The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Bulbs (including other geophytes with corms, tubers, rhizomes etc) => Topic started by: Fermi on November 07, 2013, 06:47:34 AM
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Do people living in true mediterranean areas grow ixias?
They have a tendency towards weediness in parts of Australia and need to be watched carefully when you garden near "bush" in case of escapees!
I really love them especially at this time of the year after the daffs and tulips have finished some of the late flowering varieties can really be a colourful feature in the garden.
One of my favourites is Ixia viridiflora but I'm yet to re-acquire it after losing it a number of gardens ago when I didn't realise how susceptible it was to summer wet :'(
However, one of the hybrids raised from it survives and thrives in our garden - especially in the raised beds/rock gardens. It is known by various names including "Teal", "Teal Blue" and "Amethystina" (unfortunatley also passed off as Ixia viridiflora) and after a number of years the clump has grown and self-sown seedlings are flowering - but with considerable variation in colour, possibly through further hybridising with other ixias in the garden.
Here's the original clump surrounded by its progeny and some close-ups of them,
cheers
fermi
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I grew Ixia viridiflora in pots for two years but got a bit too self assured and didn't heed warnings that it can be short lived. The third summer (this summer) I had nothing, the corms having died the previous summer during their dormant period and not resprouting when I started watering again in Oct 2012. They had not rotted as I had not watered at all during the time the leaves had died down (May) until October and they had baked in a bone-dry pot for 4 months.
I have acquired some new corms and 6 out of 6 are sending new growth now so I should have flowers April next year. I have also set seed so that I will have a new generation if and when these new corms decide they have had enough of this life.
I think my old stock was the minor form (about 30 - 40 cm long. I don't know how tall my new stock will be. Perhaps the old stock were shorter because they were in a pot ?
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Hi David,
I didn't realise that they were that short lived!
I got some seed of forma minor a few years ago but the ones in the ground got dug up by the local echidna and the ones I kept in the pot rotted off last summer :'(
cheers
fermi
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Some more ixias in the garden:
Ixia trifolia x 2
Ixia scillaris
Ixia viridiflora hybrid seedling - pale blue no central eye
Mixed Ixias seedlings x 2
Ixia maculata
Ixia maculata seedling
cheers
fermi
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I've rescued a few from derelict farm-house gardens, churchyards, cemeteries, road verges etc - hot pink, washy pinky-mauvy, orange, yellow, yellow with a reddish-brown back and various unsatisfactory bluey-greeny-turquoise-ish things that are NOT Teal Blue. It seems they hybridise quite freely which indicates that separate colour forms isolated in the 19th C, and given cv names, could soon revert to muddier colours once the places where they were grown became derelict with farmers etc moving when waves of drought, or wild bushfires, made relocation necessary.
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This year there have been a few new colours in the hybrid swarm of 'Teal' seedlings!
Bluish-mauve;
Deep pink;
Aqua with dark centre (close to Ixia viridiflora in appearance)
cheers
fermi
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Incredible colours, Fermi!
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It's ixia season again!
The main sand-bed with the early season ixias;
A different looking hybrid with long-petalled yellow flowers
Pale yellow ixia
orange yellow ixia
yellow ixia with red reverse
Ixia trifolia
The Teal hybrids and others are in bud so should be open over the next few weeks,
cheers
fermi
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Hi Fermi, what a feast for the eyes. Do they wait for the rain to arrive and then present themselves to be admired?
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Hi Charithea,
sorry for not answering sooner.
The ixias flower after the winter which is when we should get most of our rain.
This year it was so dry that we actually had to water areas where some of these bulbs are growing.
Here are some of the seedlings of "Teal" which is derived from Ixia viridiflora,
cheers
fermi
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These are tremendous colours, Fermi: congratulations!
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Hi Fermi, thanks for the reply. We had put down some bulbs a few years ago. We don't usually do well in them. Last year we had rain which was sufficent to make the bulbs come up. We had an Ixia , and lots of freesias come up. Nothing spectacular like yours though. You really grow such lovely coloured bulbs, and amazing colours in irises. I find it hard to decide which one to admire most. I have managed to grow Ipomoeas the last two years. They are beautiful at this time of the year because they don't get scorched by the sun. They stay open until very late in the day. Some of their seeds are growing already after the heavy downpour on the 22nd of Oct.. I decided to sew some more and keep a diary.
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This is a new one we got from Greg Boldiston at Longinomus Plants in Romsey, Central Victoria:
Ixia polystachya which is supposed to be variable but this one doesn't match any of those on the Pacific Bulb Society site, so is it "true"?
cheers
fermi
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Ixia rouxii is one we've had for a number of years and is dwarf enough to grow in the rock garden
cheers
fermi
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A new season of ixias starting with Ixia rapunculoides, "The Blue Ixia"
cheers
fermi
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Ixia scillaris is doing better this year;
Ixia trifolia - in the garden;
Yellow ixias - these were common along the roadside till "tidied-up";
Mixed ixias - includes Ixia maculata and hybrids;
Mixed ixias;
cheers
fermi
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The Hybrid Ixia 'Teal' and its seedlings are now reaching peak flowering
cheers
fermi
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You've got some terrific seedlings there, Fermi; thanks very much for letting us see them, a splendid sight.
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Thanks, Alisdair,
They look even better today!
These are the ones which are derived from 'Teal' - itself derived from Ixia viridiflora,
cheers
fermi
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This is a patch of ixia - possibly Ixia polystachya - growing on the roadside on the way to family living an hour to the east of our place.
We only had the phone to take the pics and I haven't learned how to focus properly on close-ups!
cheers
fermi
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The Ixias have put on their annual show:
1) these are the 'Teal' cultivar and its hybrid swarm
2) Starry pink seedling
3) Blue-grey seedling
4) Pale blue with large purple centre
5) Pinky-purple with blue centre
6) PInk-red ixia NOT a 'Teal' seedling ;D
cheers
fermi
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A new Ixia hybrid in the garden!
This appears to be between the Cerise hybrid available in the trade and Ixia maculata
cheers
fermi
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How exciting Fermi- stunning colour :)
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How exciting Fermi- stunning colour :)
Yes, I'm thinking of calling it 'Redesdale Tangelo' or maybe 'Redesdale Satsuma' ;D
cheers
fermi
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Ixia
polstachya (probably a hybrid of I. rapunculoides) is doing well this year - I must try some in the garden, perhaps near the "Teal" seedlings to see if they cross ;D
cheers
fermi
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Back in December 2016 I posted pics of a "wild" ixia in flower after Christmas on the roadside near Kilmore , a town North of Melbourne. We did mange to get a few corms which I kept in a pot; however I found it empty this year :'( :-[
We did plant out a lot of bulbs last winter into a "renovated" bed and a patch of ixias is now in flower and this could be the same one!
cheers
fermi
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It's a real beauty, Fermi! (and like your original picture of the "wild" one does look rather like I. polystachya, so presumably that is where some of your empty potful ended up....)
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Ixia odorata is another bulb (corm actually) we got from Greg Boldiston when he ran his nursery "Longinomus"
cheers
fermi
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Another new colour combo - a pale yellow with a dark centre and red exterior
cheers
fermi
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Hi there ,
Many thanks for all the bright colourful photos of the flowering bulbs in your garden which you have been posting for the last couple of months.
They are much appreciated
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Thanks, Hilary.
I was reflecting today on how the weather is starting to warm up as we head towards summer. It's been predicted that we'll have a wet season due to the La Nina effect. It would be a relief to have less of a fire threat but I'll believe it when I see it! I'm glad that I've been able to share some pics of a cool spring garden here for you guys on the other side of the world can enjoy while the weather there is still hot
cheers
fermi
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Also from me. I have not had time to write earlier but the flowers are amazing.
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Re your earlier post and the situation in the Northern Hemisphere, "weather is still hot"..... If only. My little garden is loving it but I find early morning temperatures of 9 and 10 degrees just a little bit too much like winter for my liking. Crazy weather for October too. September is usually the wet month and by October we have settled into glorious autumn days - my favourite month. Not so this year. The rain was late in arriving, stressing the plants, but it has rained a lot over the last 2-3 weeks and there is more to come. Is it only Rome?
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David, here in Limassol we haven't seen a drop of rain for about 6 months. All summer the daytime temps have been in the mid to high 30s, sometimes into the 40s. Even in October they have remained in the mid to high 30s, crazy for this time of year. This morning we opened the blinds to see an unusual sight - clouds. It stayed a little overcast all day and the temperature came down to a reasonable level, but still no sign of rain and it seems the forecast is for it to go back up again. We would love some of your rain, please.
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BBC weather Rome shows some sun forecast around the weekend. But there is a price to pay - lows of 6°C during the night. In mid-October!!!!!. People were wearing winter coats this evening.
We had 4 months of sun without a drop of rain but, although consistently high temperatures, there were fewer days around 40°C than we usually get.
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More of this year's ixia hybrids
cheers
fermi
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More than a month after the other form of Ixia odorata finished flowering we have the first flowers on a form grown from seed from Silver Hills sown in 2018; there is a bit of variation in colour with some with a small dark centre,
cheers
fermi
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They are beautiful and this 'yellow' is so much more likeble.
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Raised from seed as Ixia estherhuyseniae but more likely to be something like Ixia versicolor,
cheers
fermi
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Beautiful additions to any garden - must try to get some.😊
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I've previously posted a pic of this ixia thinking it was a form of I. polystachya, but I've been told that it's most likely a hybrid of Ixia rapunculoides,
cheers
fermi
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Fermi , I love the Ixia posting. So many colours. I have mentioned before that we have some but not such a great variety as yours. I have been reading an article in the MG Oct 2021 regarding bulbs for Med Gardens by Johannes Ulrich Urban. I found the information interesting and I am tempted to buy some bulbs and try them out.
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Hi Charithea,
I'm an enthusiast for bulbs and especially like the South African ones because they do well in our part of the world.
If you choose bulbs that come from similar climatic zones to your own you can have a lot of success and enjoy a wide range of flowers.
Only Ixia odorata and I. polystachya left to flower now, though the 'Teal' seedlings will continue for a little while,
cheers
fermi