Hi everyone-- I posted these as a link on another group-- but thought I'd put it out here too--I have had these for years and they have persisted inspite of all the abuse heaped on them. Hopefully some of you can help me put ID's on them since I want to acquire more--either buying them or trading for them but don't want duplicates.
Thanks in advance,
Tommie
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
OOPs-- this is Scilla violacea--not the photo I wanted
No. 5
Just for elimination purposes; Scilla pauciflora (top right) & Drimia maculata (bottom)
This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 1:47 PM
Gran ~ I hope you find definitive answers for these. I find the more I dig, the more confused I become. The names vascilate between Scilla, Drimiopsis, Drimia, Ledebouria... depending on the reference sources. I would like to know how to determine which of those these plants belong where.
Many are id'd as D. maculata. Maculata meaning "spotted" ~ go figure. The luteas have a yellowish tint to the leaves. There is a botyroides which means like a cluster of grapes... perhaps describing the bloom or seed clusters? Then there are the Kirkiis which are no doubt named after the person that originally id'd them. I have seen a few different Kirkiis. The photo below is a most gorgeous one. It has bloomed repeatedly this summer.
As far as id-ing them goes, I have
found they take on a different growth habit depending upon the amount of moisture, richness of soil, etc. That makes it difficult to provide the correct id by photos. Tell me what type of soil mixture you use and do you provide winter protection?
I do keep them indoors in a heated gh during the winter--night time temps approx 45°-55° --they are in the cooler area. The Drimia goes almost completely dormant. My potting mix is one I make myself using a peat based product to which I add perlite & vermiculite. I add 1.5 oz ea. biotone (5-5-5) and plantone (6-5-5) to approx 1.5 cubic feet of basic mix. To this I add1 part sand to 2 parts (basic mix) for my cacti and succulents. The name lutea is really familiar-- they were all tagged at one time and I think maybe #3 may be that one. If memory serves it seems that Ledbouria and Scilla are/were pretty much interchangeable-- but about the Drimia/Drimiopsis I am clueless. I stopped paying seriousattention to this (C&S) aspect of my hobby for about 10 years and much has changed!! Is your kirkii a large plant? #4 may be kirkii--that seems familiar too-- it is a much larger plant 8"-9" tall and doesn't offset as readily.
Number 4 looks like kirkii to me, also the reference photo of D. maculatum (the photo with the 3 plants) also looks like kirkii. Maculatum has more leafy looking leaves, you can see the actual petiole (stem) on them. It's also thin.
Kirkii has much more thick, fleshy leaves.
Here's my kirkii
Side view of Drimiopsis maculata
Close up of Drimiopsis maculata leaf
Drimia and Drimiopsis are one and the same best I can tell.
Your #4 does resemble the Drimiopsis kirkii. Yes, it is a large plant. This pot is 8 inches square and 5 inches deep.
I have this D. maculata which it long legged. The stems are 6 inches long or longer.
This is a better profile of the tall one... Gran hope you don't mind my posting photos.
I have the shorter D maculata too... Scuse the pollen.
Podster--post away!! LOL-- now I am more confused than ever ^_^ Here is the photo of the large kirkii (#4) and the small "kirkii"--(that still has the Drimia maculatus tag in it that it came with 15 years ago) they ARE quite similar except for the size--and the fact that the smaller one offsets readily. Neither has ever bloomed for me.
This is Scilla lutea? I love the posture of this plant!
Aha! Clear as mud! Now this was received as a Drimiopsis kirkii too but it sure doesn't favor the larger one.
This one was called a Scilla ~ leather leaf but it is almost identical to the D kirkii I posted above. I had some trouble with bulb rot on this one and just recently repotted. It is now in a small hanging basket.
Lakesidecallas-- my NOID #5 has petioles just like your Drimiopsis maculata-- the leaves are not as spotted this year--but think I have it in too much shade for good color. So what do you all think-- tag #5 Drimiopsis maculata, tag #4 D. kirkii and NOID my reference-- or is it a smaller form of D. kirkii?? Podster-- I will get a side view of the one I think is lutea--soon as the current deluge lets up
Deluge of photos? Sorry ~ lol
This one is spotted but a cowslip Lachenalia Rupert
And the common one Ledebouria Socialis Violacea or Scilla...
But this one was marked as Ledebouria socialis. It has tall bulbs growing on top of the soil with babies produced under the skin like a pregnant onion. I thought the standard Ledebouria socialis was like the violacea but not purple and I have one of those too.
LOl--not pictures--but huge rain drops--here is a side view of what I am now 99% sure is lutea (#3)--thanks for jogging my memory!!--I repotted that one last fall and remember the name--now-- but as you can see the tag has since broken off and the name part lost. I really like the form of this one too.
Podster-- the last pic you posted looks like my Scilla pauciflora (I had to run out and check)--it does the same thing with the baby bulbs
This is one of my favorites it is Scilla violacea "Select clone". also-- while I was battling skeeters to get the pauciflora pic-- I took another look at NOID#1--it has the thick leaves like the kirkii--but is half the size of the smaller kirkii--so gonna have to find out about those three. Somewhere to start at least!!
Here's the bulb of Drimiopsis maculata.
LakesideCallas ~ looking at your photos, I think I water mine too much. When the leaves/stems seem to droop and I water. Can they stand sunlight? I leave mine in high shade or bright light.
Gran ~ your Scilla violacea ~ Select clone is too cool. How'd they do that? LOL
This one was called a Ledebouria sp.
I've had these for EONS, and treated them like cactus, seldom watering them in the winter (they'd be down in the basement under lights). They'd lose their leaves but they'd always come back in the spring. Never did much, growth-wise. I had them in terra cotta pots.
A few years ago I took a pot and split it, I didn't have any cactus soil, so I used my regular mix, and put them in plastic pots. They just exploded! Now that I have a greenhouse, they stay green all winter and continue to grow. They really seem to appreciate more water podster, so I'd say you are doing fine. They are very tough little plants to survive the abuse mine used to go through- I just didn't know any better!
I have mine under some trees where they get morning light and afternoon shade. I'm sure they appreciate the high shade yours are in. Our yard is a little strange, just a hole cut out of the forest on a rocky ridge. It's really hard to find partial shade for plants, since we don't have any trees in the yard, just forest around us.
I think they will take more sun, but they don't like it that much, they seem to have less spots and droop quickly. The leaves seem to get darker green in a bit of shade, too. Not too much shade, though- they can get leggy!
Lakesidecallas-- we live in a little hole in the woods too--mine get some afternoon sun about 2-3 hours total , but not all at once. Like you I have had these forever-- at least 15 years--in that time they have been moved (4 times) neglected and ignored and one pot was even ran over by a delivery truck and have still persevered. Before we moved here- I did keep them in the shadier part of the Gh--this past winter they were on the west side of the GH and had pretty bright light. This is the first winter they didn't go absolutely dormant on me but this gh is smaller and was probably warmer than the others. They have had a lot of water this summer too since they are outside and we have had an inch of rain(or more) every week this summer. This time last year I was rationing water when our spring went dry- not a problem this year!! Ya gotta love 'em!!
LOL, Gran, we sound like the same kind of gardeners! I always warn people not to fuss over their favorite plants, but we take this to the extreme!
This is the person that got me "hooked" by giving me a start of D. maculata. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1036030/
Little did she know what a monster she created! LOL
We cleared a couple of acres in the middle of a mixed pine & hardwood forest. We did leave a few hardwoods in the yard for shade. Unfortunately, I think a couple trees are too close to the house but they work well to put these plants in their shade. I've trimmed the branches up and it is situated to receive morning sun which is better than evening sun in the south.
My husband's brother built the house, just cleared enough room for house, driveway, and septic. I took part of the driveway for my greenhouse. We have some big trees that are too close too.
Our little cabin was here ---just a dried in--when we bought it--we did have working commode & tub & only cold water to the kitchen sink--we are s--l--o--w--l--y finishing it out--our little clearing is about 150ft by 75ft--thanks(?) to last winters ice storm the woods around us aren't quite as thick.--sure was scary for a couple days tho when trees were falling all around us--only damage was to my internet satellite--knocked that rascal right off the pole!! Our power was out for 13 days and we were trapped back in here for 5--that is how long it took DH to cut us out from our end and our neighbor to cut in from the top. We bought the generator then;) I wouldn't trade it for anything tho!! I
Gosh sounds like you are a neighbor. Ice storms, trees crashing, extended power outages, generators. I am grateful for the generator but hate to listen to that noise. We don't run it at night and early morning, I would sit on the porch with coffee and listen to generators running all around us. Did you lose any plants while the power was out and it was freezing? Or do you use gas or wood heat in the greenhouse?
Our houses do sound very similar! We've been pretty lucky with the storms so far, and the winters haven't been bad the 3 years we've been here. At one time, my BIL was snowed in, without heat.
We do have a generator and a wood stove in the greenhouse. The only thing bad about the greenhouse is that it has big vents on the side with inflateable plastic that closes them. If the power goes out, there is a backup battery, but that only lasts about 2 hours and then we have to be on the generator. I'm always afraid of the power going off in the middle of the night and us sleeping through it all. Need some sort of alarm that tells us when the power goes off.
Gran, I bet you have lots of stored food now!
LOL Food was never a problem-- I always keep stocked up 'cos we can get stuck in here at any time for a number of reasons--road washes out etc. We are 2 miles off the highway and the nearest neighbor is 1 mile away. We were fortunate that our freezer is on the porch--it was below freezing at night so we didn't lose any food. The Gh is attached to the south side of the house, we heated it last winter by using one fan to force warm air out of the house- and another to blow the cool air back in-we heat with wood. While the power was out--every couple of hours during the night Dh would carry a bucket of coals out and put it in the floor--after the initial ice storm the weather was sunny so daytime wasn't a problem. I was just REALLY thankful that Dh was home-- he drives truck and is usually gone weeks at a time! We only ran the generator a little in the morning to catch the news and cool the fridge & freezer down and then in the evening to watch a little TV and once the satellite people came out-- to get online. We --well I am hoping to get a new woodstove this year and enlarge the GH and then this little potbelly will move out there. One thing for sure-- we have plenty of wood on the ground. here are some pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tommie.gillam/IceStorm2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2n6JXk87rvrgE#
Well you gals lost me. I have several of what ever you call them. Some of the bulbs are larger than that others, and because of your discussion I think I have L. maculatta? I lost the labels on most of them. I like them because they are low growing. The discussion is very interesting. Thanks, Norma
My goodness! Those ice storms sure are pretty, but so destructive! We haven't had any so far, knock wood, but DH's Mom up in Lexington, KY has had a few in the last few years that were really bad.
Norma, you'd better show us a photo! We'll get Podster to study up on her Ledobourias because I don't know anything about them...
