All of this was in my garden in the middle of the Midwest. Now I am out in the desert and determined to continue growing these favourites if at all possible. All indications are that it is possible. So last autumn I selected the little species Narcissus canaliculatus as the best place to begin. Origin unknown, N. canaliculatus is believed to be affiliated with N. tazetta, supposedly the most reliable narcissus category for growing in low-chill regions. The catalogue (McClure and Zimmerman) described it as liking a summer's baking! I thought I could certainly provide for that preference.
Having planted the bulbs, I waited. And as spring came round, I watched. And nothing happened.
Well, I will keep the embarassing part of this story short. In an inane fit of over-enthusiasm, I had planted the bulbs much too deep. Much, much too deep. The error was probably exacerbated by dirt flowing back in from the edges of the watering ring which I carefully threw up around the bulb patch. For a month or two I have attempted to dig the planting area deeper so as to give the stalks a chance to meet the sunshine.
And a few have done so. A couple have even sent up their darling miniature flower clusters, replete with more than miniature scent - so long as you are willing to get to their level, which must be all of five inches (12.7 cm) high.
The two clusters have just now given out, which means they lasted for about a week. They did not appear to suffer at all from the dry air or from the temperatures, which haven't been too bad, mostly in the low 80s F (27 C). Another bud has emerged from another little cluster of leaves, so it is possible I may get one more flowering stalk.
In the meantime, here are a few more pictures...
These really are beautiful. Bulbs are very forgiving, so I would lift the ones that are too deep and plant them at the correct depth - they probably won't flower, but their leaves will give them food they need to manufacture this year so that they're ready for next year :-)
ReplyDeleteI have lifted some of them to the correct depth already, and the leaves have greened up but are not growing on out so far. Maybe they will still get enough nutrients? I can only hope ;-)
DeleteThat is my sort of narcissus. The big blowsy ones are not nearly as nice.
ReplyDeleteI love the miniatures too, Jessica. Though my prejudices only really go against the split-coronas and some of the big doubles... My 'most-loved' is still N. poeticus recurvus, but it will be long before I try that one as its very late blooms would almost certainly be destroyed by the early heat here... I think I will have to focus on the little early bloomers!
DeleteYou've just reminded me that my N. canalaticus haven't appeared this year. I must look tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteGood to read that you've recognised your mistake and you can rectify it in future, I can see the small sunny garden having a few more of these wee beauties :)
I hope it will, Angie :) This is one case where I'm happy to find out the problem was mine, not the plant's...!
DeleteI've been surprised at just how well Narcissus handle summer dry conditions. One of the prior owners of our property planted Narcissus near our citrus trees in an area that doesn't get a lot of supplemental water, much less attention, yet they come up reliably every year. I've added pockets of Narcissus bulbs here and there and they've almost all shown their pretty, cheerful faces.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to hear, Kris! It's a relief to know I'll be able to grow them after all. (BTW, I'm sure this was why the Iris reticulata "Harmony" bulbs sulked as well; they were planted together with these.) More narcissus varieties next autumn :)
Delete