Alstroemeria

Alstroemeria commonly called the Peruvian Lily or Lily of the Incas, is a South American genus of about 50 species of flowering plants. Almost all of the species are restricted to one of two distinct centers of diversity, one in central Chile, the other in eastern Brazil. Species of Alstroemeria from Chile are winter-growing plants while those of Brazil are summer-growing. All are long-lived perennials except A. (Taltalia) graminea, a diminutive annual from the Atacama Desert of Chile.
The plants are distinctive vegetatively, with a rootstock consisting of a slender rhizome or group of rhizomes (the “crown”). Storage roots consist of sausage-like water storing structures “suspended” from the rhizome by major roots. In this way the root system resembles that of dahlias. Above-ground shoots may be very short in some alpine Andean species (a few cm tall) or up to about 1.5 m tall in other species. Each year (more often in some hybrids) up to 80 new shoots are produced from the rootstock and each terminates in an umbel of a few up to 10 or so flowers.

alstroemeria lily

Selected species

  • Alstroemeria aurea - Lily of the Incas.
  • Alstroemeria aurantiaca - Peruvian Lily
  • Alstroemeria caryophyllacea - Brazilian Lily
  • Alstroemeria haemantha - Purplespot Parrot Lily
  • Alstroemeria ligtu - Lily-of-the-Nile
  • Alstroemeria psittacina - Lily of the Incas, White-edged Peruvian Lily
  • Alstroemeria pulchella - Parrot Lily, Parrot Flower, Red Parrot Beak, New Zealand Christmas Bell

Alstroemerias love sun and a good well drained soil. If you have clay soil it will be more difficult to be successful. Too much shade will give you plants that are tall and floppy with weak stems.
Alstroemerias also enjoy a good level of fertilizer and plenty of regular watering.Keep feeding your plants all during their growing season. Keep them watered. If you let your plants go too dry the foliage will turn an ugly yellow and look terrible. You can cut the entire plant down to about 4 to 8 inches above the ground, start being a better care-giver and usually your plant will regrow again.
Your Alstroemeria should bloom most of the spring and summer. It’s important to pick the flowers. After all this is a wonderful cut flower that lasts for days and days in your bouquet. You can either pull the flower stem straight up or cut it off. Growers give both methods. Be sure to get rid of the stems that have formed seed pods.
Alstroemerias have two kinds of growth. The first growth to appear is what I call support growth. It doesn’t make flowers. This growth is shorter and thinner than the flower stems that come up later. If you have too much of this support growth you can just thin it out by pulling them up. Not all of them, of course. If you look carefully at a plant that has flowers you will see that the flower stems are taller, thicker, have more space between the nodes[the place where little leaves come out] and of course they have flowers. The other growth is none of these things. First comes the support growth and then the flowers spikes appear.
Astroemerias come in a wide range of colors, including white, pink, yellow, salmon, red, lavender, orange, bronze and bicolors.
They’re ethylene-sensitive flowers, but with proper care and handling, alstroemerias may attain a vase life of 6-14 days, depending upon the cultivar. Avoid buying flowers with yellowing or transparent leaves; these are signs of ethylene damage.
Alstroemerias are exceedingly versatile flowers–in terms of both color and form. Always a perfect color highlight for seasonal vase arrangements, they also serve as lovely line flowers in more contemporary arrangements, and–in a short-stemmed cluster–as vivid focal areas. Stripping the foliage is often advisable, since it will yellow long before the flowers fade.

Gerbera:

Gerbera flowers comes in vibrant colours adding beauty to your garden. It has around 40 species spreading from Africa across to Madagascar into tropical Asia and South America. Gerbera are plants with a height up to 18 to 24 inch and 4 to 10 inch diameter flowers. There will be more than ten leaves in a plant, medium green in colour spread out in a circle parallel to the ground. These plants can be planted in gardens, mixed containers and pots. Its cut flowers last long and gives colour and beauty to any room. There are many hybrids that come in white, cream, yellow, orange-pink, purple or violet. These plants are usually grown in greenhouses and are used for cut flowers. Gerbera flowers all year round.
The most inexpensive way to produce gerberas is from seed obtained from reputable seed suppliers.

gerbera

Seed should be germinated in an artificial growing medium. Germinating seed in field sand or field sand mixed with materials such as perlite and/or peat moss is not recommended because field sand is usually not sterile. Artificial growing media that are sterile, lightweight, and have good water retention capacity and drainage can be purchased in garden supply stores. These materials often have fertilizers incorporated.
The medium can be placed in flats or pots that have drainage holes. Make shallow rows in the medium approximately twice the depth of the diameter of the seed, sow seeds in the rows, cover lightly with extra medium and water carefully.
After seeds are planted and watered, cover the container with a sheet of glass or clear plastic and place the germination container approximately 18 inches (45.7 cm) below a fluorescent light. Check the medium daily for moisture and for signs of seed germination.
Propagation may be achieved through seeds, basal cuttings or through dividing. Basal shoots or cuttings from the parent plant should be taken in summer (March- April). Seeds are sown or cuttings can be inserted in sandy soil until the saplings become an inch tall or the cuttings form roots. Plants grown from seeds can differ from the parent plant and seeds which do not germinate within about twenty days are likely not to germinate at all.

Lisianthus:

There is no flower that is more evocative of summer than lisianthus. At its best from the beginning of April through to October, its floaty delicate petals remind us of lazy days and perfumed breezes. Their wide open flowers are reminiscent of softly blown roses.
Perfect for summer parties and weddings, lisianthus is available in a wide range of colours which will inject the season’s sense of fun and relaxation into any event.
The official name for lisianthus is Eustoma (pronounced YOU-stow- ma) russelianum. The flower originates from the American states of Nebraska and Colorado. Its name literally means ‘a good mouth’ or less literally ‘a pretty face’, hence its natural affiliation to romance and weddings.

lisianthus

In the wild, Lisianthus seems to primarily grow as a biennial, but like most biennials, it can behave as an annual or short -lived perennial provided conditions are just right.
It has broad, glaucous gray-green leaves that extend up the tall, erect stem. The original Lisianthus cultivars were developed for the cut flower market so plants typically grew 24 inches tall. Newer dwarf forms developed for pot plant production only grow half as tall.
The basic flower color for Lisianthus is purple, but breeders have created a range of colors from pink to white and yellow. They’ve also added a picotee edge to the petals of some cultivars and created double flowered forms.
Early cultivars were too tall to make good pot crops and they succumbed to all known diseases and a few not yet known. Cut flowers were difficult to grow, but they were beautiful and lasted in a vase with no special treatment for two weeks.
Lisianthus is hard to keep alive as a perennial because it needs excellent drainage and dry wintertime conditions. It also requires a soil pH between 6.5 and 7.0. More acidic soil conditions result in zinc toxicity,which slows growth to a crawl. Breeders have made Lisianthus easier to grow, but it’s still one of the most challenging crops for even experienced growers to produce.
Lisianthus seeds germinate quickly but, depending on the average temperature during early seedling growth, they will either flower the first year or form a resting rosette and behave as a biennial. Temperatures around 75 degrees during the seedling stage allows it to flower as an annual; but 85 degrees causes the rosette to form.

Sources: Home and garden, Flower posibilities, Web India 123

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