Tigridia durangense

[Roma]

This got me all excited yesterday.  Tigridia durangense dwarf form grown from seed from South West seeds, bought at Alpines 91.  I don't remember if I ever had more than one flowering size bulb.  I am just so pleased to have kept it all this time and to get flowers most years.  I used to keep it in a greenhouse at work but took it home when I retired.  Tigridias are easy to accommodate as they are dormant in winter and don't need heat then.  It has never set seed but I did attack the flower with a paint brush so here's hoping.  there ar usually 2 or 3 flowers per stem and there are 2 stems this year so there will be another chance.

[Paul T]

Roma,

It's a cute little thing isn't it?  I grow it as well (also never any seeds) but I often find it in flower before I realise it is even above ground, and on mine the flowers are only about 1cm wide.  Tiny, but fleeting. 

[Carlo]

Wonderful! Haven't seen this one before...

[Lesley Cox]

Very cute. That would explain why you never sent me any seed Paul.

[Paul T]

Never seen a seed.  The only Tigridia species I've had seed on was vanhouttei.

[Rogan]

My plants do set some seed - and now I will make sure that they set even more! They love my warm temperate climate (one of the few tigridias that do) and multiply well from year to year. I do agree, it is a fanatstic little plant - I also love its large cousin T. pavonius.

[Paul T]

Rogan,

Which species do you grow?

[Alessandro.marinello]

Roma 
Much beautiful and attractive

[David Nicholson]

Very nice indeed Roma.

[Lesley Cox]

Never seen a seed.  The only Tigridia species I've had seed on was vanhouttei.

Well that would be nice.

[Roma]

Thank you all for your kind comments. 
Paul, I think my flowers are larger than 1cm across.  Another should open tomorrow so will measure it then.
I also grow vanhouttei and three forms of pavonia.  I have tried seed of hallbergii and bicolor but have not germinated either.

[Ragged Robin]

Do you mean you bought the seed in 1991 Roma?  What a wonderful thing to wait so long for a flower like that - it's really lovely - no wonder you are so excited   

[Rogan]

Paul, as I've mentioned above I have great difficulty keeping most Tigridia spp. going for any length of time - the only ones that I have any success with are T. pavonia, T. vanhouttei, T. durangense and T. (Rigidella) orthantha (though the T. orthantha never flowers). It's a fascinating genus though, and I wish I could grow more of them.

Now, I've recently read that it is possible to hybridize Tigridia and Ferraria spp. (Luther Burbank - an early 20th century horticulturist) - the offspring must be really weird! Despite the article being reasonably authoritative, I can find no further reference to any of the hybrids that he may have produced - do they still exist? Did they ever exist??

Anyway here's a picyure of my T. durangense last summer:

[Paul T]

Rogan,

How big are your durangense?  I never realised there was a "dwarf form" until Roma posted her pics with that name at the beginning of this topic.  The one I have is VERY dwarf, while yours looks much larger.  While I love my tiny little form of it, I think I would like to source a larger form, that I am more likely to actually SEE in flower instead of only finding it after there have already been a few flowers that I missed.

Which pavonia colours do you grow?

The hybrid between Tigridia and Ferraria sounds quite fascinating.  Is this a reality though, or another of these folk-lore plants that appear in literature from time to time?

[Rogan]

Hello Paul, according to my records (sounds posh, doesn't it?) my flowers were 40mm in diameter with the tepals extended and 30mm with them reflexed - they are certainly much bigger than the 1cm Roma mentions above. I'll scratch around and see if I saved any seed from last season, as I think I may have done...

My Pavonias range in colour from the 'common red' through pink to yellow and white, spotted and/or unspotted. If I have to choose a favorite, then it has to be the common red which has nearly reached 'heirloom' status in my family as my great grandmother used to grow it in her garden many years ago - I still grow plants of the original stock which is extremely hardy (...by South African standards anyway).