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               Lachenalia aloides var. aurea         

Lachenalias, these winter growers, designed to withstand dry summer conditions, come from the winter rainfall areas of South Africa. The range of species cover flowering periods from April to October, with some species having longer seasons than others, and individual clones showing timing variations too.

Lachenalias require good moisture levels in the growing season, but at the same time, good drainage. In pot culture,deeper pots give better drainage than shallow pots with the same medium.Some species are noted as growing in heavy soils but in cultivation may be susceptible to root diseases not encountered in their native environment so good drainage with good moisture levels is desirable, at least for the first part of their growing season.

Good light is essentail, preferably full sun, but protection from frost is necessary for some species. Locally we get good results and they provide a good display when grown under deciduous trees.

Propagation is by seed or bulblets formed around flowering plants. Hybrids should not be grown from seed, only species types. Hybrids do not occur easily. Seedlings flower in 2-4 years from seed, bulblets in their second year. Lachenalias can be tissue cultured, or grown from leaf cuttings which form bulblets at the base before going dormant in early summer.

SPECIES AND CULTIVARS IN OUR COLLECTION:

(all of easy culture in containers)

I hope to scan and display as many as I can this year as they              

come into flower              

 

 

-aloides. Greenish buds opening yellow with red tips.

-aloides var.aurea.(new jpeg 7/98) Lacks the reddish tips. Leaves plain or spotted. Flowers September - October. All forms of L. aloides are easy to grow. The illustration shows this variety growing in a hanging basket.

-aloides var. Quadricolor. (new 7/98)Flowers to 20cm tall July -August, red-orange base, yellow middle with green+maroon tips. Leaves grey green, plain or densely spotted.

-aloides Tricolor. This is a form of aloides which has a greenish look, and no red lip markings.

-aloides van zijliae. This is an unusual botanical form of aloides which is reminiscent of orchiodes Glaucina. This species had most unusual colouiing, lustrous white flowers flushed at the base with pale blue and green at the tips. (obtained 3/98)

-arbuthnotiae. Grows in sandy ground, but seasonally inundated. Flowers to 40cm, bright yellow fading to orange-red, August - October. Leaves spotted, and easy to grow.

-bulbifera. (syn pendula) (new jpeg 7/98)Flowers orange or red with purple and green tips, April-September. Leaves plain or marked. Easy to grow.

-carnosa. Flowers to 25 cm,dull white and green or maroon tips on outer segments, inner segments mauve or magenta tips from August - September. Leaves fleshy. Fairly easy to grow.

-contaminata. From moist heavy soil. Flowers >25cm white and maroon marked, August to October. Fine grasslike fleshy leaves. Vigourous and easy to grow.

'Crimson Joy'-(new jpeg 7/98) this is a bulbifera hybrid that was marketed some years ago by Joy Plants of Pukekohe.

-juncifolia. Flowers white - pink or blue, August - October. Easy to grow.

var. campanulata. wide pale flowers.

-latifolia. Very distinct species. Inflorescence consist of numerous widely-campanulate flowers, usually white, with dark pink central stripe.

-mathewsii. Flowers on 20cm spike, bright yellow with green markings, September. Easy to grow.

-mutabilis. Flowers change from electric blue or violet to paler with bright yellow tips.

Flowers appear from July-September, up to 45cm tall but usually shorter.Leaves plane green or grey green, with or without an undulate margin and a clasping base. Quite easy to grow.

-orchioides.Flowers 8 to 40cm tall, yellow-green, from August to October. Leaves leathery, plain or spotted.

var. glaucina.Flowers August - October, blue and purple or blue and darker blue markings, sweetly scented. Leaves plain or spotted. [M.J.N. grow a clone of glaucina]

Grows in sun or semishade in heavy soils. It can tricky to grow and may not appreciate drying out completely during the dormant period.

-pallida. Flowers 12 - 30cm tall August - October with pale yellow flowers on a rounded flower head, scented.Leaves plain green, sometimes pustulate. Easy to grow.

--pallida Blue. (new 7/98)This sounds interesting, the promotional photograph looked like a Grape Hyacinth (Muscari sp). New release in NZ this year.(obtained 3/98)

--pallida Yellow. Also a new release for NZ. Time will tell. (obtained 3/98)

-pustulata. Flowers August to October to 35cm tall. Variable pale yellow -cream with pink or blue markings. Leaves bronze, with or without pustulation. Grows in heavy soil on rocky outcrops. Easy to grow.

-pustulata 'Sea Blue'. This is a selection from Joy Plants and we will be evaluating it as soon as we can.

-reflexa. Unusual upright rich yellow flowers 5-18cm tall from June-August. Leaves 1 or 2, plain or marked with undulate margins. Quite easy to grow.

-rosea. A beautiful rose pink species which is quite late flowering, into the spring.

-rubida. flowers similar to bulbifera except the florets curve downwards. Easy to grow, ruby red speckled flowers on a pale yellow. Grows to 25cm from March toJuly. (obtained 3/98)

-Scarlet Bloom.(new jpeg 7/98) Possibly a hybrid between aloides and bulbifera. Easy to grow.

-splendida. new jpeg 7/98)easy to grow with campanulate white or lilac flowers 6-25cm tall in July and August. (obtained 3/98)

-viridiflora. An early flowering form with unusual greenish blue opalescent flowers similar to aloides van zijliae.(obtained 3/98)

Forms that look worth growing for variation of colour and form:

-fistulosa. easy to grow with scented cream and pink forms 8-30cm tall.

-framesii. quite easy to grow with greenish yellow and purple or magenta highlights freely produced,9-15cm tall.

-hirta. easy to grow, light blue shading to pale yellow flowers on stems 10-30cm tall from August to September.

-isopetala. one of the latest flowering species. 10-30cm tall cream, maroon and bronze flowers produced in October and November. Easy to grow.

-kliprandensis. an easy to grow species with two veined pustulate leaves and flowers of white and magenta with green or bronze markings, growing to20cm tall in August and September.

-lilflora. easy to grow with campanulate flowers, white with magenta tips,10-20cm tall.

-longibracta. easy to grow with blue or pale blue and yellow flowers on stems 7-35cm tall from July to September.

-macgregorianum. easy to grow, campanulate white and maroon flowers to 35cm tall in October and November.

-namaquensis. easy to grow with pale blue and magenta or maroon flowers to 20cm in August and September. This species produces stolons with bulbils on the end at ground level, reproducing very quickly.

-patula.(white + pink forms)quite easy to grow with pink or white campanulate flowers to 15cm tall.

-unicolor. easy to grow, very similar to pustulata, with cream with lilac, pink, magenta, blue or purple flowers to 30cm tall inSeptember and October.

-violacea. quite easy to grow with campanulate pendulous flowers of pale bluish-green with purple or violet coloured tips, up to 35cm tall from July to September.

-zebrina. quite easy to grow with creamy campanulate flowers up to 30cm tall from August to October. The single leaves are undulated and this exposes the striped undersides of the leaf from which it gets it's name.

The variety circulated in New Zealand as L. pearsonii is considered a hybrid of L. aloides, which has been widely used for hybridising.

http://www.thebulbman.com./ US source for lachenalia bulbs

Larger versions of some of these pictures have been supplied to The Bulb Gallery

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