Bulbs

Bulbs

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<Bulbs Revised Edition

by John E. Bryan, F. I. HORT.

Timber Press Portland, Oregon

All photographs are by John E. Bryan unless otherwise stated. Copyright © 2002 by John E. Bryan. All rights reserved. First edition published in 1989 by Christopher Helm in Great Britain (ISBN 07470-023102) and by Timber Press in North America (ISBN 0-88192-101-7, as 2 volumes). Revised edition published in 2002 by Timber Press, Inc. The Haseltine Building 133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450 Portland, Oregon 97204 U.S.A. Printed through Colorcraft Ltd., Hong Kong

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bryan, John E., 1931Bulbs / by John E. Bryan.—Rev. ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ISBN 0-88192-529-2 1. Bulbs—Encyclopedias. I. Title.

).

SB425 .B74 2002 635.9'4'03—dc21 2001045691

To my daughters, Daphne and Jasmine, and my grandchildren, Davina, Sophia, Anastasia, Zander, and Annika, for their love and support.

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Contents

Acknowledgments

9

Introduction 11

CHAPTER 1

Overview

13

CHAPTER 2

A Matter of History 15

CHAPTER 3

Botany and Classification of Bulbs 22

CHAPTER 4

Propagation

CHAPTER 5

Cultivation

CHAPTER 6

Bulbs in the Landscape 43

CHAPTER 7

Growing Bulbs Out of Season 51

CHAPTER 8

Pests and Diseases 58

CHAPTER 9

Alphabetical Listing of the Genera 64

29 37

APPENDIX A Families of Bulbous Plants 481 APPENDIX B

Bulbs Around the World 487

APPENDIX C

Specific Landscape Uses of Bulbs 493

APPENDIX D

Conversion Table 503 Glossary 504 Bibliography 508 Index of Common Names 515

Color plates follow pages 48, 144, and 272

7

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Acknowledgments

f m w or over 10 years I have been working on this second edi\ g j tion. I am indebted to the generous people who helped m * with the first edition, including several of whom have JL. now departed the scene. Their contributions are and will continue to be appreciated. To all who kindly contributed photographs to this edition, I say "Thank you. Your generosity is much appreciated": Tom Abrego, Daan Barnhoorn, Turhan Baytop, Botanical Research Institute of Pretoria (B.R.I.), Maurice Boussard, British Alpine Garden Society (B.A.G.S.), PHI S. Clark, John G. Conran, Gordon Courtright, Ron K. Crowden, August A. de Hertogh, Richard Doutt, Graham Duncan, Jack Elliott, Daniel Gildenhuys, Alfred Byrd Graf, Charles Hardman, Harry B. Hay, Helen Crocker Russell Library of San Francisco (H.C.R.L.), Antoine M. D. Hoog, International Bloembollencentrum of the Netherlands (I.B.), Jepson Herbarium of the University of California at Berkeley (J.H.), Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden of South Africa (K.N.B.G.), Klehm Nursery, John and Kitty Kohout, Chris Lovell, Brian Mathew, Edward McRae, Robert Ornduff, Robin Parer, Jnis Ruksns, Rod Saunders, James Shields, Katarina Stenman, Anne Strid, John Trager, Herman von Wall, David M. Ward, and Doug Westfall. The line drawings, by Pat Halliday, are reproduced here by permission.

T

Forty-three colored botanical illustrations in this book are from Curtis's Botanical Magazine, which began in 1787 and which still continues its tradition of fine color printing and articles by experts. It is currently edited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and published as Kew Magazine. Between 1787 and 1987 it published nearly 10,500 color plates. The botanical prints used in this work are from the private collection of the author and are reproduced here by kind permission of the publishers of Kew Magazine. To the staff at Timber Press I owe special thanks. No one could put together such a work without their understanding, patience, and helpful suggestions. To those who have, over the last 10 years, written and talked to me about my favorite plants, bulbs, I must say "Thank you all." I appreciate your sharing your knowledge with me. Of special note are the members of the International Bulb Society. A greater group of people with whom I am privileged to be associated is impossible to find. Thanks to all my many friends for bearing with me as I worked on this edition. I hasten to add I very much doubt I will be around to write another.

9

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Introduction

y^-w- cannot claim that my fascination with bulbs, in the broad^ • est definition of the word, came at the start of my career in I horticulture in 1946. As an apprentice in a nursery located ^M~ in Devon, England, I was introduced to the wonderful world of plants by having to water tomatoes in greenhouses for six solid weeks. For this work I did 48 hours each week, I received the princely sum of 10 shillings, roughly $ 1.25 per week. Having survived this period and having learned a great deal about the culture of tomatoes, I was assigned the job of preparing bulbs for forcing. There were no special chambers with controlled temperatures and humidity at that time. Rather, we used the old method, still in use in many areas today, of plunging the bulbs into beds and covering them with sand and soil. The interest in the miracles that can be forced upon a bulb, in this case tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and crocuses, was sparked then and has remained with me to this day. While a student at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland, and during postgraduate studies that followed at the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden at Wisley, Surrey, England; at The Hague in the Netherlands; and in Paris, France, bulbs were never far from my mind, even though they did not demand all of my time. My interest was heightened when I first saw the magnificent colors of the bulb fields in the Netherlands. This was reinforced when I came to the United States in 1961 to work at Jan de Graaff s Oregon Bulb Farms near Portland. Here, the raising of many new lily hybrids and their introduction into commerce fascinated me. Over the years it has been my good fortune to have known and worked with such great men in the lily world as Jan de Graaff, Earl Hornback, Harold Comber, and Edward McRae, with whom I was a student at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, and who is the originator of many fine new hybrid lilies. My association with these fine horticulturists and my past experience stood me in good stead when, while I was the director of the Strybing Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in Golden

7

Gate Park in San Francisco, California, we undertook experimental plantings of many different types of bulbs, recording their growth patterns, time of flowering, height at flowering, and so on. Since that time I have visited many other parts of the world and have seen a great number of bulbs growing in the wild. To my mind this is the best way to understand the cultural needs of any plant and also to gain a greater perspective of the enormous numbers of species. Despite all of this, you may well ask, "Why another book about bulbs? Hasn't everything definitive concerning these beautiful plants been written already?" It is my belief there is a need for a book that will give the reader an insight into the culture of bulbs and the role they have played in the cultural affairs of mankind. I find their history fascinating, and I hope to convey and induce a comparable fascination in you. This publication is not meant to be a series of monographs on each and every bulb. I believe that more bulbs are described here than has been done before in one work, but I also know that I have by no means encompassed all the known species. The selection of those described in detail is my choice alone, but the choices have not been easy to make. I have described in more detail plants offered by major commercial nurseries and those being grown in gardens, as well as less familiar ones that I deem worthy of introduction into horticulture. No one person can hope to see all the species and cultivars found in the farflung corners of the Earth. That would require several lifetimes. Where personal knowledge was lacking, I have relied upon the many authorities on the various genera. In many cases the nomenclature is both confused and confusing. A great deal of work and thorough evaluation of many genera is needed. This is a mammoth task. As modern technology, such as DNA analysis and other molecular research, or statistical techniques, such as cladistics, enables scientists to examine the various species in greater detail, and as our under11

12

Introduction

standing of plants increases, there are bound to be changes in the classification and naming of genera and individual species. Where confusion exists, I have noted this, and I hope I have not muddied the waters any worse. I have drawn upon my long experience with bulbs, with the much-enjoyed contact with gardeners during my work in television, the publishing of a monthly newsletter, a newspaper column, lecturing, and, last but not least, my correspondence with many bulb lovers from all around the world. It is profoundly to be hoped long-established methods of plant identification will continue, following what are now traditional methods. Having to establish the DNA of a species before identifying it with certainty belongs in the laboratory. I will not dispute the value of these findings; however, I hope such important information will not result in greater difficulty of identification in the field. Perhaps the time has come to establish a separate system incorporating the technical advances which can exist with tried, true, and to now acceptable criteria for identification. Differences not visible to the naked eye or with a lOx hand-held lens would not, in my opinion, help most plant lovers know or enjoy their plants. It is most gratifying to be allowed to write a second edition of Bulbs. Since the first edition was published in 1989, there have

been numerous changes in the nomenclature. These have been taken into account with this edition. Many genera have been added and an even greater number of species. Certain of them have not been regarded as bulbs even in the broadest sense; however, if such plants have a rhizome, corm, tuber, or a true bulb as a rootstock, I have included them. I do not claim all such plants are discussed, but I feel I have included the majority. I greatly appreciate those readers who brought to my attention inaccuracies contained in the first edition. I have endeavored to correct such. This edition, like the earlier one, is intended to give both the keen amateur and the professional a greater appreciation of bulbs. It is hoped that the information contained herein will be both useful and enjoyable to the reader. Nothing I write here, however, can accomplish this as well as the thrill of watching bulbs grow and each year witnessing their dazzling displays of brilliance, often with little effort on the part of the gardener. If I have encouraged but one person to grow these wondrous plants who has never done so, if I have enhanced just a little the remarkable world of bulbs by an enlightened overview, or if I have added little pieces of historic information to your knowledge, then I will have achieved my purpose and the effort will have been more than worthwhile.

CHAPTER

1

Overview Diversity, distribution, and adaptation of bulbs

^