them for years so now I know who to ask. Here are three of them.
The flowerheads are 11 inches tall excluding stem and top bits, the white one is 13 inches.
Your learned opinion appreciated. Be brutal as we need space.
johnw
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Firstly my apologies Maggi et al, the Eucomis marked 'Zeal Bronze' is actually E.pole-evansii - a victim of too many photos and me getting in a muddle over which label went with which photo ::)
So Maggi E. pole-evansii is 33" from soil to top and the inflorescence is 16" (if only they were all like that) it is still a youngish bulb and I think it can get much, much bigger! Out of interest I measured the others in the same way and their measurements are as follows:
Eucomis bicolor 19"/7" (the smallest it has been for a couple of years
Eucomis comosa 'Cornwood' 20"/11"
Eucomis vandermewei 'Octopus' 6"/4"
Eucomis pallidiflora 22"/9"
Eucomis 'Peace Candles'20"/10"
Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' 22"/10"
Eucomis 'Swazi Pride' 17"/7"
Hopefully still to come this year are E.zambesiaca, autumnalis subsp. clavata, autumnalis subsp. amaryllidifolia. The non flowerers are Joys purple, John Treasure, my false schijffi and Zeal Bronze.
I have also grown Eucomis regia from seed, this is a winter growing species and I wonder if I will ever get it to flower!
John I am no expert, I believe the best article is in Vol 55 of Herbertia (2000) but I have not yet got my hands on a copy of that. They look like they may be E.comosa hybrids but I am afraid your faith in my learned opinion is misplaced this time! I will try and track down Herbertia again but it always seems to be out of stock!
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Thanks, Brian. The measurements for the others are interesting too.... they can get to be chunky critters, can't they? :D
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Thanks, Brian. The measurements for the others are interesting too.... they can get to be chunky critters, can't they? :D
Indeed they can Maggi, the opposite to snowdrops ;D however, one of my favourites is the E.vandermewii 'Octopussy' which is nearly all flower.
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Brian - Actually not so concerned about the species or hybridity, more whether they are worth saving or are they just ho-hum.
johnw
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could somebody answer my question please,i was told by a friend that the easiest method of multiplying my named Eucomis was to detach a leaf and stick it in water,well i took a leaf of my E.joy's purple and as you can see from the photo there are small bulbs forming and even roots.So my question is in two parts really ,has anybody tried this method?and what should i do leave the leaf or pot it up?
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Dave:
Have a peak at the PBS ( Pacific Bulb Society) archives. I recall one of our members had written on this process for Eucomis. You can search the archives for the relevant message.
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Davey I would pot it in some gritty compost and give it a protective covering like a mini propagator, to keep it from drying out.
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Brian, you mentioned Eucomis 'Cornwood' and I wondered if you know anything about the plant's history. The reason I ask is that Cornwood is the next village to mine http://www.cornwood.village.org.uk/ and I wondered if there is any conection between village and plant?
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cheers for that Arnold and Brian.
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There are and have been in the past, South African rugby players, (and mighty good ones :() whose names were/are pronounced van der Merve-a but how they're spelt I don't know. I suspect the w is pronounced as a v anyway.
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Of course there were Lesley, thanks for the input.
David I really don't know where Cornwood originated, although I have an inkling that it was named by Avon bulbs.
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Brian, you mentioned Eucomis 'Cornwood' and I wondered if you know anything about the plant's history. The reason I ask is that Cornwood is the next village to mine http://www.cornwood.village.org.uk/ and I wondered if there is any conection between village and plant?
Indeed it has a connection David, I knew I had seen it somewhere, it was in The Garden September 2008 p585
"'Cornwood' was chosen by the late Peter Glover of the Cornwood Estate in Devon who loved white flowers. Its cream flowers have purple centres and several hundred are produced on each spike, providing nectar for bees and butterflies."
Looks like mine has a way to go. I had deliberately put this article to the back of my mind as it mentions quite a few varieties I don't grow. Yesterday I ordered more ::) ::)
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Thanks for that Brian.
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Hi Brian,
Are Eucomis vandermewei 'Octopussy' (or is it Octopus) and 'Sparkling Burgundy' likely to be hardy in a rock garden in Edinburgh?
Do they have the same 'fragrance' ;) that bicolour has?
Graham
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I think it's 'Octopus', Graham.
I'm trying them here in Aberdeen : the 'Sparkling Burgundy' hasn't flowered yet and gets a bit battered by the weather and the little E. vandermerwei is just opening its flowers and I can't get low enough to sniff 'em :-X They're only about 10 or 12 cms high and in the middle of a bed, nose won't reach - may be just as well :P
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................ nose won't reach .........
I thought it would! :P :P
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Well, my 'Octopus' smells just as bad as E. bicolor so it's a good thing the flowers are hard to reach ;).
Another small one that is hard to reach is Eucomis 'Leia' but it is very late to flower this year. I will sniff it when the buds open.
Eucomis 'Leia'
Eucomis 'Octopus'
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I think it's 'Octopus', Graham.
I'm trying them here in Aberdeen : the 'Sparkling Burgundy' hasn't flowered yet and gets a bit battered by the weather and the little E. vandermerwei is just opening its flowers and I can't get low enough to sniff 'em :-X They're only about 10 or 12 cms high and in the middle of a bed, nose won't reach - may be just as well :P
Thanks Maggi,
If they grow with you they should be ok for me. Just not sure about that smell. I now know what bicolour smells like and keep getting whiffs of it in the garden.
I must not have recognised it in past years and so disregarded it.
Another small one that is hard to reach is Eucomis 'Leia' but it is very late to flower this year. I will sniff it when the buds open.
Eucomis 'Leia'
Eucomis 'Octopus'
Gunilla you are braver than me. I would leave well alone
Graham
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Maggi do you give them a mulch during the winter, and how deep have you planted them?
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I was attracted by the photos in the article of the topknots and took some of my own:
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Maggi do you give them a mulch during the winter, and how deep have you planted them?
The 'Sparkling Burgundy' is pretty deep, about 30cms soil above the bulbs ( which were LARGE). The vandermerwei less deep because they're smaller, also they are in a more sheltered spot. Hadn't thought to mulch particularly, though the beds do get a winter mulch as a routine....but more to refresh the beds in January February than as a protective measure for the whole winter.
Nice top-knot pix ;)
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Thanks Maggi, I think if they are planted outside they have to be pretty deep to keep the bulbs from freezing. Alan Street talks about mulching their outside bulbs, the pot specimens are obviously not so deep ;)
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I confess I hadn't thought to give a special protective winter mulch - but I will this winter in the hope that it might give Sparkling Burgundy a boost.
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Eucomis 'Leia' has finally started to open its flowers and the scent is not unpleasant :)
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She is sweet Gunilla, how tall is she?
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It's a small one only 25 -30 cm tall.
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Thanks Gunilla that explains it , the short ones seem to have the best red colours, probably from E. vandermewii parentage.
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new pics from today :
Eucomis 'First Red'
8)
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Nice one Hans, it has a very loose coma which is quite attractive. One that I have on order :D