On 3/5/12 6:21 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Mar 5, 9:45 am, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 3/5/12 12:00 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:









A while back I requested ID on this plant:

http://tinypic.com/r/214wmjm/5

and response was Tulip.

It is doing well in pot, and producing what look like seeds. I am
collecting these, and before I put time into growing them out, can I
ask: Does a bulb plant like Tulip produce viable seeds?

Inquiring minds...

So Calif Coastal

TIA

HB

Yes, that is how new varieties are created.

Bulbs ususally form pods with the seeds inside. You should wait until
the pod starts to dry on the plant before havesting. You might better
wait until the pod starts to split. If you don't wait, the seeds will
not be sufficiently mature to sprout.

Only allow a very few pods to mature. Seed formation often weakens the
bulb and might inhibit next year's flowers.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Thanks to you, too, David. Yes, I have been waiting till the pods
start to dry. Will keep an eye out for splitting, and not allow too
many to mature.

HB

In some cases, bulbs will actually reseed themselves. I have a bed of
grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) in my back yard under a peach tree.
The flower stalks are short and very numerous, far too numerous for me
to dead-head them which would require me to go through the bed on my
hands and knees with my nose only inches from the ground. I now have
grape hyacinth coming up in other places, even in the decomposed granite
paths that wend through my garden.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary