Australis said:Martagons..... They get no winter freeze [Melbourne, Australia] and can have two growth cycles (spring and autumn). Interestingly I have had more success with the species than the hybrids

Tell me more, Joshua. Obviously(?), the spring cycle is terminated by the hot and/or dry weather, but what arrests the fall cycle? Seed production? (but then what about blind stems?)

Do you see an advantage or disadvantage to two cycles per season?


It is likely that martagon hybrids have parentage from other martagon section species somewhere in their background. There is no yellow in L. martagon, for instance. L. martagon is by far the most tolerant of a wide variety of environments, and I think in this case, that keeping the genes more pure is an advantage.

Good questions, Rick. @vanozzi will also be able to contribute his experiences, as he has been growing Martagons for longer than I have and has similar climatic conditions to myself. I can't really answer the advantage/disadvantage question yet - I might be able to shed more light on this later in the year once I see what happens this Autumn (Fall).

L. martagon does seem to be the most tolerant of the conditions here (the two var. albiflorum bulbs have been the ones that have done best here). In contrast, cultivars like 'Claude Shride' and 'Chameleon' in particular have struggled; 'Chameleon' has done nothing more than put up a single leaf each time (and often it hasn't lasted long).

From my own experience and what Paul (vanozzi) has said, the Autumn cycle is more likely to be blind. Something definitely terminates the cycle, though, even when the stems are blind or disbudded - haven't had any get through winter (although I did have two Aurelians that decided to send up stems last Autumn, which then paused throughout Winter - and looked very sad at the time - before resuming growing in Spring, only to end up flowering! Both also produced a new flowering stem in Spring as well).

I remember you mentioning your poor trial of Claude Shride before. I'll express my puzzlement now:

Claude Shride is a cultivar (from Minnesota and about 100 miles from me), but it is still pure martagon. Normally, it constitution is extremely strong. Here it is not uncommon for an old undivide clump - when dug up, has a mass of bulbs even 12 inches (30cm) in diameter, and still blooming well. It is by far the fastest bulking martagon I have ever seen. If it doesn't do at least as well as any other martagon, it makes me think your Claude Shride is virused.

Chameleon would be a hybrid involving at least one other species.

Really interesting about the Aurelian habit that sometimes happens. Two stems from one plant in the same season is weird. Do you think the could be from a bulb that had split, and one emerged in the fall, and one the following spring?

Interesting. Thanks for the tip re 'Claude Shride'. I'll have a look at it more closely.

As for the Aurelians, I doubt it. In one case I accidentally dug one of the two up, so I know that it wasn't dividing (there was no additional nose). It's possible there was a hidden offset forming that wasn't visible from the exterior of the bulb, of course.

I wonder if the martagon cultivars we get commercially in Australia are from the Dutch bulb trade (and thus more likely to be weakened by virus), whereas in North America gardeners are fortunate to get a supply of healthy 'home grown' bulbs?

I would certainly say that is the case with Claude Shride, Della.