I am just back from visiting a friend in the Dordogne region of France. Flowering in her garden were loads of Sternbergia so by some mystery a few of these bulbs "happened" to fall into my suitcase and I am hoping they will be able to survive the rather different climate up here in Scotland. Does anybody grow Sternbergia? and if so any tips please. I do hope I am able to grow them as they are a truly lovely shade of yellow and great to have something which flowers late. I presumed they were maybe a member of the Autumn Crocus family which I grow here but looking at the leaves and bulbs I doubt they are.
They really need a good long Summer baking to get them to flower. The only ones round here which flower regularly are in front of a south facing wall. For those who are looking them up, the ones sold in shops now are DEAD. There are very clever growers who manage to get them to flower in pots for Alpine shows. It is in the Amaryllidaceae family along with Narcissus etc. So they are not really related to Crocus or Colchicums.
Thank you Palustis. Hmmmmm! your expert information doesn't give me great hope for lots of flowers in the future up here in Scotland which unfortunately isn't renowned for "a good long summer baking" of anything! this summer being an exception to the norm. Maybe if I planted them in pots and kept them in a greenhouse that would do the trick? That said they looked lovely naturalized in my friend's garden and won't look nearly as nice just in a pot...boo.
How big is your greenhouse? If mine was large enough I would have a sand bed in it. Something like this which has a constantly changing display throughout the year..................
Trouble is you need TWO greenhouses, one as a display one and a backup house to keep the plants in which are either waiting to perform or which have finished performing. I have 2, one with plunge beds for plants in pots and one where I have built an indoor crevice garden. There are times in both when plants look rather less than interesting. I confess, I have never managed to get Sternbergia to flower in any position. I can keep them alive, but nary a flower doth appear.
Well Palustris I would appear to have had the same problem as you. Many of the bulbs were of flowering size as when I brought them back from France (roughly April of 2013) I stuck them in a pot in the greenhouse and they flowered. They were sort of in the way so I thought they would do better if I planted the Sternbergia bulbs in the soil in my greenhouse. Got plenty of leaves but as regards any flowers last season, not a dicky bird. I've just dug them up and they have increased in number quite a bit so maybe they were more interested in expanding than flowering. Best bet to put them back into pots? Alternatively maybe I should just offer them to any GC member who has the right sort of growing conditions for them as to me they don't really look that nice in pots. That said they are so lovely and flower when very little else is.
