BULBS CAN BRING FLOWERS ALL YEAR.Byline: Joshua Siskin Bulbs present us with an economical way to have flowers in the garden year round. In general, bulbs bloom every year and even produce new bulbs for planting. But not all bulbs. Many of them will give flowers for a year or two or three and then disappear. Bulb plants that originate in Mediterranean climates - found in South Africa, western Australia, Chile and in all the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea - are reliable choices. For 20 years, Burbank resident Grace Hampton has had a most remarkable blooming bulb. It is Haemanthus coccineus, considered the most unusual species of blood lily - a South African bulb. Its flowers are three inches wide with coral red petals that enclose numerous gold stamens. After the flower dies, deep green straplike leaves - similar to those seen on the Kaffir lily (Cliviaminiata) - appear, growing up to 6 inches wide and 2 feet long. Other South African bulbs (including corms and rhizomes) that can be grown here comprise a formidable list, including almost everything from A to Z, as follows: Agapanthus ag·a·pan·thus n. See African lily. [New Latin Agapanthus, genus name : Greek agap (lily-of-the-Nile), Amaryllis amaryllis (ăm'ərĭl`ĭs), common name for some members of the Amaryllidaceae, a family of mostly perennial plants with narrow, flat leaves and with lilylike flowers borne on separate, leafless stalks. (naked lady), Babiana (baboon baboon, any of the large, powerful, ground-living monkeys of the genus Papio, also called dog-faced monkeys. Five subspecies live in Africa, with one species extending into the Arabian peninsula. flower), Brunsvigia, Bulbinella, Chasmanthe, Clivia clivia African plant in the family Liliaceae; the bulbs of the plant contain toxic lycorine. (Kaffir lily), Crinum Crinum a genus of cultivated ornamental plants of the family Liliaceae (Amaryllidaceae), some of which are known to cause collapse and death in sheep and goats. Called also spider lily. , Dietes (fortnight lily), Eucomis, Freesia freesia: see iris. freesia Any of the approximately 20 species of South African plants that make up the genus Freesia, in the iris family, with corms, grassy foliage, and wiry spikes of bell-like, lemon-scented flowers in white, yellow, orange, and , Galtonia, Gladiolus gladiolus: see iris. gladiolus Any of about 300 species of flowering plants of the genus Gladiolus, in the iris family, native to Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean and widely cultivated for cut flowers. , Gloriosa, Haemanthus (blood lily), Homeria, Ixia, Lachenalia, Lapeirousia, ornamental Oxalis oxalis (ŏk`səlĭs) or wood sorrel, any species of the plant genus Oxalis. Most of the cultivated kinds are tropical herbs used as window plants. , Rhodohypoxis, Schizostylis, Sparaxis Noun 1. Sparaxis - deciduous perennial herbs of South Africa genus Sparaxis liliid monocot genus - genus of monocotyledonous plants comprising mostly herbs having usually petaloid sepals and petals and compound pistils (harlequin flower), Streptanthera, Tritonia, Tulbaghia (society garlic), Vallota, Veltheimia, Watsonia, and Zantedeschia (calla lily calla lily see zantedeschia aethiopica. ). Pictures of these plants may be found on the Internet at www.horticopia.com. Many of the above plants are on display in the 26-acre arboretum located on the campus of California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton, commonly known as CSUF, CSU Fullerton, or Cal State Fullerton, is a part of the California State University system. The University is located in the city of Fullerton, California, in northern Orange County. , which has a special section devoted to Mediterranean climate species. The Fullerton Arboretum is open every day from 8 a.m. until 4:45 p.m., with plant sales held on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, call (714) 278-3579. Hampton also sent me a picture of a moon flower (Ipomoea Ipomoea widespread genus of poisonous vines of the family Convolvulaceae; may contain various toxins including the indole alkaloid lysergic acid, furanoterpenes, indolizidine alkaloids (swainsonine). Includes I. asarifolia (salsa), I. alba), which might best be described as an oversize white version of the common purple morning glory. ``What's outstanding about this plant,'' Hampton wrote, ``is that it has a 6-inch bloom that opens out before your eyes. You can watch it bloom and develop in one minute. You need a video camera to capture it.'' Packets of moon flower seeds, which germinate quite readily, can be found at any nursery or garden center. B. Gifford from Moorpark wants to know why the dwarf orange tree he planted last fall developed brown stems and curled leaves this past spring and summer. Orange trees are susceptible to planting shock. They should be well-watered and fertilized their first year in the ground to keep them growing; when their growth stagnates, they show curled leaves and stem dieback die·back n. The gradual dying of plant shoots, starting at the tips, as a result of various diseases or climatic conditions. Noun 1. . They should grow out of this funk as long as gardeners encourage their development with citrus fertilizer - available at any nursery - and deep soak their roots with a slowly trickling hose. Hilda Chapman wrote from Canoga Park that she cut back her hydrangeas in late January and had no blooms the following summer. Hydrangeas should be cut back at the end of July to ensure flower production the following year. In the late summer and early fall, buds for the following year's blooms are produced. If you cut back in January, you are removing the flower buds that would have opened in the coming summer. If you did not cut back your hydrangeas this past summer, leave them alone. Left untouched, they should bloom next summer, after which they can be pruned again. Tip of the week: Coax an ornamental indoor vine out of a sweet potato. Balance your sweet potato on the rim of a large glass or mason jar with the help of three toothpicks, inserted at equal distances around the tuber tuber, enlarged tip of a rhizome (underground stem) that stores food. Although much modified in structure, the tuber contains all the usual stem parts—bark, wood, pith, nodes, and internodes. . Make sure the water is in contact with the bottom of the potato. You will have an attractive vine growing up your kitchen window in about a month. There are several sweet potato vines for outdoors, sold in containers as vining plants, that are quite stunning. ``Blackie'' has mahogany-colored leaves; ``Tricolor'' has leaves variegated in gray-green, white and pink; and ``Terrace Lime'' has yellow-green foliage. GARDEN WONDERS Gardener: Teri Edwards Residence: Burbank Plant of interest: Loofah loofah: see gourd. loofah or luffa Any of six species of annual climbing vines, also called vegetable sponge or sponge gourd, that make up the genus Luffa in the gourd family, native to the Old World tropics. What makes this plant amazing: Edwards tried growing a loofah - yes, those spongelike things you scrub your back with - from seeds last year. She put them in a planter and waited. Instead of clusters of gourds, she got a small plant that died almost instantly. This year, she decided to let the plant have some room - she planted it around an 8-foot trellis in the center of her garden. ``And that thing just took off,'' she says. ``It's just grown huge. I've got at least 15 loofahs I can count, but you can't see them all because of the trellis. The bigger ones are almost 2 feet in length.'' Since loofah are gourds - related to squash, melon and cucumber - Edwards has even eaten a few, which she says are ``kind of cucumber-y'' in flavor. But her real reason for growing them, aside from curiosity, is to give them out as home-grown backscrubbers for Christmas. ``You have to peel them and dry them out for them to look like a sponge. I thought they would make neat presents. I'm gonna have tons.'' Maintenance: ``Not a whole lot. I have the garden all mulched for the vegetables, and I've been spraying a little insecticide.'' What Joshua Siskin says: ``Loofahs are basically vegetable sponges. The inside of the fruit is like a net - very fibrous. I've never eaten one, but I've seen them growing. They can be huge, because they vine. It's an interesting plant, definitely a curiosity.'' - Mike Chmielecki If you think you might have a ``garden wonder,'' send the information along with your name, address and daytime phone number to: Garden Wonders, L.A. Life, Daily News, P.O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills, CA 91365-4200; via e-mail to dnlalalife(at)aol.com; or via fax to (818) 713-3545. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Teri Edwards on her unusual crop: ``I've got at least 15 loofahs I can count. ... The bigger ones are almost 2 feet in length.'' Evan Yee/Staff Photographer Box: Garden Wonder (see text) |
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