Lachenalia

I remembered the "soldier boys" I had seen growing in many yards throughout Gippsland and that you could buy packets of them in the supermarkets at a very reasonable price.

Because my avid interest in bulbs was growing rapidly, I soon acquired a few Lachenalia bulbs through a grower in New South Wales and was fascinated by the marvelous flowers when the season came. Obviously, I was hooked, so I started growing from seed. My first seed was aquired in Australia but then when I got my first book on Lachenalia, I saw pictures of many species unavailable in Australia. It wasn't too long before I got my first seed packets from South Africa. Now, I have over thirty species and I hope to collect as many as I can get.

Seeds were a lot harder to grow than the first bulbs I had acquired but I managed to get hold of a good book and I was eventually having some success. You will too, if you decide to try growing this fascinating species.

Here is a brief description of the Genus:

Important features

Lachenalia is a genus of small, bulbous geophytes belonging to the family Lilliaceae and is most closely related to the endemic Cape genus Polyxena Kunth.

Bulb. The bulb in Lachenalia is tunicate, having an outer covering of soft or hard, dry membranous tunics which protect it from drying out and physical injury. The fleshy bulb consists of inner and outer bulb scales.

Foliage. In most species, the mature bulb produces two leaves, while in others a single leaf is produced.

The genus Lachenalia is named in honor of the eighteenth Swiss botanist Jerner de Lachenal.

It comprises of in excess of 85 species. The estimation has been made that there are at least 150 distinct horticultural forms. Lachenalia aloides and Lachenalia bulbifera were offered for sale in Australia at least as early as 1875. Their natural habitat is replicated over a wide area of Australia. If your area has an average rainfall of less than 500 mm, mainly in winter and the minimum temperature doesn't get below 3 degrees Celsius, then you should be able to grow many species.

Growing conditions:

I use a soil mix of equal parts good potting mix and washed sand with a small amount of blood and bone added. There is not much else to do; but remember not to over-fertilise them and make sure the mix is free draining. They do not like to be waterlogged but don't mind the wet winter climate in Gippsland. Duncan suggests that some like to grow in sand but I have not found it necessary and use the mix mentioned above.

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