Norm's Nursery: The charm of species bulbs

Thursday, February 20, 2020

The charm of species bulbs

Our recent warm weather has been a boon for gardens that have year round interest. It's winter shrubs and bulbs that are the show right now. I want to put in a plug here for the wonders of species Tulips, species Iris and species Gladiolas. The species of each, as opposed to the usually larger-flowered hybrids, present small flowers but have one great advantage in our mild Oakland and coastal areas - they come back year after year, naturalizing in the garden. Hybrid tulips need more of a hard winter to bloom the following year; bearded iris can be finicky and often revert back to the purple species color and the showy big blooms of hybrid Glads are prone to fungal diseases and may peter out after a year or two.
There are many many choices in searching out the species forms of these favorite 3 spring bulbs. A quick online search will yield many intriguing choices. I'll be sharing photos of my collection in the coming month.
That said, here are this week's photos. Enjoy!

Camellia Lila Naff. Huge, double and fluted, hard to beat this camellia's flowers.

A rare Camellia that really should be more commonly available - C. Anticipation Variegated. Fabulous rosy-pink flowers splashed with white.

Primroses and ferns make a great combo. Here I have them in an elevated wooden planter.

For some reason, the only primrose I find fragrant is this yellow variety. Plus the yellow color is so cheerful on a mid-winter's day.

Though it's kind of surrounded by Dutch iris shoots, that's an Erysimum Poem Mirabelle beginning to bloom. I like recommending wallflowers as they're tough and they have a long bloom season.

Here's an example of a hybrid bulb - in this case a once colorful Freesia - reverting back to its initial species color. That's a creamy yellow. One good thing in this change is that the species Freesias are even more sweetly fragrant.

My Trochetiopsis ebenus keeps putting out single, white, hibiscus-like flowers. So no big show at once (so far) but on the other hand every time I go outside there's a new flower!

Erica canaliculata 'Rosea.' This guy keeps blooming its heart out + the flowers last a long time. Supposed to be a favorite of bees, though I haven't seen many around it. Yet.

Here's an early daffodil. By the way, did you know that daffodils are associated with Hades and the underworld? That's why it's traditional to leave daffodils on gravestones.

Here are the two emerging Aloe striata bloom spikes. To the right is my silvery patch of Sideritis cypria.

Though my Viburnum x burkwoodii has yet to leaf out, it's already produced copious umbels of intensely fragrant white flowers.

Though it's still small, here's my lovely Portulacaria. It will hold onto its green and white variegated foliage and those contrasting red stems.

I know, I know, just an empty walkway but that emptiness is a victory of sorts. On the right you can sort of see a pavers wall that has both made for a deeper bed (more planting options!) but also has stopped soil from constantly spilling onto the walkway.

Lachenalia aloides varieties are some of the most prolific bloomers of all cowslips. This is a L. aloides var. aloides and it's awash in lovely burgundy-tipped golden flowers.

There aren't many plants as fragrant as Clematis armandii 'Snowdrift.' I can smell the flowers 20 feet away! Up close, they're almost overwhelming. Plus, they contrast nicely with the Abelia Kaleidoscope that it's scrambling over.

Iris reticulata is one of the most common of the species dwarf iris. This is a variety called Dwarf Halkis.

And here's my first species tulip to open - T. Johann Strauss. This kaufmanniana type has yellow flowers but colors vary. As is the case with most species tulips, foliage is low and the flowers smaller and simpler.