Alstroemeria

Liliaceae

This lovely plant is a new hybrid with delicate flowers decorated with streaks and speckles. If your local supermarket sells bouquets of flowers, you'll find alstroemeria in most of them. It's also referred to as the Peruvian Lily.

They can be hard to find in garden centers. I actually found all three of mine at Wal-Mart in Rockledge, FL, about three years ago. The red clump established fairly quickly, but the other two took at least a year. This spring they've outdone themselves, though. Trying to make up for lost time, I guess.

The clumps should not be disturbed once planted. After establishing themselves, they do develop rapidly, however, they are not considered an invasive plant. While my three plants are now established and growing, they are not going to take over the yard.

The upper edge of their range is in the Middle South and they do need to be protected with peat moss or other acid mulch through the winter. The Coastal South, where I live, is the lower range of their growing territory. Tropical South would be too hot. The plants grow best in cool, moist, deep, sandy to medium loam. They prefer an acidic soil rich in organic matter.

Colors range from white, pink and red to purple and yellow. Mine are red, lavendar and yellow and pink and pale yellow. The tags that came with my plants didn't give individual names, just called them Alstroemeria.

They are excellent cut flowers. Twist the flowering stem off the rhizome instead of cutting it. This encourages new stems. And, pull the spent flowering stems up out of the ground to prolong the bloom season.