Are they hardy? I have 2 pot fulls grown from seed given to me by a darling friend in sunny Cornwall and they are living in my greenhouse at the moment. They never make lots of growth but are bigger this year than last, but, in the old greenhouse, they tend to get forgotten about, especially when the toms and peppers etc are in there, so if they could get out in the garden, I am sure they would do better. Treat like eucomis and bring in during the winter, or leave them to it??
Cannot find them under that name in any of my books.
But if you mean Rhodophiala then under normal conditions the leaves appear in Autumn and grow over Winter ,dying down in Mid to late Summer as the plant flowers. The bulbs need to be planted 6 to 8 inches deep and neither the soil nor the leaves should be allowed to get frosted. So decide on a growing regime which suits that! ;D
Thanks for that Eric. And so true - the leaves appeared way back in November time and as I recall last year, I thought I had killed them as they died down just before the summer! Now I know why. I shall put them up into a pretty pot and treat them the same as my other tender bulbs. Hope to see flowers summer 2007!
They are native to the high Andes, and are pretty tough, but don't like to be too wet in winter.
If you can give them very good drainage in full sun, they will be fine outside.
A friend in Bolton grows them outside with no problem in a bed with lots of added grit.
About time you replied young lady as you are the lovely friend in question! ;D As our sunny Essex garden is a swamp regardless of the weather for 10 months of the year, I think they can live in big pots and move around accordingly.
And you're a lovely friend for refering to me as 'young' and 'lady' ;D