The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Bulbs (including other geophytes with corms, tubers, rhizomes etc) => Topic started by: lastmanonthebus.com on October 03, 2011, 10:49:20 AM
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In Crete last year Jorun, John and myself "saved" some bulbs from a ploughed up field
After some rain last weekend this is what I have in my "Greek Meadow" right now.
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Hey Brian that looks like quite a sharp photo to me.
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Great picture, Brian; thanks!
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Nice!
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Hi John
You showed me how to focus. Many thanks.
And you should see the ones from Mallorca!!
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We went to the little island Ammouliani yesterday (beautiful island, but very crowded in August, we discovered). To my big surprise, Pancratium maritimum was already in bloom, at least a whole month earlier than I expected. The photos were taken in a hurry, handheld and not very sharp, but it was so nice to see them near the beach Megali ammos.
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??? I have had a clump of this for 20 yrs, at least, and it has never flowered. Why? We do not live anywhere near the sea and our soil is not sandy. Should I give it some salt? Sand? Seaweed?
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Trevor, I have no idea why your plant has never flowered but 3 years ago at the AGM in Crete I picked up a few seeds from a beach there and sowed them on our return home. One of them germinated and once it was large enough I planted it out into a dry, stony area. For a couple of years it only produced one or two strap-like leaves then earlier this week it suddenly sent up a flower spike with at least 6 buds on it. Last night we sat outside with a few friends enjoying the odd 'lemonade' and we could literally watch as 2 of the buds swelled and unfurled. It was too dark by then to get a photo but I took these this morning.
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I forgot to mention that the scent is truly amazing.
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Mine is from the AGM in Crete as well, it was planted in pure sand, no fertilizer, and it bloomed very well last year, there were many small seedlings as well. There were a few leaves earlier this summer after lots of rain in the beginning of July, but they are dry now, we haven't had a drop of rain the last month. I wonder if there will be any flowers this year, maybe if we get some rain soon?
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Jorun, we've had no significant rain for over 3 months and the leaves on the Pancratium were drying up so it was a complete surprise when the flower spike suddenly put in an appearance this week.
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I suppose I'll not be seeing any flowers this year then, we are going back to Norway on Tuesday, and any flowering will be over when we come back here again. I'll check tomorrow if the pancratiums on the beach 200 m from our house are in bloom now, they were started from seeds collected from Ammouliani 30 years ago.
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Thanks for the helpful responses. I will dig the bulbs carefully when the leaves go down and replace the soil with more sand and rocky bits. Are the roots permanent or made afresh annually? Does anyone know?
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Trevor,
Mature bulbs of P. maritimum have few permanent roots.
These roots go very deep in the ground in order to anchore the bulb as it often grows in moving sands but they serve to store nutrients as well.
These roots are very sensetive to overwatering during summer and will rot rapidaly, when that happens ususally the bulb will not set a flowering stem as energy serves to rebuild a new root system.
Young bulbs start to develop these roots only after they reached the right depth.
New seasonal roots develop every winter and dry completely when the dry season arrive, these are shorter in length. .
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I discovered today that the flowers of the pancratiums on our beach were almost finsihed already, there was one single plant with one open flower left, plus a few buds on the same stem.
It was very windy.as usual, and almost hopeless to take a photo, but I got some shots which were not too much out of focus. The little spider insisted on being photographed as well, although I tried to lift it out.
The plants grow in the sand dunes, not fra from the edge of the water.
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I want to confirm that Pancratium maritimum is a fascinating plant, and the most amazing thing about it is its heavenly SCENT! We find this plant on the beaches, near the Rhône delta, in July and August; just to inhale the fresh, kind-of-daffodil-but-more-exquisite perfume is to experience a rare epiphany. It's our reward for having to walk a long way in the hot sand dunes in order to rediscover the plants where they appeared the previous years.
On a scale of 10, for the most delightful fragrance, I would rate Pancratium maritimum a 9+.
And Hedychium gardnerianum, now in bloom in my garden, would rate 7.
Is there a discussion of fragrances on the MGS forum?
As Carole has reminded me, the correct answer to Jean's question is "Yes!" So I've moved his original posting from this thread, to the thread on Scented plants in the Miscellaneous section - you can find it by clicking here (http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?topic=779.0). Do join in - what are your favourite (or most hated) plant fragrances?
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Our Pancratium has sent up 4 flower spikes this year and the first of them has opened today, almost exactly a year to the day since the first ones opened last year.
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My newly acquired Pancratium maritimum flowered successfully a few weeks ago and I was amazed at the size and intricacy of the flowers - also by the fact they flowered on such short stalks. I thought that might be because I had not planted them in a sufficiently deep pot but it would appear to be normal judging by your 'photo John.(much better than mine I have to add!) Anyway I was thrilled by my success and happy to be introduced to this amazing plant through the Forum
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Oops! Seem to have forgotten the 'photo - hopefully here it is....
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On a visit to the island of Kythira off the south tip of the Peloponnese on the last weekend of September we were rewarded by the sight of hundreds of Pancratium maritimum. Re-reading the previous posts they seem to be blooming a lot later than elsewhere.
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Our Pancratium is continuing its tradition of flowering in early August. These are some of the first blooms this year, with many more forming.
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It's really excelling itself this year.
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True to form, it's 14 August and the first flower has opened on our Pancratium.
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It is lovely.
I have fancied having one for years, but have not taken seed from wild populations heareabouts.
Fortunately, in one rubbishy corner of some communal gardens that I manage, I recently found one of these plants, in full flower.
...and with some seed pods starting to fatten :)
I shall have some of those seeds!
Mike
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Our Pancratium maritimum are continuing their tradition of flowering in early August.
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beautiful