A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 anyone heard of "exotica" bulbs?

I just got my big mail order from directgardening.com and they sent me free gifts - with no instructions! I have no clue what exotica bulbs are - has anyone heard of these? They are quarter sized and brown.

Thanks!

Hi! I went to the site and looked and they don't have the best picture to go by but my guess would be peacock orchid (Gladiolus acidanthera) bulbs.

Thanks!

Claire.... I was interested in your question also so I did some research.. I understand exotica bulbs to be any bulbing flower varity they cross bulbs to create unusual colors and shapes for that particular flower and if they like it and if it sells then they call it exotica .This can come as a Gladiola, perivian daffodel, lillie, amaryillis, etc, they are most popular in daffodels and amaryillis,, if you got it with a particular order purchase and you got it free, a couple of sites said it should be planted with the conditions as your order because it is a varity of your purchase that way you can compare the standard and the exocita and if you like the exocita then they know they'll likely make a sale to you next season.. Well that's what I understood from all the sites I read they basically said the same thing,,, It would be interesting to see the difference!

Thanks! I planted them in generic bulb fashion, and we'll see what happens, I kind of like the surprise factor.

Cheers!
Claire

After it blooms Plz post a pic so we all here can see if there really is a varity of bulb crossing compared to your other!!

I definitely will! Thanks again

Hello everyone, I'm new here and found this site and post by, you guessed it...exotica bulbs! After searching and finding this site I decided to call the company to see what they had to say.

I was told that the exotica bulb is actually the " Peacock Orchid " and that it looks like a orchid, grows like a gladiola, and smells like a rose. It should be planted 2" deep and spaced 12" apart. I did a google search on the peacock orchid and the 2nd hit shows pictures of what it looks like. I hope this helps while waiting for yours to bloom. As for mine they are not even in the ground yet!

David

I also ordered from Direct Garneding and got "Blue Poppy Aneno" and "Triplet Lilies". Does anyone know how they should be planted?
~~Steph

I'm in the exact same situation as davidk07, because I too got here via a google search on exotica bulbs.

I also received an order from directgardening.com today with this free gift but no planting info either in the package or on the website, and apparently I'm not the only one hehe.

Does anyone know 'when' these should be planted?

@ubach, my gardening book said to plant the anemone bulbs in fall, 2 ins deep and 6ins apart,
and the triplet lily bulbs in fall, 3 ins deep and 2-3 ins apart

my exotica bulbs are coming up finally - they have leaves like glads...we'll see wha they do! i will post pictures when something exciting appears (like a flower!).