Urginea maritima - finally!

[Melt in the Sun]

I bought this plant in August 2011, one pot with one softball-sized bulb and one small offset. Now I have two volleyball-sized bulbs, and finally another flower coming! It's about the size of my thumb right now, but should be a 4-6' spike of brilliant white and yellow flowers within a few weeks. These bulbs actually came from the ranch of Howard Gentry himself, sold to Bach's in Tucson by his daughter. I hear he was growing them to try and make a profitable rodent poison from them, as well as selling the flowers to florists.

[RCS]

Never heard of this bulb. Keep us posted on development of flowers.

[Melt in the Sun]

It's a really neat plant - giant wavy strap leaves for 9 months of the year, plus the frustratingly sporadic flowers. An old photo is below, from before it was in-ground and got less sun than it does now. Leaves are shorter, wider, and tidier in full sun. It's seen mid 20s with no stress.

[Stan]

Nice!..has Boophone or our native Soap plant look to it. All native to med climates,more or less.

[Melt in the Sun]

2 days of growth...I was hoping the other bulb would pop one out, but no luck yet.

[Melt in the Sun]

Coming along, and buds starting to show...

[Melt in the Sun]

Just realized I never updated this! Here's the rest of it. From early flower to full flower to seed...I went out of town for a couple weeks and all the seed matured and spilled while I was gone

After the flowering, the bulb split...now I have three plants. I may divide the clump this summer during dormancy, but I'm a little afraid it'll put them back another 5 years!

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[toditd]

Hey Melt in the Sun, did your Urginea maritima, (now Drimia maritima), ever bloom again?

I've been thinking of getting a bulb or two of this. I have seen it blooming a few times at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and I've been intrigued by it for sometime now. However, I've read that it is very reluctant to bloom here in the Phoenix climate. Being from a dry summer area with a wet winter, I'm wondering how it would cope with our summer monsoon rains (although I havn't had must of that at my place the past couple of years).

Does anyone have any experience with this plant in the Phoenix area? If so, I'd love to hear about your successes or failures, and whether in-ground or in-container. Thanks.

[Melt in the Sun]

I think it would do fine there. We get much more rain here than you do, and it's in a pretty well-irrigated bed, and it hasn't had problems with it.

I may have a few dozen offsets to spare too...though it's probably a bit late for planting this year.

[toditd]

Thanks for the info, Melt. You touched on something I'm not sure of - When is the right time to plant them? I assume as with most bulbs, when they are dormant? In this case in their summer dormancy?

I do know a local nursery that has a few, or at least they did the last few times I visited. That's what got me thinking about them again. I don't know if I'll be able to find one, but I'd love to get one that has pink flowers instead of the normal white. I'm not sure though on how I would know unless I saw it in bloom.

[Xanthoria]

Palm Island in Petaluma has lots of those! Wish I'd got some last time I was there...

[Melt in the Sun]

Had to dig them up to move...they've come a long way since two fist-sized bulbs in 2010-ish. The biggest pavers are 6"x9", and the largest bulb about matches that. I hope they transplant OK!

[Xanthoria]

Saw lots of those growing wild in Sicily this year. Very cool plant.

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[Carlos]

Hi, just a quick note.

Most, if not all Drimia maritima in California are actually another species. Drimia numidica, a tetraploid plant with brick-red tunics, thick and tall flower stalks and white tepals.

There are other species, one of which is the real maritima, a hexaploid with white tunics, stalks not so stout, and flowers with a reddish-brown midvein. It is the widespread plant in the Iberian peninsula.

In Sicily, at least in the North, they have a third species, a diploid called Drimia pancration.

There are some more species and it seems that obe or two yet unnamed ones.

I have seeds of maritima, if anyone wants to wait 10 years to see the flowers.

Carlos