Plant in a most any soil that has decent drainage in full sun or in light shade where the flowers seem to last a bit longer. Occasional irrigation in spring even when plants are still dormant is recommended to keep roots alive and promote flowering and it responds rapidly to irrigation provided in later summer and early fall. It is cold hardy to below 0° F with a winter mulch and useful in USDA Zones 7 to 10. These bulbs make a beautiful and colorful punch of red in the garden.

Rhodophiala bifida comes from Uruguay and Argentina and reportedly were brought to Texas by German immigrants from Argentina in the 1850's. The name for the genus is from the Greek word 'rhodo' meaning "red" and the Latin word 'phiala' which is a "flat-bottom drinking vessel" or "saucer" in reference to the bowl shape of the flower. The specific epithet means deeply two-cleft. Rhodophiala is often compared to and closely related to the florist amaryllis (Hippeastrum), but with their narrow parallel sided leaves and smaller flowers, it is actually more like a large flowering Habranthus or Zephyranthes. We originally grew this plant in 2001-2003 and put it back into production in 2020. 

The information displayed on this page about Rhodophiala bifida 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.