BCSS - Forum

I acquired a couple of Bulbines recently, namely alooides, aff. mesembryanthenoides, and a tiny mesembryanthemoides. Are there any general and maybe species specific care guides available online that I missed? The only promising link I found is the https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbsw ... hp/Bulbine

B. aloides is quite different to the other too. I water it freely in summer, and also, but less often, in winter. It is evergreen; I have never had mine flower. (Bulbine frutescens is similar in terms of treatment, with very nice orange and yellow flowers in cultivar 'Hallmark').

The others are winter growers and I water them fairly well from say the end of September to the end of April. Their leaves die right back in summer, and the flower at the end of the growing season.

I knew this won't be as easy as I hoped, there always must be the odd one! Anyway, they seem to be fairly easy to care for, but time will tell.

Oh, I might add B. frutescens to the team to have two taxa of each "type", thank you!

Edit: Why am I not surprised seeing it available on your list?! What a brilliant act of cross-selling! How large do they grow?

I sowed B. frutescens from the BCSS list on 15/3/21 and the biggest seedling is 15cm tall now. I'd expect them be to over 30cm tall by the end of the summer, and 50cm flowering size plants next year. They aren't dinky little plants for small pots like some of the species.
My only other Bulbine is B. narcissifolia, from Aiko a few years back. Similar habit, 30+cm tall and vigorous, but with wide, strap shaped leaves and nicely perfumed flowers out now.

This link may be worth checking out if you haven't found it already:
http://pza.sanbi.org/search?s=bulbine

Frutescens is borderline hardy. It's survived outside for me in Sheffield in some winters, including snow and frost, but can be killed off. It's a good idea to have some cuttings in the greenhouse as reserve. I find it grows and flowers far better when grown outdoors with free root run that when in a pot in the greenhouse.

MatDz wrote: ↑Fri May 21, 2021 11:29 pm Oh, I might add B. frutescens to the team to have two taxa of each "type", thank you!
Why am I not surprised seeing it available on your list?! What a brilliant act of cross-selling! How large do they grow?

Blast! I missed the chance to put the price up before posting my reply!

They get quite shrubby with time, so you might need a 6" pot. When they get too shrubby, I chop the ends of all the branches off, and start all over again.

So, they take a bit of space - but they are well worth it for the flowers, in my opinion. I dont have a photo of my own plant, but this link shows what they are like:
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/87441/

Ralph, don't, I took a screenshot!

Anyway, I think I'll put that one on my longer term wishlist, as I definitely won't squeeze it in now.

Thank you both!

Bulbine frutescens
I've only just bought this one , a local plant fair Friday.
It's a great feeling, being at a such an event. Tickets and face mask being the new normal.

Very well grown by a man named John. Thank you.

He advised that it will most likely be ok outside as mentioned above.

I'll most likely devide and try some in the rockery.

That looks quite a bit different to the Hallmark I have.