Sacha wrote:
(snip)

Did you have it in the garden, Jeff? It was in the garden here and
looked wonderful for a whole summer and that was that. I think it
probably isn't warm enough here with long enough sunlight hours to make
it set seed but that's just my guess.

I think I planted it out in my Sussex clay! But I could have left it in
decent potting compost in a moderately large pot - I can't remember (pauses
to search for tablets...).


Since then, I've only ever seen it in flower in one Yellow-book garden,
and that was about 5 years ago. I was as impressed with it then as the
first time I saw it in flower.

It's absolutely beautiful, IMO.

I agree. It really should be a Magnolia-type shrub, flowering every year
reliably, not a bloody awkward biennial/perennial :-( Why couldn't nature
get it right???


I think you have to ask yourself why such a desirable plant is almost
unknown and barely available (do any of the sources who mention it in The
Plant Finder actually have it available for sale?). I wonder how common
it is in its native habitats?

You sound like my husband who says there's a reason some plants aren't
sold in many places! I believe it's from Turkey originally but I can't
say I've ever seen it there - big country, though. If we can get any of
these to grow, I think they'd be good conservatory plants. Maybe!

The RHS Dictionary of Gardening states that it comes from the E.
Mediterranean. If, like other Michauxia species, it also comes from Syria
and N. Iran, then that might well put it in the company of Oncocyclus
irises. Then it would be no wonder that it is difficult in cultivation!

By the way, have you ever tried germinating the seeds with the help of
giberellic acid?

--
Jeff