|
Alstroemeria 'Red' (Red Peruvian Lily) - Semi-evergreen perennial from tuberous roots with stalks growing 2-3 feet tall with bright red flowers from spring through summer. Plants have a crown of slender rhizomes that attach to succulent storage roots below. Each year new unbranched shoots arise from the crown to produce narrow leaves along the stem and an umbel of flowers at the tip.
Plant in full sun to light shade and water regularly to occasionally in late spring and early summer. Tolerates fairly dry conditions in coastal gardens but vigor and flowering are best when plants are irrigated. Hardy to 15-20 degrees F but tolerates lower temperatures if mulched. When trimming or cutting Alstroemeria for flowers it is best to pull the stems straight up and out, so they break off below ground at the crown to stimulate the formation of new shoots but do so carefully so as not to pull out pieces of the rhizome itself.
The genus Alstroemeria (at times spelled Alstremeria) was named by Carl Linnaeus, often called the Father of Taxonomy, for his friend and student Klaus von Alstroemer (Clas Alströmer), a Swedish baron. Alstroemeria come from two areas within South America with summer growing species restricted to eastern Brazil and winter-growing plants from central Chile with common names such as Peruvian Lily, Parrot Lily, or Lily of the Incas.
We received this nice variety in 1992 from Santa Barbara gardener Jim Prine as an unnamed cultivar and slowly built stock on it to finally be able to start selling in 2006. To differentiate it from another smaller cultivar that we called 'Compact Red' we initially gave this plant the moniker "Tall Red" but after discontinuing production of the smaller plant (which we grew from 1997 until 2004) we reverted to just calling this plant Alstroemeria 'Red'.
The information displayed on this page about Alstroemeria 'Red' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
|
