On 18/12/04 13:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:
snip
The label on this bulb said " *OSE*A BRABA", the first letter could be
either J or Y and the fourth could be either R or N. So far as I can
find out, braba means wild in Portuguese. The picture shows a tall stem
with palest pink, down-ward facing trumpet flowers at the tip.A google
search doesn't come up with the label ID. The closest picture match I
can find on the internet is crinum bulbispermum. However, I haven't seen
crinum bulbs, or anything like this monster, for sale in the Funchal
plant market.It definitely isn't the bulb Madeirans call belladonna,
because the vendor had those in a separate heap.

Could it be one of the asphodels? The bulb size and description sounds
awfully like the bulbs we kept seeing Crete. There, they flower on naked
stems in about September/October time.

Any ideas?

The other one whose latin ID I haven't tracked down yet is a smallish
light brown corm I bought in the market, about gladiolus size, labelled
"St John's lily, red".

Clivia miniata?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 18/12/04 13:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:
snip
The label on this bulb said " *OSE*A BRABA", the first letter could be
either J or Y and the fourth could be either R or N. So far as I can
find out, braba means wild in Portuguese. The picture shows a tall stem
with palest pink, down-ward facing trumpet flowers at the tip.A google
search doesn't come up with the label ID. The closest picture match I
can find on the internet is crinum bulbispermum. However, I haven't seen
crinum bulbs, or anything like this monster, for sale in the Funchal
plant market.It definitely isn't the bulb Madeirans call belladonna,
because the vendor had those in a separate heap.

Could it be one of the asphodels? The bulb size and description sounds
awfully like the bulbs we kept seeing Crete. There, they flower on naked
stems in about September/October time.

Any ideas?

The other one whose latin ID I haven't tracked down yet is a smallish
light brown corm I bought in the market, about gladiolus size, labelled
"St John's lily, red".

Clivia miniata?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Aren't clivia's evergreen?
Crinums are very large bulbs normally with a long neck, but I suspect it may
be Eucomis pole-avense (don't think I have spelt the last bit correctly!)
they have enormous bulbs. Ours was stunning this year flower heads were late
coming but eventually came good in October (while we were back on Madeira)
and were 5' high still looking fine but now in the conservatory awaiting
seed ripening. ours came from Madeira too but as seed :~)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

Give it up, Sacha. Asphodel don't have trumpet shaped flowers and the other
isn't Clivia miniata because it is cormous.

The first is probably a Crinum as she says and the second is probably a
Crocosmia.


"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 18/12/04 13:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:
snip
The label on this bulb said " *OSE*A BRABA", the first letter could be
either J or Y and the fourth could be either R or N. So far as I can
find out, braba means wild in Portuguese. The picture shows a tall stem
with palest pink, down-ward facing trumpet flowers at the tip.A google
search doesn't come up with the label ID. The closest picture match I
can find on the internet is crinum bulbispermum. However, I haven't seen
crinum bulbs, or anything like this monster, for sale in the Funchal
plant market.It definitely isn't the bulb Madeirans call belladonna,
because the vendor had those in a separate heap.

Could it be one of the asphodels? The bulb size and description sounds
awfully like the bulbs we kept seeing Crete. There, they flower on naked
stems in about September/October time.

Any ideas?

The other one whose latin ID I haven't tracked down yet is a smallish
light brown corm I bought in the market, about gladiolus size, labelled
"St John's lily, red".

Clivia miniata?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

second is probably a
Crocosmia.

or a Cyrtanthus

On 18/12/04 13:34, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:


snip

The other one whose latin ID I haven't tracked down yet is a smallish
light brown corm I bought in the market, about gladiolus size, labelled
"St John's lily, red".


The other thing that crosses my mind for this is Watsonia but you'd know
that?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On 18/12/04 3:55 pm, in article
, "Charlie Pridham"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
snip
Clivia miniata?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

Aren't clivia's evergreen?

Duh, yes! I typed in St John's Lily in a Google image search and it came
up with that, so I thought it worth suggesting.
snip
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

On 19/12/04 12:57 am, in article ,
"Janet Baraclough.." wrote:

The message
from "Charlie Pridham" contains these words:

Crinums are very large bulbs normally with a long neck, but I suspect it may
be Eucomis pole-avense (don't think I have spelt the last bit correctly!)
they have enormous bulbs.

I've found eucomis pole-arvense in google but no pics in google
images..but don't eucomis usually have loads of small flowers? The
picture on the plant stand showed something with pretty large pink
trumpet flowers, the size of a lily; even larger than amaryllis
belladonna. Unfortunately,the flower pic showed cut stems in a jamjar so
no way of telling how tall they grow.

Try
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...O-8859-1&hl=en
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

http://www.ibiblio.org/pbs/pbswiki/index.php/Eucomis


http://www.theafricangarden.com/page40.html

On 19/12/04 2:04 pm, in article
, "IntarsiaCo"
wrote:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pbs/pbswiki/index.php/Eucomis


http://www.theafricangarden.com/page40.html

Dave Fenwick really knows his stuff with these plants. He lives in Plymouth
and has apparently done wonders in quite a tiny garden. He comes in here
from time to time and his knowledge, like that of David Poole, is truly
encyclopaedic. If Janet can't identify her treasures otherwise, an emailed
description to Dave Fenwick or David Poole should sort it out.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Janet Baraclough.." wrote
((SNIP))
The other one whose latin ID I haven't tracked down yet is a smallish
light brown corm I bought in the market, about gladiolus size, labelled
"St John's lily, red".


Well there is a St.James lily, and that is Sprekelia formosissima and it's
red. I don't know what the corms look like though.

Just a thought.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:34:54 GMT, Janet Baraclough..
wrote:

The picture shows a tall stem
with palest pink, down-ward facing trumpet flowers at the tip.

This to me certainly sounds like Crinum, but I've never seen a bulb.
It must be pretty large to produce the huge stem and flower described.

Pam in Bristol

On 19/12/04 10:37 pm, in article ,
"Pam Moore" wrote:

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:34:54 GMT, Janet Baraclough..
wrote:

The picture shows a tall stem
with palest pink, down-ward facing trumpet flowers at the tip.

This to me certainly sounds like Crinum, but I've never seen a bulb.
It must be pretty large to produce the huge stem and flower described.

I agree. It does sound like Crinum and the bulbs are very large. The pink
variety is a little more unusual than the white and if this is Crinum I hope
Janet will tell us how it gets on with her. I knew one garden in Jersey
where there was something amounting almost to a plantation of them, they
were so happy there.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On Sat, 18 Dec 2004 13:34:54 GMT, Janet Baraclough..
wrote:

While walking in the hills I found a huge bulb on a tiny stall beside a
levada,(water channel) where someone had put out bulbs and a dish for
the money. Everything had a label, wonky spelling and handwriting, with
a photo of the plant in flower.

My experience of plants being sold by a levada was different. A man
and his young son were selling agapanthus plants. We bought a couple
each, only to be told that such people were digging them up in other
places just to sell them on!!! Still they (plants not people!) have
survived 5 years in my garden and flowered for the first time this
year.

Pam in Bristol

Janet, I don't think there's much doubt that your largest bulb is
that of a Crinum and possibly, maybe probably it will turn out to be
Crinum moorei, since it is very widely grown in Madeira and I
understand, has naturalised in some parts. C. moorei is a bit tender,
but a sunny spot close to a south wall should see it through. I grow
the white form here and it makes an immense clump of very tall necked
bulbs, easily over 4 feet high excluding the flowers. I like the
foliage, which doesn't crumple or kink as badly as its much hardier
cousin - Crinum x powellii. The leaves are great strap like affairs,
to nearly 15cm. across and 1.2 m. long. They form wonderful, massive
rosettes, but are unfortunately much loved by snails!

As to the corms, St John's Lily means nothing to me. Without a pic it
is difficult to make an accurate stab, but I can't help wondering
whether they may be Chasmanthe aethiopica. This species has scarlet
tubular flowers, carried almost horizontally and opposite to each
other on a tall spike. Not the hardiest of the family, but nor is it
quite as tender as some would have you believe if you can provide good
drainage and a sheltered sunny spot. As with the Crinum, close to a
south wall would be a good spot.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November