Exotic : Glory Lily (Gloriosa superba)

Greenhouse Perennial

• Flowers in : Summer
• Germination : Experience Useful
• Aftercare : Care Required
• Ideal for : Conservatories
• Height : 6 feet

Description

A truly lovely climber with showy scarlet and yellow blooms with crimped petals. Few climbers can compare for brilliance or for their fantastic recurved flowers and unusual foliage. They are not difficult to manage and make very attractive pot plants for the sun room or cool greenhouse or even indoors, trained in a circle on a sunny windowsill. Flowers summer. Climber to 1.8m (6ft).

Sowing Instructions

Sow from late winter to spring 1.5mm (1/16in) deep in a peat based compost. Germination takes 30 days at 20-25C (70-75F).

Growing Instructions

Transplant the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle into 7.5cm (3in) pots and grow on at 15-18C (60-65F) providing twigs etc for them to climb.

Aftercare

In autumn gradually dry off the tubers and store cool, dry and frost free through winter. Repot in early spring in 13cm (5in) pots taking care that the tips of the tubers are not bruised or broken. Grow on as before. The tubers take 2-3 years to flower from seed.

Caution

Toxic if eaten