George B; "MISCHT" and Cowanii

I thought I was all done a few weeks ago with respect to bulb planting but then I came to the honest conclusion that my in ground bulbs are always a bit 'ho hum'. So I went out and got some other varieties that I have never had before:

- Corydalis GEORGE BAKER

- Scilla MISCHTSCHENKOANA

- Allium COWANII

I am hoping you have experience with any or all of these. Any comments on their performance for you?

Experience with the scilla is that it really is an early bloomer and looks best in clumps. They are generally up and blooming and gone before other plants have even sprouted. Ours don't seem to need full sun, but they are blooming before the trees above have leaves.

This past summer was my first year with those allium bulbs, planted last fall. We've grown Alliums for a long while, but none that were so short. All of the others, even the smaller ones have stalks that are at leas 18 inches high, and I was expecting blooms that were a "little more than insignificant" in the forest of summer flowers.

I can only tell you that the bulbs I ordered did not look like the photo in the online catalog. I can also tell you that with some exception you will find the best known alliums in all companies. When you get to the less known bulbs/plants, the growers/distributors become more creative with naming conventions. I have found this to be common with alliums, caladiums, coleus and begonias, and when gardeners post, asking for an ID, it is next to impossible to tell which is which. In addition, there are so many variables depending on soil, water and light conditions. It is also the case with other plants, as we often know what kind of peony we planted, but it looks like something else.

No experience with the Corydalis GEORGE BAKER, but it certainly looks vey pretty.

Wishing you good luck.
Marcia

Thanks very much cathy for the reply. I too have lots of the large ALLIUMS in our gardens but I was wanting to try something a bit less large'...more delicate and dainty.

(I am looking forward to doing this last bulb planting this weekend).

Last year I planted a lot of alliums and 100 Cowanii was among them. Knowing they bloomed in May I put them in with Siberian irises. The Cowanii bloomed May 15th and were gone by the time the Sib's bloomed two weeks later.

In the photo on the right you can spot the bulge in the Sib's stem as it waited to open.

I definitely like the taller, more noticeable, alliums.

Wonderful pictures pirl. I have lots of the much more substantial alliums...just looking for some different ones. For example a month ago I planted some of the late blooming ozawa alliums.

Flavum was my least favorite but the problem may have been with my placement, not the allium.

If you want something delicate and dainty (it also has the advantage of being incredibly cheap), I can recommend allium oreophyllum. They bloom at the same time as allium christophii. I plant them in clumps. I think that they are adorable.

This message was edited Oct 25, 2013 6:56 PM

The Allium caeruleum, which are supposed to be steel blue, are incredibly inexpensive. They are supposed to be planted 2 inches apart, about 3 inches deep. They are small, and so I think I will try them in a large container as well as inground, but won't mix them in with their tall siblings where they may be lost. They are supposed to bloom very late, so the few planted last year probably came up with little notice.

Considering that so many came in the Colorblends order (I screwed up the order), I am happy to share.
Marcia

Yes, carruleum is very demure and an easily get lost. I strumbled across a batch of them at my old house and brought them over. I sometimes pair the with other plants I will look at like Campanula Bernice. It's a lovely bulb. I bought more so I can put more of them together so that I don't miss their beauty.

http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/allium-caeruleum-blue-globe-onion.aspx

Cathy - just make sure you have good drainage for the caeruleum and all alliums. I've lost some I had in pots.

Pirl, that's an excellent point. Scott at Old House Gardens also noted that you musn't plant small bulbs too deeply, or that two can cause rot.

I like A. caeruleum, though I don't have quite enough sun to keep it increasing, and I plant it over tulip bulbs to discourage diggers. We'll see what comes up this spring. It blooms in early June and looks splendid as a lacy foreground flower in front of, say, apricot-peach groundcover roses.

Corydalis solida, the species, does beautifully here too. It speedily generates additional small tubers (right at the soil surface, easy to collect and transplant), and it didn't even blink at Sandy. This is the second time I'm trying 'Beth Evans', the pink form. The first time, I think I waited way too long to plant the tubers. This time I only waited a bit too long.

Scilla mischtschenkoana was fine in Boston. I keep getting confused as to whether it's distinguishable in the garden from Puschkinia. Maybe the Scilla is earlier-blooming?

How gorgeous, Rouge! Did you buy your corydallis locally or on line?
If on line, from where?

Thanks very much 'valal'. As I recall I bought them locally.

Corydalis solida 'Beth Evans' did wonderfully for me this year.