Friday 16 November 2018
Next Meeting: 28th November 2018 – Begonias
At our next meeting on Wednesday 28th November, we will be looking at many types of tuberous begonias.
Tuesday 28 August 2018
Sunday 26 August 2018
September Meeting
The Society September meeting has been cancelled as the Council will be renovating the Horticultural Centre.
In its place we will have a members garden visit.
Wednesday 8 August 2018
Next Meeting: Wed 22nd August – Bulbs of South America
Our next meeting will be on the Bulbs of South America. You are very welcome to come along and join us.
The Wild Tulips in Iran
The wild tulips in Iran: seeing how they would be kept cold and relatively dry under a blanket of winter snow explains how even modern hybrid tulips benefit from time in the crisper or a refrigerator before fairly late planting. Although we tend to plant bulb seed in autumn, for those bulbs which are covered by snow it seems very unlikely that in the wild they would germinate in autumn only to be cut down very soon afterwards. If in doubt, it may pay to plant half one’s seed in autumn, and keep the other half in the crisper, and then sow in late winter. I was able to get some narcissus seed to germinate following the latter process.
I may also order some puschkinia seed and put them in the crisper before sowing. In Iran, the puschkinia was flowering just below the snow melt. There may well be other bulbs that would do better with a spell in the crisper: one would need to check their origins on the internet before experimenting. Also, I suspect that many of the bulbs in Iran would be relatively deep in the soil, to protect them from overheating during the long, hot summer. It may pay to experiment with depth of planting to see if any difference emerges.
G.C.
Thursday 12 July 2018
Next Meeting - 25th July 2018
Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 25th July. Topics as follows:
- AGM
- Iran – Flora and Bulbs in the Wilds
Sunday 1 July 2018
Bulbs flowering now
Oxalis Hirta...https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalis
Cyclamen Coum...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclamen_coum
Narcissus bulbocodium...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_bulbocodium
Saturday 2 June 2018
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Next Meeting - 27th June 2018 - Massonias and Daubenyas
Come join us at out next meeting on 27th June....when the topic will be Massonias and Daubenyas.
Growing Cyclamen
Seedlings growing in polystyrene pots can be left a few years until they are large...
Seedlings growing in a pot around the main plant...
Cyclamen come with many leaf variations...
And some of our members specimens in pots...
Friday 4 May 2018
Next Meeting - 23rd May - Cyclamens
For our next meeting on 23rd May 2018, we have a speaker on Cyclamens...
Monday 9 April 2018
Next Meeting - Wed 25th April - Mini Daffodil Challenge
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 25th April and the topic is "Mini Daffodil Challenge"....please feel free to come and join us.
Thursday 5 April 2018
Monday 26 March 2018
Haemanthus Blog
Haemanthus
Early Autumn in Victoria is the time that
most growers of this genus of 22 species of bulbs from southern Africa,
including South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, associate with. The majority of the species are summer
dormant and seem to respond to seasonal changes such as late summer storms,
cooler nights and perhaps shorter daylight hours by sending up their unique
candle like spikes of flowers encased in a usually wax like cluster of red spathal
bracts, resembling a paint brush, hence one of the common names of Paint Brush
Lily. Flowers are soon followed by
usually fleshy large leaves which remain until dormancy again commences in late
spring. This description typifies the form
and habit of perhaps the most commonly grown species and certainly the one with
the widest distribution in the wild, Haemanthus coccineus. There are numerous forms of Haemanthus
coccineus grown, most of them differentiated and identified by the collection
locality eg Napier form, Knersvlakte form, Colchester form, etc. There are also some interesting colour
variations of the forms we grow in our gardens.
Haemanthus Humilis, Lanceifolius, Montanus & Barkerae
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| Haemanthus humilis King William Town Dwarf |
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| Haemanthus humilis King William Town Dwarf |
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| Haemanthus humilis Quanti form showing the large but squat leaves |
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| Haemanthus humilis Quanti form showing the large but squat leaves |
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| Haemanthus Lanceifolius |
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| Haemanthus Montanus |
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| Haemanthus Montanus |
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| Haemanthus barkerae |
Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus
Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus showing various
aspects of the plant: hirsute = hairy!
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| Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus |
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| Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus |
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| Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus |
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| Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus |
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| Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus |
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| Haemanthus humilis ssp hirsutus |
Haemanthus coccineus
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| Haemanthus coccineus |
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| Haemanthus coccineus |
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| Haemanthus coccineus |
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| Haemanthus coccineus |
Tuesday 13 March 2018
Next Meeting - 28th March 2018
Our meeting on 28th March 2018 will be about Cyclamen.
Please feel free to come along!
Sunday 11 March 2018
February 2018 Show Bench and Auction Results
Our meeting on Wednesday 28th February included a very successful auction of 30+ species of bulbs.
As the weather has been hot and dry, the show bench was down on plant displays. Haemanthus are flowering and Nerines are just beginning to flower.
As the weather has been hot and dry, the show bench was down on plant displays. Haemanthus are flowering and Nerines are just beginning to flower.
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| Belladonna Hybrid |
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| Eucomis Zambesiaca |
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| Haemanthus Humilis |
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| Haemanthus |
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| Nerine Fothergilli Mayor |
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