Some interesting species bulbs

"Your lilies are indeed perplexing. I wonder what they will do next season."

What more can I say?

I received a reply to the email I sent to the seller, as follows

"Hi Janet,sorry i have been working away in the south of ireland.Yes i think you are right it looks like that one.I can't imagine why anyone would think the perfume was horrible though,i think it's lovely.
The only thing i can tell you about the bulbs is that they seem to grow at an amazing rate and the babies if you like, grow all around the main centre clump,hence i either break them off or cut them but they seem to grow anywhere i put them,i even have them growing in clay.
I have tried planting them a bit deeper,however they seem to push up to the surface as if that's how they want to grow.
I still have my local garden centre trying to source them but they said they wont know until they see the flower.
Many thanks for the info janet if i hear anything from the garden centre i will let you know. "

That explains why the base is on the edge and cut, overcrowded and cut off! I wonder if they grow quickly because the conditions suit it in Ireland, plenty of rain in Ireland and a little warmer, as well as fertile soil. In clay with plenty of water the bulbs might not need to be deep, or could they be programmed to be near the surface because of their origins of growing on rocky slopes.

I suspect they might want to be shallower to get more oxygen to their roots. Something that wouldn't be a problem in rocky alpine soils.

Flower #5 was opening last night but it has been freezing cold (44F max today) with continual rain until this afternoon, I had a quick look today. It has no pistil, and is on the female stem, this plant is getting stranger all the time.

Yikes I haven't been on this thread in a long time! Sorry. Very interesting to catch up with all of the posts though as species bulbs are a great interest to me. BTW I bought a pyrenaicum quite a few years ago and it hasn't flowered for about 3-4 years now. I wonder if it's too shady. My langkongense, martagon and oxypetalum insigne are coming up very nicely but I would love some more species. I'm hoping to visit Edrom nurseries next month as they have a good range.

That could be the reason Galanth, or maybe it's planted too deep.

Keep a watch for rareplants autumn catalogue too, they should have it online soon. They have a good range of species.

My duchartrei are nearly in flower, the plain stemmed one hads 3 buds nearly open, the spotted stem one is getting there. They are in the shady greenhouse with airflow.

All of the buds on the female stem are now open, the last 3 are male. It looks to be backing it all ways, if no male stem it makes male flowers on the female stem. Very interesting, the pistils got progressively smaller until there were none.

L duchartrei, the spotted stem one is taller but the bulb was smaller, I'm not sure if the flower buds are different shape either. The definitely have different growth patterns.

This is the green stem one on the 18th May. Notice how the buds are already drooping at that early stage.

This was yesteday, 29th May. The other one had buds which were still clustered when I took the pic above.

Now look how long the stems are and still not drooping.

Looking very good! I have ordered regularly from RarePlants - as you say a great supplier.

L. duchartrei opened two flowers this morning, the scent is similar to Lily of the valley but much more powerful, and very sweet. It's a scent you can just keep on inhaling and enjoying.

I would love to take pics with a better backdrop but might break the stem!

Look how the petals curl over each other. Two are facing east (NE & SE) but the one which was facing South west has turned it's head towards the east.

They are all coming from the same point, not like L gloriosoides, but I noticed gloriosoides pistils all leant towards the east facing the morning sun. This had to turn the hooked stem in the other direction!

Wow! They are really beautiful, Wallaby!! The second one reminds me of the turban of a Sikh; very chic! I also like the warm sienna-brown colour of the stamen (if that's the right word for it)

Here comes a picture of my newly purchased L.martagon 'album'.

another angle:

The whole plant:

Beautiful, pristine white blooms! I can see why you had to buy it, but am surprised you managed to get it home in one piece!

I need to borrow your lovely background in the last pic!

I like your description of the turban, it's very appropriate! I wondered why the petals were covering the back so much, the only reason I came up with is to protect it from too much rain. Nature usually has a reason.

Yes, it is very strange about your flower, perhaps it just wanted to try out a new shape; a trend-setter for a new fashion with the duchartreis?! Very original and creative.

It was indeed not all that easy to get my lilies home undamaged.
But in the course of years I have gathered some expertise in transporting plants by public transport. Luckily the train was not crowded, but the tram is usually more hazardous. My solution to that is to make myself bigger than I am, like a mother chicken would do.

Oh how funny! I can see you puffing yourself up with warning glances all around!

Be sure to enter your pics in the PF http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/137493/

Thanks Moby, I was thinking of doing that but wondering also if I could get a pic with a better background. It's a little too far to Belgium! I would have to do a lot of fluffing my feathers!

Wallaby, I dont know if your L.duchartrei is in a pot ? If so, you could carefully move it to somewhere in your garden where you could find a nice background ?

I have noticed that my martagon 'album' has its leaves alternated spred over its stem while all the other martagons have their leaves in crowns, with sometimes a few small ones alternated towards the top. I wonder if this is normal for the martagons 'album ?

example of the crowns of the others;

and how the leaves are alternated with the album

I often put a piece of plain card behind a flower to take a photo (especially snowdrops) as this removes any distractions in the background. Better still get someone else to hold it for you. Try it - go on! Fabulous lilies btw!

perhaps its more clear in this picture;

Yes bonitin it is in a pot, I have been trying to think where I can put it, the black bath tub is too low! I will try a few things, the stem is quite sturdy.

All 3 flowers are open today so I want to get a pic of it in full. Galanth, I could try some card but usually if I take it in the dark with infrared the background blacks out anyway.

That fern is gorgeous, looks like a Woodwardia radicans, I tried to get one once but they were sold out, on second attempt I got W fimbriata but it was tiny and died. You have a nice leaf there with a red eye, looks like a sort of Colocasia.

I see what you mean bonitin, the leaves are trying to be both whorled and alternate. I haven't a clue, I haven't grown them yet, someone else might know. Could it be crossed with something else perhaps?

Do you have a nice green background, even if it is in the distance? The lily pot could be set on a table to get it the right height. Focus closely on the lily and the background will be out of focus.

Wallaby, that fern actually has travelled all the way from England to here!
Its a Dicksonia antarctica, I got it as a birthday present about 4 years ago from my brother who had visited the Eden project on his Cornwall tour. They had been rescued from a rain forest of Tasmania that was destroyed. It feels very happy in my secluded garden; I even don't have to protect it in winter time.

The leaves with the 'red eye' are belonging to Begonia grandis; the only winter hard begonia, I purchased from a specialised nursery in shadow plants in the Wallony (the south part of Belgium). I like it very much and it is easy to multiply. Tomorrow I'll try to make a more clear picture of it. It makes beautiful, delicate pink flowers in late summer. The underside of the leaves is gorgeously reddish coloured and with the evening sun shining through it, its like a dream! I could easily send you some bulbets of it when it goes into its dormant phase.

bonitin, you were lucky to get such a good D. antarctica, and I would love some Begonia grandis! When L. duchartrei increases I will have to send some your way, it likes shade!

I did try to take some pics against a large Fatsia japonica, very few turned out, 2 fairly poor ones in fact. It was getting late, that can be better for whites but it was maybe too late, although the flash didn't go off. I did the close ones on macro which works well up to 15" away but it only focused on one flower.

The stem leans to one side too, and the flowers face in the same lean direction so I had to tilt the pot to get them face on. I might go out in the dark and try a night shot, risky though carrying the pot about in the dark. The lily actually looked good against the fatsia, I might put one either side of it.

It's really VERY beautiful!
The Fatsia makes indeed a good background. A night shot might be a good idea to try out. I don't know how long its flowers last ?

To take a shot 'to get them face on'; instead of tilting the pot, it is possible to lay down yourself to do the shot. I often lay on my belly, or on my back, or on my knees, or even in a knot if necessary to take shots.

Any chance you can start a new thread, Janet? Getting way too long to load for us dial-up users.

I guess I'll find out how long they last......I took it out when it was nearly dark and took a lot of shots, only the shots of single flowers realy worked, the infrared had a bigger target behind the lilies to focus on!

Too difficult to get the background in unless I tilted the pot, I just shoved the soil aside.

I got one with all three which is nearly there, it shows the whorl of leaves at the top of the stem, the other leaves are unevenly alternate, very nearly opposite.

Sorry beaker, I don't know how we came to post so far apart, unless I was very slow!

New thread

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/730888/