Tag: ixias

Bulb planting 2012

Last year I spent quite a bit on spring-flowering bulbs and populated my garden with lots of Daffodils, Ranunculus, Tulips, Ixias, Freesias and a few Dutch Irises. After my initial ‘bulb planting’ fest I planted quite a few Asiatic Lilies in the Azalea bed and loved the show I had during Spring right through to the beginning of summer. It gave me so much pleasure to be able to pick flowers in my garden and bring them into my home as well as the many hours spent taking photographs and just generally enjoying the flower filled garden.

So this year I’m adding to my collection. Last year I discovered which bulbs do well in my garden and which don’t, and I’ve bought more of the winners. I especially enjoyed the Freesias and the Ixias last year (both are indigenous South African bulbs), so I’ve bought loads more of those. I’ve bought only a few extra daffodils to add to the collection in the front garden which did well. I’m thrilled to see the ones planted last year are already coming up again. The Dutch Irises are also coming back as well as the Ixias which were planted in a pot and the Freesis which were planted in shade. This year I’m adding another 100 Ixias directly into my sunniest bed and I’m adding the small Ipheon to the mix.

[one_half]Dutch Irises coming up again[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Bulb planting tools make it easy[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Some new bulbs (lots of Freesias)[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots more Ixias and new Ipheon[/one_half_last]

[one_half]More Dutch Irises for the back[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Louisiana Irises (not really bulbs)[/one_half_last]

Planting bulbs is not too labour intensive either – I use a dibber (I think that’s what it is called) and a special ‘bulb planting’ tool. Of course planting them into pots is even easier to do. This year I am also planting up a few pots with bulbs which I can then move into beds once they are flowering. This because some of my favourites require sun and I have limited sunny beds.

I hope it all works out as well as it did last year.

Happy Gardening
xxx

Tags bulbs, dutch irises, freesias, ixias, louisiana irises, spring bulbs

30 Day Challenge Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

The 30 Day Challenge – Day 3

Post author By Christine
Post date November 5, 2011
6 Comments on The 30 Day Challenge – Day 3

Today I am grateful for the beauty and ease of growing native or indigenous plants in my garden. After planting mainly non-natives or exotics in my garden, this spring I “accidentally” discovered the beauty of and ease with which indigenous plants grow and flourish in my garden – a valuable lesson learned and one I’ll recommend to all newbie-gardeners. Exotics are of course great, but if you don’t have the greenest of fingers, planting indigenous flowering plants in your garden that are suited to your growing conditions is a sure recipe for success – wonderful blooms and foliage with minimum fuss!

Photograph: Ixias. See my original post on Ixias that “converted” me from gardening with exotics to including more and more native plants in my garden.

The genus Ixia consists of a number of cormous plants native to South Africa from the Iridaceae family and Ixioideae subfamily. Some of them are known as the corn lily. Some distinctive traits include the sword-like leaves, and long wiry stems with star-shaped flowers. The popular corn lily has a specific, not very intense fragrance (Wikipedia says it smells like vegetables, I don’t agree!). The Ixia are also used sometimes as ornamental plants. The genus name is derived from the Greek words ixias, meaning “the chameleon plant”, and physis, meaning “bladder”.

About the 30 Day Challenge

Cat of The Whimsical Gardener, has invited Garden Bloggers the world over to join her in the 30 day challenge of posting a photograph and sentiment that you are thankful for – every day for 30 days. Find something you are thankful for every day, for 30 days, can’t be too difficult, can it? See all my posts filed under “30 Day Challenge“.

Tags 30 day challenge, indigenous, indigenous flowers, ixias

Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

Ixia – a lovely South African native

Post author By Christine
Post date September 8, 2011
14 Comments on Ixia – a lovely South African native

OK, so I’m a convert. I’ve been gardening mostly with “exotic” plants (i.e. not our native South African plants) simply because I prefer the so-called exotics. Or so I thought. I do have a few indigenous plants in my garden but if I’m being very honest, they are not my favourites, and were not planted by me. Hence the belief that I prefer “exotics”. In April I planted all the bulbs I bought and amongst those were Freesias and my new favourite, Ixias, both of which are native to South Africa.

The Ixias were a freebie included by the Bulb Company when I ordered all my spring flowering bulbs. After lovingly planting all my “exotic” bulbs, as an after thought, I bunged the free Ixias in a huge, slightly broken, not very attractive terracotta pot that I put right outside my office doors – the doors that lead outside. They sat in the pot and I confess that I didn’t water them very regularly, was disinterested in them and paid them no very little attention. Not even when the shoots emerged and looked kinda scraggly did I take much notice. I just kept thinking “I must move that awful pot sometime”. The leaves of the plants continued to grow and started looking moderately attractive. “Hmmm, not too shabby after all”, I thought as the stems started to emerge.

And then two weeks ago a wonderful thing happened…

The first flower buds started appearing atop a long wiry stem. And oh they are sooo pretty! My pack of bulbs must have been mixed, because I seem to have them in all sorts of colours. Reds, orange, yellows, yellow with a touch of red, pinks … and they look sort of wild and wonderful all tumbling over the rim of the pot. Some stand upright but mostly they are waving around and tumbling. Now the first thing I do every morning is go to the pot to see if there are any new colours and I waste about half an hour taking endless photos of them … they are a delight to photograph (Click the images below to view the enlargements).

Some photographs of the Ixias …

[one_half]The first buds[/one_half]

[one_half_last]More buds, different colours[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Tumbling out of the pot …[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Even the pot looks quite nice now[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Pretty pink Ixias[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Yellow with red centres[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Yellow with darker centres[/one_half]

[one_half_last]More pinks – in the sun[/one_half_last]

[one_third]Orange with dark centres[/one_third]

[one_third]The yellow Ixias[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Orangey pink colour[/one_third_last]

This Info from Wikipedia …

I think they are supposed to stand straigh up – mine are sort of “tumbling” towards the sun. I don’t think they get quite enough sun in that spot but thats as sunny as it gets in my garden. Only about 20 are in bloom right now with another 80 in bud! Should be pretty spectacular when more are flowering. I even have two Ixia Viridiflora – they are a rare version which are turquoise – I wonder if they will make it – I don’t remember where in the pot I planted them. (Known as Green ixia or groenkalossie – in Afrikaans- it is an exquisite species with many-flowered spikes of sea-green blooms with black centres).

So now I’m wondering … have YOU ever planted something half-heartedly, just because it “was there”, and then fallen in love with it? I’d love to hear!

Tags bulbs, ixia, ixias, rare bulbs, spring bulbs