ALSTROEMERIA. South America. Popularly called Peruvian lily, though ours are Chilean and Brazilian. This group includes some of the most spectacular perennials suitable for California gardens. They multiply freely by means of underground rhizomes, forming new growth crowns with clusters of tuberous roots toward the end of each growing season. The stems are set with whorled or scattered, usually narrow, grey green to dark green leaves. Large flared blossoms, brightly colored and often checkered with darker shades on two upper petals, are presented in branched, umbrella shaped clusters in summer. They often open over a period of several weeks. Some species die down in late summer or fall and are renewed in winter or early spring. Sun or light shade, reasonably well drained soil, moderate to little watering once established (some can go completely dry when dormant). The following should be hardy to 15^oF or less, except as noted.
aurantiaca is one of the largest of the group—often 4-5' tall in California gardens. It is also one of the showiest, displaying very broad clusters of yellow to burnt orange blossoms marked with brownish purple. It follows a somewhat different schedule from that of A. ligtu, below, often keeping its foliage well into winter and delaying the appearance of new shoots until early to middle spring.

haemantha. Plants offered under this name (possibly A. haemantha x A. ligtu) have relatively short (1½' to 2') stems, bright bluish green leaves and very dense clusters of bright pink to rose-colored blossoms.

hookeri. This is considered a dwarf form of A. ligtu by some, but seems sufficiently distinct to warrant a separate description. In our material, received from the late Rose Williams, the plants are under 1' tall, with very narrow grey green leaves and relatively few-flowered clusters. The blossoms have a buff pink background and chocolate markings. A particularly good candidate for rock garden and container culture.

ligtu hybrids. These include seedlings and clonal selections from several sources. Plants will vary considerably in height, have mostly greyish green leaves and produce large, many flowered clusters in shades of pink, orange, yellow and white. ‘Tanager’ is our own scarlet flowered selection.

Meyer hybrids. The late Fred Meyer worked for many years to improve a group of complex hybrids first developed in Europe for florist use. While many in this series are too tall and rangy for most landscapes, some of his later selections were quite stocky and compact, generally growing 2-4’ tall in full exposure. All have attractive, shiny leaves and large flower clusters. ‘Rachel’, one of the few selections named for distribution, is a short, profusely clumping plant with flowers verging on violet. Others are designated by their predominant colors, as ‘Meyer’s White’, ‘Meyer’s Red’, and ‘Meyer’s Rose’. They have proven remarkably hardy, recovering quickly after exposure to 10-15^o temperatures in December, 1990.

pulchella is one of the most lily-like, with tall (3-5') stems and relatively broad, dark, whorled leaves. The flowers open less widely than most and are distinctively painted with red, chartreuse and black. The selection ‘Variegata’, has unusually large leaves edged in cream. This is one of the hardiest species, but it should have summer moisture, as well as some shading in inland gardens.

‘Regina’. A robust hybrid by local enthusiast George Hare. It makes profuse, leafy clumps, with individual stems up to 4' (or perhaps more) high. For much of the growing season it is graced by large clusters of broad-petalled, mauve pink flowers with darker shadings and dramatic markings on the upper petals. Evergreen but evidently hardy, like the Meyer hybrids.

‘Sussex Gold’. This is a fine hybrid recently received from Malanseuns Pleasure Plants in South Africa. It appears to involve A. aurantiaca and has that species’ lush, bright foliage. The flowers are large, broad-petalled and deep gold in overall color, with blackish brown markings.

‘The Third Harmonic’. An almost frighteningly vigorous plant making thickets of stems up to 4' tall. It blooms almost continuously, carrying many large flowers, colored dark orange with black, yellow and buff markings, in each cluster. Our thanks to George Hare, who tried many times to get his cross of  ‘Peach Harmony’ to “take”. Another hardy evergreen (the burning down of the current season’s shoots by hard frosts seems to be of no lasting consequence).

Other hybrids. What were exciting novelties a decade ago are now seen in various-sized containers at every drug store nursery section. New selections just keep coming, from many different sources. Our interest is in full and sturdy plants and clear, beautiful flower colors (many recent introductions are disappointing on both counts). Here are a few of our current favorites: ‘Casablanca’ is a taller (to 3’ or more) selection with snow-white flowers marked with blackish brown and yellow. ‘Jupiter’ is similar in habit but has large vivid purple flowers. ‘Coral Dwarf’ is our own naming of a prolific dwarf seedling received from Bill Teague. Several others are offered simply by capsule descriptions of their colors.