RARE BULB NURSERY. LATVIA
by Dr. Janis Ruksans & Liga Popova

Just 45 years ago during my first trip to Central Asia I collected few bulbs of Allium coeruleum. It turned excellent grower in garden here and blooms in midsummer on 1+ m high stems with sky blue flowers. My wife planted a pair between her hostas and now they formed nice group.
In polytunnel in full bloom are yellow delphiniums from Uzbekistan and Umbilicus luteus from Crete - both are not for open garden here.

I finished dispatching of export orders and returned to repotting. As I needed picture of our single native aroid - Calla palustris for my new book (in Latvian, sorry) - my wife Guna brought me to lakeside where in very damp conditions it bloomed. But another picture is great puzzle. What it is? Who know? On my wife's perennial bed nicely blooms this Cypripedium hybrid.

Start horrible hot - real hell. For me the cool days were far better. In my rockery abundantly blooms hybrid Pelargonium endlicherianum x quercetorum from Gothenburg, mother plant is growing in rock splits in Turkey, but I lost it during replacing of nursery. Marvelously looks few Alliums, but in greenhouse ripes huge crop of apricots.

In greenhouse blooms some aroids - two Arisaema (ciliata and consanguinea) and one Eminium - lehmanii (from Uzbekistan) + Eremurus stenophillus from Iran.

Some current pictures from garden - Allium rosenorum - more than 10 years old clump, growing without any attention. Paeonia cambessedesii, Paeonia rockii close up and Rhododendron 'VIJA' (raised in Latvia).

For the first time with me blooms Iranian Ornithogalum persicum - its bulb was dug out by local road workers, who something damaged bulb gave to me. Both - Eremurus stenophyllus and Gladiolus kotschyanus, comes from Iran, too; but Lewisias I brought home from American lecture trip.

Today I started despatching of Crocus orders - decided every day to post 3-4 orders to avoid stress and hurry.
Paralelly are going harvesting. The bulb of this beautiful albino of Puschkinia peshmenii from Iran was last year shallowly cut at base and this year I harvested 7 bulbs. One more year will be needed to rise them up for next cutting. Soon I will cut base of this white Bellevalia forniculata bulb. This beauty is growing on overflooded meadows and on the last picture you can see Henrik Zetterlund walking walking inwater for searching of unusual color forms with nude legs. Both species can be multiplied only from seeds and seedlings don't keep colour of mother plant.

Some plants blooming now: Allium breviscapum from Iran, Geranium subcaulescens from N Macedonia, unidentified Gladiolus sp. BATM-102 from Turkey, Lewisia rediviva from American lecture trip and Triteleia ixioides - grown from wild-collected seeds (Ron Ratko)

Crocus repotting goes in full speed, but some bulbs still are blooming - Allium breviscapum from Iran, Zygadenus venenosus from North America, Gladiolus atroviolaceus from Turkmenistan and Paeonia clusii subsp. rhodii from Rhodos Island, Greece.

Marvelously blooms Geranium macrostylum, perfectly hardy here and the single enemy is wild boars. Allium scotostemon comes from Iran, but Gladiolus anatolicus from Turkey. Paeonia clusii was collected on Karpathos Island as seeds, blooms for the first time. Zigadenus is very poisonous and natives name it "death camash". On picture - Zygadenus fremontii grown from North West Native Seeds.

At this moment main bloomers are alliums. My favourite is A. brachyscapum from Turkmenistan and Iran (white form), growable also outside. About American A. haemantochiton I'm not so sure. But one of ancestors of edible onions Allium pskemense - is excellent in garden and in kitchen - for those who like "hot" salads. It blooms in July with white flowers, but most impressive is from early spring till mid-summer.

Promissed hard night frosts didn't came to our garden and bulbs continue blooming both in greenhouse and in garden. Allium derderianum Alborz, Iran; Allium tulipaefolium 12KZ-104, Kazahstan; Asphodeline lutea Georgia, Caucasus; Ixiolirion tataricum 18IRS-025, Iran and escaper from seedling pots growing in garden (Tulipa sp.).

In greenhouse now blooming a lot of Alliums.

In full speed goes repotting of crocuses. Increasing quite good, but corms are smaller than usually. I suppose that reason is lacking of light as vegetation started during shortest and darkest days in January and finished at least month earlier than could be normally. Many different bulbs blooms in garden and in greenhouses.

On pictures Eremurus cristatus, Erythronium toulumnense, Iris lycotis and Trillium kurabayashii.

Some 20 years ago I had more than 2 acres with bulbs, now the amount shortened to some hundreds of sq. meters. With replacing of nursery few boxes with Muscari seedlings, which still not started blooming, where spread in grass below old apple tree where they now are growing for years making very nice display, especially bright in evening's semi-darkness.

Muscari pallens is one of the latest blooming grape hyacinths, beautiful even at end of flowering. It starts vegetation very late in spring. Similarly late is Fritillaria dagana - I even thought that it died when suddenly it came out. Very nice is American Allium scilloides received from Gothenburg and especially beautifull is dwarf Allium scotostemon from 3000 m altitude in Iran.

Today, 4th of May, 30 years ago, Latvian Parlament voted for restoring of independent Latvian state after 50 years of occupation by Russia. Greetings to everyone friend of our state!
Guna & Janis Rukšans

Blooms more and more Alliums, still some fritillaries and start Americans - all in greenhouse, but Tulipa praestans below this large poplar was planted 3 years ago and still grow without problems because tree roots dries soil during summer rest. From top - Allium nemrutdaghense, Nothoscordum ostenii, Triteleia grandiflora howelii, Tulipa praestans and Fritillaria epirotica

Some plants blooming now in my greenhouse - Eminium koenianum from Turkey with horrible smell but beautiful spathe and mottled leaves, very gracious Allium cupuliferum from Uzbekistan, Eremurus lactiflorus from Kazahstan - the earliest fox-tail lilies this season and as last Arum caudatum (Turkey) with the longest spatha (around 1/2 meter) in my collection.

Yesterday arrived swallows, bot those birds, painted on our house-wall by artist Valda Oshinja behind Forsythia which now is in full bloom, lives here even in the hardest winter.

Our "Chief mice inspector" Masha is sitting in still empty pool taking some sunbath, only tail tip is in rainwater - did she hope to catch some fish? And some outside grown bulbs - Tulipa dubia, Corydalis vittae and Fritillaria bucharica.

Tulipa berkariense makes side growing stolones, so it is very difficult to grow both in pots and on regular nursery beds, but planted below large poplar and bird-cherry which roots dry out soil in summer - it grows and spot increases without replanting now for 3rd year.
All my collection is grown now in pots and repotted in fresh substrate every year. Used soil together with seeds, some small bulbs goes to open garden beds to rise the level. So some nice tulips appear there. Those T. bifloriformis and T. kurdica grows under same bird-cherry tree.
Mine t. vvedenskyi hybrid 'Love Melody' was planted by my wife in rockery below red-leafed Corylus avellana (hazelnut) three years ago. Bulbs were planted 25 cm deep and no replanting or summer harvesting applied.

Some Ornithogalums blooming now