{"id":637,"date":"2022-04-03T01:39:26","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T01:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/?p=637"},"modified":"2022-04-03T01:39:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T01:39:26","slug":"sternbergia-variations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/2022\/04\/03\/sternbergia-variations\/","title":{"rendered":"Sternberg(ia) variations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No, not a Mozart composition, but a natural one, with one of the less well known genera of bulbous plants. Sternbergia <\/em>is in the Amaryllidaceae, like Narcissus <\/em>and snowdrops, and in fact Sternbergia lutea <\/em>is sometimes called fall daffodil (though the resemblance escapes me). There only a few species, all from the Mediterranean region of Europe and western Asia, but despite this, all have at least some forms that are hardy in southern Michigan. Though they might get lost among larger bulbs, the flowers have a definite charm, with the delicate translucent venation on the tepals being a particularly special feature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was reminded by the blooming of Sternbergia candida<\/em> this spring of how many Sternbergia<\/em> I have killed \u2013 giving me some insight, in an inverse (or is it perverse) sort of way, on how to grow them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although people think of them as fall plants, there are both spring and fall blooming\u00a0 species, like so many other bulbous genera, and they can look quite alike. \u00a0Now, the only one seen commonly is the fall blooming Sternbergia lutea<\/em>, some clones of which do well in southern Michigan, and some which don\u2019t last at all \u2013 or maybe it\u2018s the gardener, not the winter? It\u2019s a moderately sized flower, and I find I don\u2019t have a good picture \u2013 so here is a bad one. Have to remember to take some more this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sternbergia lutea<\/em> — this large-flowered from did not last<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another fall blooming species, sometimes \u201clumped\u201d in with Sternbergia lutea<\/em> is Sternbergia sicula<\/em>. If it is part of the overall variation found in Sternbergia lutea<\/em>, it is still worth getting, as at least the clone I grow is a good performer in southern Michigan. I\u2019ve never had a capsule on these, so either they are self-incompatible and I have only one clone, or whatever pollinates them is absent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sternbergia sicula<\/em> in flower September 17 a few years back<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A big disadvantage in our climate is that the leaves of these two fall blooming species come up with or just after the flowers, and are wintergreen. The broad leaves of Sternbergia lutea<\/em> are somewhat upright and often get damaged in winter. The smaller leaves of my clone of Sternbergia sicula<\/em> soon lie flat on the ground, and are typically in good shape still in spring. But regardless, the plants don’t seem to be too seriously injured by this leaf damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sternbergia sicula<\/em> leaves and flower buds coming up at the beginning of fall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sternbergia lutea<\/em> leaves looking poor at the end of March<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sternbergia sicula leaves lying flat and still looking good in April<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The smallest species of fall blooming Sternbergia<\/em> is Sternbergia colchiciflora<\/em><\/em>. It has quite small star-shaped flowers and is easy. It does things differently from all others. The plant blooms in early fall (late September typically), but the leaves come up in the spring. Not only that, this always sets capsules, which also come up above ground in the spring. It is surely self-compatible, and maybe even selfing. I\u2019ve even had it sow itself a little. If only it were bigger\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A couple flowers of Sternbergia colchiciflora<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sternbergia colchiciflora<\/em><\/em> left, leaves and capsules coming up in the spring, right leaves with almost mature capsules<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The two spring species are lovely surprises \u2013 but can get lost in the blaze of bulbs blooming in late Match or early April \u2013 when they flower. One species, Sternbergia vernalis<\/em>, has yellow flowers and is much like a spring blooming Sternbergia sicula<\/em>. It is sometime sold as Sternbergia fischeriana<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sternbergia vernalis<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sternbergia vernalis<\/em> flower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The other spring bloomer is the most remarkable of all Sternbergia<\/em>, as it has pure white chalices \u2013 Sternbergia candida<\/em>. This is a rare plant in the wild, native to a small area of Turkey, and the only white Sternbergia<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sternbergia candida<\/em> just before the sun hits it this morning (April 2) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sternbergia candida<\/em> open April 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both the spring blooming Sternbergia<\/em> species send up leaves in the spring with the flowers, so the foliage is not damaged by winter. But like the larger fall species, I have never had a capsule, even with efforts to hand pollinate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, I found all Sternbergia<\/em> difficult. Assuming they were xeric bulbs, I put then in a lean sandy mix and treated them like desert plants. They rewarded me by slowly (sometimes quickly) dying. After killing a batch of Sternbergia candida<\/em> raised from Archibald seed, it slowly dawned on me that this species apparently grew at the edges of and in Cedrus liban<\/em>i forests. So switching gears, I put them in richer, heavier soil, and fertilized them. That slowed my rate of killing them considerably. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No, not a Mozart composition, but a natural one, with one of the less well known genera of bulbous plants. Sternbergia is in the Amaryllidaceae, like Narcissus and snowdrops, and in fact Sternbergia lutea is sometimes called fall daffodil (though … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651,"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637\/revisions\/651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glcnargs.org\/glcgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}