What's this and what's wrong ?

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No worries. Don't give up on the bulbs though, once you get the hang of it, they are so easy and reliable and if left alone, will keep coming back to a riot of colour every spring. I think that growing Aloe Vera there will be easy. My daughter has no trouble at all with it in Queensland. She also finds Agapanthus likes the hot dry conditions.
Incidentally, your loquats are certainly in the right place. They love being in the sun.
 
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The leaves in the original picture look very familiar. I wonder if they're Bluebells?

The bulb you dug up looks like garlic but please don't eat it to find out. :) If you scratch it you will be able to smell it.
 
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The leaves in the original picture look very familiar. I wonder if they're Bluebells?

The bulb you dug up looks like garlic but please don't eat it to find out. :) If you scratch it you will be able to smell it.
Wouldn't there be rather obvious cloves if this was garlic? abrogard has said that he bought it as it was flowering, but garlic flowers aren't really that spectacular are they.
Sheal is right about NOT tasting it though :eek: heaven forbid!
Have you ever grown Aloe vera or Agave @Sheal
 
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Very likely Hyacinth. It would be going into summer dormancy about now. Keep it dry all summer, refrigerate (not in crisper with vege) then plant in good potting soil, water, cross-fingers and hope.
You may have removed roots and leaves too soon for it to bloom again next spring, but if it grows and you feed it well with a bloom (high phosphorus) fertilizer it MIGHT bloom in 2025.
 
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Very likely Hyacinth. It would be going into summer dormancy about now. Keep it dry all summer, refrigerate (not in crisper with vege) then plant in good potting soil, water, cross-fingers and hope.
You may have removed roots and leaves too soon for it to bloom again next spring, but if it grows and you feed it well with a bloom (high phosphorus) fertilizer it MIGHT bloom in 2025.

I was just going to ask about this. So take the bulbs out of the dirt and keep. In a cool dry place? Or, really, in a fridge?
The one with leaves still on it - pull them off, cut them off ?
'summer dormancy' ? I'd expect blooms in summer but in Aus we have many things screwed up I guess with European natives growing here and such. It is to be expected it does nothing all summer? Plant next year, early Feb?
Could be left all summer in their own pots, unwatered?
 
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Wouldn't there be rather obvious cloves if this was garlic? abrogard has said that he bought it as it was flowering, but garlic flowers aren't really that spectacular are they.

It was just a thought but I've bought garlic bulbs that look exactly like that @Tetters, including the pink/purple outer skin.

Have you ever grown Aloe vera or Agave @Sheal

Not exactly, I've killed a few of them though. :) I'm hopeless with household plants and gave up with them some years ago.
 
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It was just a thought but I've bought garlic bulbs that look exactly like that @Tetters, including the pink/purple outer skin.



Not exactly, I've killed a few of them though. :) I'm hopeless with household plants and gave up with them some years ago.
'household plant'. All depends where you live I guess:

IMG_20231120_061410.jpg
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Strooth! those are rather impressive! We have trouble with them here in Kent, so it's not surprising that Sheal has lost a few - she's up there in Scotland where it's freezing cold a lot of the time! It is usually best to stick with growing plants that enjoy the weather conditions they get naturally.....much less work.
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Maybe you could add some Agapanthus for a bit of colour. They do really well in the heat in the Brisbane area.
 
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Yep, I do plan on agapanthus. I've been impressed by the length of time it carries blooms. There's heaps of them around, very popular and I can see why. Low maintenance and nice appearance with or without blooms.
 
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Hyacinths are spring-blooming bulbs that go dormant in the summer. You can leave them in the pot or store them dry in a cool-ish place for the summer. Keep watering and fertilizing the one with green leaves until they turn brown. In the fall, around Feb/March, put them in the fridge for 3 months. Then plant and start watering. They require a good “winter” to grow and bloom.
 
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'household plant'. All depends where you live I guess:
We have trouble with them here in Kent, so it's not surprising that Sheal has lost a few - she's up there in Scotland where it's freezing cold a lot of the time!

I wouldn't even attempt to grow those outside here, let alone inside. A bit of an exaggeration there Tetters. :) With the exception of this year as it's been so wet our summers are pretty good averaging around 20C/68F, in winter around 6C/43F. I'm nearer the sun in the area I live, being 300 ft above sea level summer can be a bit warmer. ;)
 
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Haven't you got a sort of anomalous climatic area in Scotland on the west coast somewhere? I vaguely remember reading something about the Gulf stream washing those shores and causing warm air etc and a wholly 'abnormal' for those latitudes, climate.
 
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Haven't you got a sort of anomalous climatic area in Scotland on the west coast somewhere? I vaguely remember reading something about the Gulf stream washing those shores and causing warm air etc and a wholly 'abnormal' for those latitudes, climate.

Ask most people in Britain and they will say, we don't have climate here we have weather. :) It is unsettled and almost every day can be different including temperature. I am southern English now living in northern Scotland, 600 miles apart. The west coast of Britain is wetter and warmer, the east coast dryer and cooler. Also taking into consideration that further north temperatures will be lower. I live 14 miles west of Inverness which lies on the east coast. it is very difficult to explain the weather patterns here, not only in Scotland but all over Britain without having to write in length. I've attached the link below, that you can have a 'play with' but it's not totally accurate.


Even when I lived in England many years ago the weather was unpredictable. I can remember once in June when we experienced snow, wind, hailstones, fog and sunshine all in one day. The temperature at that time should have been approximately 20C/68F.

Seems warm enough for them. If they can grow them in Holland they should grow there.

Holland is further south than Britain, so it follows that it is warmer. I can't grow tomatoes outside here, summers are shorter and not as warm as in England.

@zigs knows more than I do about climate/weather in Britain so perhaps he may think of something to add. He often jokes about me living in the frozen north. :D
 

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