Sunday 16 February 2014

Really only just practising again but there is a message with this image. I was sowing seed of this today from my own collecting. Nomocharis are the most beautiful of all the bulbs I have. They run from deep pink to white with a wide range of spotting from none to very heavily spotted. There are about 6 species. This sort of seed is not easy to come by and even with seed exchanges you might well only get 2 or 3 seeds, so establishing your own plants, preferably with a small colony to ensure cross pollination and fertile seed, is vital in the long term. Such a population also gives you rare and desirable seed to exchange. I sow a modest potful in my standard way but I also line out a row in a part of the garden where they can be protected both up to germination and as seedlings. I grow both on unthinned for two or three years until there are reasonably sized bulbs to transplant to the garden or individually pot up, say two bulbs, as gifts. I use the same technique with all my lilies. Renewing from seed of even common species is desirable to avoid the build up of virus