A Gift from the Andes

‘Looking for the perfect plant?  How about a perennial that’s easy to grow, comes in different sizes and colors, arrives early, often stays late, and is beautiful and long-lasting in a vase on your dining room table?

Meet the Alstromeria.  Sometimes called Princess Lily, Inca Lily or Peruvian Lily, the exotic names hide the ease of growing this plant in the garden.  Plants come in a variety of colors and sizes. They can be yellow, white, red, and purple, dwarf, medium or tall. They have few problems with pests or different soils.  Alstromeria requires little attention but the taller varieties should be cut back if they begin to lay down.  Snails are just waiting for them to hit the ground so it’s good to remove the temptation.  Flowers begin to bloom in late spring and it’s productive to pinch off the earliest blooms. They usually bloom profusely and continue off and on throughout late summer.  

Cleaning them up during the season is actually fun and easy.  Just grab a stem and pull it right out of the ground.  This is also the way to pick them. The more you pick, the more they bloom.  Their bulbs remain underground so they come right back the next spring.

The South American native has become increasingly popular and easy to find in local nurseries.   As its familiarity has grown so have the variety of colors and sizes.   Alstromeria likes our cool nights and warm days and requires very little care.  If the soil is well drained and a thin layer of mulch is applied they stay pretty happy ... and so do we.

Red alstromeria. (photo by Tom Burton)

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