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No plant is more suited to easy creative gardening than the flowering bulb, which is a complete plant at a resting stage of growth, containing the bud as well as food reserves for the next season. The best thing about bulbs is that one can forget about their needs once one has planted them in appropriate soil and situation. Suddenly, at the opportune time, they perform to their best without letting the gardener feel that he or she had not been pampering them the way they pampered other plants. Three such bulbous plants from amaryllidaceae family offer a steady show of beauty and brilliance in our gardens without any fuss from March to September. Hippeastrum: With strap-like leaves and magnificent heads of lily-like showy flowers on hallow but strong stalks, these are popularly known as amaryllis even though they were changed to the genus hippeastrum decades ago. Originally grown in South America, these are perennials, which have five or six petals of six to seven inches across trumpet-shaped flowers. The Dutch hybrids are available in deep crimson, white with pink stripes and pure white. These flower in March and April. Hippeastrum can be grown outdoors only in areas where there is very mild frost for a few days. They are the most popular bulbs for pot culture in all parts of the world. Plant these in soil while spacing bulbs at 12 inch apart, with two to three inches of soil covering them. Or put them singly in 3 inch or three in 9 inch size pots in standard compost, well firmed up till the collar of the bulb. You may apply liquid manure or standard houseplant fertiliser at flowering. Hippeastrum are very easily grown and propagated in our climate and one does not have to be too careful about protecting them. It is not uncommon to see these grown outside houses along the boundary wall. The dead leaves are cut off in winter. The foliage is even good for cut flower arrangements. They can be left in a comparatively dry place after flowering till the time when new buds appear. Hippeastrum is propagated through offsets. These can be detached when about 1 inch to 2 inch across. Try to remove each bulb with the maximum number of roots attached. Plant each bulb in 3-inch pot or direct in soil where it should flower in a couple of years. Haemanthus: Also called blood lily, each bulb throws up a stout floral stem about nine to 18 inches tall, bearing a dense umbel of small one to two inch tubular flowers with protruding stamens in coral red or large crimson flowers. In the case of H. Katharinae the flowers come up in late May and June and are followed by pairs of 12-18 inches long oval leaves. Pot them in standard compost with some sand, setting the bulb in a manner that its tip is above the surface. Need for repotting arises only if the bulb grows so much that it touches the rim of the pot or its roots appear on the surface. In such a case, use the hosepipe to wash out part of the soil, without disturbing the roots and add fresh soil. Only top dressing will suffice and liquid high potash fertiliser during growth period will benefit the plants. Nerine: These are beautiful bulbous plants, also known as Cape Lily, which like warm climates though they can resist a few degrees of frost. Nerine bear a head of several glistening pink, carmine or even scarlet and orange flowers in August and September, before the leaves appear. Also known as Guernsey Lily, nerine is a long-lasting bulbous plant that resents shifting. Hardy enough for planting outdoors in most of our hill stations, the bulbs are to be planted 9 inches deep, outdoors, in well drained humus rich soil in late spring or early summer. They can also be grown in pots. All these three bulbous plants should be watered freely during active growth and sparingly thereafter. Propagation is done by offsets in normal way though seeds can also be sown immediately after they are ripe. However, bulbs will get weaker if allowed to seed. |
