RARE BULB NURSERY. LATVIA
by Dr. Janis Ruksans & Liga Popova
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All my cyclamens are got as donations from friends - I never collected them in wild and I'm growing them for adding some more colours in my bulb-beds. This year autumn is very long and cool - and the first Galanthus (G. samothracicus) popped out its flower buds. Shortening collection, some bulb-beds were replaced by peaches and apricots.
Cyclamen crassifolium
Cyclamen hederifolium
Galanthus samothracicus
Peach bed in greenhouse
in
Yesterdays sun allowed to make some more pictures of last crocuses, but main job is deleting of old flowers from Crocus and Cyclamen pots. This morning we had first night frost in this autumn - so ahead last watering of pots and wintering of watering systems up to spring. Bulbs rooted excellently - even those Allium and Tulipa potted only 2 weeks ago show white root tips through pots bottom holes.
On pictures - Crocus mazziaricus from Naxos
Crocus ochroleucus from Israel
Crocus pumilus from Crete
and Crocus robertianus from Greece
Some crocuses from Israel and Jordania, which bloomed last week - in general earlier than usually.
Crocus hyemalis ILOP-015 from Israel
Much earlier than usually bloomed Crocus moabiticus from near Madaba, Jordania. Its flowers widely opened in sun allowing good hand-pollination.
Crocus ochroleucus from Israel - Massada, Golan Heights, alt. 1050 m is a little similar to kotschyanus, but corms are much smaller and cormlets almost only poppy-seed size.
Corms of Crocus ochroleucus cultivar 'Dalton White' selected by Oron Peri this year was so tiny (largest around 3 mm in diameter) that I didn't hope to see any flower, but one of them bloomed.
Crocus veneris this year blooms unusually early. It is species endemic to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus where it igrow in stony or grassy places in scrub. It flowers there in Autumn and early Winter and is little difficult in cultivation where it usually makes its cheery, star-shaped flowers only from December onwards with me - this season its blooming already approximates end.
Yesterday finished with filling of pots my new raised bed - there are Alliums and part of Tulip species. Still left ~10 days to plant tulips - other species and own hybrids. After several days of "ignorance" visited my crocuses and really was shocked by incredible beauty of white forms of Crocus cartwrightianus as well as intensively yellowish shaded C. pumilus from Crete - it is darker than usually, but many "white" species had yellowish shade in early flowers this season.
Some crocuses of day
Crocus hatayensis - type collection
Crocus nerimaniae - 3rd virus free generation
Crocus pumilus from Crete - tiny, odorless relative of laevigatus
Crocus cf. pallasii from Turkey in Europe
and one of Crocus speciosus relatives from high mountains in Iran
All the day I harvested Muscari & Bellevalia. Still left some 40 pots and tomorrow will start repotting. Still blooms crocuses. For the first time so nicely blooms albino of C. kotschyanus, earlier flowers did not open properly. However, the best was most likely new species from C. speciosus group collected wild at 2300-2500 m altitude in Iran, where it was growing together with C. gilanicus. It is forming long side growing stolones and well developed contractile root at end of cormlet, pushing it even more distantly. In general bulbs grew very well – on attached picture you can see how juno roots filled large pot.
Repotting and repotting every day. Yesterday finished Scillas and now working on Muscari. Still left Ornithogalums and around half of Alliums to be harvested. After that will start only potting. No time for pictures but some are so impressive that I run for camera.
Autumn is in air and in garden. Start blooming new and new autumn bulbs - later than usually started Crocus scharojanii flavus (I even started to worry - what happens). Start blooming sternbergias - on picture - from near vil. Papigo, N. Greece, Vicos Canyon. Planted only on wednesday, Crocus speciosus albus formed the first flower yesterday - after only 2 days.
In full bloom is the earliest autumn cyclamen - Cyclamen fatrense. Nicely blooms white form of Prospero autumnale collected on antique stadium at Perge ruins near Antalya, S Turkey. Prospero obtusifolium subsp. intermedium I got from Czech Republic - how correct/valid is this name I didn't check. Nicely blooms 2 forms of Colchicum speciosum - from Zigana pass in Turkey and from meadow in Georgia.
Still blooms new Phlox hybrids raised by my wife Guna, but crop of plums from Prunus divaricata resembles grapes. More and more colchicums blooms in greenhouse. Yesterday finished repotting of crocuses, but today harvested Colchicums. Some must be re-planted in great hurry - new shoots come out. Earliest already are in bloom.
Still are blooming Colchicum parnassicum from Greece and Colchicum paschei from Central East Turkey. As the first from autumn blooming cyclamens started Cyclamen fatrense (C. europaeum s.l.) from Fatra mountains in Czech Republic. Blooms Prospero autumnale from Eski Kermen in Turkey - If I remember correctly - it was collected on top of antique tower ruins just on Mediterranean seaside.
Only few days ago finished repotting of spring blooming crocuses and returned to autumn bloomers - for some it is last moment as long shoots already appear (Crocus mazziaricus). In greenhouse blooms former autumn blooming "scillas" - Barnardia japonica from Korea and Prospero autumnale from Ukrainian Crimea (at present occupied by Russia). It forms huge bulbs. In mine 15 cm pot is place for only just-just 5 bulbs. Blooms hardy Nerine (?) - don't know correct name. It is completely hardy,but outside blooms only after very hot summers.
In greenhouse blooms first Colchicums - Colchicum parnassicum from Greece and C. paschei from East Turkey. The last is similar to C. kotschyi (another early runner) but has smaller flowers and easy separable by length af anthers which are shorter than filaments in C.paschei, but longer in C. kotschyi. In garden between thousands of Phlox blooms this wonderful Echinops - enjoying bees and bumble bees.
Just harvested Crocus pelistericus. Leaves still were green, but you can see how well developed are new roots. It is most problematic to find best repotting time for this species. Last week I harvested corms which were ordered by my customers and new roots still were much less developed. The main secret for growing this crocus is correct substrate - it must be acid. I checked it in wild. It don't need keeping in trays with water etc. only I'm bringing its pots out of greenhouse when weather permits (just after blooming).
Now I'm buying rhododendron and conifer mix, adding 2-3 parts by volume of coarse sand and use it for pelistericus, veluchensis, duncanii, carpetanus and yalovensis.
The difference of medium pH on Crocus veluchensis you can see on 2nd picture - there were planted 2 pots with same number and size of C. cf. veluchensis - on left acid medium (pH around 5 or even below, on right standard mix (pH 6.5-7).
