Scilla maderensis and Urginea maritima bulbs

[MartinNicklin]

I’ve persevered with the Urginea for years with no sign of a flower. There was a post (perhaps on GOTE) from someone with the same issues. I’ve now taken them out of the pot and planted them in the greenhouse border. In the meantime I saw a wonderful photo of someone’s plant which had bulked up in a pot and thrown up masses of spikes. It looked to be pot bound so perhaps that is the secret. Anyway, looking on EBay I was not willing to pay £30+ for a single 25cm bulb so found a place (Garden Wildlife) which sells the same sized bulbs for £7.99. I’ve bought a couple and am going to give them another go. We will see!

I wanted some more Scilla maderensis bulbs. I see that Botanico (had various plants from him but prices can be high for what you get) was selling one in a 2L pot for £32 (then add P&P)!!! However, I see Farmer Gracey are selling the bulbs in their sale for £3 a piece! I’ve ordered some to see how they fare.

Is anyone on this forum having success with either of these two beauties and can share the secrets of getting them to bloom?

[charlie]

We have several pots of Scilla madeiriensis, bulbs tend to have a year off after flowering well but if you have several bulbs then you should get flowers every year, they bulk up but relatively slowly and I never see seed pods.

Lovely to see a clump on Madeira this year

20251013_120825 by charliepridham, on Flickr

[ian s]

I’ve been trying with U. maritima for years, I haven’t looked but maybe the posts are still on GOTE (if it’s still viewable on the internet)
I dug it out of it’s gravel bed a few years ago and kept it potted up in the conservatory but all it did was grow more bulbs so 2 years ago it went back outside to the gravel bed but in a slightly sunnier spot and it’s currently about a foot tall.
Still no flowers so I just keep it as a curiosity and pour coffee grounds over it to keep slugs and snails off.

[Chad]

.

First a nomenclature note.

Scilla madeirensis. Note the extra i in madeirensis. In 1998 this was split off from Scilla as Autonoe madeirensis on account of having a fleshy capsule as its fruit.   I wasn't sure if the split was going to be accepted, but it does now seem to be the preferred name. 

Urginea maritima has been almost universally accepted as Drimia maritima since 1978.

I note Martin's names are those most widely used in bulb catalogues. 

I grew Autonoe madeirensis from seed. I have flowered it with rather a scrawny spike, so bought some mature bulbs from Farmer Gracey and added them to my seedlings in a larger pot. The Farmer Gracey additions to the pot are pushing nice chunky flower spikes now.







Note the fleshy capsule. I don't do anything special. I would like to give it a summer drying off, but in the tunnel it pushes up new leaves in the late summer before the last year's leaves have gone. It has taken mild frost [-2C] in the tunnel.

I haven't grown Drimia maritima, but I do know a man that has flowered it. I understand the trick is fierce drainage, a hot summer bake, but not to let it dry out, even in summer. It seems to need its roots to survive the summer.

Chad

[ian s]

That’s useful info on Drimea, mine are in a coarse gravel bed about 2’ deep with a few inches of black basalt chips on top to soak up the sun and warm up faster so hopefully that’s the drainage and summer baking taken care of?
When it goes dormant however, I haven’t watered (it just gets rain) so next year I’ll give it a weekly drink and see what happens!

[Paul S]

I haven't grown Drimia maritima, but I do know a man that has flowered it. I understand the trick is fierce drainage, a hot summer bake, but not to let it dry out, even in summer. It seems to need its roots to survive the summer.

Chad

You know now TWO people who have flowered this - mine did this year. On the strength of this I bought a few more and hope I dont have to wait 20 years in between flowering like last time. I would agree it needs fierce drainiage and a hot summer bake. But it dries out completely and utterly for weeks on end - this year especially here just 340mm and counting for the year - and this mimicks where I have seen it growing wild.

[Chad]

I think you are right Paul.

The advice not to let them dry out completely was for potted plants in a greenhouse.

I would hope in the open ground the roots wouldn't desicate in UK conditions.

Even in Essex.

Chad.

[Paul S]

Chad, you should visit one summer.

[Chad]

But I don't have a passport...

[MartinNicklin]

Great photos Paul but I didn’t know that Urginea can suffer with Peyronie’s disease!