Flowers and Greens: 2008/2009 Winter Newsletter

   Alstroemeria: I had hoped to have some news about the blue and yellow selections introduced in the Spring 2008 Newsletter, but I have not been able to increase them sufficiently to offer them for sale. My guess is that they are still a year away from being placed in the retail catalog.

   On the other hand I have had excellent results with a new red selection, pictured below:

   I will not know some essential characteristics of this new selection with regard to inflorescence height , vase life,  and color stability  until the spring, but there’s no questioning its relatively high vigor. In the meantime I’ll be looking for suggestions for a name. The two closest paint chips are called Red Pizazz and Deep Fire with Red Chili Pepper also in the running. However in my opinion these are not  the most appropriate names for flowers, although Red Chili Pepper  does catch the major hue; some of you may have better suggestions.  Please write to me if you have some naming ideas.

   Another piece of good news for alstroemeria growers is that  the price for Magenta, Cream Burgundy and Pacific Sunrise is reduced to $10/clump. During this past year the number of plantings of these selections has increased substantially.

   Amaryllis belladonna and Amarcrinum. This is just a prompt to anyone who lives in Zone 6 and above climate zones to give these bulbs a try. They are quite vigorous in Davis and tend to naturalize here. The Amarcrinum bulbs are huge and may take a year or two to establish, but when they do they’ll make a statement.