I am an absolute sucker for virtually any type of bulb. In the past 12 months I have given into my addiction and started up a collection.  I’m limited in what I can try as I don’t have any real garden beds (I live on the 5th floor).  Instead everything must cope with being pot bound.  I thought I’d share with you some of the lovely spring blooming bulbs that I’ve been enjoying lately.  First up is this stunning orange tritonia…

It’s botanical name is Tritonia deusta and it is very elegant when it comes out in flower on long arching stems. No perfume unfortunately but a beautiful clear orange.

Next up is a trusty favourite that does have perfume by the bucket loads – the freesia.

If you’ve only ever encountered freesias from the florist then you’ve been ripped off.  The florist freesia is a hybrid, bred for huge flowers in a range of colours.  They look great admittedly but the perfume has been lost along the way.  And trust me, the perfume is to die for.  Buy and plant the “old fashioned” sort (Freesia refracta alba) and you’ll be rewarded from early Spring onwards.

Now this delightful bright yellow bulb (above) is called Ipheion sellowianum.  Doesn’t exactly just roll off the tongue but you will have to agree that it is charming.  It was an impulse buy at a gardening show and it surprised me by repeatedly flowering for several weeks.  When it had finished and I potted it up I was astounded to find only two bulbs in the pot.  It had given me almost ten flowers and I was duly impressed! It is a small flower though, only 2cm diameter, but a keeper nevertheless.

And now for something much larger, another sparaxis.  This purple type (Sparaxis grandiflora ssp grandiflora) was another ebay find.  I must say it looked nicer in real life than in this photo.

I hope you’re not getting bored with my spring bulbs. I read somewhere that blogs should be short and punchy but honestly isn’t that what Twitter is for? If you don’t know what Twitter is then consider yourself blessed!  Now back to the bulbs.  Above is another sparaxis. This one is Sparaxis elegans and looks a little more like the common sparaxis or harlequin flower. I think this one is more elegant as befitting it’s name.

Next on our journey is another generous flowering bulb and another must have.  It’s the spring star flower (Ipheion uniflorum).

This charmer flowers and flowers. A word of warning though: It’s foliage can look remarkable similar to that of onion weed so make sure you remember where you planted it.  Otherwise you might just dig it out or spray it mistaking it as a weed.

Last on the list is Cyrtanthus o’brienii. Actually I’m not really sure that it’s the true species or if it’s some kind of hybrid.  It’s blooms were an unusual colour which almost seemed iridescent. Either way it’s definitely something worth keeping any eye out for when you’re next bulb shopping.

Well I hope you’ve been duly inspired to rush out and buy some bulbs.  There really are some terrific ones out there and far more exciting than common tulips and daffodils!  Not that I don’t love those either but for most us in Australia cool climate bulbs (like daffs and tulips) aren’t the best choice.  Better to go for ones that thrive in our hot environment!

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I’m very happy to report that one of my first bulb experiments, Albuca spiralis, has been a great success.  The yellowy green flowers were quite dainty and even held a chocolatey surprise…

I first blogged about this bulb back in November 2009 when the bulbs arrived.  Read the blog here.  I have to confess that I felt a bit conned when the leaves first emerged and they weren’t very curly (see below).  This thing is called Albuca SPIRALIS after all!

However they did start twisting as they grew more and I’ve since learnt that there can be quite a lot of variability with this plant. In the end I was quite pleased with the twisting factor and am looking forward to when the bulbs divide and I end up with a pot full of curls!

Anyway enough about the leaves.  It was the flowers that held a real surprise.  When I was moving the pot to a more prominent spot I caught a whiff of a perfume. I hadn’t read anywhere that these flowers were perfumed and I got a bit excited – I’m a total sucker for fragrant flowers/foliage.

And these little beauties smell of chocolate!  Yes chocolate.  Very strange I know.  I even had Mike verify the smell as I’m prone to letting my imagination get away from me.  I got him to tell me what he thought the flowers smelt like and even though he is Mister Sceptical the first thing he said was chocolate.  Now if that isn’t a reason to grow these pretty little bulbs I don’t know what is!

PS I’ve since read some comments likening the perfume to “butter and vanilla” but I’m going to stick with chocolate.

PPS Don’t forget to check out The Plant Addict Shop while you’re here. 

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Months ago I was trawling ebay searching for something unusual, something I hadn’t seen before.  Naturally I was looking in the garden and plant section and was quickly rewarded with an offering of yellow sparaxis bulbs.  Never having heard of yellow sparaxis I snapped them up without hesitation and planted them as soon as they arrived.  Now I’m pleased to report that they are indeed yellow!

This sparaxis is officially known as Sparaxis grandiflora ssp. acutiloba but let’s just stick to yellow sparaxis – it’s less to type! Mine have grown to about 50cm high and have been flowering for 2 weeks.  I think they’ve got another week or so in them before they’re finished.  Not a long laster I guess but definitely a very welcome site in winter when not much else is happening.  If you live in a colder climate than me I suspect it’s going to be a spring flowerer for you.

The flowers are almost solid yellow with the exception of some small black markings in the inner throat, as shown below.

All in all they are lovely cheerful flowers and a very undemanding bulb.  They’ve also opened my eyes to the other types of sparaxis that are around.  In fact I am anxiously waiting to see the flowers open on a type I bought (also on ebay) that’s promises to be purple.  Stay tuned!

PS Don’t forget to check out The Plant Addict Shop while you’re here. 

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This week my bulbs arrived.  Call me crazy but when I opened the box and saw all the little  bundles my heart quickened and I got such a rush.

I just love bulbs and can’t resist anything a bit unusual. Recently I discovered a grower who sells some pretty cool stuff and after much deliberating over the catalogue I ordered a stack of bulbs. 50 to be precise.  Yes there are 50 squashed into that box.  Obviously they’re small bulbs.

By the way I’m calling them all bulbs for simplicity’s sake. Some are actually corms, tubers or rhizomes but where’s the fun in getting bogged down in technical terms?  

This morning I’ve been happily potting them all up, complete with labels so I don’t forget what’s what, and can’t wait for them to start growing.  A few of them had quite interesting looking bulbs which I thought I’d share with you.

This is Hypoxis hygrometrica an Australian native which bears very pretty golden yellow flowers in Spring.  Okay so I haven’t seen the flowers in real life yet, just in books.  I purchased it solely on the fact that the pictures looked nice and it’s a native.  So many of the bulbs we grow are from elsewhere in the world and I’m excited to try out an Aussie native. It’s interesting to see how the bulbs produce swollen permanent roots which look like they’re a trick to help it survive through dry periods.

These bulbs belong to Oxalis triangularis which produces unusual dark burgundy/purple foliage.  I first saw this plant years ago when I was living in London and loved it straight away.  It had completely slipped my mind until I saw it in the bulb catalogue and knew I had to have it. I had assumed the triangularis part of it’s name referred to the leaf shape but after seeing the bulbs I can’t help but wonder if it is more about the triangular shape of the scales?

And the final shot is of Commelina coelestis who’s bulbs are simply freaky looking! I have a strong suspicion that it probably won’t do well in my climate but given it’s exquisite blue flowers I had to at least try.  I’m sure you understand.

I’ll keep you updated on how they perform and will naturally share some photos when they’re in flower.  If anyone wants the contact details of the grower send me a message and I’ll pass them on.

PS Don’t forget to check out The Plant Addict Shop while you’re here. 

You’ll find great gift ideas for garden lovers and fellow plant addicts!

Saffron flowers

Call me crazy but the other day I decided to buy some saffron bulbs and give them a go. The allure of the world’s most expensive spice and its pretty crocus flowers was enough to sway me.

The saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) is supposedly an easy to grow bulb that prefers hot dry summers (when dormant) and cold/cool wet winters, being fully hardy to frosts.  If your climate doesn’t quite match this (like mine) it probably won’t be quite so easy to grow.  Try planting it in a pot (as I will be) where you can more easily control the environment.  Make sure you use a well drained potting mix to avoid the bulb rotting.  Use a cactus and succulent mix or add some horticultural sand to a regular mix.  By growing in a pot I’ll be able to move it under shelter during summer so they stay dry when we get our regular summer downpours.

Some mighty fine looking bulbs!

The one thing that I can’t do much about is to make our winters colder.  I’m interested to see how they will perform through a mild winter.  Wish me luck.

Either way I won’t be setting up a saffron spice business anytime soon.  The spice is derived from the dried stigma and style threads in the flowers.  These are the female parts of the flower, seen above as dark orange “threads”, three to a flower.  It takes approximately 150 flowers to produce 1 gram of dried saffron threads.  No wonder the spice doesn’t come cheap. 

Unfortunately my inner city apartment would probably only give me room to produce a few grams a year.  What money I might make would quickly be sucked up by physio bills fixing my back.  Saffron flowers usually don’t grow over 30cm high so that’s going to mean a lot of bending.  I might just stick to kaffir lime leaves to flavour my rice and save the back!

PS Don’t forget to check out The Plant Addict Shop while you’re here. 

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Albuca spiralis

I love getting mail. Love it. And what could be more exciting than getting garden related mail? Not much I say. Today marked the safe arrival, in the mail, of my latest bulb purchase – Albuca spiralis.

Albuca spiralis with flowers

These bulbs are from South Africa and have the odd habit of developing corkscrew-like leaves. An interesting curiosity which I just had to have as soon as I learnt of it. Yes impulse bulb shopping at its best! It also has pretty greenish yellow nodding flowers as shown in the picture.

Not always easy to find.  I found mine on ebay and have been anxiously checking the mailbox every day waiting for them to arrive. Today once I’d finished ripping opening the packaging I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed when I saw these rather uninspiring bulbs. Not quite the grand entrance into my life that I’d anticipated! Still I will pot them up this week and keep you posted on their development.

PS Don’t forget to check out The Plant Addict Shop while you’re here. 

You’ll find great gift ideas for garden lovers and fellow plant addicts!