Nerine 2015

[johnstephen29]

I have recently acquired some bulbs of species Nerine, I already had N. Bowdenii and N. Undulata. I have managed to get a bulb of N. Bowdenii Alba, a few small bulbils of N.masoniorum from the seed exchange as well as a larger bulb and one each of N. angustifolia, N. Falcata, N. filifolia, N. gracilis, N. krigei and N. sarniensis. The bowdenii alba and sarniensis are good size bulbs, but the others are tiny, about the size of galanthus bulb, the foliage is grass like. hopfully I can get them to flower later in the year.

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

image by John Stephen Lavin, on Flickr

[pontus]

Nice selection of sp John,

i find filifolia easy and floweres every year once established, even from offsets, however. nerine falcata is one of the slowest growing bulbs i have ever had, with nerine huttonniae,

hopefully they will eventually bloom with you.

do you also grow nerine zeal giant?

Pontus

[johnw]

Speaking of Nerines, Nerine bowdenii 'Pink Surprise' bulbs survived our wretched winter here and surfaced a few weeks ago.  N. bowdenii ssp. wellsii just poked through about a week ago.  All are near the house foundation but 3 years ago we had the basement insulated with foam so we assumed we could very well lose the lot.  The PS flowers in November which is dicey here so hopefully the ssp. wellsii will do as promised and flower much earlier; we may well have to water to kick start them.

johnw

[johnstephen29]

Hi Pontus thanks, I have never heard of N.zeal giant, is it a variety of a species? Goodluck with your nerine said john, I hope they do ok for you.

[fermi de Sousa]

Nerines are a great genus to get into, John, especially if you can spare the room in the glasshouse!
The season should be over down here but a stray dwarf one in the garden has produced a bloom.
We got this originally as Nerine filifolia but the leaf isn'y fine enough!
cheers
fermi

[David Nicholson]

Hi Pontus thanks, I have never heard of N.zeal giant, is it a variety of a species? Goodluck with your nerine said john, I hope they do ok for you.

John,

http://johngrimshawsgardendiary.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/not-only-pink-part-4-nerine-hybrids.html

[johnstephen29]

It's a great looking plant all the same fermi, have you tried looking on eBay for n. Filifolia  I got these plants from a seller in Bulgaria for a good price? Can you bring bulbs into your country?

[johnstephen29]

Thanks for the link david it looks a great plant

[fermi de Sousa]

It's a great looking plant all the same fermi, have you tried looking on eBay for n. Filifolia  I got these plants from a seller in Bulgaria for a good price? Can you bring bulbs into your country?

Hi John,
I got the true Nerine filifolia from a friend recently.
Importing bulbs from outside Australia is extremely expensive and time consuming so not something many individuals undertake.
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Nerines are a great genus to get into, John, especially if you can spare the room in the glasshouse!
The season should be over down here but a stray dwarf one in the garden has produced a bloom.
We got this originally as Nerine filifolia but the leaf isn'y fine enough!
cheers
fermi

Fermi,

It does not appear as if you are growing your Nerines in a glasshouse. In general, how cold hardy are they for you? I know that it can vary as per species and variety. You are right, something worth getting into!    especially here in the milder parts of California.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Robert,
In much of Southern Australia nerines can be grown outdoors but in areas like ours where we can get "severe" frosts (well, severe for us!) down to -7 ^oC the foliage will be damaged and next year's flowering will be affected. Some species such as Nerine rosea, N. flexuosa alba, N. fothergila "Major" don't need protection but a lot of the N. sarniensis hybrids get "burnt" by frost so I keep some in the shadehouse,
cheers
fermi

[Robert]

Fermi,

I appreciate the good information. Our low temperatures here at the farm are very similar to yours, except I think we are a bit colder (we get -7c every winter). Providing protection with row cover and plastic when necessary seems like it might work well for us. Then we have our small garden in the Central Valley where temperatures are much more mild (we have avocados and citrus). Nerines seem like a winner down there!

Thanks!

[fermi de Sousa]

The season should be over down here but a stray dwarf one in the garden has produced a bloom.

I did forget that we do have a couple of winter flowering varieties in our garden!
This one is supposedly Nerine crispa but I think that has been subsumed into Nerine undulata
Not the best pic as I keep this one in the shadehouse - and the first flowers are already fading,
cheers
fermi

[johnstephen29]

Hi fermi its N. Undulate crispa if my memory serves me right, great looking nerine. It does well for you by the look of your pic.

[fermi de Sousa]

Thanks, John,
it looks better when it can be grown in the open!
We visited a friend in Macedon which has a milder climate despite sometimes getting snow!
She has a lot of nerines still in flower so here's
Nerine undulata "crispa",
what is possibly N. flexuosa/undulata
N. flexuosa "alba" x 2
a N. sarniensis hybrid
cheers
fermi