NEXT IN-PERSON AND ZOOM MEETING: 

Some South African Amaryllids For San Diego & A Few Other Geophophytes

Please join the San Diego Horticultural Society on August 14, 2023, at 6p at CBI in-person/6:30p Zoom for our next hybrid meeting with Ken Blackford. 

Ken is a long-time hobbyist gardener with a special interest in cacti, succulents and other xeric plants. Ken was an active member of both the San Francisco and Oakland Cacti & Succulent Societies, volunteering as a docent at the Ruth Bancroft Garden under Richard Turner’s directorship. He was already growing Amaryllis belladonna (Naked Ladies) when Ruth herself, and another docent, Wayne Roderick, helped expand his interests in other South African geophytes in the Amaryllidaceae.

When Ken moved to San Diego, he incorporated this group of bulbs into his garden there. He has done experimental hybridizing, including some intergeneric hybrids between some of the closely related Amaryllids. He will be talking about plants such as Amaryllis, Boophone, Brunsvigia, Cyrtanthus, and perhaps a few others, and will discuss their potential for landscape and/or pot use in our area.

Amarygia parkeri (Amaryllis belladonna x Brunsvigia josephinae)
Photo credit: Ken Blackford. https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/392864/#gallery-carousel