All,
Some years I’ve observed true tazettas (not poetaz) that do not go fully dormant for months after their companions are long, long gone. I think they are always bicolors – ‘Early Pearl’, maybe Nx italicus, and others, I’ve never paid too close attention. But these are single bulbs, here and there.
This year however, there is a fall-blooming/early winter bicolor where the entire clump is still 1/3 green as of Aug. 15. Granted the bed is in light shade, but everything else went dormant by end of May. This is in Tallahassee, where the winter tazettas start sprouting roots by early Sept.
I haven’t looked at the long-range forecast for the fall, but as we’re due for an active hurricane season i don’t imagine there will be an 8-week crushing heatwave in Sept. and Oct. like last year to impact root production.
What happens when bulbs don’t really go dormant, or their dormancy period is, comparatively speaking, really short?
Sara
Tazettas are driven by water cycles. I believe the cultivar ‘Erilcheer’ is popular as it blooms heavily early and then sends secondary stems extending the season. It is particularly responsive to water. In Minnesota, it would bloom in the spring and then in late Summer setting it up for the foliage to be killed off with our freezing temperatures. If you do not get too cold of frosts, then you should not be bothered with growth late into the Summer. To control this, one needs to withhold the water from reaching the bulbs. Some particularly decorative cardboard laid over the patch would probably work. One could also keep the bulbs in stout pots and trundle them under cover to estivate. I used shingles to keep bulbocodiums from coming up too early to great effect for several years. It only took one time forgetting to take this off to undo all of that work. I now keep my bulbocodiums and Tazettas in pots in the greenhouse dry for the Summer.
Sara,
I have had problems with tazetta not wanting to go dormant in the summer
and have white active roots into August. Some start growing again in
September. Only when I was in eastern North Carolina along the coast did a
solution become available. There we were assured of a period once a year
of a drought of about a month to six weeks with no water. The roots would
finally go dormant.
I think the solution is as Michael Berrigan stated, keep tazettas dry in
the summer to force them into becoming dormant.
Clay
I often talk to garden clubs during the fall. People say ‘Oh, its a strange season, my daffodils are up already.” and I reply “No, its just the tazettas. They have foliage almost all year.”
You may have seen on Facebook that I had florets open on Grande Primo Citronaire on the 5th of May this year. Sometimes they open in April. The clump is still in full bloom and the last florets are just opened. Amazing that one planting should flower continuously for four months. For full pictures go to Canterbury Horticultural Society website and check in on Hort Talk.
Thank you Sara, Michael, Clay and David for your information about dormant tazettas. Some of my tazettas still have a few green leaves, even after planting these in an area where the bulbs should receive a good summer bake.
Nancy
Glad to hear you are okay. Wondered how far you are from fires.
Conserved by tornado in MS and chr of booklet
Naomi
Sent from my iPad
As an Erlicheer grower for over 40 years , and in recent times many fine tazettas from Wilf Hall, John Hunter and The Bill Welch / Max Hamilton cutflowers , I certainly agree that finding a dormant time to lift is difficult and will vary every season .I always try to have them topped , with a tractor rotary slasher , before Christmas around the longest day .. Lifting usually starts early in the new year , – any root growth soon drys off and timing seems to make little difference to the next season flowering rate .Planting is never until the soil cools – usually April here .What the tazettas definitely do not like is H W T , hot water treatment .Even an hour and they show signs of damage when they emerge . This tells us that the root rim around the base plate is , as noted by all , very seldom not making some growth , and is very sensitive to the H W T .
Probably the tallest tops is the 8 W – W TORU , flowering through June , early July , seen here about 16 August this year , with Graham Phillips auditioning for the scare crow position .
Cheers John .
Naomi, our only issue is with smoke resulting in an “unhealthy air” rating. We are encouraged to stay inside.
John, this is a wonderful photo of Graham Phillips wading through tazettas. Thank you!
Nancy
Thanks John McLennan, your comment about HWT answers the question I’ve had as to why my Tazettas seem to do poorly after being treated in contrast to my front garden clumps of Cabrini, Lemon & Barley,Nickelodeon, Winter Delight etc. which have never been treated. I needed to dig Cabrini two months ago in June & discovered some bulb fly so I replanted the sound bulbs immediately and they’re flowering beautifully now. I’ll check each clump in turn over the next year and will spray with Neem oil after flowering – perhaps try some granules in the soil too. Be interested if this works for bulb fly.