ヤフオクで見かけた紅筋山百合の球根に入札してみたら落札してしまい、今日その球根が届きました。
この↓写真は何年も前にうちで咲いた紅筋山百合の花。普通の山百合でさえ東京の猛暑の夏を越すのは難しいのに、希少品種の紅筋は更にデリケートで冬には球根が無くなっていました。その後も懲りずに何度か挑戦してみましたが、全て１シーズンで球根が消滅してしまいました。
I happened to see red Yamayuri bulbs on the auction site, and unexpectedly I managed to get them. The bulbs arrived today.
This photo↓is the red Yamayuri I had many years ago. Now, it is very difficult to grow regular Yamayuri lilies in an urban garden, since they are delicate wild plants that should be growing in mountains, and it is even harder for the rare red Yamayuri plants as they are even more delicate. The plant in the below picture lived for just one summer before disappearing. Since then, I have tried several more times, all ending in disappointments - they lasted for only one season.
これは普通の山百合との比較。普通のも、この２年後くらいには無くなりました。
This is a comparison between a red Yamayuri (left) and a regular one (right). The regular one managed to live for 2 more years.
こちらは去年の初夏に練馬の園芸店で開花中のを買ったもの。冬に掘り起こしてみたら、無事に夏を越していて、うち１本には上根に子球までできていました。おかげですっかり興味が再燃してしまいました。
These are somewhat 'red' Yamayuri lilies that I bought in early summer last year from the plant shop in Nerima. When I dug them out in winter, I was pleasantly surprised that both of them survived the summer. Moreover, one of them had a baby bulb on the upper root. This experience was a big morale booster.
で、今日届いた球根はこちら↓。個人の出品者で、とても丁寧な梱包でした。
The auctioned bulbs arrived today. The private seller's love for the Yamayuri was obvious from the meticulous way he packed the bulbs.
いずれの球根も「去年 開花済み」ということでした。一見、左側の球根はかなり小さいのですが、
The description on the auction site said, 'both flowed last summer', but the bulb on the left seemed extremely tiny.
手にとって見ると、去年の花茎が冬に抜け落ちた後の陥没穴が確認できます。確かに開花した球根です。球根があまりにも小さいので、今年の夏は蕾が出ても摘んで捨て、球根を太らせる予定です。
However, when I held it like this↓, I could see a vacuum where last year's flower stem was - the flower stem naturally comes off in winter. Since this bulb is so small, I am going to pinch the potential flower bud this summer in order to let the bulb grow bigger.
This is the larger bulb on the right, which again shows the pit where the flower stem used to be.
深鉢（左）に植え付けました。どのあたりから芽が出るか見当がつくように支柱を立てておきました。
右の青い鉢には去年の（上から３枚目の写真）２個の球根と子球が埋まっています。
I planted them in a tall pot (left). The two sticks are there to indicate roughly where the bulbs are buried.
The blue pot on the right houses the bulbs from last summer (the 3rd picture above), together with the baby bulb.
今日届いた球根の花はこの↓タイプで、花びら全体が濃いピンクに赤い筋が入るようです。
The bulbs that arrived today should produce flowers like this one - the whole petal in deep pink, with a red stripe running through the centre.
