Haemanthus

[Kashmir]

Wow! Its great to see some ZA bulbs not only being discussed but doing really well - well done to the growers!

Haemanthus is one of my favourites - I have an almost complete collection of the genus - only H. tristis has evaded me! Besides numerous forms of various species (esp. coccineus (including a form with silver leaves that are intensely purple spotted on the adaxial surface!) and albiflos) the real gems in the collection are H. graniticus, H. dasyphyllus and H. unifoliatus!

I will take pics and post them soon!

Regards

Robin

[jshields]

Welcome to the discussion, Robin. My Haemanthus montanus are in bloom and one pot of H. humilis hirsutus is about to bloom.

Jim

[jshields]

Haemanthus humilis hirsutus coming into bloom. This bulb origin ally came from Paul Christian in 2001; first bloomed in 2003, then not again until 2009.

[jshields]

Haemanthus montanus, my #2040, started blooming a week or so ago, when this picture was taken; and I've since been pollinating these with one another. Seed set is normally sparse. Most of these came from Dawie Human in 2005; they were 4 to 5 years old when received.

Jim Shields
in Westfield, Indiana
USA

[Kashmir]

Thank you Jim! Those humilis hirsutus are fantastic! One of my favourites!

As promised previously, some pics!



Here is humilis humilis in situ - in the winter rainfall zone! The locality is slap-bang in the middle of nowhere - between Leeu Gamka and Merweville on a farm by the name of Bushmansleegte (leegte is an Afrikaans word meaning emptiness!) A perfect description of the landscape - hardly any plants at all and then this population growing on the eastern aspect of a mesa. Still, a very arid area.



And this is a close up - the winter rainfall plants (up to Beaufort West) typically have these pustulate leaves - not an attractive description but it sure is pretty!



One of my favourites! Haemanthus pubescens pubescens! This one growing just north of Cape Town on the West Coast in Blaauwberg Nature Reserve.



Another form - this one growing along the eastern seaboard of False Bay. Haemanthus pubescens pubescens surely has amongst the more stately flowers in the genus - along with H. graniticus and H. nortieri.



More flowers! This time its coccineus growing a few mteres from the sea at Cape Agulhas - the southern-most tip of Africa. Here the populations are so dense that it looks like field of tulips amongst the white pebbles in autumn - an absolutely staggering and stunning sight!

Haemanthus coccineus is so widespread and variable that numerous forms exist - I will update at some stage with pics of the numerous forms!



Just like coccineus, albiflos is also widespread and variable - its habitat ranges from arid slopes to sopping wet forest! This form was growing under a Portulacaria afra in the Valley of Desolation National Park on the Camdeboo Escarpment - well worth a visit!



This sanguineus growing in the lawn at Walker Bay Nature Reserve, Hermanus. It is such an impressive species with its huge heads of flowers and those beuatiful rotund leaves pressed flat to the ground.



Some plants in the nursery - the beautiful H. unifoliatus. This is an incredibly rare species and they are no longer found anywhere accessible. The three large plants were part of a research collection and acquired as seedlings 20 years ago - the two little ones are later arrivals from a poor flowering seasona few years ago and the two seeds were placed in the pot with their parents and subsequent re-potting has made the arrangement a bit more pleasant on the eye.



One of the most valuable plants in the Haemanthus collection is this spotted form of coccineus! The plants are known from one locality only and unlike other coccineus they are incredibly slow growing and quite difficult to cultivate well.

In due time I will post more pics - its quite a genus to get through!

Cheers

Robin

[jshields]

Haemanthus humilis humilis is blooming. These were grown from seeds from the Croft Wild Bulb Nursery in 2001.

[Haemanthus]

Oh my god Robin!

For a Haemanthus-freak like me its an org*sm to see your photos!



Best wishes

Bernie

[jshields]

Actually, I'm very envious of Robin myself! I've been to South Africa but never really saw much in the way of Haemanthus in nature there. One bulb tour I did arrange fell through, since the tour company went bankrupt about a week before we were supposed to fly to South Africa. It was several years before I could go again, and that was not for a bulb tour.

I did see the coccineus with the speckled leaves growing in the Little Karoo Botanic Garden. I was not able to talk the curator out of any seeds, unfortunately.

I've never had seedlings of H. sanguineus to grow for me here, so I'd like to get a mature bulb of sanguineus someday.

Jim
in Westfield, Indiana
USA

[jshields]

It's going to be Haemanthus time soon. One bulb of Haemanthus pubescens pubescens and one of H. namaquensis are each showing a bud in the neck of the bulb. Our heat wave has broken, but it doesn't seem to me we've cooled off enough to trigger Fall Haemanthus blooms.

Jim

[santo2010]

We will be anxiously specting your pics Jim!

[Tim Harvey]

I can't seem to sell H. sanguineus here, for some reason.

T

[jshields]

Tim, do you have spare bulbs of sanguineus?

Jim

[Tim Harvey]

Yes, I hope a few will wake up soon.

T

[jshields]

I've been remiss, and Haemanthus season is at least half over already. Here is Haemanthus crispus, a dwarf.

This one is only about 3 inches tall.

Jim

[jshields]

Haemanthus lanceifolius is a rare species, and I have several in bloom this year.

Most of them are white with pale pink bracts, but a few are showing pink flowers as well. These are 4 to 6 inches tall.

Jim

[jshields]

Haemanthus coccineus from the Richtersveld area. This one has bloomed with white on the bracts for the last two seasons. Note that the second scape is perfectly normal. For scale, the pot is 22 cm across, or about 8.6 inches.

Jim

[jshields]

The Haemanthus season is just about over. The last species to bloom is pauculifolius, and here is one of mine.

I'm writing a piece on the genus Haemanthus and have been posting parts of it in my blog. You can find it at:
Jim Shields' Garden Notes

I'd appreciate suggestions, etc.

Jim Shields
in very wet Westfield, Indiana

[agavegreg]

Not sure how I missed this, but do you have any H. sanguineus available for sale?

G

Originally Posted by Tim Harvey

Yes, I hope a few will wake up soon.

T

[Boo Hollow]

Jim - You stated the season is almost over yet my plants are just getting going. I had a few albiflos under a bench and long forgotten that are growing and just starting to bolt. Is that odd for this time of year???

[jshields]

Well, I guess it may depend on when you neglect them! My albiflos get some water all year long, and normally bloom over a long period from maybe late August into November. I still have a couple albiflos with fading flowers on them.

My next blooms will be montanus in June. Then humilis humilis in early July, humilis hirsutus and carneus in July or even sometimes August, namaquensis in August, followed almost at once by barkerae. After that, we have coccineus through September, then crispus, lancifolius, pubescens pubescens in there. The latter two have not bloomed often enough for me to be sure of their preferred bloom time yet.

Jim Shields

[Boo Hollow]

Jim - The level of neglect our Haemanthus have suffered is borderline plant cruelty. My wife found another one on the porch stuck inside a large Mark Muradian pot that obviously was suffering from lack of water and rather etiolated, which coupled with the cold weather we have been having, looks pale, pinkish yellow leaves and really floppy. I asked her to water it since there is brand new growth coming forth that I believe we can salvage. I am suprised that this plant is alive in that I can't even recall when we got it, when it was put in the pot and when it was last watered.

It attests to the durability of this plant though. I will have to post a few pics to demonstrate its present condition and then a follow up to see how it recovers.... if it does.

[jshields]

While I wait for Haemanthus humilis humilis to start blooming here, I want to share pics of humilis hirsutus and of montanus that have bloomed.

I'm still struggling to get hirsutus to cross with montanus. Since the last montanus to bloom waited until the hirsutus bloomed this year, I tried again. I don't yet know if I'm going to get any seeds out of the pollinations.

That is montanus above and hirsutus below. Note the differences in the individual flowers.

Jim