Bulbs for Shady Places -- Part 2: Barbara, Hmmm...sounds like the underlying muscari color (pur

» Marge_Talt - Barbara, Hmmm...sounds like the underlying muscari color (pur

Hmmm...sounds like the underlying muscari color (purplish blue) is a dominant gene. I think we both need to get some -- you to see if they are more interesting that the first time and me to see them for the first time.

Really wish I knew the answer on the Winter Aconite / damp issue. I just know that the times I've tried them (and that has been a few years now) they bloomed for a year or two and disappeared. At first, I thought they were just not hardy. Now, I know I must have just given them the wrong conditions. When I read they liked 'damp' conditions, the light bulb in my brain went off and I deduced that it got too dry under the oaks. But, just what they really *do* like is something I don't know...yet. I'd still opt for your damp woods. If daffs and muscari like it, it can't be so wet it would rot anybody else.

The daffs in your ditch are interesting. I always thought that they -- like most bulbs -- had to have good drainage. I've got them in heavy clay, where they thrive, so I know they don't require "sharp" drainage, but I never realized they'd grow in really wet spots. Learn something new every day! Does your ditch hold water for long or does it fill up and drain away fairly quickly???

Marge

Gardening in Shade

-- posted by Marge_Talt