Cyrtanthus falcatus

[amarguy]

Not quite sure this is considered xeric or not ... although mine in the ground survived ... in fact, thrived ... with only periodic water every 3-4 weeks during our mild dry summer here, in clayish soil on a North-facing hillside. Anyway, it is in full bloom now and initiating foliage growth as well.

Ken
San Diego

[Allen Repashy]

Thanks Ken!

Of course, I would consider all bulbs to be Xeric by nature, so please share as many as you can!. I see you post a lot on the bulb mailing list and wish you would share the same stuff here too..... Thanks for the great pic! I picked up four large C. herrei from Dylan Hannon last year and really look forward to their first display.

Allen

[agavegreg]

Nice! I grow C. brachyscyphus, C. obrienii and just got started with C. mackenii var. cooperi. Would love to get some C. falcatus. Anybody have Dylan's contact info?

[amarguy]

Thank you, gents! I do favor the winter growers ... as they generally do fine with our normal winter rainfall. This one is definitely a summer grower, and requires some water, but seems amazingly tolerant of our winter rains. And of course, I like the unusual crook-neck blooms and red color of the developed scape. I am unsure of its frost tolerance though ... most of the bulb seems to want to grow above ground and would be directly exposed to even a light frost. My clones seem to offset well ... not sure if that is a normal trait for the species or not. Currently trying to fertilize with C.herrei pollen saved from last autumn ... maybe introduce additional drought tolerance, perhaps an evergreen growth cycle? Anybody know if this has been done? I'll post some C.herrei pics in a separate thread.

Ken

[jshields]

My one pot of Cyrtanthus falcatus is still dormant. It has been a summer-grower for me ever since I got it, and blooms most years about now.

I need to check out Dylan's list one of these days. I'd like to get a second clone of falcatus and try a few other Cyrtanthus as well.

I also currently grow clavatus, contractus, epiphyticus, eucallus, inaequalis, labiatus, maakenii cooperi, montanus, obliquus, obrienii, sanguineus, stenanthus, and the vigorous and floriferous [elatus x montanus].

I have obliquus (unbloomed) coming out my ears, if anyone wants to do some trading. I have extras of montanus and sanguineus as well.

Jim

[jshields]

I decided to repot my C. falcatus, since there is no sign of bloom so far this year. I have 3 clones, and one of them, which bloomed a year or two ago, had split into several non-bloom-size bulbs (ca. 1.2-1.5 inches diameter by 5 inches long). This is one or two more than I need. If anyone is still trying to locate falcatus, contact me privately at <jshields@indy.net>.

I grow my falcatus in a two-gallon pot in my gritty mix. Instead of 3 bulbs in one pot, I'm putting each in its own 2-gal. pot now, to (I hope) encourage more bloom in the future.