OT: Alstroemerias

From: Bill Shear <BILLS@hsc.edu>

Sterling and Jan are right that Alstroemerias are very difficult to
establish from bare roots and also are hard to transplant.  The tuberous
roots grow deep and are very brittle.  I grow a lot of them and have had
almost no luck either trying to transplant them within the garden or in
establishing purchased roots. I wouls suggest trying established potted
plants if you want to get named varieties similar to the ones you find in
florists' arrangements.

However, they do grow easily from seed, as I explained in an article a year
or so ago in FINE GARDENING.  The seed can be purchased from major sources
like Park's or Thompson and Morgan.  It should be planted in the late fall
or winter and placed in the refrigerator for six weeks.  After taking it
out, give gentle bottom heat, and almost every seed will germinate.  Move
the seedlings while still small to 4" pots and thence to the garden in
summer or fall.  They will bloom the next year and increase rapidly if they
like your garden.  A loose, organic soil seems best, and in such a soil
they can be very weedy (but what weeds!).  Another tip--picking them for
the house, be sure you pull up the entire stem (which separates easily from
the crown).  This will keep them blooming longer.  They are very
long-lasting cut flowers.

Last summer (97) I was photographing some beautiful clumps of Alstroemeria
aurantiaca (golden yellow and orange) in the Royal Botanical Garden in
Edinburgh, Scotland, and one of the gardeners launched into a long tirade
about how difficult they were to keep out of the shrubbery and even the
lawn.  I haven't tried this species, but the Salter and Ligtu Hybrids both
clump up nicely and persist for many years.  There is also a hardy species
(to Z6 or 5) called Alstroemeria psittacina.  About 2 ft tall, with rather
tubular red flowers marked in black and green. I see that Plant Delights is
offering a variegated version of this one.

As companions for irises they have the drawback of producing a very dense
mass of foliage that can overshadow and crowd the iris plants.  However,
this usually disappears entirely a few weeks after blooming, to come back
in the fall.

Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@hsc.edu>

How come you never hear about "gruntled" postal employees?
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