The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Bulbs (including other geophytes with corms, tubers, rhizomes etc) => Topic started by: Daisy on August 11, 2011, 07:07:48 AM
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Does anybody know of a book on bulbs for mediterranean climates?
I have only grown bulbs in England before and it is a lot different here. ::) ::) ::)
I know there are books for cape bulbs and books for just irises or just crocus for an example, but I was hoping for one that encompasses, all the bulbs, throughout all of the mediterranean climates in the world.
The only one that I can find, is, "Bulbs for Warm Climates by Thad M. Howard"
Does anybody know this book?
This is the trouble with being a beginner at mediterranean gardening. ::) One has more questions everyday. Thank goodness for this forum and the knowledgeable people who take the trouble to answer.
Daisy :)
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I don't believe that there is a book purely about bulbs for mediterranean conditions. (We may have to wait until Oron, Hans or Heini write one for us!)
A useful general book is Growing Bulbs: The Complete Practical Guide, by Brian Mathew (Batsford, 1997), as it does cover most genera. Although it is not written from a mediterranean-climate standpoint, you can easily interpret the cultivation requirements of and advice about each genus in "mediterranean" terms. Brian's two descriptive books The Smaller Bulbs and The Larger Bulbs between them cover almost all the bulbs you are ever likely to come across.
For bulbs actually coming from the Mediterranean (but not other parts of the world), Bulbs: The bulbous plants of Europe and their allies, by Christopher Grey-Wilson and Brian Mathew (Collins, 1981), is still a good identification guide, with reliable keys.
The best list of more specific bulb books that I know of is the one maintained in the US by The Pacific Bulb Society, which you can see by clicking here (http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/References).
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"Growing Bulbs" by Brian is one of the ultimate bulb books (as could be expected) with very detailed and accurate info on cycles for each bulb genus. A few non bulbs are included as well. But, you need some expertise to fully understand what he says concerning certain cultivation matters.
Howard's book is full of uncommon information on little known bulbs but these are of several origins. Many are of a Mediterranean cycle but a lot more from other parts of the world, including numbers of Mexican species that Howard collected in the wild for sale.
Goldblatt & Manning's Cape Encyclopedia is a monumental work. It provides endless information on the individual speciesd' requirements.
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Here`s ome I have just come across in the Plantsman............."Grow Bulbs, A guide to the cultivation and propagation of bulbs in South Africa and Neighbouring Countries" by Graham Duncan, South African National Biodiversity Institute, ISBN 9781919684567
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Excellent, but one must remember that in South Africa they grow bulbs under practically frost free conditions.